Sorcerer & Sword - Collaboration in Action

[Nev the Deranged]

Well, one of the core concepts in Sorcerer (and I apologize because I started reading this thread from the Sorcerer website and thus assumed it was related to it) is that when you succeed at a task, the number of "victories" you won (IE high dice rolls) become bonus dice to roll on the next action, assuming it can be logically chained together somehow.

 One example given is that if you want to assassinate someone, you may roll on the social traits to win their trust, and the better job you do at that, the more bonuses you'll have to the physical trait rolls when you go to stab them in the back; by virtue of their relaxed vigilance or whatever.

 Sorcerer & Sword goes so far as to extend this idea over larger distances both physically and temporally.  

 If your buddy tries to distract that cave troll you're facing?  The better a distraction they provide, the better bonus you get to your combat rolls.  

 If your partner is trying to decipher the ancient scrawlings on the map to avoid the trapped door... the better result they get when rolling to comprehend it, the better bonus you get to avoiding it.

 This idea can be used for almost anything, and it's ideal for promoting cooperation and teamwork; especially when you create obstacles that are simply too insurmountable to overcome without them.

 There were more specific ideas on teamwork scenarios in my other post too, in case you missed it.  One of my best ideas, I think =>

[Mithras]

A short post just to let you know that things have improved. Everyone's help was appreciated! After the horribly rushed wargamey ending I told the group I'd be running something non-violent - no fighting of any kind. The two girls immediately said "yes!" which speaks volumes. The boys said "but what about X or Y or Z" but I insisted.

This week two of the three boys were playing a school footie match and couldn't join us, so the two girls and one of the boys had the pleasure of my non-violent game. Non-violent is a misnomer. There is violence, and terror - there's just nothing you can do about it except get away.

I'm running what amounts to Jurassic Park 4 - but the kids don't know it yet. They enthusiastically created 13 year old US teenagers using a basic 'what are you good at at school and what are your hobbies' chargen. The game began with them crashing into 'some jungle clad mountain' on the way back from a field trip to the Galapagos on a science expedition. They don't know that its one of those Jurassic Park islands near Costa Rica.

The session was in two action packed halves that totally absorbed them. The first was trying to retrieve survival gear from the wrecked plane as it slid ever nearer to a cliff edge. The second involved them climbing down that cliff after the plane went over the edge, using less than enough rope to reach the bottom. Queue ingenuity, imagination, cool die rolls and near death experiences.

Very nice!

Now when the two lads get back to the game .... we'll see :)

THe good thing about this setting is that you are truly powerless against the dinosaurs, and also that the players KNOW that.

I predict more tension in the forthcoming weeks. I'm happy again!