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elenie5 days ago

I've played 1.5 sessions of Toil & Trouble (one had to be cut short) and it is a lovely game! 

I do have two rules question around spells.
1. When casting a spell, you exhaust the current die and describe what you want to accomplish. Then you roll for the new spell slot (so far so good). But this is where we were divided on what happens: "If the number you rolled has been exhausted before, your spell will have a complication determined by the GM." Does the complication affect the current spell the player is trying to cast, or will it affect the spell that matches the number that was just rolled (i.e. the previously exhausted spell, when it comes back into play)? Similarly for the boon, is that basically a "success with extra" for the current spell?

2. When casting the spell in (say) slot 1, what happens if I roll 1 when rolling for the new spell slot? If I am reading the rules correctly, the spell is already exhausted and it will cause a complication.

I hope to play Toil and Trouble again one day and ty for making and sharing the game <3

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FeatherForge Games4 days ago (2 edits)

Thank you so much for trying it out, I love to hear that! I'm working on a revision that should clarify some rules and I'll make sure these questions are covered there too.


1. The complication affects the spell you had just cast.

So let's say Spell #2 and #3 are exhausted and my spell dice are on 1 and 6. When I cast spell #1, I would first  exhaust spell #1. Then I roll that die. If the  result is a 1, 2, or 3, then the spell #1 I just cast would have a complication. If the result is a 4 or 5, the spell works as intended.

If the result is a 6, the spell works as intended AND you get to unexhaust a spell AND you can set that die to any number that isn't 6 (That's the rules definition of a "boon",  but it can also be "things go better than expected" in the story.)


2. Yes, if you roll the same number as the spell you just cast, there is always a complication.

When you cast a spell, you always exhaust before rolling. For your example: whether or not spell #1 has been exhausted before you decide to cast the spell, it will always be exhausted when you roll to check for complications.

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elenie4 days ago

Thank you so much! I'll keep it in mind for that next time ^^

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