|
Oct 17, 2013 - 06:43 PM |
|
|
Pt. 4: Cunning Stunts! |
|
|
What is a stunt? In the context of most tabletop RPGs, a "stunt" is usually any action that isn't explicitly covered by the rules, normally something fairly cinematic or "over the top". Some systems provide "stunting rules" to attempt a blanket compensation for this, but in practice these rules are usually pretty bland and result in stunt actions being objectively bad ideas relative to "normal" actions.
"I'll jump onto the banquet table, swing from the chandelier, and kick the orc into the fireplace!"
"Ok, roll Athletics to climb onto the table."
"It's like waist-high, but fine. 14."
"Ok, now another Athletics check to jump up to the chandelier."
"...sure. 12."
"Roll Dexterity to grab the chandelier in midair."
"...what? Ugh. 18."
"Ok, make an unarmed attack roll vs. the orc's Reflex."
"Ok, here we go! 20! Orc flambé!"
"Nice job. The orc takes... 3 fire damage!"
"The hell? I could have done more than that with my sling!"
"Acrobatics check to avoid tumbling into the fireplace yourself."
This is an extreme example, but in the vast majority of systems doing cool creative things is badly handicapped relative to "I stab it with my sword. Again." A few systems (like Exalted, for instance), massively encourage stunting to the point where you'd be an idiot to ever stop stunting at any time. Which sounds sort of neat on a surface level, but the sense of being compelled to do something crazy and cinematic every single turn might wear a bit thin. It would for me.
There's a happy medium, of course. You want to encourage creativity, but you don't want to make it effectively mandatory at all times. HOW DO? A stunt is, in essence, something that might not work; in exchange, it should also offer results better than not stunting if it does work. This is the essential tension: I want to jump over Springfield Gorge, but I don't want to fall short and hit every rock on the way down. These are the stakes: what the character wants vs the things that can go wrong. We attach stunts not to number-dickery, but to narrative events.
Let's use Conway's attempted orc kick to illustrate.
GOAL: Propel orc into fire, effectively removing it from combat. If it works, the orc won't get near the rest of the party with that rusty saber (to say nothing of the duchess. For what she's paying, the least we can do is keep her kidneys on the right side of her skin).
RISKS: The orc might notice what I'm doing. I don't think he's too bright, but if he sees me coming all he has to do is put that filthy blade between me and him. My momentum would mean all sorts of bad news for me. On top of that, there's a chance I might tumble in after him.
We don't regard "fail to climb onto table" or "fail to jump six inches in order to grab chandelier" as legitimate Risks, partly because that's boring and partly because there are no interesting consequences to failure. If you fail to climb, then what? You just stand there? That's not interesting for you or for the DM.
So we have a Goal and two Risks. This is still a little shaky, but here's my working system: roll once for the Goal, and then again for each risk: 3d20. Borrow dice from your neighbors or just keep track of the numbers, whatever. Once you have your three results, find the median result. Say Conway rolls 7, 13, 16: the 13 is the one that matters. His stunt attempt is a 13. As it stands the system has 8 skills*; the most appropriate skill for this stunt is Athlete. Let's say Conway's character has a 12 in Athlete; 13 is enough to succeed. The orc gets extra crispy, and Conway tumbles away from the fireplace none the worse for wear. Hurray!
Let's say, though, that Conway's median result was 10. That's short of his Athlete skill, so something Goes Wrong. We'll let Conway decide whether he'd rather be sliced or roasted. If his median result was 7, (that is, 5 less than his Athlete score) both things would Go Wrong. (If his median result had somehow been 2, not only does Conway bear all that abuse but the orc doesn't even get burned! But that's pretty unlikely, I think you'll agree).
This may seem a little unfair to Conway. All that hurt lying in store and all the DM stands to lose is one little orc. But it's not all bad news. Conway might have some good luck in store. When you establish the Goal and the Risks (and this is something the player and the DM should do collaboratively, ideally without either of you being a jerk about it) you can also establish Long Shots: unlikely happy events that may result from the stunt.
Conway thinks of two Long Shots that might help him. First, the orc might drop his sword as he tumbles into the fire, rather than the sword going into the fireplace with him. Then Conway would have a spare blade, which means one more dinner guest that can fight back once the doors give way. Second, the orc might kick up enough ash while he's being horribly burned. Second, the impact might send an unusually large plume of soot up the chimney, alerting some of the more attentive guards that something is afoot.
(Ok I'm reaching a little on that last one.)
Much like the Risks, beating your relevant Skill gets you 1 Long Shot. Beating it by 5 gets you 2 Long Shots. (+10 would get him 3, but he hasn't defined 3 Long Shots and how the hell is he supposed to get a median roll of 22? Characters with better skills can't call as many Long Shots, but they have a much better chance of succeeding in general.) Since we're adding more variables to the stunt, we'll add more dice. Conway rolls 5d20. He may get maimed, but he might just call in the cavalry.
6. 7. 10. 14. 19.
Don't be such a baby, Conway. It's just a little tetanus.
Another side benefit of stunting is that a stunt (pass or fail) can make you noteworthy, earning you an Epithet. Conway The Cruel-Footed might not get invited to too many more dinner parties, but a reputation for mercilessness can open doors. Conway The Lockjawed will mostly inspire pity, but pity has its uses.
One last thing: you needn't stunt alone. Conway would've had a better chance of pulling that off if his friend had thrown a plate to distract the orc. Your allies can aid your stunt in a way that protects them from consequences, or they can take on the risks along with you. (There's no practical reason for two people to swing on the chandelier, so let's say Conway's friend — let's call her Rooke — remains safely disengaged this time.) Rooke rolls a d20 of her own, keeping it separate from Conway's. If Rooke rolls high enough to beat her relevant skill (she's acting as a distraction, so she wants to Sneak) and it would help him, Conway can substitute the lowest number on his dice for the number on Rooke's die. She's rolled a 17, more than enough to beat Rooke's Sneak score of 10!
7. 10. 14. 17. 19.
Things were bad! But now they're good! For the next 30 seconds! If Rooke's little diversion had failed, there would be no direct mechanical consequences for her failure (though she's probably the next target of the orc's attention for better or for worse). On the other hand, Safe Assistance never merits epithets. History does not remember stagehands.
(The way this whole thing slots into the action economy of combat is still a little wibbly-wobbly.)
Oh! I was supposed to talk about diplomacy today. Well, diplomacy is, in essence a Negotiator skill stunt.
GOAL: Convince the cabbage merchant to let me hide in his wagon until the guards move on.
RISK: The cabbage merchant may announce my presence to everyone in earshot, making my capture all the more likely.
RISK: I may be blackmailed into buying an awful lot of cabbage.
LONG SHOT: I manage to stuff some free cabbage into my satchel the next time he turns his back. Damn, I'm hungry.
3. 3. 4. 5. If your stunt involves an even number of dice, treat the higher of the two median numbers as the result. Not that it helps here. Conway's Negotiator score is 14. With a -10 result, Conway agrees under duress to buy the entire wagon up front, only to have the merchant betray him after the transaction. And the cabbages are a rotten, slimy, inedible mess. It's gonna be a long night.
I should point out that you can back out of a stunt right up until the second the dice hit the table. It's easy for the DM to see a Risk that wasn't obvious to you, and players shouldn't be dicked around like that.
There's no point in doing skill tests outside the context of stunts, because it's meaningless unless something is at risk. Failed to unlock the door? Try again. And again. And again. Boring. Locked doors are sort of a boring obstacle anyway, but if you must have them then make failure mean something. Maybe you break your (lucky) picks (that you got from your dear departed uncle). Maybe the lock is fouled, meaning that not only are you not getting inside but also that it's obvious someone was trying to break in.
You may notice that success on skill checks, like attack rolls, are bound to the PC's skills and luck rather than numinous secrets held by the DM. All fine and good. But let's say there's something the DM straight-up doesn't want you to be able to do, something that would wreck everything. A two-bit sellsword just off the farm trying to assassinate the Skeleton King. A street-rat cutpurse picking the lock to the royal vaults. By the rules these things are technically possible (since the worst possible skill score is 20), but be reasonable. If the DM says "that's impossible for you", it's impossible. Respect the narrative. On the other hand, DMs, don't be a dick about this, nobody likes running into impassable plot doors.
WOW THIS WAS MEANDERING
I am aware that adding more and more dice to the stunt pool does not really do much to change the odds of success in and of itself. However, rolling a big fistful of dice is just aesthetically cool and helps stunts feel appropriately dramatic. Other parts of the PC class assemblies will do fun little things with the stunt dice to make the system a little more tactical. Some classes may reward big pools, others small pools. Some classes want to take a lot of Long Shots (this feels good for the Paladin). Maybe one class just really likes rolling 7s. You know, whatever.
* Scholar, Eccentric, Athlete, Tinker, Observer, Sneak, Negotiator, Survivor. If you were curious.
| Currently Playing: Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces |
|
|
|
|
|