Craft and Luck at the Green Dragon

[Since the Blogger app caused an inadvertent repost of Narrative Adventures at the Green Dragon pub, the Green Dragon discussion continues with a close look at resolution. This minimalist mechanic is "balanced" because all outcomes are weighted around the middle – a fair roll indeed!]

Let us look at the table used to assess a character's skill and luck in a doubtful situation. This well worn table, somewhat revised, is consulted whenever characters take action according to their particular skills and abilities in a risky situation.

The player rolls two common tavern dice, and the professor interprets the result:

2-3... Horrible. This is often counted as a fumble or serious misfortune. In battle, the character may be severely wounded or even defeated.
4-5... Poor. An error or mishap. In battle, the character's guard is down and they may be wounded or forced to retreat.
6-8... Tolerable (6) to Fair (7) to Skillful (8). A tolerable to good outcome, usually interpreted broadly as the expected or middling result. In battle the character stands their ground and may wound their opponent.
9–10... Fine. A very good to excellent effort. In battle, a strong hit.
11–12... Marvelous to Exceptional. An outstanding result, often described as uncanny or elvish craft, combining exceptional skill and good fortune. The outcome is always decisive.

NOTES

• The professor rarely provides an adjustment, but often rules precisely according to the situation, especially in the 6–8 range. For instance, if a skilled hunter rolls a "5" while tracking a stag, this may not mean utter failure, but rather the tracks become muddled or pass through a tangled briar.
• When a character has a substantial advantage, the professor grants them an additional die to roll, and the player chooses the best pair. In the case of a crucial disadvantage, the professor chooses the worst pair instead!
• A 6 on any die is called the "crown" and grants an immediate advantage in the situation, in addition to the benefit of the current roll. Two "crowns", being a 12 in total, are greatly valued.
• A 1 on any die is called the "evil eye" and imposes a disadvantage in the situation, which may affect the next turn. Two evils eyes, 2 in total, are greatly feared as more than a mere mishap.
• Rolling a 1 and a 6 means the situation holds steady!

On some rolls, a "hazard" is included, representing the number to be rolled to avoid some threat or overcome a particular difficulty, thus:

7. Doubtful
8. Daunting
9. Desperate
10. Sheer chance!

If the player fails to roll greater than or equal the hazard, this does not always mean their character failed (unless, perhaps, they rolled 2 or 3), only that the danger was too great. For example, if a character is fording a raging river with a hazard of 8 and rolls 7, they are taking every precaution but still find themselves swept off their feet by the current.

Narrative adventures at the Green Dragon pub

#Repost#

A speculative sketch, loosely inspired by the (rumored?) free-form, improvised gaming of early designers and players. 

What if other great world-builders took this path?

A game and story at the Professor's table

Professor T--'s group meets at the Green Dragon pub at least once a week. They play a curious game, which resembles more a story or a piece of theatre, inspired by German "free" Kriegsspiel, and best described as a sort of guided adventure in an imaginary realm.

Materials required are: plentiful supplies of paper (exam booklets are common), pens, pencils, common dice, and occasionally chess pieces and chequers, to mark the places of all the participants in a combat.

Each of the players brings a notepad and a sheet of paper dedicated to their "character". On this sheet are many notes, including the character's name and particulars, their salient characteristics, story and lineage. There is also space for lore regarding the history of each kindred, intermixed with notes on quirks, such as the dwarfs' ability to light fires wherever needed, and snippets of common knowledge, including fragments of elvish legend. Room is set aside for lists of gear and other trinkets that the character carries. We have seen characters described as elves, dwarfs, burglars, woodsmen, rangers, knights, hunters, and wizards, among many others!

The professor also arrives with several notebooks, closely filled with extensive notes, glossaries, and background materials, and many maps and sketches.

When play begins, the professor outlines an intriguing situation, continuing an adventure that clearly started some time ago. Each player replies with their preferred course of action, and the professor then responds with whatever happens next, prompting another player to reply, and so on. Journeys, skirmishes, traps, discoveries, and many curious encounters are all resolved by discussion, plain common sense, and the turns of the story. If the players are wise and attentive, they will usually overcome such difficulties. If they are foolhardy or proud, then their situation will deteriorate.

From time to time the outcome of some action is at issue or more than reasonably uncertain, and then the professor will call for a roll of the dice, and perhaps consult one or more of the many small tables scattered among his notes. One table, labelled "Luck or Craft", is often referred to, thus:

2-3... Horrible
4-5... Poor
6-9... Tolerable -- well
10-12... Marvel. elvish! [sic]

When the dice roll, ones are to be feared, and called "the evil eye". Sixes are highly prized, and sometimes called "the crown".

A thoughtful player who demonstrates the great resolve (or skill) of their character, is sometimes permitted to roll three dice and tally the best two.

Brief and intense fights take place from time to time. Such skirmishes rarely continue for more than a few "turns", with the rare exception of protracted battles. The professor is not sentimental about armed combat, and such scenes are short and deadly. The players will usually prevail (although combat always involves rolls, and so an element of risk), but if they misjudge their position, challenge dreadful foes, press their luck too far, or succumb to blood-lust, even the strongest will fall, memorably.

Another curious table, much used, is kept at hand during such battles:
5... goblin, spider, wolf
6... orc or grt. goblin
7... man-at-arms, grt. orc
9... troll, giant, fell beast
10... capt., wyrm, wraith
12... drake, horror

Now and then, the professor will make a "secret roll" of his own design, to judge how things go by chance, or to see if the characters blunder into, or across, something unseen, or are taken by surprise, or put in an interesting situation by happenstance.

Character may indeed be dazed, poisoned, wounded, enchanted, wearied, and so forth, and must make note of these effects and bear the consequences until the matter is resolved.

When the adventure (or chapter) is concluded, it is time to rest, tend to wounds, and divide any treasures found.

Solo tinkering — Play all the Books

The Tinkerage has been experimenting with solo roleplaying as a way to test some of the freeform, light and Play the World concepts with house rules and designs.

One unexpected benefit of this approach, which could be brought to multiplayer games, is that you get to play not just your own system but ALL the RPG systems, and so one's collection of gaming books acquires new life when you're not tied to a single rules set. So far I've used Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay to generate careers and encounters, BareBones Fantasy to generate missions and locations, Blacksand for Advanced Fighting Fantasy for urban design, adapted Traveller to set up combat ranges, and so on. Now, all the careers, classes, spell-lists, and random mission, encounter, and reward generators scattered across a shelf of game books and systems become relevant and useful again, and help to generate a world and adventures I would never have picked from my own head.

The "system" is free-flowing and based on roll and read principles with other ideas I’ve used here, but structured enough to generate variety and surprises.

For characters, I pick or adapt a handful of basic characteristics from any system that inspires or feels right. In this case, Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Will. I roll 2d6 for each characteristic, and a 9+ is "+1" and an 11-12 is "+2"; a 5- would be "-1", but for the sake of playability I would discard a character with a net negative set of characteristics.

Then, from the career or class description (I used a Soldier from Warhammer, rolled at random) I choose a suitable 4-5 skills or talents, and allocate 6-7 points, with +2 the highest single rating.

The player character has 3 Hits, but experimentally I converted each "Hit" to 1d6 hit points, so rolling for a total from 3-18.

For example:
Corporal Angfire, Peasant, Soldier
Strength 6, Agility 9 (+1), Intellect 9 (+1), Will 8
3 Hits (12 hp)
+1 Fight, Cool, Dodge
+2 Marksman

In play, whenever the character is in a spot, a point where I, as player or GM, can't easily judge the outcome, I roll 2d6, and add any modifiers for the character:

• On 7+ the outcome is a bare success, enough to keep the scene moving. The character may still be in trouble.
• A roll of 9+ is decisive.
• 5- is a setback or failure. A hit in combat. 
• A 2-3 indicates severe negative consequences, such as a heavier hit.
• The target roll occasionally shifts to indicate situational risks or advantage, but it is is never less than 5+ or more than 9+.

Most combats are skirmishes, and so only the character rolls to attack and/or defend. If the combat were to be more dangerous or against a single, determined opponent, both sides would roll and compare totals.

As I said, the character's Hits are tallied by hit points, and so damage is also converted to a d6 roll, with armour reducing the hit points lost by a small amount (1–2 points for light to medium protection). Ordinary creatures and opponents just have a fixed number of Hits to take them down.

There are two other rolls I use to represent the uncertainty of a scene in a solo game:
Probability - what are the chances? (1d6):
Very likely 2+
Likely 3+
Possible 4+
Unlikely 5+
Very unlikely 6+

Situation - how good or bad is the current situation? (1d6):
1- Very Bad
2 - Bad
3 - Doubtful
4 - OK
5 - Good
6 - Excellent

So with a light framework and some inspiration it’s possible to play all the books.