Pulling Crazy Stunts in CAH

[Derek Devlin]

Hi.

I’m new to the forum and CAH but when I saw the game’s subject matter and names like Jared Sorensen and John Wick appearing in the forums, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I love games that are cinematic, adventurous, simple, and give you lots of room to create. CAH certainly matches those criteria. It even meshes nicely with other RPGs like Feng Shui and 7th Sea, who have similar rules concerning fighting goons and heroic efforts.

I’ve only read the Playset rules so far, but I was wondering about the use of stunts in CAH. When your character wants to do something that isn’t quite covered by the rules, do you need to have an SA that allows you to bend the rules in that specific situation, or does the GM just tack on a few extra points of Difficulty?

Example 1: Dragon Damsel and her fellow heroes of Iconia have been lured into a trap at the Drake’s Dinner Tavern. While the melee rages, Dragon Damsel finds herself in the path of a charging Bonehead and Prymal! The wily Battle Princess decides to leap into the air, do a twisting somersault over the charging villains, and kick off their backs into a backflip dismount, sending the hapless baddies through the tavern’s front window. Does she need a Somersault Attack SA, does she face a Difficulty of 8 rather than 5, or does she roll Athletics for the flip and take a penalty on the Unarmed Attack for doing multiple actions?

Example 2: Derek Devlin, Hollywood stuntman turned 1930s pulp adventurer, is tussling with the nefarious Black Jack Tannenbaum in a castle in Scotland. Twirling his handlebar moustache, Jack whips a savate kick at Derek’s head as a column of guards storms into the room. Derek, naturally, wants to dodge the kick, but he wants to dodge in such a way that Jack will hit the guard at the head of the column and knock them all down like dominos. Then Derek can pull a tapestry down on Black Jack and dive out the window into the moat. How is all of that handled?

I’d like to do some one-shots of CAH with the players playing Saturday morning versions of their characters someday(in the hopes of getting them interested in a series), but knowing them they’ll still want to do stunts aplenty. So any insight would be appreciated.

Derek Devlin

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Cartoon Action Hour is all about crazy stunts!  In fact, just today, I started polishing up some guidelines and rules for several cartoony "tidbits", like pulling carpet out from under your opponents feet, noggin-knockers, swinging an opponent around by the tail then hurling him and so forth.  This section is a last-minute (but playtested) add-on that we originally yanked due to space limitations but are now re-inserting.

You don't need an SA to pull off a crazy stunt/maneuver.  That said, you CAN create SAs that represent maneuvers the character uses often, but it's not required.  

I hope this helps.

[Eddy Fate]

Just to offer my personal opinions on your specific examples.  :-)

Example 1: Dragon Damsel and her fellow heroes of Iconia have been lured into a trap at the Drake’s Dinner Tavern. While the melee rages, Dragon Damsel finds herself in the path of a charging Bonehead and Prymal! The wily Battle Princess decides to leap into the air, do a twisting somersault over the charging villains, and kick off their backs into a backflip dismount, sending the hapless baddies through the tavern’s front window. Does she need a Somersault Attack SA, does she face a Difficulty of 8 rather than 5, or does she roll Athletics for the flip and take a penalty on the Unarmed Attack for doing multiple actions?

Any of the above, and it really depends on the tone of the series.  If I were running a slightly darker game, like Dark Brigade, I would make the flip a Move action, so the Unarmed Attack would be at -3.  If I were running something more heroic (like Iconia), I would just consider it flavor.  If you bought the SA, you'd probably either do more damage, have the range built in, have a bonus to your roll, or all of the above!

Example 2: Derek Devlin, Hollywood stuntman turned 1930s pulp adventurer, is tussling with the nefarious Black Jack Tannenbaum in a castle in Scotland. Twirling his handlebar moustache, Jack whips a savate kick at Derek’s head as a column of guards storms into the room. Derek, naturally, wants to dodge the kick, but he wants to dodge in such a way that Jack will hit the guard at the head of the column and knock them all down like dominos. Then Derek can pull a tapestry down on Black Jack and dive out the window into the moat. How is all of that handled?

Personally, I would have him make a dodge roll (Athletics IIRC), and then make a Goon Factor roll with a -3.  If successful, the goons fall from the toe of their own boss!  Then, you can either look up the "garbage can over villain's head" rules, or just make an Unarmed Combat roll against Jack that immobilizes him instead of doing damage.

I’d like to do some one-shots of CAH with the players playing Saturday morning versions of their characters someday(in the hopes of getting them interested in a series), but knowing them they’ll still want to do stunts aplenty. So any insight would be appreciated.

Honestly, if its just for a fun one shot, I would avoid the -3 modifier unless it's very obviously two actions.  Just let them narrate crazy stuff, pick a Trait that's appropraite, and let 'em roll!

Derek Devlin

Hey!  You're just like that guy in Example 2!  ;-)