Combat, penalties, and Sorcerer

[Michael S. Miller]

Okay, I may have bought it nine months ago, but I'm only test-driving the Sorcerer combat system now. I've hit some small but snags and am looking for help. I'm sure this has been covered somewhere before, but I confess my inability to find it. It has to do with applying penalties during Sorcerer combat.

Suppose we have Pete the Protagonist fighting with Anne the Antagonist. After bonuses and penalties, Pete rolls 3 dice and Anne rolls 5. Pete rolls 10, 4, 4.  Anne rolls 9, 9, 8, 5, 1. Thus, Pete acts first. Anne decides to suck it up and rolls one die for defense. She rolls a 6. Pete has 1 victory, thus Anne has 1 die of lasting penalties and 1 die of temporary penalties. Now it's Anne's turn.

Here's my first question: Do I get rid of two of Anne's already-rolled dice? If so, which ones? Or does she ditch the roll and re-roll three dice? If she re-rolls, does this affect the order of her action in combat?

Now to the second question: When Pete defends against Anne's attack, he can roll his full dice pool because he already went. Now, suppose he only had 3 dice the first time because he declared "I hit her" and I, like any good Sorcerer GM, slammed him with penalties. Suppose when he sees Anne's katana coming at him, he responds with "I fall backward, in super-slow-mo you can see that I've just missed the blade's deadly arc. It clips a lock of my hair as it wizzes past. I end up prone on the rain-soaked street looking up at her." Normally, I'd say this rates a +1 bonus, not a penalty. So, does Pete roll 3 dice (what he rolled at the beginning) or 5 (based on his new, improved declaration)?

Thanks,

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Michael,

Cool! I love questions.

... Anne has 1 die of lasting penalties and 1 die of temporary penalties. Now it's Anne's turn.
... Do I get rid of two of Anne's already-rolled dice? If so, which ones? Or does she ditch the roll and re-roll three dice? If she re-rolls, does this affect the order of her action in combat?

No re-rolling. The answer is clear: add the dice in question to Pete's roll. Don't have him re-roll either, just roll two more dice and set them alongside the ones he already has sitting there.

Now to the second question: ... suppose he only had 3 dice the first time because he declared "I hit her" and I, like any good Sorcerer GM, slammed him with penalties. Suppose when he sees Anne's katana coming at him, he responds with "I fall backward, in super-slow-mo you can see that I've just missed the blade's deadly arc. It clips a lock of my hair as it wizzes past. I end up prone on the rain-soaked street looking up at her." Normally, I'd say this rates a +1 bonus, not a penalty. So, does Pete roll 3 dice (what he rolled at the beginning) or 5 (based on his new, improved declaration)?

It depends on your GM-ness. One answer is emphatically "No." You are in the resolution phase, not in the announcement phase. All bonuses and penalties are over, it's time for down & dirty dice-rollin'.

Another answer is emphatically "Yes." The defense is effectively a new action and starts with Stamina, and it gets bonuses according to the description of the action. Just make sure that no one gets post-roll bonuses to their already-announced actions with retroactive descriptions.

Feel free to choose which GM you are. I tend toward the second.

Best,
Ron