taskres - Majordomus/system-design GitHub Wiki

Task Resolution Mechanics

Firstly, the processes below should only be used when failing a task is dramatically interesting. If, for instance, failing to pick a lock simply means the players have to keep trying because the GM has placed a mission-critical clue inside the locked room, the task is dramatically uninteresting. Just let the players auto-pass and get on with the story.

Also if a task is plain impossible, or mundanely simple, no task resolution mechanics are needed. Just let the characters auto-fail or auto-pass, respectively.

Simple Task Resolution

Used for one-step, unopposed pass-or-fail tasks. Typical use cases are picking a lock or hot-wiring a car.

  1. The GM set a Target Value (TV) to be met or exceeded with a card draw, as well as the relevant card suite. A TV of 5 gives a pass rate of 77%, TV 8 means a 54% pass rate, and TV 10 equals a 38% pass rate, all other factors being equal.
  2. The player draws the top card from the deck, adding or subtracting from +2 to -2 depending on the character's bonus/malus in the relevant suite.
  3. If the resulting value meets or exceeds the TV, the character succeeds at the task.

(Drawing the ace of relevant suite = critical success? If so, what advantage does the character get? Narrative control? Experience points? Meta-currency?)

(System for influencing the roll with meta-currency?)

Complex Task Resolution

Used for tasks where there is active opposition, in dramatic scenes, or where there is significant conflict. The scene follows the basic dramatic structure of Conflict - Climax - Resolution.

Whenever the text below states that players may draw cards or narrate the scene, it should be read as "player or GM as appropriate".

  1. Scene Caller frames the initial Conflict and sets up the scene. (Including what State will be affected by the outcome of the scene, as well as the relevant Trait which in turn determines the relevant suite.)
  2. The GM and any players involved in the scene draws (5 +/- Trait score) cards from the deck, face up. If they get to draw more than 5 cards due to having a positive bonus in the relevant Trait, they form the best poker hand they can with 5 cards and discard the remaining card(s).
  3. The player with the best poker hand narrates the start of the scene, including how they gain some kind of advantage early on.
  4. Players may discard and redraw any or all of their cards on hand, still face up. The player who has advantage from the previous step (he who gained narrative control in Step 3) may draw an extra card. Cards in excess of 5 are discarded. Players with negative Trait modifiers may draw one card more than in Step 2 (i.e., a player with -2 in the relevant Trait only got to draw 3 cards in Step 2 - in this step she can draw 4).
  5. The player who now has the best poker hand narrates the climax of the scene, aiming to setting the scene up for a strong resolution in the following steps.
  6. Players may once more discard any or all cards and redraw from the deck, face up. The player with advantage from the previous step may draw an extra card, forming the best possible poker hand from 5 of those cards and discarding any excess cards. In this step, players with -2 Trait mod may complete their hand to a total of 5 cards if they haven't already.
  7. The player who now has the top poker hand wins the confrontation/succeeds at the task and narrates the scene accordingly.

(Consequences for failing? Decrease in the State track specified by the scene caller?)