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Author Topic: Courage as Currency  (Read 2172 times)

Age of Fable

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Courage as Currency
« Reply #15 on: January 10, 2009, 06:37:52 AM »
Quote from: Ian Absentia;277858
Yes, very Gordian Solution-y of you, AoF.  Might it also provide a bonus if your Courage rating exceeds the Peril/Threat rating by a sufficient degree?!i!


For monsters that are way under, I'd have a small penalty until someone was wounded (because you underestimate them).
free resources:
Teleleli The people, places, gods and monsters of the great city of Teleleli and the islands around.
Age of Fable 'Online gamebook', in the style of Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf and Fabled Lands.
Tables for Fables Random charts for any fantasy RPG rules.
Fantasy Adventure Ideas Generator
Cyberpunk/fantasy/pulp/space opera/superhero/western Plot Generator.
Cute Board Heroes Paper 'miniatures'.
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Dungeon generator for Basic D&D or Tunnels & Trolls.

Age of Fable

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Courage as Currency
« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2009, 08:37:15 AM »
An idea that I saw was to have a Willpower attribute. If you wanted, you could roll a dice. This improved your roll by the result, but lowered your Willpower by the same amount. You recovered Willpower whenever you recovered Stamina (basically hit points).

You could easily add other mechanisms on to that (eg roll a certain number on dice + your Willpower or suffer a penalty, Western-style 'staredowns', losing Willpower for various reasons).

EDIT: This could also be used to create mechanical rewards/penalties for role-playing where they don't currently exist.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2009, 01:03:12 AM by Age of Fable »
free resources:
Teleleli The people, places, gods and monsters of the great city of Teleleli and the islands around.
Age of Fable 'Online gamebook', in the style of Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf and Fabled Lands.
Tables for Fables Random charts for any fantasy RPG rules.
Fantasy Adventure Ideas Generator
Cyberpunk/fantasy/pulp/space opera/superhero/western Plot Generator.
Cute Board Heroes Paper 'miniatures'.
Map Generator
Dungeon generator for Basic D&D or Tunnels & Trolls.

vgunn

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Courage as Currency
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2009, 11:15:37 AM »
Okay what about this:

With my system you roll 2d6 (reroll and add double to score) and trait and any relevant talents, equal or beat a difficulty number for success.

Trait score for a player is from 1-12, talent scores go from 1-6, there can be special conditions which can also provide positive/negative modifier.

A character can never have more than 12 points of Courage (or have less than zero) at any one time in the game.

Difficulty Ratings

Description Number Threat
Effortless 3 (0)
Easy 6 (1)
Routine 9 (2)
Challenging 12 (4)
Formidible 15 (6)
Hard 18 (8)
Nearly Impossible 21 (10)
Epic 24 (12)

Success

A character only needs to equal the Difficulty number of the Test to achieve a success. However, if the result beats the Difficulty by a significant margin additional success is awarded. Each time the result exceeds the next Difficulty number an additional success is awarded. Successes carry a number of different benefits for a character and will be explained in detail later in the chapter. For most attempts all you will need is a single success. There are times, however, that the Narrator may require more than one success for an action to succeed. For example, Gandalf is searching for a manuscript in the achieves of Minas Tirith and must pass a Routine Test (9) to locate the tome, but deciphering the text within he will need 3 Successes—effectively making the attempt Formidible. Not achieving the required successes does not mean that Gandalf failed, he found the book but was not, however, able to read the obscure writings within.

Foes and Perils have a Threat level from 1 to 12. A character who does not have enough Courage will suffer a penalty equal to the difference equal his Courage and the Threat level (a character with more Courage than the Threat will have a bonus equal to the difference). For example, a Character with 6 Courage is attempting to ford a danger river which has a Threat of 8. He may attempt to cross, but will suffer a -2 on the Test if he does. Further, the margin of Failure results in the number of Courage points he will lose as well as any consequences imposed by the Peril. So if you attempt to cross the river, but Fail badly suffering 3 Failures, you lose 3 Courage points and in addition will endure any consequences from your action. A character with more Courage than the Threat will have a bonus equal to the difference.

Example of Player vs a Peril:

Player has 4 Courage, the Peril for the river is rated 8. A -4 penalty is applied to the roll. The player has a Hroä (Sindarin for Body) score of 6 and Talents; Strong (3) and Agile (2) giving him a total of 11. A Hard Test is required (18 or higher to Succeed), 2d6 are rolled with a -4 penalty. The player rolls a 9 -4 which is reduced to a 5. Add the 11 from his Trait and Talents and the total is 16. The test is Failed, but not badly—only 1 Failure. The player loses 1 Courage point and suffers the lowest of three Consequences of the Peril—in this case, exhaustion and a temporary -1 to all actions involving Hroä for the next hour. The character can attempt to cross again, but now has 3 Courage and would have a -5 penalty and his Hroä down a point to 5 as well.

Assume the river crossing is much less of a challenge, carrying a Peril rating of 3. The character has 4 Courage and will have a +1 to the Test. He rolls a 7 +1 for an 8. With a Threat of only 3, the Test is considered Routine and only a 9 is needed for Success. Add 11for Trait and Talents and his score is 18. The character passes with 4 Successes. 3 Successes reduces the Peril to 0, so the river is crossed. 1 Success is turned into a point of Courage, raising his total to 5.

Now lets go back to the original situation with the Peril of 8. The character rests for an hour to regain his lost point due to exhaustion and takes another hour summoning back his point of Courage. So two hours later he is ready to try again. The original situation still applies and he will be at -4. However, he can choose to spend some or all of his Courage to offset the penalty. He spends 3 points and the penalty is reduced to -1 (his Courage is now 1). He rolls doubles (fours) and gets to roll again getting a 5 (8+5-1=12). The 12 is added to 11 for a total of 23. This is 2 Successes. The Peril is reduced to 6. His Courage however is only a 1, so he will now have a -5 penalty—but the Test has become somewhat easier (a 15 is needed to pass). He rolls doubles again (threes) and rerolls a 6 (6+6-5=7). His 11 is totaled to 7 for a score of 18, gaining another 2 Successes. The Peril is further reduced to 4. He will have a -3 penalty, but the Test has become easier once again (a 12 is needed to pass). Player rolls a 4 (4-3=1) and adds 11 for a total of 12. He passes with 1 Success. The Peril is now a 3 (9 is needed to pass). The character is making slow, but steady progress across the dangerous river. With a penalty of -2, rolls a 10 (10-2=8) and adds 11 for a score of 19. This is 4 Successes and the Peril is reduced to 0. He makes it across ! He also gets 1 point of Courage back for the extra Success bringing him up to 2, he will regain his other two points back as time passes.

Thoughts?