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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6885516" data-attributes="member: 92305">So, let's talk about the GM and running a game.  Like the movies, this game is all about interesting characters and swashbuckling action.  Like most RPGs, this game runs best with GM gifted at telling stories.Now, you can use a combat grid, miniatures, maps, and things like that...if you want to.  The rules certainly allow for it.  But, this game really hums with a GM describing all the action for the mind's eye of each player.  You don't need maps.  You can use them, but you don't need them.  The game plays extremely well without them.Each combat round is about five seconds of time.  The GM describes what the players see as combat breaks out.  The players each declare what they want to do.  The GM then narrates how events play out, pausing to have players roll dice when needed.  The GM then continues, incorporating the results of the dice rolls in his narration.A player can do anything he wants to do within that five seconds of time.  A player can say, "I fire at the first stormtrooper to my right, then move to cover behind the crate, peek around and fire two more shots at the closest trooper."  It can be done in five seconds, and this game allows for all that in one combat round.When the GM hears what the player wants to do, he breaks the actions down into game terms.Typical Combat Round Actions Use a Skill Walk Run Change StanceWhat does the player above want to do?  He wants to fire his blaster (use a skill), move to the crate (Walk or Run), kneel down behind it (change stance), and fire two more shots (two more skill uses).In this game, every action you take after the first means that your die code is reduced by -1D.  If Roark (the character in the OP) fires his blaster once, then he rolls 5D+1.  If he fires twice, he rolls 4D+1 for each attack throw.The Roark Garnet character is not skilled enough to pull off everything this player wants to do.  You cannot penalize a task to lower than 1D.  The player wants to take three shots with his blaster, in total, plus move.  Kneeling is considered part of movement, so it doesn't count as an action.  Walking counts as an action.  Running counts as two actions.  At the minimum, Roark is -3D to his blaster shots (and the movement is not possible because Roark's DEX is only 3D+1.).  The player will have to amend his actions to a blaster shot, the move and kneel, and the single final blaster shot (instead of two shots at the end).  He can do all of that, taking a total of 3 actions in the five second turn and suffering -2D to any dice rolls.Still, the player may not get to complete all actions in a round because another character may prevent him from doing so.  Those stormtroopers can fire back at him!The GM, when describing the action, will jump the focus of his description after each action.  This is not unlike quick cuts in an action film (like, uh, Star Wars!).  The GM will describe the first actions of all characters in the combat round, including the NPCs, then, he will describe the second actions, then the third actions, if any, and so on.Here, you see the best laid plans of men and mice.  The player declared three action but didn't get to execute any of them.  The stormtrooper was too quick for Roak.  He shot and hit before Roark could act.Note that the game doesn't bother with initiative rolls.  No, the GM simple goes around the table in the most dramatic and logical fashion describing each character's first action as if the players were watching an space action movie.  It doesn't really matter who goes first until a point at which one character affects the actions of another.  At that point, just let the task rolls dice.  The higher task roll means that action takes place first.In the case of the above, the stormtrooper fired before Roark could act.  The trooper's attack roll was higher.  Thus, Roark's blaster attack never happened.  The stormtrooper fired, and Roark went down.But, there's another type of action I haven't mentioned yet.  It's called a Reaction.  Some skills are Reaction Skills and can only be used when triggered.  When they are triggered, they reduce skill use (from that point forward) just like any other skill.Dodge is a reaction skill.  It is used to get out of the way of incoming blaster fire.  The target number, based on Range, for the stormtrooper to hit Roark was 10.  The trooper, with his 3D skill, rolled 10 exactly, which indicates that Roark is hit and wounded.  Blasters are powerful in this game.  Roark wasn't killed (but could have been), but he sure was knocked down and hurt bad when he took the hit.When the trooper fired, Roark could then declare a reaction skill use.  Reaction skills can be declared immediately when they are triggered.  In this case, Roark's Dodge is 4D+1.  But, remember that Roark was -2D to all skill uses.  Thus, the player could roll 2D+1 vs. the trooper's attack throw of 10.  If successful, Roark dodges out of the way of the trooper's incoming fire.  If he fails, he's hit (so Roark has nothing to lose).  The player throws 2D+1 and gets an 11.This means the trooper misses.GM:  "The bolt jets over your right shoulder.  It was so close that you could feel the heat from the thing as it barely missed you."But now, the player has just used another skill.  He is now -3D to all tasks, and he cannot change the tasks he declared.  He can either do them or not.  This makes movement impossible as the character doesn't have enough dice to move.  Thus, Roark is -3D on his first action--his blaster shot at the trooper (that he can now re-roll because of the successful Dodge).  Roark's turn would end right there because he can't move with a -3D penalty (he's got 3D+1 DEX).  So, the player will know that his character can perform a maximum of three actions and still be able to move.  To be safe, in future combat rounds, he may only want to declare one or two actions.  That way, he's got room for a Reaction skill and can still perform the rest of this declared actions.NOTESThink tactically about how many actions you declare.Other characters, or reaction skills, may preempt you from carrying out all declared actions in a combat round.Each action you take after the first lowers any dice code by -1D.Running lowers die codes by -1D.Dropping stance is counted as part of movement, but standing up or rising from a kneel is counted as an action.Whenever rolling against movement, roll the Dexterity code (Stromtrooper Blaster vs. Character DEX to decide if blaster fire happens before or after movement).Pulling a holstered weapon (drawing) can be done in the same action as the attack, but apply -1D to the code.</blockquote>

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