Jeff Baker
CREATOR
20 days ago
Project Update: You're In Danger!
Hi folks!
First, a big thank you to everyone who has hopped on board the We're in Danger train, followed the AiL BackerKit account, and subbed to the WiD teaser page. I appreciate all of you, and I cannot wait to show off more of WiD and get a book into your hands. Consider this, then, the first of what will be many substantive posts about WiD's mechanisms, features, art, and inspiration.
For this post, I want to talk a bit about the core resolution mechanism of WiD. It feels like a good place to start.
All PCs in WiD have three attributes: athleticism, composure, and reasoning. Athleticism speaks to physical actions, composure to social actions and emotional equilibrium, and reasoning to knowledge and comprehension.
During character creation, a player assigns a rank to each of these attributes. Their best attribute is 1, their second best is 2, and their worst is 3. The rank doesn't directly affect the chances of passing or failing a test. More accurately, the rank affects how cleanly they pass or fail. Meaning, do they get tired, frustrated, or hurt in the process? Someone with good athleticism is more likely to climb a rockwall without harming themselves or growing too winded. Someone with average or below-average athleticism can still accomplish the same feat, but might be out of breath or covered in scrapes by the time they reach the top.
WiD uses a d6 dice pool to resolve tests. By default, a PC rolls 4d6 and then assesses individual die results. Each die result will score a hit, a miss, or a fumble.
Results of 5, 6, and (when assisted) 4 count as hits. These are good.
Results that are equal or under the tested attribute count as fumbles. These are bad.
Results that are above the tested attribute but below a hit result are misses. These neither help nor hurt.
On most tests, fumbles cause the PC strain—the term used to describe non-lethal, non-permanent damage. It could be anything from bruising to fatigue, embarrassment to confusion. Of course, taking too much strain can lead to lethal and permanent damage in the form of wounds. More on strain, wounds, and death in a future update.
After rolling, the PC counts their hits and their fumbles. Most tests require only one hit to succeed, but there are situations (such as confrontations with strong Dangers) that might require more. If a PC rolls more hits than they need to succeed on the test, then they can use those extra hits to cancel out their fumbles.
Ashley makes a reasoning test. Her reasoning is rank 2, and she rolls 1, 3, 5, and 6. The 1 is a fumble, the 3 is a miss, and the 5 and 6 are hits. Since she needs only one hit to succeed on the test, she can use the extra hit to cancel the fumble and avoid taking strain.
Steven makes an athleticism test. His athleticism is rank 3, and he rolls 2, 2, 3, and 5. The 2s and the 3 are fumbles, and the 5 is a hit. While he succeeds on the test, he doesn't have any extra hits, and therefore takes 3 strain in the process.
The PC doesn't have to rely only on good dice luck. They have other features that can help manipulate the roll in their favor.
Each PC has an expertise. This is a learned skill or knowledge set that is always reliable. If it's applicable to the test, it automatically grants an extra hit to the roll results.
Each PC has two items. If an item is useful to the situation, it allows the PC to increase the result of one die by +1. Meaning, they can turn a 4 into a 5, granting a hit. Or, they could turn a 3 into a 4, avoiding strain when testing their rank 3 attribute.
Another PC can assist the active PC in their test. When assisted, the active PC rolls an extra die in their pool, and they can count all die results of 4 as hits. Assisting isn't free, however. The assistant must take 1 strain for their efforts.
And that's the core resolution mechanism. During play, PCs roll most often during confrontations with Danger, and more sparingly in scenes when a Danger isn't present. In future updates, I'll talk more about confrontations, and also about scenes, obstacles, and pacing tools for the GM.
I'm open to suggestions on post topics, and am happy to answer questions. Consider hopping into the Adventures in Lollygagging Discord to chat more about the game, offer suggestions for update topics, and maybe get into a pickup game of WiD. And, if you're interested in trying out WiD right now, it's available in an early access PDF form on itch.io and RPG Trader.
Until next time!
Until next time!
—Jeff.
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