Gameplay Examples

Situation Example

Your Stats: 

Physiology (+0)

Safety (+1)

Emotion (-2)

Cognition (+2)

Focus (-1)

Drive Points (3)

Your items:

Functional Protective Chest Gear (Worn, Standard Item) 

Functional Ranged Weapon (Stowed, Standard Item, 4 slots)

Functional Bandages (Stowed, Small Item, 1 Slot)

The Narrative:  (What the GM describes)

You're an operative conducting a covert extraction in a bustling metropolitan train station when an enemy spy suddenly appears and draws a concealed firearm.

"You're mission has failed..." the spy says quietly and casually.

The Situation

Situations arise when a character or NPC initiates combat. Because the enemy spy takes the first aggressive action by drawing their weapon, the Situation begins, and the spy goes first in the turn order.

Entropy: 

The GM accrues 1 Entropy point because a Situation has just begun. 

The  Narrative:  

The spy gives a quick glance around the station while inconspicuously pressing the gun silencer's muzzle into your side, and the look in their eyes says they will end you at any second.

The Gameplay 

Here's where decisions are made and the action happens. 

NPC  Standard Action

The GM decides the 1st standard action the spy takes is an offensive action to fire a shot at point blank into your side. This forces you to take a defensive action. The GM asks: "what do you do?"

You first consider dodging or sidestepping the shot. The GM explains you'll need to make a safety roll, but, at point blank range, success is nearly impossible and would incur a -3 hindrance to the safety roll. In this world setting, the GM may also argue that a focus roll is needed to pull off the precision timing needed for such action, also with hindrance. 

Remembering your character's background as a trained operative, you choose to rely on close combat techniques to disarm the spy. 

The Meta Roll 

The GM agrees and asks for a Cognition roll for your defensive action to avoid sustaining wounds. You roll a 6 on the Meta dice and add your Cognition stat (+2) for a total of 8. According to the Meta Dice Table, a 7-9 is a Mixed Success and you take the good with the bad. On the Wound Table, a Mixed Success results in an "Exchange of Blows," and you both sustain 1 Wound. However, you're wearing Functional Protective Chest Gear, which negates 1 wound. 

Narrative continued: 

You extensive combat training allows your to react immediately as you manage to twist the spy's wrist to make him fire into your protective gear instead of your exposed side. You hear a crack in their wrist before hearing the muffled gun shot to your protected stomach as you both grunt in pain.   

The Gameplay

The point blank shot lowers your protective gear's threshold by 1. 

Because a mixed success was rolled, the GM has the option to spend 1 Entropy Point to stir up things for the player. Perhaps a random person spots the gun and alerts security- compromising your mission further, or the bullet pierces through enough to render your gear useless, etc. In this case, the GM decides to save the 1 point for later.

NPC turn continued 

The spy will move 1 distance from melee to close range, and spend their 2nd standard action to use their offhand to fire another shot at you. This forces you to take another defensive action. 

Defensive Action: 

You chose to attempt to dodge, and the GM asks for a safety roll. Because you injured the spy's good hand, they are firing with their offhand and the GM grants you a +1 boost to the roll. 

You roll 8 and add +2 to your safety roll (Safety +1, Boost +1) for a 10. That's a success!  

NPC a turn continued

The NPC uses the rest of their movement to move from close to in range. 

The Narrative

Your cat-like reflexes allow you to dodge the gun shot completely. The enemy spy abandons the assassination attempt and tries to disappear into crowd of train travelers. What do you do?

The gameplay

The NPC's turn ends and now it's your turn. 

You have some options: You can spend all 3 distances to move from in range to melee with the spy again.

At that point you can use 1 standard offensive action to make an unarmed attack, or perhaps use your ranged weapon as a improvised melee weapon at the GM's discretion. These actions would require a physiology roll and would continue the Situation. It would likely draw attention from security and compromise your mission. 

 Instead you choose to stay on mission and complete the covert extraction. 

The Narrative 

You watch the spy disappear into the crowd as you decide to stay on mission. Perhaps you'll meet again. 

This will end Situation. 

Gameplay Resolution 

You rolled a success! XP is earned on superb and successful meta rolls, and equals the higher die of the 2d6 rolled. You rolled an 8 (6)+(2), so you earn 6 XP points.  

At this point a Cognition roll could be made to see how well you remember what the spy looked like,  what they wore, the kind of gun they used, etc. The GM should have these details ready to offer depending on the outcome of the Cognition meta roll.

Instance Example

Your Stats: 

Physiology (+0)

Safety (+1)

Emotion (-2)

Cognition (+2)

Focus (-1)

Drive Points (3)

Your items:

Functional Protective Chest Gear (Worn, Standard Item) 

Functional Ranged Weapon (Stowed, Standard Item, 4 slots)

Functional Bandages (Stowed, Small Item, 1 Slot)

The Narrative:

Having lost the spy in the crowded station, you start to feel more eyes drawn to the bullet hole in your clothes. You see a security guard patrolling and a skittish old man stops him to talk before pointing towards your direction. The security guard looks in your general direction as you quickly weight your options. 

In your immediate vicinity you only see an alcove to a restricted maintenance corridor. The heavy security door is electronically sealed and perhaps the only thing blocking your escape.

The Instance

Instances arise during idle time when there's a need to push, pull, open, close, or solve problems. In this instance, you must bypass the electronic lock to open security door and exiting the area while remaining icognito. 

The Meta Roll 

The GM calls for a Cognition meta roll to bypass the keypad. You roll 2d6 and get a 5. Adding his Cognition stat (+2), his total is 7.

According to the Meta Dice Table, a 7-9 is a Mixed Success, meaning you take the good with the bad.  In this instance, a mixed success means you would bypass the lock, but you also trigger an alarm that alerts security. 

Entropy Points

Also, the GM now has the option to spend Entropy Points. When a player rolls a mixed success during situations, instances, activities, or idle time, the GM may spend 1-4 entropy points to interrupt a player's turn, interrupt the party’s turn order, or to introduce a random occurrence.

In this instance, the GM decides to spend an entropy point, and explains that along with the alarm being triggered, you can now hear security radio chatter approaching from the other side of the security door.     

Learning this, you decide to spend Drive Points.

Drive Points 

Drive points fuel the character’s determination to succeed. During situations, idle time, activities, and  instances, drive points can be spent to increase meta rolls when interacting with people, places, and things using relevant attribute stats. In this instance, you decide to spend all three of your drive points to boost your meta roll to 10. According to the Meta Dice Table, 10-12 is Success, meaning you pretty much get what you want. 

The Narrative

You've spent years training covert entry techniques and the electronic lock is easy work. You find yourselve inside the empty cooridor and before long back on the street.

You'll have to find another way to completed your mission, but for now your cover remains intact.   

Idle Time Example

The Narrative

You slip out of the subway tunnels and blend into the rainy, neon-lit city streets, making a long, cautious trek across the metropolitan sprawl toward a designated safehouse.

Idle Time

Idle time begins when a player or party is not actively trying to complete an instance, task, or thread, and is not in a situation. This time is used for rest, travel, activities, or roleplay. 

During idle time, your actions to remain unnoticed are roleplayed naturally. The GM describes the city environment, passing patrol cars, and transit systems. 

The GM may ask for any relevant Meta Rolls, for example, an Emotion roll to remain calm while someone stares at the bullet hole in your shirt, or a safety rolls to casually cover it while a patrol car passes by.  These meta rolls can potentially kick off an instance, or even a situation if rolls are failed. 

Drive Replenishment

Because you spent drive points during the previous Instance, the GM dictates that this extended, uneventful transit counts as a period of minimal activity. As a result, Vance's Drive points replenish back to their maximum.

Activities Example

Your Stats: 

Physiology (+0)

Safety (+1)

Emotion (-2)

Cognition (+2)

Focus (-1)

Drive Points (3)

Your items:

Functional Protective Chest Gear (Worn, Standard Item) 

Functional Ranged Weapon (Stowed, Standard Item, 4 slots)

Functional Bandages (Stowed, Small Item, 1 Slot)

The Narrative 

You successfully arrive at the safehouse. You take a moment to assess things and confirm your chest gear has been damaged and its threshold lowered by 1. What do you do? 

Activities

Characters can engage in activities to heal wounds, repair items, remove a bane, or learn new information. 

The Gameplay

You declare to the GM that your activity will be repairing your Functional Protective Chest Gear. 

The GM explains that you'll first need 4 resource units to replenish 1 (of 3)  threshold and repair your chest gear. 

You don't have any resources stowed away in your inventory, so you ask the GM if there is anything in the safehouse. 

The Meta Roll

The GM explains that you can search the safehouse with a physiology roll to spot resources, or a cognition roll to repurpose anything that can be converted to resource units.

You make a cognition roll for 6, and your +2  cognition boosts the total to 8. 

According to the Meta Dice Table for Quantity, 7-9 means you find 2d6 worth of resource units. You roll a 6, and now have enough resource units to restore 1 threshold. 

The Narrative

You manage to repurpose items around the safehouse and repair your chest gear to fully functional before deciding your next move.