Post by TDude in Action Die and Twists

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Here's one example I remember: The goblins were tasked with entering an orc camp that had previously been raided and pillaged by human adventurers. The goblins were to find any leftover treasure and bring it home. A palisade of wooden spears surrounded the camp, which I used as a barrier to get inside and as something for a Shrike Fly to impale goblins on (cool monster design, btw!).

Upon defeating the barrier, the goblins entered the camp to find a bunch of dead orcs being picked over by a murder of crows. I wanted to have the crows be disturbed by the goblins entering, and have a chance for them to fly up and swarm the goblins, cawing at them, and then flying away. I didn't want a full encounter with crows, I only wanted the goblins to have a chance to panic. It felt like a danger just for entering the area, which in hindsight maybe is an unfair situation to begin with? I didn't want to just declare they panic, either, so it felt like a danger roll without any action.

Do you think a grim favor roll would work here? Perhaps 1-2 means they panic, and a 6 means they get to be put into a good position somehow? Or do you think it sounds like an unfair situation to have something happen here before they have a chance to take an action in the area?

Narrative Dynamics4 years ago(+1)

Ah cool, I wouldn't do a grim favor there because then something bad happened to the players and they had no choice or decision point that led to it. I would just have the crows swarm them and and start picking at them aggressively. That puts the ball in the players' court. What do they do? If they want to drive them off, that's an action roll. Maybe they goblins will scare them crows off, but maybe they'll panic.

You can still resolve that in a single roll, rather than an extended conflict, but they players are driving the action. They know what's at risk and they have the opportunity to try avoid it. Maybe things will spiral from there, but maybe not. Alternately, if you just want to convey 'this place is scary' you can do that in your description, without touching the mechanics.

Your instinct not to inflict conditons without a roll is spot-on. Goblins mark conditions from failed rolls, or if the fourth turn ends and they haven't made camp. Conditions are pretty bad, and they snowball sometimes. Keep throwing problems at the goblins and you'll see conditions stack up quickly enough.

TDude4 years ago(+2)

Thanks for all the help. I ran the same adventure again, but this time for a different group. When I got to the crows, I did as you suggested, turning them into something to deal with immediately. I had the crows get up in their business and told them if they ignored the crows it would put them in a bad position, then asked what the first goblin what they wanted to do. On their action, I made the danger be that they would panic from the crows.

It worked great. It didn't change the tone, really, but the rules felt more fair to everyone, and it still made the crows take roughly the same amount of real time to deal with.

Thanks for making this game!

Narrative Dynamics4 years ago

Well done. Sounds like a fun session!

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