Donjon

[Bailywolf]

The "AND" variant would create a slightly different dynamic.  Another way of making the cost of a fact well worth it might be to double damage effect (especialy for a gritty, blood and rust game).

Say like so:

You roll your "Smash Puny Humans" ability, and manage a nice 5 success result.  You decide to put the hurt down on your puny human enemy, and spend 1 success for a fact "My deadly fist splinters his shoulder bones, crippling his sword-arm and making movement painful" you basic Adroitness damage effect.  So now you roll your 4 attack success over into both your damage roll, but the successes here hurt both Adroitness and Flesh Wounds.  2 for the price of one, as it were.  This would make facts VERY valuable in combat.

Another possibility (as suggested above) is to give fighter types "Combat Words" or some such... use these words in your Fact descriptions to get the above doubleing damage effect (in the above example, the attacker might have "deadly" as a combat word).

Using the magic system to represent martial arts techniques is very easy and satisfactory, requiring no modification at all... perhaps a note on how "magic" need not be actual mystical ability exactly... a bladesmaster type with "Strike", "Stance", "Parry", and "Reposte" words would be very cool.

I would like to see some more examples using the rules as-is on how to milk combat Facts to greater effect... can you say declare you have disarmed an oponent with a Fact?  Would a disarm (or a weapon break or such) require a certain number of successes?  I could see making Boolean facts which have a yes-or-no value (wither you have the sword or you don't) cost an amount equal to a victim's Adroitness (or something)...  

Do temporary penalties to attributes or abilities require buying Facts?  Say you want to trip an enemy so his next defense rolls against you will be penalized until he can regain his feet... how to run this?  By simply rolling attack succeses to penalize your enemy's next defense action?  how long would this last?  Would he automaticaly regain his feet after his next action?  What about inflicitng non-damaging, but persistent penalties on an enemy?  

 Perhaps Fighter types could use their combat successes to buy targets and duration like a spellcaster?  (with a practical max of a handful or a scene?)  Spend a few successes to increase the number of targets you can nail with an attack, and then you have a very nice whirlwind attack (this is another option I am playing for a more anime-style Donjon).

A more generalized effect table might be in order, with a die cap on mundane actions (say, you need magic to spend more than 4 dice on effect).    



ONe thing I would like some clarity on though- what is the difference in descriptive action and success-bought facts?  I'm a bit hazy here... who narates the visuals for a basic attack with no successes spent on facts?  And just where is the line between fact and color?

[Alan]

Hi Clinton,

Youir examples are helpful.  Perhaps I limited myself with old bad habits.  I certainly took advantage of my Sense Threat skill, but when it came to combat, I just focused on the damage mechanic.

Incidentally, is there a basic irony to Donjon?  It's designed to be gamist, the 1 Success = 1 Fact rule would make a great core mechanic for a narrativist game.  

Can I use it?

- Alan

[Mike Holmes]

Can I use it?

Yer too late (sombody around here already stole it for a game called Synthesis)!

But that said, one cannot prevent another designer from using a particular mechanic. So go ahead, sounds like a good idea. Nice of you to do the ethical thing and ask, however. Really.  :-)

Mike

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Alan,

Mike's right - but thanks for asking. Use it as you see fit.

Re: Donjon and irony. I don't really like that word because it's overused and misused, usually at the same time. Donjon is not what it seems to be, though: to a cutting-edge dude, it might look edgy and satirical, and they play it and realize, "Damn, this dungeon crawling thing was fun." To a long-time D&D player, they might think, "This is some sort of weird pervy clap-trap, but looks funny," and after play, they might think, "Hey - this was actually fun, and totally in the spirit of my D&D game."

I hope that's how it turns out, anyway.

[Alan]

Mike's right - but thanks for asking. Use it as you see fit.

I'll have to check out this "Synthesis" game.

Re: Donjon and irony. I don't really like that word because it's overused and misused

I know.  I'm always careful to use it in the dictionary sense: something that expresses one thing, but has an opposing subtext. I meant that I think the narrativist nature of 1 success = 1 fact is in  contrast with the gamist intent of Donjon.  

- Alan