Further Deck of Void Design Work

Action Types and Matching type to Action

Action Types:
Hero, Scoundrel, Villain, Mind, Body and Hands

Players can double the value of a card that they play (see detail in the Deck of Void Section for details) if the card they play has an Action Type matching the action that they are attempting.

Actions can be defined in one of two ways, by their virtue, and by their method. By virtue we mean whether the action would be considered the action of a hero, a scoundrel or a villain. There is no hard and fast set of tables for this. The player will have to argue through storytelling why an action matches the virtue listed on the card that they are laying. If the storyteller agrees, then the value of the card is doubled for the attempted action.

If the player is matching their Avatar's method of resolving the action with the method listed on the card, then things are more straightforward. There are three methods defined: mind, body, and hands. Mind means that the method of resolution is primarily intellectual: involving thought, persuasion, charm, problem solving and so forth. Body means athletic performance, from feats of strength and endurance pain resistance and fasting. Hands mean learned skills, from automotive repair to juggling to swordplay.

As you read this you may be noticing grey areas and overlap. Yes, that's fine- it's up to the players to convince the storyteller through their own storytelling why the method matches. That's the point of this, to encourage storytelling not attempts to exploit loop holes and so forth.

Risky Actions, Bad Decisions and Sacrifice Plays

Risky Actions, Bad Decisions
and Sacrifice Plays

Players can boost their Avatar's chances of success by taking short term bonuses in exchange for penalties down the road. These take the form of four modifiers to actions: Foolish Optimism (described under difficulty and consequences), Risky Actions, Bad Decisions, and Sacrifice Plays.

Risky Actions.

Players may add up to +3 on any action by explaining how they taking some to boost their chances of success. This becomes a Story Element card with an identical value as a penalty that the Storyteller may apply later in a way that matches and/or relates to the risk taken.

Bad Decisions.

Players may transform a failed action into a Problematic Success in exchange for a Story Element that has an ongoing penalty affect that lasts until the remainder of the session unless the reversal is applied.

Sacrifice Play.

Players may voluntarily shatter their Aura- removing them from active gameplay for the remainder of the session- in exchange for an amazing success on an action.

Consequence Levels

Consequence Levels

Mild

• Attempt fails
• Apply an increase to difficulty level of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to later related action attempts
• Apply 1 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Ugly

• Attempt fails loudly and visibly
• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 2 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 2 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 2 to later related action attempts
• Apply 2 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Disastrous

• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 3 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 3 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 3 to later related action attempts
• Apply 3 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Apocalyptic

• Apply an increase to difficulty level on 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to subsequent attempts
• Apply a penalty of 1 to later related action attempts
• Apply 4 point of damage to Avatar Aura

Resolving Actions Step by Step

When a player is confronted by a challenge that requires them to spend resources, the storyteller will present it as follows:

Resolving Action:
Step By Step

Step One: The Scene is Set and Explained

• Scene is explained
• The Challenge level is written down and placed face down
• Challenge and  Consequence hints are given

Step Two: Players commit their play

• Active Player(s) lay down their cards
• Active Player(s) commit any Vajra they wish initially
• Active Player(s) decide if they wish to use any magick or artifact or similar
• Support Players may choose not to commit anything at this time with no penalty

Step Three: Storyteller draws card face up

• Card's value is noted
• Storyteller privately notes new total difficulty level

Step Four: Players whether or not to bolster

• Support Players may now elect to commit cards or Vajra to bolster
• Support Players may not also elect to use Magick or artifact or similar
• Active Player may not bolster

Step Five: Difficulty level is revealed, total difficulty is added up.

• Success or Failure Type is determined.
• Consequences are assessed.
• Active Player may commit Vajra to absorb damage to Aura

Step Six: Success or Failure Resolution

• If successful. Note degree of Success. Storyteller provided description of results
• If Success is Amazing, Storyteller includes explanation of additional success skipped
• If Success if Problematic, Storyteller adds new Story Element
• If a failure. Damage to Aura is applied.
• Additional complications are noted and described by Storyteller
• If Aura Shatters Supporting Players may attempt to reinforce the broken Aura by
• Committing Vajra
• Using relevant artifacts, magick or similar.

Difficulty Levels

Difficulty Levels

Possible

• 1 New. The task is unfamiliar to the player, but they have done similar and potentially harder things in the past.  
• 2 to 3 Untested. Beyond the player's current capabilities, but achievable in the near future, beginner's luck is entirely possible here.
• 4 Challenging. Beyond the player's current abilities and near future progress, but potentially achievable.

Impossible

• 5 to 7 Unbelievable. This would be difficult even for somebody trained to do exactly that.
• 8 to 9  Ridiculous. This would be difficult for an expert in the field.
• 10 Epic. This would be nearly impossible for the best in the world.
• 11 Ridiculous. This would be difficult for an expert in the field.
• 12 Legendary. This would be the equivalent of the first trans Atlantic flight, the first 4 minute mile, etc...

Beyond the Impossible

• 13+ BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE. This is simply not physically possible and could only happen in the Shadowlands.  

Too Difficult to Attempt

• NONE No task is too impossible in the Shadowlands!

Storytellers should never tell a player that an action cannot be attempted. After all, impossible is only the second category of difficulty in the Shadowlands!

Basic Action Resolution

Action Resolution

Basic Actions

Players may do anything in game that they are capable of doing in the real world, no resolution required. If you can run a marathon or bench press 200lbs or read Spanish in the real world, then you can do the same things in game. Period. Nothing else required.

If players wish do something beyond their capabilities, something they have never tried, or something completely foreign, then action resolution is required. The players must spend resources, cards from, their hands, vajra points or other story elements in order to hit the difficulty rating of the action. If they fail to meet the difficulty, the suffer the consequences of failure.

Success Types

• Amazing Success (Succeed by more than 3 points): Succeed and skip next challenge or generate positive Story Element
• Normal Success (Succeed by at least one point): Succeed
• Problematic Success (Succeed by tie): Succeed but generate new challenge or drawback (Generally a Story Element)

Difficulty levels, Consequence Levels and Opposed Actions

Tasks are assigned difficulty based on how far beyond the player's current ability the attempted task is.

The difficulty is divided into 3 categories: possible, impossible, beyond the impossible. The storyteller does not tell the players the difficulty beyond those three descriptors. Difficulty levels 1 through 4 are POSSIBLE. Difficulty levels 5 through 12 are IMPOSSIBLE. Difficulty levels 13 and above are BEYOND THE IMPOSSIBLE.

Once the story teller has told the players the category of difficulty, the exact level of difficulty is written down and placed face down. The Player(s) may then attempt the action by laying cards, spending points, and activating story elements.

The Storyteller will then explain the Consequence level, which is either MILD (1), UGLY (2), DISASTROUS (3), or APOCALYPTIC (4). If a characters fails, then the consequence is applied as a penalty in some way to the situation. The penalty may be added to the difficulty of attempting the action again, say as in picking a lock. The penalty may be applied to the character's avatar as damage (more on that later), say as in injuring ones self attempting to jump  up over a wall. the penalty may be applied as enhanced difficulty to later actions, say as in setting off an alarm that makes subsequent stealth attempts more difficult.

Players may choose to apply FOOLISH OPTIMISM to any action attempt where the consequence is not APOCALYPTIC. FOOLISH OPTIMISM, increases the Consequence level by one, and decreases the difficulty by one level (not one category, one level only).

If a player fails by more than two points, they suffer a consequence one level worse than they would otherwise have suffered.

Storytellers may set Difficulty and Consequence levels as they see fit, however a good rule is that in general a consequence should be around half the difficulty level.

If the action involves two individuals competing: fighting, debating, playing chess, racing, etc... then the difficulty level is determined slightly differently. The Storyteller will determine, after discussion with the involved parties, what the base difference in skill is best estimated as being. The person at a disadvantage experiences that disadvantage as a penalty. The difficulty level is then the other individual's total value played on the action. The consequence is still determined by the Storyteller.