| Stheno of the Golden Locks | Sisters of the Flame | ||||
| Adren | Black Fury | Ahroun | Homid | Rage | 4 |
| Gnosis | 2 | ||||
| Willpower | 2 | ||||
| Influences: | Dr. Christina Petropolis, UMass Medical Emergency Room Clinician | ||||
| Skills: | Streetwise | Drive | Brawl x2 | Worcester Area | |
Skills enter into our Conflict Resolution System when a challenge revolves around an area that your character is skilled in. In these cases, a skill may be "burned" to gain a retest after a challenge is resolved. After a skill is burned, it may not be used for a retest for the remainder of that time period.
A character with a notable mastery of a skill may have a skill listed more than once on their character card. Each instance of the skill can be "burned" separately. For brevity on cards, such mastery is often listed as Skillname x2 (or x3, etc), rather than actually renaming the skill again.
Sethno (see card above) is careening through the streets of Worcester in her CRX with a pickup truck full of Black Spiral Dancers behind her. She tells the Storyteller that she is looking for a twisty sequence of streets where she can use the greater maneuverability of her vehicle to escape the BSD. The Storyteller describes how she is dodging up and down narrow one-way streets, and she bounces over a hill to see the lights of a double-parked car. The Storyteller asks her to make a Physical Challenge to successfully steady her car through the narrow gap of the double-parked car and the adjacent lightpost. She tries, but fails. Calling for a retest, she burns her Drive skill, and in the second challenge she is successful. The Storyteller describes how her CRX rockets through the gap, her side view mirror scraped away in a shower of sparks. A screech briefly precedes a tremendous crash of metal and glass as the BSD's hell-bound truck slams into the too-narrow gap, throwing bloodied Dancers into the air and through the windshield.
Each Attribute Card has the character name, type of attribute the card is for - Physical, Mental, Social, Mob - and a 5x5 matrix whose columns represent the character's chosen action for the round and rows represent the target's chosen action. The scores in the matrix represent the strength and amount of damage the character will deal out for the character & target's chosen actions. AGressive, DeFensive, TRicky, Build Position, and ReTreat are the possible strategies a character can take against a target. These strategies do not represent specific moves, but reflect more general tactics used in the round, as described below:
Each maneuver or strategy is signified by at hand signal:
On the Physical and Mob attribute cards, there is an entry for Health listed at the bottom of each card. There is also a chart showing the numbers of Health Points a character has to for each 'Health Level'. The Health Level is used as a general indication of how much damage the character has taken. A player can ask another player for his Health Level (but not for the exact number of Health Points), and we encourage players to roleplay their characters' Health Level. When reduced to Mauled, mortal humans are likely to pass out, and will die within a few minutes unless they receive medical attention. A character whose Health Points have gone to 0 is Mortally Wounded, and is comatose. Normal mortal creatures will die if reduced to Mortally Wounded, and only strong magical or technological resuscitation may save them. If the character is Garou, the character will only die if an additional injury is received while Mortally Wounded - there are advantages to being one of Gaia's Chosen. However, Garou so gravely injured may have a battle scar or other form of debilitation from the wound.
| Joe Smith, average human | Physical | ||||
| AG | DF | TR | BP | RT | |
| AG | 5 | 5 | 7 | 0 | (4) |
| DF | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | (4) |
| TR | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | (4) |
| BP | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | (4) |
| RT | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | N/A |
| Health Points | Healthy | Bruised | Wounded | Mauled | Mortal |
| Damage Taken | 0-4 | 5-9 | 10-14 | 15-19 | 20 |
Individual people have varying ability, and these heuristics may not apply in all cases. The "zeros" in the matrix are fixed across all beings, with the only exceptions being very extraordinary. No weapon you wield, or form you take, will change these zeros. The more powerful the being, the more that it may excel in one maneuver over another. For instance, it is quite possible that you will face someone who will best you if you throw BP and they throw TR.
As the Changing Breed, the Garou can take on multiple Forms. In general, the system assumes that you are in Homid form. However, all Garou characters will have two additional forms: Crinos and Lupus. In Crinos form, the character becomes a towering beast, full of rage and destructive impulses. In Lupus form, the character becomes a wolf or other large canine, depending on their ancestry. Changing form does not take an action, and can be done between rounds of a combat. Characters are strongly encouraged to roleplay the form they are in, and notes to guide you are on your Form card. Like the cards for some items and abilities, the Form card acts as a Modifier to your Physical Attribute Card.
| AG | DF | TR | BP | RT |
When in Crinos form, you gain the combat abilities listed. However, you cannot do fine manipulation of tools or weapons. Most importantly you are raging on the edge of frenzy, can barely speak, and generally want to inflict lots of damage on something. In this form you will awaken deep primal fears in humans, invoking the Delirium within them. |
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| AG | +2 | +1 | ||||
| DF | +2 | +1 | ||||
| TR | +1 | |||||
| BP | +2 | |||||
| RT | +2 | +1 |
Each Special Ability and Item Card has the name of the ability or item at the top of the card, followed by specific effects and descriptions. If an Attribute Matrix is affected, the appropriate bonuses are shown on the left of the card. The effects of the Special Ability or Item Card can be anything and everything, possibly modifying other rules of this system, if so described on the card. If you have any questions, see a Storyteller.
| AG | DF | TR | BP | RT |
|
|
| AG | +1 | |||||
| DF | ||||||
| TR | +1 | |||||
| BP | +1 | |||||
| RT | +1 |
Conflicts, particularly those involving multiple contestants with divergent goals, are often best narrated. While we encourage players to use the dueling system for the one-on-one challenges that are so common in Garou society, more complex conflicts may call for a Storyteller. A conflict will be narrated if the players request it, or if a Storyteller decides that the game is best served by them stepping in and narrating the situation.
In most cases, the Storyteller will briefly act what each characters objective is, and what they might bring to bear that will make them sure of accomplishing this goal. In the case of combat, the Storyteller may also ask each player to secretly tell them their Mob Score: a one-value approximation of the character's combat capability. For comparison, an average modern human's Mob Score would be 10.
The Storyteller will then narrate the conflict, including the final disposition of objects, health levels, and bodies. Once the narration is done, we ask that our players not attempt to argue or sway the Storyteller, but simply pick up the action from there and continue roleplaying. Life as a Garou is often tragic, and we remind our players that anytime that multiple beings as powerful as Garou come into conflict, once the weapons are raised and the Form of War taken, there are likely to be casualties.
The best narration is always a player narration: when players simply continue to roleplay a confrontation, without ever taking recourse in systems, cards, or Storytellers. This is, after all, what Live Role-Playing Games are about.
Conflicts between two characters (or one character versus a group of characters) that can't be resolved through role-playing can be resolved using the following system. Players always can ask a Storyteller to narration such a conflict rather than use this system if they desire.
This system allows for the most flexible use of a characters powers and tactics, but also can quickly become complex and time consuming. For this reason, groups versus groups will be handled by the simplified Mob Combat rules below. On the other hand, if all of the players are gung-ho enough to want to use this system for a many on many situation, they can unanimously decide to do so. However, if it begins to bog down the game (via the infamous time bubble effect), a Storyteller reserves the right to interrupt the conflict in mid-stream and narrate it.
If a character wishes to declare combat, he simply gets within a proper distance of the target to do so - arms-length unless modified by a Special Ability or Item Card - raises his hand, audibly states his intention, then says audibly "Combat!", and then counts 5 seconds aloud. During the count, bystanders may enter the Combat by raising their hand and saying "In!" At the end of the count, all those who have declared themselves such are in-combat, all others are out-of-combat. Characters who are out-of-combat can have no effect on the combat and may not enter the combat, and in-combat characters may not affect those that are not in-combat. Once a given combat starts, that combat must be resolved before any further interaction can occur with the characters in the combat. Players should get out their Physical Attribute cards and begin to consider their options.
This brief period (roughly 30 seconds or less) allows characters to choose actions and prepare which Attribute, Special Ability and Item Cards they wish to use in this round. An action is one of the moves listed on the appropriate Attribute (AG, DF, TR, BP, RT). Lengthy indecision should be interpreted as in-game "surprise" at the players' or Storyteller's discretion - the precise implementation of this is left up to the characters if no Storyteller is present (roleplay, roleplay, Roleplay!). Characters may ask the general Health Status during this stage.
The attacker then counts aloud "1, 2, 3, go!" On "go!", all characters will simultaneously hold up their appropriate Attribute, Special Ability and Item cards, point to their target(s) with the appropriate hand signal, and state their actions - AGgressive, DeFensive, TRicky, Build Position, or ReTreat. Hand-to-hand actions require one to be within about an arm's reach of the target. The range of ranged actions will be described on their Card. Group-affecting actions should be indicated by pointing upward, personal-affecting actions are indicated by pointing at oneself.
All effects happen simultaneously. Each character looks up the amount of damage done by examining the column represented by their action vs. the row representing the target's action. The number indexed is the amount of damage done to the target. It is acceptable for a character to choose to "pull the shot" and state less damage than what is on the card. If the character's Health Points would be less than 0, the characters' Health Points drop to 0. If a character is at 0 Health and any additional damage is delivered to her, she is dead. If the target chooses not to attack or is attacking another, then for the purpose of calculation, consider their move to be DF. In the case where a character throws a RT, that character does no damage. If the character's RT score is equal to or greater than each of his opponents' resultant action scores, then the character escapes the combat unharmed, otherwise the character does not escape and damage is dealt - one cannot do damage while retreating, although damage may possibly be done to the retreater.
All in-combat characters who have at least 1 Health Point may simultaneously move 3 normal-sized steps, otherwise they may not move at all - for simplicity, simply start counting "1, 2, 3" for each step.
Following this, the round is now complete. The next round begins again at the decision phase. The combat is considered over when no characters declare against any other characters - this means that in a one-on-one duel, if one character is disabled, the combat is not over until the other character decides it is over.
Conflicts between multiple characters that can't be resolved through role-playing will be resolved using the following steps. This system is much the same as the Dueling System, though simplified so a large combat can be quickly resolved - a Storyteller is not required, though preferred so that they may act as coordinator to keep things moving.
Mob combat starts the same as the Dueling System - with the joining of combat, though characters must join either the initial attacker or the target. Each side then has approximately 10 seconds to declare a leader. If a side cannot, the original attacker or target is the leader. A given side can only affect one other side, so if for some reason there would be more than two sides the players must align themselves into sets of two sides. Players should get out their Mob Attribute cards and be ready to begin.
The leaders of each side have roughly 30 seconds to choose the action of their side, using their Mob Attribute Card only. The leaders may consult anyone on their side in this decision, though no numbers may be exchanged. During this time, each character on each side should pull out their own Mob Attribute Cards. Lengthy indecision should be interpreted as in-game "surprise" at the players' or Storyteller's discretion - the precise implementation of this is left up to the characters if no Storyteller is present.
The attacking leader then counts aloud "1, 2, 3, go!" On "go!", the two leaders will simultaneously signal their actions - AGgressive, DeFense, TRap, Build Position, or ReTreat. Also at this time all members of both sides will point at their target for that round.
The leaders then compare their choice and communicate the results to their side in the form of "Our {action} versus their {action}." Each character then determines the amount of damage he does by examining his Mob Combat card for the column representing his side's action versus the row representing his opponent's action. The members of the side that initiated the combat then each, in turn, state the damage they do (remember, characters can pull their shots), which is then done to the person they were pointing at. Members of the opposing team may elect to take the damage instead - in effect, they are throwing themselves in front of the blow, protecting the original target. Once each member has allocated their damage, this process is repeated by the other team. Characters may communicate their Health Levels during this phase, e.g. "I'm Wounded.", but no numbers. Though this is a sequential process, all resolution is simultaneous. Therefore, a character could end up taking the vast majority of the damage and be thoroughly pummeled, which is by design - a side may target a given character, or a character may choose to put herself in danger.
There is no movement in the Mob System - characters who have very high mobility have this advantage expressed within their Mob Attribute Card scores.
The Cleanup phase is the same as the Dueling System, with the following clarifications. Any characters who are Mortally Wounded or otherwise disabled are still considered to be in combat until the combat is over - in other words, they are legitimate targets. If the leader is Mortally Wounded or otherwise disabled, that side then has 10 seconds to declare a new leader. If that side cannot, then for the next round the side is considered to be DeFending, will deal no damage to the opponents and the opponents get to allocate all damage. If one side successfully ReTreats, it is considered a Fair Escape, unless a Storyteller narrates the results otherwise. Characters may individually elect to leave the Mob combat at this time as a Fair Escape, though once they have left they may not return to the combat. Should all but one one character leave a side, the Dueling System will then be used as the combat is now a many-on-one combat. Characters may also elect to switch sides during the Cleanup Phase. The leaders may also agree to discontinue the combat, in which case it is ended, otherwise another round begins with the Decision phase.
The Static System is used to resolve non-physical conflicts between characters, or conflicts between a character and an object, e.g. breaking down a door, or the tests to indicate success with some Special Ability or Item Card where the target is relatively static. Remember that in many cases Retreat is a valid maneuver in a static challenge. This system is much like the Dueling System, with the following changes:
To initiate a static challenge, the character simply gets within a proper distance of the target to do so - arms-length unless modified by a Special Ability or Item Card - raises his hand, audibly states his intention, then says audibly "Static {Physical/Mental/Social} Challenge!" The target doesn't have to do anything. No other characters may become involved unless a Storyteller allows it, e.g. a group of characters working to lift a fallen rock off their comrade.
This works the same as the Dueling System, though in most cases, the target will only use the appropriate Attribute card. In many cases, this will mean a Storyteller utilizing a card that represents the difficulty of the action, or using their digression.
This works the same as the Dueling System.
The resulting scores from the matrix look-ups on the Attribute Cards are compared. If the attacker has a score higher than the target's, she succeeds. In many cases, this means that the challenge is over. However, for particularly intricate or lengthy challenges, the Storyteller (or card) may state that the initiating character may have to win "best 2 out of 3" or even more.
There may be instances where two players wish to confront each other socially or mentally. As always, we strongly encourage them to roleplay the altercation. However, if this is not appropriate, they may call any Philodox in as Judge. The Judge determines the victory requirements (e.g. best 3 out of 5, or best 2 out of 3). They will then engage in a series of Static challenges appropriate to the conflict. The Judge notes the winner or that round, and the next round progresses, until one side has fulfilled the victory requirements. There is no such thing as Mob Social Combat, or Mob Mental Combat.