mechanic: Trouble!

[anonymouse]

I know Orkworld has this as some foundation of its in-game society and probably mechanics as well, but since that apparently had some super-1337 printrun never to see the light of day again and, thus, is a bit hard to look over.. well, if I'm treading old ground here, let me know. ;p

So, after watching pirate movies tonight..

* Target Numbers set fairly high. Bonuses to your di(c)e roll (or extra cards drawn, coins flipped, whatever) come not from advantages - like being Really Great Swordsman or Super Smart - but from environmental adversity. There's a pirate behind me (+1!) with a loaded pistol (+5!) and the ship's on fire!! (+a whole lot!). So on.

Alternatively, you could run it as a sub-system. Determine your success like typical; if there's no adversity around, it's just Ho-Hum Success. The more obstacles you throw in the way, you go up the success scale.

The trick, then, is getting yourself deep enough into trouble to beat the current task without making it impossible to finish the next one.

[Ben Morgan]

* Target Numbers set fairly high. Bonuses to your di(c)e roll (or extra cards drawn, coins flipped, whatever) come not from advantages - like being Really Great Swordsman or Super Smart - but from environmental adversity. There's a pirate behind me (+1!) with a loaded pistol (+5!) and the ship's on fire!! (+a whole lot!). So on.

That is an extremely cool idea. Simulationists will groan (or call for your head), but fans of swashbuckling action will love it. And I just finished watching Pirates of the Carribean about ten minutes ago.

Alternatively, you could run it as a sub-system. Determine your success like typical; if there's no adversity around, it's just Ho-Hum Success. The more obstacles you throw in the way, you go up the success scale.

This is kinda similar to Raises in L5R and 7th Sea. The particulars of the adversity add to the difficulty of the task, but the results are that much more spectacular.

Trouble in the Orkworld sense is not quite the same thing (Oddly enough, all three are John Wick games). Speaking as someone who happens to be carrying their Orkworld book to work every day so as to peruse it again during lunch, I can tell you a little about Trouble.

Orks see Trouble as a living, sentient entity, and it doesn't like them very much. Boasting and arrogance are frowned upon, as the arrogant Ork is seen as attracting Trouble's attention, because it's like saying "hey, I don't have enough problems, I need some more." When an Ork succeeds at something particularly daring (or stupid), the common saying is "Trouble blinked."

Mechanically, when you accumulate Trouble, the GM can opt to spend a point of your Trouble at any time to make you fail a roll. Also, when an opposed roll ends in a tie, the one with the most Trouble loses (and monsters don't earn Trouble).

-- Ben

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Ben, explain it more completely. There are a lot of ways to use Trouble during Orkworld play. Here are only the ones I remember. Since you're book-in-hand man, at the moment, help me complete the list.

Just to clarify to Michael, in Orkworld, Trouble points are dice.

Earning Trouble:
player behavior (whining e.g.), boasting (in or out of character)

Using Trouble:
forcing a roll-failure, choosing who gets whacked when there's no particular reason for a foe (or environmental feature) to choose a target

When a Trouble-point is used, it goes away. So you're always cycling some in and some out.

Also, a given ork can only "carry" so much Trouble. After reaching a certain amount, he or she must give the excess to a companion to carry it for them.

And as I recall, didn't Trouble have something to do with the reward system, too? I'll check.

As you can see, Author Stance is a major issue in this game.

Best,
Ron

[Callan S.]

*snip*
The trick, then, is getting yourself deep enough into trouble to beat the current task without making it impossible to finish the next one.

Interesting. I'd like to see a chocolate wars mechanic. Remember that book where the local mafia like bullys in the school would think up evil pranks and force other kids to do them. BUT, the catch was that the guy who thought it up had to reach into a black box with seven marbles. One was black, the rest white. If he got a black one, HE had to do the prank...so he'd never go over the top. I'd like to see that as the trick...don't stack the problems too high or you might have to deal with the whole lot!!

[Ben Morgan]

Trouble:

John's actually fairly loosey-goosey about the Trouble mechanics. They read almost like suggestions of how to use the concept, and sort of implying that you can make up your own versions as well.

He suggests handing out a Trouble Die whenever someone whines about the rules.

Or instead of everyone starting with 1 Trouble die, you could secretly roll for each character before the game for how much Trouble they *really* have. Then instead of handing out Trouble Dice, simply grin from time to time, and scribble something down, and let the players worry whether you just gave them another Trouble die, or you're just writing notes about what you want on the pizza.

Critical Mass for Trouble is 2x your Zhoosha (closest thing Orkworld has to Character Level). Any more than that gets splashed all over your tribemates. John suggests the possibility of making the player decide who gets the extra.

You could use players' Trouble dice as Bonus Dice for whatever monsters they're fighting.

You could use players' Trouble Dice as tokens to introduce complications in a scene. Spend a Trouble Die, and that troll they're fighting just called for help, and became a family of trolls.

He suggests getting some kind of small potted plant, and "planting" your evil-looking Trouble Dice around the base, as your own small version of the legendary Tree of Troubles.

And yes, when an arrow is fired into a crowd, the Ork with the most Trouble is the one that gets hit.

As a footnote, the advancement system centers around the Tala (bard) telling the Thraka's stories, and they earn Fana based on how good the stories are.

-- Ben