Grammatical Conflict
First, here's the list of adverbs I'm thinking of using.
Conflict Resolution (This applies to violent combat, social
intrigue, and pretty much anything where a two or more characters oppose one
another)
One – Stance
Every round, each player chooses a stance for their
character. The stance determines the maximum number of actions the character
can engage during a round.
Two – Initiative
The player whose character has the highest number of actions
goes first. If there is a tie, randomly determine who goes first.
Three A – Action Declaration
The player declares their character’s action, in a single
sentence using an available verb (if the character has specialised in this
verb, they’ll get an advantage). If they have an adverb that makes sense as an
advantage in this situation (and matches their current stance), they may also include
this in the sentence. They may also include a noun representing a piece of
equipment used in the task. Other things that might help in this statement of
intent include some kind of “target noun” in the sentence to help identify who
or what is the objective of the action, some kind of reference to a character
relationship that might help, and a reference to any situational bonuses that
might apply. If this gets too complicated you might want to split it up into
two sentences.
I interrogate [fire verb] the prisoner
[target noun] angrily [fire adverb]
I carefully [water adverb] refine
[water verb] the methamphetamine [target noun] with my lab equipment [equipment noun].
Taking advantage of the distraction caused by Snickers [situational
bonus], I climb [air verb] the alley wall on the left [target noun].
I excavate [earth verb] the box
[target noun] with the instructions
provided by Spot [situational bonus]. Diligently
[adverb] working away with my shovel
[equipment noun], until it is free.
Three B – Difficulty
In most cases, a single success is all a character needs to
accomplish their goal. In some cases the GM may determine that a task is more
difficult and requires extra successes to accomplish (or might not be attempted
at all while another obstacle is in the way). If the GM has specified a higher
difficulty for the action, they indicate it now. The player with the active
character may modify their statement of intent.
Three C – Determine
Dice
Pick up dice to represent your character’s chances of
accomplishing the deed.
Verb Die
d4: You have the verb, but you’re
in another stance (you cannot use it at all if you’re in the opposing stance).
Or, you don’t have the verb but you’re in the right stance.
d6: It’s a general verb without a
stance.
d8: You have the verb and you’re
in the right stance.
-d2: You're injured in a way that makes this verb difficult.
+d2: You’re using an advantage.
Equipment Die
d4: Poor quality piece of
equipment.
d6: Typical piece of equipment.
d8: High quality piece of
equipment.
d10: Optimum piece of equipment.
-d2: Using the equipment in a way
that it wasn’t intended.
-d2: The equipment is damaged,
but still basically usable.
The presence of an adverb or relationship doesn’t add dice
to the pool, instead they each add a single automatic success to the final result.
(Any die that drops below a d4 cannot possibly obtain a 4 or higher as it's result, and is therefore eliminated).
Three D – The Roll
Roll the dice, every die that rolls 4 or higher earns a
success. If a die rolls 8, it earns an extra success. Any die rolling an even
number earns an advantage, any die rolling an odd number earns a disadvantage.
For an increased chance of success, you may spend two of
your character’s actions at once. If you do this, roll 2 of the designated verb
die and choose the more advantageous result.
Three E – Resistance?
If the target noun was another character, they may now use
one of their actions to make a statement. The make this statement using the
verb they are intending to use to avoid the effects directed at them (and any of
their adverbs, or nouns that might contribute to this resistance). They determine
and roll their dice; successes on 4s, double successes on 8s. Any resistance
successes cancel incoming successes on a 1-for-1 basis.
Three F – Result
Any successes not resisted now produce effects. One success
will accomplish a result, but in the case of more difficult tasks it might only
get some of the way toward completing the intended action. If extra successes
have been earned, above and beyond what the GM has designated necessary, they
may be used to add special effects, provide advantages to allies, or do something
else (I’m still thinking here, perhaps
different verbs have different “extra success” conditions, to make them each
unique in some way…perhaps that’s just getting a bit fiddly).
Four – Next Action
The character with the next highest number of available
actions acts. The same character may act twice in a row, but if they would act
three times in a row, they need to defer to someone else’s action before taking
any more.
I haven’t addressed the idea of backgrounds/relationships at
this stage of the core game mechanisms, because I haven’t decided whether to
add them in as an extra die, use them to give automatic successes to actions,
perhaps rerolls, or automatic advantage points at the start of a conflict where
their presence is justified.
I’m rapidly heading back to that area of game design where I
want a whole lot of detail, but I don’t want to bog down play to get there.
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