In Cool Name RPG, you may attempt any Action you can dream up. Want to swing across the room by the chandelier? You can do it! Want to throw sand in your enemy’s eyes so it is harder for them to hit you? You can do that, too!
Some Actions just add to the story, such as describing how your character sweeps dramatically into the tavern. Other times, you will want to create a specific game effect with your Action. For instance, maybe sweeping dramatically into the tavern is not only cool, but is also intended to impress the locals and make it easier for you to succeed at future Action Checks when you ask them to aid you in your quest.
In this chapter, we provide a list of Actions you can use to achieve the most commonly desired game effects. Whether you want to increase an Action Score, slow an escalating Challenge, reduce Challenge Points, or create a positive modifier for a friend, the Actions described here will help you achieve your goal and help the Gamemaster to adjudicate your actions.
Although the descriptions of the Actions assume you are making an Action Check, it is still up to the Gamemaster to determine if an Action Check is necessary and whether you need to roll or just compare Scores.
A final note: we do not expect you to pick from this list each time you take an action. The list is just to help you understand how to use the rules to get different game effects. You should always start by describing the cool thing your character is doing and what you want to accomplish, and then reference the Actions described here to help you use the rules to make it happen.
Action List #
Listed below are the most common types of Actions and their associated game effects, followed by detailed descriptions of each Action.
- Advance the Story: Reduce a non-combat Challenge’s Challenge Points.
- Aid: Add a +1 modifier to the Action Score for you or an ally.
- Assist: Increase the Action Score for you or an ally.
- Attack: Reduce an enemy’s Challenge Points in combat.
- Clear: Counteract a modifier to the Difficulty Score.
- Deescalate: Reduce the amount by which an Escalating Challenge increases.
- Delay: Delay your Turn until a point in the Round of your choosing.
- Initiative: Reroll your character’s Initiative.
- Interact: Perform an Action not covered by the other Action Types.
- Obstruct: Add a +1 modifier to the Difficulty Score for an opponent’s Action Check.
- Ready: Take a specific Action when a specific event occurs, even if it is not your Turn.
- Recovery: Recover Vitality Points.
- Slow: Make character and NPC movement require a Major Action.
- Withdraw: Withdraw from the Encounter.
Describing Your Actions
When you declare your Action, it is important to offer as much detail as possible. Simply stating, “I’m performing an Advance Action to reduce the Challenge Score,” does not give the Gamemaster much to work with in terms of determining a Difficulty Score or understanding how the Action changes the story. It’s also pretty dull compared to boldly stating, “I grab the rope, swing across the room, and kick the trap’s trigger as I pass, causing the goblins to fall into the pit!”
Describe the Action you want to take in detail. Explain what you are doing, how you are doing it, what outcome you want to achieve, and anything you are using to get the job done. Get creative! Use the Gamemaster’s description of the environment or even add details of your own. A great description is a surefire way to convince the Gamemaster to approve your Action. You might even earn a few positive modifiers to your Action Score.
Action Descriptions #
The following are detailed descriptions of each Action Type. Each description includes the following details:
- Action Type Name
- Difficulty Score: What Score to use as the Difficulty Score. “Gamemaster sets” means the Gamemaster uses the normal rules for setting Difficulty Scores as described in Chapter 2: Action Checks and Challenges.
- Target: The person or thing that is impacted by the Action’s effects.
- Result: A summary of the game effect in the event of a successful Action Check.
- Description: A detailed description of how to use the rules to execute this type of Action.
- Example: An example of this Action being used in the game.
Advance the Story #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets
Target: A non-combat Challenge
Result: Reduce the target’s Challenge Points by the Effect
A successful Advance the Story reduces a Challenge’s Challenge Points by the Effect. If the Challenge does not have Challenge Points, a successful Advance the Story overcomes the Challenge. The description of your character’s Advance the Story must involve activities that work to directly overcome the Challenge.
Advance the Story Example
With the storm swiftly approaching their tiny vessel, the heroes need to take quick action if they hope to survive. The Gamemaster decides this is an 8 Challenge Point Challenge.
CHALLENGE: Survive the Storm CP 8
Jess declares that their character, Halvik of Greensol, will climb up and use their knot-tying skills to close haul the sails, ensuring they will not come loose in the wind. The Gamemaster decides a novice Sailor would have a reasonably good chance of success at this task under normal conditions, so he begins with Difficulty Score 3. In addition, he adds modifiers for the lashing rain, roaring wind, and rolling seas.
ACTION: Close Haul the Sails DS 6
With Action Score 6, Jess rolls 2d6 and gets Effect 4. The Gamemaster reduces the CP to 4.
CHALLENGE: Survive the Storm CP 4
Aid #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets
Target: One Challenge
Result: Create a situation that adds a +1 modifier to Action Scores related to the Challenge
A successful Aid creates a beneficial condition that adds a +1 modifier to Actions made to overcome a specific Challenge. The Action you use to Aid must be related to the Challenge. The Aid remains in place until the start of your next Turn.
With the Gamemaster’s permission, you may maintain the Aid each Round using a Major Action without a need to make additional Action Checks. The Gamemaster may also rule an Aid remain in effect for multiple Rounds or even permanently, depending on the nature of the Aid.
The advantage of Aid over Assist is that the Difficulty Score to perform an Aid is typically much lower than for an Assist. In addition, an Aid benefits everyone who performs the aided Action, where Assist only benefits a single target.
Aid Example
Altiss is struggling to repair the complicated gearworked device that controlled the portcullis. Chris announces that Eldar is grabbing the ancient dwarven manual of mechanical designs and will use it to help Altiss by offering guidance from the book. It’s a fairly large book, making it somewhat difficult to find useful information (DS 4), but Chris rolls and succeeds! The Gamemaster tells Beth she may now add a +1 modifier to her Action Score for the repairs to represent Eldar’s Aid.
Assist #
Difficulty Score: The current value of the Action Score you want to improve
Target: One Score
Result: Increase the target’s Action Score by the Effect
On a successful Assist, add your Effect to the target Action Score. The maximum Effect is equal to the Primary Attribute used to determine your Assist Action Score. You must declare the target of the Assist before you make your Action Check.
The Assist you describe must be directly related to the Action Score you are improving. The Assist remains in place until an Action Check is made using the improved Action Score or until the start of your next Turn. You can repeat the Assist each Round, but you must make a new Action Check. An Assist cannot be maintained.
With the Gamemaster’s permission, multiple characters can Assist the same Action Score on the same Round, but characters after the first must use the new, improved Action Score as their Difficulty Score for their Action Check.
In some cases, the Gamemaster may allow you to perform multiple Assists over multiple Rounds to repeatedly improve the same Action Score before the Action Check is made, but the Difficulty Score for each additional Assist increases to the new, improved Action Score on each subsequent attempt. Any failed Action Check causes a loss of all benefits gained prior to that roll.
Assist Example
The Dread Knight of Arcus charges the heroes while wearing a full suit of black mail. Jeff’s character, Spyder, doubts his daggers will help overly much, so instead Jeff says Spyder will leap up onto the Knight’s back and try to pull on his gorget, exposing the Knight’s neck and assisting Wargar’s attack.
Wargar’s Attack Action Score is 7, so the Difficulty Score for Spyder to Assist is 7. Spyder rolls a 9, which is Effect 2. Wargar adds the Effect to his Attack Action Score, giving him a new Attack Action Score of 9.
Attack #
Difficulty Score: Target Defense Score
Target: An enemy combatant
Result: Reduce the Challenge Points or Vitality of an enemy in combat by the Effect
A successful Attack reduces the Challenge Points or Vitality of an opponent by the Effect of the Attack. The Difficulty Score for an Attack is one of the target’s Defense Scores. Use the Defense Score that matches the type of Attack you are making. For example, if you are trying to frighten an enemy with a Presence Action Check, the Target’s Spirit Defense would serve as the Difficulty Score.
Detailed rules for using the Attack Action are found in Chapter 7: Combat Encounters.
Attack Example
Wargar swings his mighty battleaxe at the Dread Knight! Wargar’s Action Score is 9 so Wargar’s player, Steve, rolls d6 + d12. The Dread Knight has Body Defense 6, so the Difficulty Score for the Attack is 6. Steve rolls a 16 giving him Effect 10! Subtracting the Dread Knight’s Armor (Body) 2, the final Effect is 8. The Dread Knight’s Challenge Points are reduced by 8.
Clear #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets
Target: One Difficulty Score modifier
Result: Remove a modifier to the Difficulty Score
A successful Clear counters a negative condition and removes the associated +1 modifier from the Difficulty Score for anyone attempting to overcome that Challenge. The Action you describe to Clear the modifier must be related to the negative condition it is countering. The Clear remains in place until the start of your next Turn.
With the Gamemaster’s permission, you may maintain the Clear each Round using a Major Action. The Gamemaster may also rule the Clear remains in effect for multiple Rounds or even permanently, depending on the nature of the Action.
Clear Example
“I can’t see a thing in this dark. I’ll be lucky if I don’t spring the trap on myself,” Altiss complained as she attempted to disarm the complicated mechanism.
ACTION: Disarm the Trap DS 7 (6 + 1 for dim light)
Wargar grabbed a torch from a wall sconce and ran over to Altiss’s side. “Here, little one,” he said. “This should help.” The Gamemaster decides no Action Check is necessary for this Action and bringing the torch closer counters the dim light modifier.
ACTION: Disarm the Trap DS 6
Deescalate #
Difficulty Score: The amount of the escalation
Target: One Escalating Challenge
Result: Reduce the amount of escalation by the Effect
A successful Deescalate reduces the number of Challenge Points by which an Escalating Challenge increases at the end of the Round by an amount equal to the Effect
The Action you describe must be directly related to whatever is causing the Escalation. The Deescalate lasts until the start of your next Turn. You may repeat the same Action each Round but must make a new Action Check. If the Gamemaster agrees, more than one character may perform a Deescalate Action against the same Escalation.
Deescalate Example
The party, who are shackled together in the hold of a pirate ship, thought things couldn’t get any worse—until the Gamemaster tells them the storm has driven their ship onto the reef and torn a gash in the side of the vessel. The hole is right where they are all chained, and the ship is rapidly taking on water. The Gamemaster considers their situation and assigns 4 Challenge Points to the Challenge of Don’t Drown. In addition, this is an Escalating Challenge, and the rising water adds +4 Challenge Points at the end of each Turn.
CHALLENGE: Don’t Drown CP 4 (+4)
Altiss was already working to pick the lock on the group’s shackles, but with seawater gushing in, suddenly her work takes on new urgency. The locks would require the skills of a skilled locksmith to pick, so the Difficulty Score is 6. The Gamemaster also declares that the water rushing in and Altiss’ makeshift lockpicks both modify the Difficulty Score.
ACTION: Pick the Lock DS 8 (6 + 1 Rushing Water + 1 Makeshift Lockpicks)
CP 4 isn’t that big of a Challenge, but the DS is high enough Beth worries Altiss won’t manage to reduce the CP by more than a point or two each Round. “I’ll never get us out fast enough,” she shouts.
Wargar, Steve’s character, isn’t much of a locksmith, but maybe he can slow the water down. Steve declares that Wargar grabs one of the nearby tables and slams it against the hull to block the hole as a Deescalate Action. Wargar rolls his Action Dice and gets Effect 4, reducing the +4 escalation to zero—as long as he can hold the table that is.
“Work fast!” Wargar shouts.
Delay #
Difficulty Score: NA
Target: NA
Result: Take your Turn at a time of your choosing later in the Round
On your character’s Turn, you may declare a Delay. With a Delay, your character may take their Turn later in the Round at a time of your choosing.
When ready to act, announce that your character is taking their delayed Turn. Your character may take their Turn immediately after any other characters or NPCs acting on that Initiative Turn.
Performing a Delay does not change your character’s Initiative. If the Delay is held over until the next Round, your character may take their delayed Turn at any time in the new Round, but the delayed Turn counts as your character’s Turn for that Round.
Delay Example
Thanks to the thick fog blanketing the battlefield, Wargar doesn’t know where the enemy is, what sort of enemy he is fighting, or whether the enemy is there at all. When Wargar’s Turn comes up on Initiative 6, Wargar’s player, Steve, decides Wargar is going to Delay his Turn until he figures out what he is up against.
On Initiative 3, eight goblins come charging out of the fog. Steve announces that Wargar is taking his Delayed Turn to attack the goblins. Wargar can’t take his Turn until after the three goblins take their Turn, but it’s a better outcome than wasting his Turn on something less useful earlier in the Round.
Interact #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets
Target: Varies
Result: The character achieves the outcome they desire
Interact includes any outcomes not covered by other Action Types. Repositioning, pulling gear from a pack, or drinking a potion are all examples of Interacts.
Describe the Action you want your character to take and detail the outcome you want to achieve. The Gamemaster will determine if an Action Check is required and provide an appropriate Difficulty Score.
Interact Example
As her companions fought valiantly against the massive troll, Aria pulled a pair of healing potions from her pack. The party was holding their own, but she had a feeling they would need these potions before the battle’s end.
Initiative #
Difficulty Score: No Difficulty Score
Target: You
Result: Reroll your character’s Initiative
When a character takes the Initiative Action, they reposition themselves in the hopes of getting a better Initiative in future Rounds. The character may take no other actions (Major or Minor) on their Turn. Whatever you roll, even if it is lower than the character’s original Initiative, becomes the character’s new Initiative for the rest of the combat, starting on the next round. You may perform this Action as many times as you like during the Encounter.
Initiative Example
On his Turn Steve declares that Wargar is going to try to reposition, size up the enemy strategy, and improve his rather miserable Initiative of 2. Wargar rolls again and this time he gets a 14. For the rest of the Encounter, starting next Round, Wargar will take his Turn on Initiative 14.
Obstruct #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets
Target: One Difficulty Score
Result: Create a situation that adds +1 modifier to a Difficulty Score
A successful Obstruct creates a complicating condition that adds a +1 modifier to a Difficulty Score. The Action you describe must be related to the Difficulty Score you are targeting. Unless the Gamemaster rules otherwise, the obstruction only lasts until the start of your next Turn, but it applies to all Action Checks made against the Difficulty Score you obstructed.
With the Gamemaster’s permission, you may use a Major Action to maintain the Obstruct each Round without a need to make additional Action Checks. The Gamemaster may also rule an Obstruct remains in effect for multiple Rounds or even permanently, depending on the Action you described.
Obstruct Example
The party slams the door and drops the door bar into place. Looking around the room, Wargar spots a dresser against one of the walls. Throwing his muscle behind it he shoves it across the room and up against the door.
“That should slow them down,” he says.
The Gamemaster agrees and rules that no Action Check is necessary to perform this Obstruct. The Gamemaster adds a +1 modifier to the Difficulty Score for anyone that tries to knock down the door.
Ready #
Difficulty Score: As per the declared Action
Target: As per the declared Action
Result: Interrupt the Turn of another character or NPC to perform the declared Action
On your Turn, as a Minor Action, you may Ready a Major Action. When you Ready an Action, you declare a specific Major Action you will take if a specific event occurs. If the event occurs, you may immediately take the Action, interrupting other characters and NPCs.
Using the Action does not change your Initiative. If the event does not occur that Round, you may hold the readied Action over to the following Round. When you do take the readied Action, it counts as your Turn for that Round. Once you take (or drop) the readied Action, you may act normally on your previously rolled Initiative during the next round.
If the declared event never occurs, or if you choose not to use the specified Action, you lose your Action for that Round.
Ready Example
On Spyder’s Turn on Initiative 8, Jeff uses a Minor Action to declare Spyder is taking a Ready Action. The event and Action he describes are, “If an enemy enters the cavern, I shoot them with my crossbow.”
On Initiative 7, Wargar comes running into the cavern. Wargar is not an enemy and Spyder does not want to shoot his teammate, so he continues to hold his readied Action.
On Initiative 4, a Bandit comes creeping into the cavern. As soon as the Bandit shows his face, Spyder takes his readied Action, interrupts the Bandit’s Turn, and shoots!
Recovery #
Difficulty Score: The target’s total number of Wounds
Target: You or an ally
Result: Increase target’s Vitality by the Effect up to their maximum
A successful Recovery restores lost Vitality Points. When you perform a Recovery, you must choose which Vitality Score you wish to restore: Body, Mind, or Spirit.
The Difficulty Score is equal to the target’s total number of Wounds.
Body Wounds + Mind Wounds + Spirit Wounds = Difficulty Score
You may attempt to recover your own Vitality Points by simply “catching your breath.” This represents mentally pushing away the pain, steeling your resolve, shoving that dislocated joint back into place, or just taking a quick rest.
The Primary Attribuite used to determine your Action Score is based on the type of Vitality you are recovering.
Body Vitality Points = Toughness
Mind Vitality Points = Willpower
Spirit Vitality Points = Resilience
If the Vitality type you are recovering is the Dominant Vitality for one of your MOs, you may add that MO’s Score to your Action Score.
You may also use a Recovery Action to help an ally recover Vitality Points. This type of Recovery is also referred to as First Aid. You and the Gamemaster choose the Primary Attribute for the Action Score based on how you describe your Action and the type of Vitality you want them to recover.
For instance, if you are bandaging your ally’s injuries to help them recover Body Vitality Points, the Gamemaster may decide this is an Intellect Action Check. If, on the other hand, you are giving your ally a pep-talk to help them recover Spirit Vitality Points, the Gamemaster may decide it is a Persuasion Action Check. It is up to you and the Gamemaster to decide if any of your MOs or Specializations should be added to or modify the Action Score. If the Gamemaster allows, you may perform First Aid on yourself.
On a success, the target regains Vitality Points of the chosen type equal to the Effect. A character’s Vitality Points may not exceed their maximum.
Additional rules for first aid and recovery are found in Chapter 8: Vitality, Wounds, and Healing
Recovery Example
Steve’s character, Wargar, finishes off the giant rat he is fighting, but there are still four giant rats remaining. Wargar’s Body Vitality Points are down to 2, so Steve decides Wargar better take a Recovery if he wants to stay in the fight. While his teammates continue the battle, Wargar ducks behind a pile of barrels and tries to catch his breath.
Wargar has 1 Body Wound and no Mind or Spirit Wounds, so his Difficulty Score for the Recovery is DS 1. Wargar is recovering Body Vitality, so he uses his Toughness 3 to determine the Action Score. As a Warrior he may also add his Warrior MO Score of 3 to the Recovery Action Score for a total of AS 6.
ACTION: Body Recovery DS 1
He rolls 2d6 and gets 5 which is Effect 4. Steve increases Wargar’s Body Vitality Points back up to 6. Time to hunt some more rats!
Slow #
Difficulty Score: Target Body Defense or GM sets
Target: A character, NPC, or area
Result: Require a Major Action to cross the space
A successful Slow Action Check changes movement Actions for the Target or within the Target area from a Minor Action to a Major Action. Examples of Slow Actions include knocking a shelf full of boxes into the enemy’s path, dumping a barrel of sand on an enemy, or flooding an area with knee deep water.
When the Target is an individual, the Difficulty Score is the opponent’s Body Defense. In these cases, the Action involves tangling up, blocking, or performing some other Action that only affects the Target. The only way for the Target to overcome the Slow is to take a Major Action to clear or move out of the cause of the Slow.
When the Target is an area, the Difficulty Score is set by the Gamemaster as described in Chapter 2: Action Checks and Challenges. The Difficulty Score will depend on your description of the Slow condition you want to create. Depending on the cause of the Slow, the Gamemaster may allow an Action Check to eliminate it.
The Gamemaster decides if the Slow effect lasts one Round, remains until cleared, or is permanent. They also determine the Difficulty Score to clear the effect if allowed depending on how the character accomplished their Slow Action. Some Slow Actions may also apply to allies (like flooding a room.)
Slow Example
The orcs are advancing down the hall toward the party, firing arrows at the heroes every Round. Spotting a vat of cooking oil, Altiss grabs it and throws it across the hall, hoping the now slippery floor will slow their opponents. The Gamemaster decides any Unskilled person would have a good chance of properly covering the floor with cooking oil. The orcs will need to use a Major Action to cross the oil, which will keep them from firing arrows for a Round at least.
ACTION: Slow with Slippery Floor DS 2
Withdraw #
Difficulty Score: Gamemaster sets or Enemy Attack Score
Target: Special
Result: Your character is removed from the Encounter
There are times where discretion is the better part of valor. To put it another way, sometimes you need to run. Most of the time you will not need to make an Action Check to Withdraw from an Encounter, but if your opponents want to prevent you from leaving or if they plan to pursue, the Gamemaster may decide an Action Check is appropriate.
Depending on the nature of the Encounter, the Difficulty Score could be a number set by the Gamemaster to reflect the complexity of extracting oneself from the situation, or it might be a Resisted Action, where the Difficulty Score might be the Attack Score of an enemy, an opponent’s Mind Score, or even an Opposed Roll.
On a success, your character is removed from the Encounter to a place of relative safety. Your character will remain “offscreen” until the other characters overcome the Encounter’s Challenges or they all Withdraw.
If all the characters Withdraw before the Challenges are overcome, you have failed to accomplish the goals of the Encounter. Typically, there are consequences for failure, and your Gamemaster will inform you of the cost.
Withdraw Example
Eldar felt the blade cut deep into his leg. Another hit, and he knew he’d be meeting the ancestors.
“Get out of here, wizard! There is nothing more you can do,” shouted Wargar.
Eldar is frustrated but nods in agreement. Eldar’s player, Chris, announces that Eldar is going to distract the enemy with a flash of magical light to cover his escape. The Bandit King has sworn to kill all the heroes, and he is going to try to stop Eldar from getting away. The Gamemaster declares the Difficulty Score is the Bandit King’s Attack Score of 7. Eldar prepares to cast his spell and hopes to the Gods he gets a 7 or higher!
Stunts #
One of the only restrictions on what Actions you may choose is the Reasonably Possible Rule. This rule states that your Action and the desired outcome must be Reasonably Possible under the current circumstances. It is up to you and the Gamemaster to determine whether an Action meets this requirement, and if the Action could be performed in the real world with a reasonable chance of success, it is Reasonably Possible. This does not mean the task is easy for your character or that you will succeed—it just means it is reasonable and possible.
Cinematically Possible #
But wait! Cool Name RPG is a game where you tell action-adventure stories like you see in books, shows, video games, and movies. Characters in those stories regularly do things where they achieve wildly unlikely outcomes. Their actions are still bound loosely by the limits of the world and their environment, but even so, their results can be highly improbable. A few examples include:
- A thrown lantern breaks on the floor and explodes into a ball of fire.
- The character falls from a four-story building, but a merchant’s tent breaks their fall and they emerge unharmed.
- A thief picks a complex lock using nothing but a rat bone, a sewing needle, and a rusty nail.
We call these Cinematically Possible Actions. In Cool Name RPG, whenever you want to try a Cinematically Possible Action, you must perform a Stunt.
Performing Stunts #
Stunts are just highly cinematic Actions. They follow all the rules described in this chapter and in Chapter 2: Action Checks and Challenges. The only exception is that if the Action Check for a Stunt fails, your character loses Vitality Points equal to the amount you rolled under the Difficulty Score. This loss of Vitality Points represents your character pushing the bounds of what is normally possible, and if they fail, they pay a cost for the additional effort put into the Action.
Vaguely Plausible Conditions #
Unlike a normal Action, which requires reasonable tools and conditions (even if these tools and conditions are substandard), when you want to try a Stunt all you need is a situation that makes your desired Action and outcome vaguely plausible, if highly unlikely.
Be creative and proactive! Don’t wait for the Gamemaster to describe something that supports your Stunt; offer creative ideas. Instead of asking, “What do I see in the room?” try a question like, “Since this is a kitchen, I look around for a nice, big, heavy serving platter I can use to fashion into an axe head. Do I see anything like that?” This adds to the story and makes the Gamemaster more likely to agree to your Stunt.
One final word of advice: when asking your questions, always say why you are looking for a thing. If you say “Any serving platters here?” the Gamemaster might say, “Nope. No serving platters,” and accidentally shut down your idea. If you make clear the reason you are looking for a thing, however, the Gamemaster is more likely to say “Yes” or at the very least, they might be able to offer a suitable alternative. “No serving platters, but there is that giant cast iron pot lid.”
Vaguely Plausible Conditions Example
Wargar lost his battle axe and is trapped in the castle’s kitchen. He looks around to see if he can assemble a new weapon from what he has available. Steve declares that Wargar wants to use the bread oven as a forge and the kitchen utensils as tools. His plan is to hammer together a new axe from a large serving platter and the leg torn from one of the big oak chairs.
Cornered on the rooftop by the King’s Guard, Spyder seems to be out of places to run. From the tower where he is standing, he can see the moat a short distance away, but it’s not directly below him. There is no reasonable way he could reach it. Jeff asks if the roof has a lightning rod, and the Gamemaster confirms it does. Spyder grabs the rod, pulls it back with all his strength, and ties it to the crenellations with a bit of rope. Climbing on top of the rod, he slices the rope with his knife and the rod springs back up, sending Spyder flying off toward the moat!
The advancing gang of orcs stand between Altiss and her exit. There is no obvious way past them, but she’s small and they’re big so there must be something she can do. Suddenly, she remembers the tub of bacon grease she keeps in her bag. Rubbing it all over her shield, she runs forward and leaps on it like a sled. With a woosh, she slides between the legs of the orcs and is now on the other side! She’s not out of this yet, but at least she has a chance!
Difficulty Score #
When setting Difficulty Scores, the Gamemaster should set them as if the Stunt were a normal Reasonably Possible Action. The additional cost of a stunt is already accounted for in the potential for Vitality loss. The Gamemaster may still modify the Difficulty Score for the usual reasons. Modifiers for inappropriate tools, adverse conditions, and similar problems still apply.
Vitality Loss Type #
The type of Vitality Points you lose on a failed roll is the same Type as the group of the Primary Attribute used for the Action Check. For instance, if the Stunt’s Action Check used Strength, a failed roll would reduce Body Vitality Points. If the Action Check used Intellect, you lose Mind Vitality Points.
Wounds #
If your Vitality Points are reduced to zero by a failed Stunt Action Check, you suffer a Wound normally. See Chapter 8: Vitality, Wounds, and Healing for more information.
Stunt Examples
Wargar is battling three bandits. He doesn’t like the idea of being surrounded, so he wants to make a sweeping attack with the flat of his axe that hits all three bandits, one after the other, and sends them flying backwards. To put it another way, he wants to use a Shove Action on all three at once. The Gamemaster decides this is going to require a Stunt. He sets the Difficulty Score to the Defense Score of the bandit with the highest Score, and he decides to add a +1 modifier to the Difficulty Score for each additional bandit. The final Difficulty Score is 8. Wargar makes his normal Attack Action Check. If he rolls an 8 or higher, he pulls off the Stunt and sends all three bandits flying. Unfortunately, Wargar gets a 5. The Gamemaster explains that Wargar over-extended his shoulder trying to make the wide strike. He missed by 3 so he loses 3 Body Vitality Points. Ah, well. It was worth a try!
Dysart is hiding from a bounty hunter in the changing room at the theater. He is horrified to discover there is no back door, and the bounty hunter will be there any moment. Dysart wants to put together a disguise to fool the bounty hunter. There are plenty of items in the dressing room to make a disguise with, but not nearly enough time to do it properly. The Gamemaster declares that Dysart may still try to throw together a passable disguise by snatching up whatever items are nearby, but it will require a Stunt. After all, assembling a decent disguise in six seconds by grabbing random items is pretty improbable.