Ygg right now Part 2

[Christoffer Lernö]

More Ygg elements

Skill resolution
Riskbreakers*
Combat resolution
Inspiration*

Skill resolution

Skill resolution is simple. You check what your stat says. If the stat is equal to the Challenge of the task you have 50-50 chance of succeeding. Roll 1D6, succeed on 4-6, fail on 1-3.

If you have above the Challenge you automatically succeed, if below you automatically fail.

If quality is needed, you simply roll 1D6. Result is considered Stat.D6, so rolling 5 with a stat of 6, your performance is 6.5. For more detail, additional D6's may be rolled: Rolling another die for 3 gives 6.53 and so on.

If you'd automatically succeed you can use some points "left over" to improve quality or other things. For example my skill is 5 and the challenge is 3. I can use 1 point to improve the quality with a sure success or use 2 points and improve it by 2 but you have to roll a D6 (50-50 roll) to see if you manage to get those points, otherwise you default to 1 point.

1 point of Weird can be used to convert a D6 roll into a 6 instead of what was rolled.

Riskbreakers*

Riskbreakers* are extra skill points working on a need-to-use basis. If you have at least 1 riskbreaker point and the challenge is exactly one step above the current skill (usually defaulting to the stat), you can use Riskbreaking.

By putting in a riskbreaking point you can get a chance to improve the skill "on the fly".

For example, I want to jump the chasm which has a challenge of 5. I have skill 4, so no way I can jump it. But I have riskbreakers left. I use one riskbreaker point and then roll a 50-50 roll. If I make it, I just got over that chasm and my skill at jumping chasms just increased by 1. Otherwise just pray I have some Weird left.

If I fail I get to retain the riskbreaker point(s) but I can't try to pay riskbreakers on this type of skill again until I go up a level.

You can also put in more riskbreaker points to stack the odds. For every extra riskbreaker point you put in you get another die. Discard the lowest dice. However, if the riskbreaking succeeded these extra points are used up as well.

Combat Resolution

The quick take on combat is that you roll a D12 and then check if that beats the target number of 7-Your Skill+Opponent Skill.

But that's not the whole story. There's the margin of success too.

If you rolled a margin less than 2 you just do a standard attack. Of course if you declared that you hit him in the eyes or something that might not be totally successful. You can chose to either have it considered dodged or parried, or default to a standard attack at no extra cost.

If you have a margin of 2 or more, then we're talking! You can do all sorts of stuff with that. Sweep, trip, hit the groin or the eyes. Basically you can choose a special type of basic move here (sweep/throw, aimed, grab, lock (if you're already grabbing), disarm, aimed attack, and so on). Anyone can do that, no special skill required.

To see the actual result of the action, a simple skill resolution is done. For example you grab the opponent ok, but do you really hold him? Use Strength vs. Strength in the skill resolution.

With training there are bonuses to these tests so you can actually grab and throw stronger and heavier opponents.

With a margin of 2 you can also do a simple special move*. A special move might be a sweep with extra damage or something. Look at the rules for that for details.

Actually you can do the same thing improvising, but you need more margin. To do a standard special move improvising you need a margin of 4, not of 2. And for the next step you need 8 and not 4. Cost is doubled*.

Anyway, with a margin of 4 you can do the 3 keyword special moves, margin 6, 4 keywords and so on.

However, as far as dictating what happens, a margin of 2 is sufficient. However, extra damage effects requires margins to be allowed.

For example, I might be able to trip up the Ogre with my attack at a margin of 2, but I can't make it take extra damage for slamming into the wall off balance unless the margin is 4. However, I can still get the "into the wall off balance" at margin of 2 if I don't care about that extra damage thing.

Inspiration*

Inspiration is something which allows the character to perform beyond his/her level because of strong emotional reasons.

Reasons can be:
Close to death with an intense fear of Dying
Loss or threat of Loss of a Loved One
Intense Rage or Hatred

To get to use inspiration the player tells the GM what he/she's drawing inspiration from. It's up to the GM to decide if that is enough. You can only be inspired once from a reason during a single scene, but you can use inspirations for different reasons to actually get more than one inspiration roll during a scene.

There are two situations of using inspiration: one is in combat to increase the combat margin. The second is using it to increase the skill during skill resolution.

The former gives 1D6 extra (reroll and add a roll of 6!) points of margin to a successful attack.

The skill use, is giving the character immediately 1D3 extra points of skill for the sake of this single test. What happens is that the action is declared and considered initiated and then the bonus die is rolled, not the other way around.

Succeeding with skills this way doesn't imply any increas in skill for the action, unlike the Riskbreaker methods.

(note that the values of the dice are in no way verified as being well balanced, it's just something to give you a sense of where I'm going with the modification)

[Palaskar]

If quality is needed, you simply roll 1D6. Result is considered Stat.D6, so rolling 5 with a stat of 6, your performance is 6.5. For more detail, additional D6's may be rolled: Rolling another die for 3 gives 6.53 and so on.

Maybe you should use a d10 here instead of a d6, or alter the way detail is represented to something like 6+D5+D3, where "D" stands for detail.

If you have above the Challenge you automatically succeed, if below you automatically fail.

I like this. I used a practically identical way in one version of Signature; The Ladder and Aurora also do this. It's simple, yet plausible.

By putting in a riskbreaking point you can get a chance to improve the skill "on the fly".

You should mention how Riskbreakers are gained, both in chargen and in gameplay. Are they the sole method of improving skill? (I think it'd be neat if they were...adds a nice dramatic element.) And how often are they gained? (Obviously, you don't want to be handing them out right and left if they can improve skill points with a single use...I was imagining something along the lines of 1 to 3 per adventure.)

If I fail I get to retain the riskbreaker point(s) but I can't try to pay riskbreakers on this type of skill again until I go up a level.

Oh, woops, missed this part. You should put it more towards the beginning of the Riskbreakers section, it's very important.

Inspiration is something which allows the character to perform beyond his/her level because of strong emotional reasons.

You should take a look at Pendragon and the Riddle of Steel. Pendragon uses Passions like...um, lemme break out my copy so you don't have to buy it....ah, here we go...Loyalty(lord), Love(family), Hospitality, Honor, Loyalty (King Arthur), Loyalty (vassals), Loyalty (group), Amor (chaste love for love's sake), Love (amor), Love (spouse), Love (God), Hate, and Fear.

As for the Riddle of Steel, you're probably better off asking in the forum here than me. TRoS uses a variety of  Spiritual Attributes like Destiny, Faith, Passion and Conscience, which can all be used like Inspiration if the circumstances are appropriate.

Oh, BTW, Pendragon also has rules that you can be lead astray by your Passions, sort of like d6 Star Wars temptation to the Dark Side.

Palaskar

[Christoffer Lernö]

If you have above the Challenge you automatically succeed, if below you automatically fail.

I like this. I used a practically identical way in one version of Signature; The Ladder and Aurora also do this. It's simple, yet plausible.

Yeah, but it took me a little time to accet it myself! I even discussed the pros and cons in a thread although at that time the mechanics were still a little hazy. It might be interesting to see what people's objections were.

You should mention how Riskbreakers are gained, both in chargen and in gameplay. Are they the sole method of improving skill? (I think it'd be neat if they were...adds a nice dramatic element.)

Not entirely, I want people to be able to do stuff like "ok, I hole up in the mage's library and read up on the Ruins of Kundakurr" for which the character is awarded "Read some about the Ruins of Kundakurr" as a descriptor.

Oh, woops, missed this part. You should put it more towards the beginning of the Riskbreakers section, it's very important.

This was something I only wrote up for the forge and my site. Don't worry, in the final draft I make it stand out more :)

You should take a look at Pendragon and the Riddle of Steel. Pendragon uses Passions like...um, lemme break out my copy so you don't have to buy it....ah, here we go...Loyalty(lord), Love(family), Hospitality, Honor, Loyalty (King Arthur), Loyalty (vassals), Loyalty (group), Amor (chaste love for love's sake), Love (amor), Love (spouse), Love (God), Hate, and Fear.

Yeah, I played Pendragon. Something I'm a little concerned about is "do I have to make it formalized?" I mean in Pendragon there is some importance as to the drift of your passions and if I understand TROS then it similarly keeps track of them.

I'm not entirely convinced that I need to do the same. I'm just thinking of letting the players make them up as they go along. Do they really need to be formalized and written down, or does the more vague version of them work?

Since I come a little from the anime angle, you could see my inspirations as more like a "Rage/Desperate Move" than some noble passions inspiring the character.

I'm interested to know how people feel about that.

[Palaskar]

You should mention how Riskbreakers are gained, both in chargen and in gameplay. Are they the sole method of improving skill? (I think it'd be neat if they were...adds a nice dramatic element.)


Not entirely, I want people to be able to do stuff like "ok, I hole up in the mage's library and read up on the Ruins of Kundakurr" for which the character is awarded "Read some about the Ruins of Kundakurr" as a descriptor.

Good point, I didn't think of that.

Something I'm a little concerned about is "do I have to make it formalized?" I mean in Pendragon there is some importance as to the drift of your passions and if I understand TROS then it similarly keeps track of them.

I'm not entirely convinced that I need to do the same. I'm just thinking of letting the players make them up as they go along. Do they really need to be formalized and written down, or does the more vague version of them work?

Since I come a little from the anime angle, you could see my inspirations as more like a "Rage/Desperate Move" than some noble passions inspiring the character.

No, not for this game, anyway. Your Traits/Descriptors/etc. seem to be very broad, so I don't think it'd fit the tone of the game to have formal Inspirations.

Don't write off passions completely, just the Pendragon style ones. I remember Terry Bogart in the Final Fight II anime movie gaining strength from the death of his girlfriend, so passions aren't unknown to the genre -- just Pendragon style ones.