Bennies
NotesBennies may be spent at any appropriate time and don’t incur any sort of penalty. They may only be used on your own character. Here are the ways characters can use their
Bennies.
REROLL A TRAIT: Bennies grant a hero a reroll on any Trait, and best of all, you get to keep the best total from all your rolls. The only exception is a Critical Failure, which ends the attempt and must be accepted. Such is the price of tempting fate!
RECOVER FROM SHAKEN: This is instant and may be done at any time, even interrupting another’s actions if desired.
SOAK ROLLS: Bennies can also be used to prevent Wounds or recover from being Shaken. See Soak Rolls on page 96 for more information.
DRAW A NEW ACTION CARD: When the game is in rounds, a character can spend a Benny to get a new Action Card (see page 91). This occurs after all cards are dealt and Edges or Hindrances like Quick, Level Headed, or Hesitant are resolved. Then players or the GM may spend Bennies for an additional card as many times as they like and take their choice of all their draws. Edges like Quick or Level Headed do not apply to these additional cards drawn with Bennies. This continues until everyone (including the GM) passes. Then the round begins and no further cards may be drawn.
REROLL DAMAGE: You may spend a Benny to reroll damage. Include any additional dice you may have gained for a raise on the attack roll.
REGAIN POWER POINTS: A character with an Arcane Background can spend a Benny to regain 5 Power Points (Power Points and their use are explained on page 147.)
INFLUENCE THE STORY: This one is entirely up to the Game Master, who may allow your character to spend a Benny to find an additional clue if you’re stuck, come up with some mundane but needed item, or push a nonplayer character into being a bit more agreeable.
Bennies may be spent at any appropriate time and don’t incur any sort of penalty. They may only be used on your own character. Here are the ways characters can use their
Bennies.
[b]REROLL A TRAIT:[/b] Bennies grant a hero a reroll on any Trait, and best of all, you get to keep the best total from all your rolls. The only exception is a Critical Failure, which ends the attempt and must be accepted. Such is the price of tempting fate!
[b]RECOVER FROM SHAKEN[/b]: This is instant and may be done at any time, even interrupting another’s actions if desired.
[b]SOAK ROLLS[/b]: Bennies can also be used to prevent Wounds or recover from being Shaken. See Soak Rolls on page 96 for more information.
[b]DRAW A NEW ACTION CARD[/b]: When the game is in rounds, a character can spend a Benny to get a new Action Card (see page 91). This occurs after all cards are dealt and Edges or Hindrances like Quick, Level Headed, or Hesitant are resolved. Then players or the GM may spend Bennies for an additional card as many times as they like and take their choice of all their draws. Edges like Quick or Level Headed do not apply to these additional cards drawn with Bennies. This continues until everyone (including the GM) passes. Then the round begins and no further cards may be drawn.
[b]REROLL DAMAGE:[/b] You may spend a Benny to reroll damage. Include any additional dice you may have gained for a raise on the attack roll.
[b]REGAIN POWER POINTS:[/b] A character with an Arcane Background can spend a Benny to regain 5 Power Points (Power Points and their use are explained on page 147.)
[b]INFLUENCE THE STORY:[/b] This one is entirely up to the Game Master, who may allow your character to spend a Benny to find an additional clue if you’re stuck, come up with some mundane but needed item, or push a nonplayer character into being a bit more agreeable.
Unarmored Heroes
NotesPulp action tales often feature heroes with little or no armor defeating far more heavily armored adversaries.
In these settings, if a Wild Card chooses not to wear any armor (ignoring shields), he adds +2 bonus to his Soak rolls!
Pulp action tales often feature heroes with little or no armor defeating far more heavily armored adversaries.
In these settings, if a Wild Card chooses not to wear any armor (ignoring shields), he adds +2 bonus to his Soak rolls!
Conviction
NotesConviction is a special award granted when a character experiences a great victory or catastrophic misfortune. If possible, use a themed token to note the award; maybe a Marshal’s Badge for Deadlands, a Benny of a different color, a toy doubloon for 50 Fathoms, and so on.
Conviction can be spent to add a d6 to a final Trait or damage total. This die can Ace, and its result is added to the final total.
Conviction tokens aren’t Bennies and can’t be used as such. They are kept between sessions, but a player can never have more than one at a time.
Triumph and Tragedy
Conviction is granted for personal triumph and tragedy, drawing on a character’s entire background, including—but not limited to—his Edges and Hindrances.
Savage settings may also grant Conviction for certain world-specific actions or events.
Triumph: Characters gain Conviction when they overcome significant obstacles core to their overall goals and motivations. This might mean defeating powerful enemies, saving a true love, or overcoming some great mystery or problem.
The victory should be an achievement over and above the usual. A vampire hunter in Rippers shouldn’t get Conviction every time he kills a vampire, for example, but he might when he wipes out an entire coven or slays a powerful master vampire. A super hero
might gain Conviction when she saves her true love from a death trap or the clutches of a powerful villain. She wouldn’t earn it just
because her boyfriend is in a dangerous encounter.
Tragedy: Some of the most interesting heroes of fiction, film, and legend spend as much time battling their personal demons as they do fighting their foes. Eventually these same issues give them strength as they work through their grief or overcome obstacles to rise once more against the challenges they face.
When a character experiences a significant personal loss or destructive event, and the GM feels it’s appropriate, he gains Conviction. The death of a loved one or close friend (including a party member he was close to), losing an important job, giving in to harmful character flaws and vices, being removed from a case or quest, or getting framed for a crime are all classic examples of heroic tragedy. These might happen in the course of the game, but players should also proactively suggest their own ideas to the Game Master. Consider your hero’s backstory and occasionally look for ways to do what your favorite authors do to their characters—torture them! Think about what’s important to them and threaten it or take it away. Most of the time this should be done as a quick narrative tale or a scene with a little interaction and roleplaying so as not to distract from the main campaign or the other players’ time, but occasionally it might inspire a side-trek or adventure to regain—or avenge!—whatever was lost.
Note that earning Conviction for harmful behavior is motivation for players in a game to occasionally spotlight their character’s dark side. It is not an endorsement or rationalization of poor conduct in the real world.
Conviction is a special award granted when a character experiences a great victory or catastrophic misfortune. If possible, use a themed token to note the award; maybe a Marshal’s Badge for Deadlands, a Benny of a different color, a toy doubloon for 50 Fathoms, and so on.
Conviction can be spent to add a d6 to a final Trait or damage total. This die can Ace, and its result is added to the final total.
Conviction tokens aren’t Bennies and can’t be used as such. They are kept between sessions, but a player can never have more than one at a time.
[u][b]Triumph and Tragedy[/b][/u]
Conviction is granted for personal triumph and tragedy, drawing on a character’s entire background, including—but not limited to—his Edges and Hindrances.
Savage settings may also grant Conviction for certain world-specific actions or events.
[b]Triumph[/b]: Characters gain Conviction when they overcome significant obstacles core to their overall goals and motivations. This might mean defeating powerful enemies, saving a true love, or overcoming some great mystery or problem.
The victory should be an achievement over and above the usual. A vampire hunter in Rippers shouldn’t get Conviction every time he kills a vampire, for example, but he might when he wipes out an entire coven or slays a powerful master vampire. A super hero
might gain Conviction when she saves her true love from a death trap or the clutches of a powerful villain. She wouldn’t earn it just
because her boyfriend is in a dangerous encounter.
[b]Tragedy[/b]: Some of the most interesting heroes of fiction, film, and legend spend as much time battling their personal demons as they do fighting their foes. Eventually these same issues give them strength as they work through their grief or overcome obstacles to rise once more against the challenges they face.
When a character experiences a significant personal loss or destructive event, and the GM feels it’s appropriate, he gains Conviction. The death of a loved one or close friend (including a party member he was close to), losing an important job, giving in to harmful character flaws and vices, being removed from a case or quest, or getting framed for a crime are all classic examples of heroic tragedy. These might happen in the course of the game, but players should also proactively suggest their own ideas to the Game Master. Consider your hero’s backstory and occasionally look for ways to do what your favorite authors do to their characters—torture them! Think about what’s important to them and threaten it or take it away. Most of the time this should be done as a quick narrative tale or a scene with a little interaction and roleplaying so as not to distract from the main campaign or the other players’ time, but occasionally it might inspire a side-trek or adventure to regain—or avenge!—whatever was lost.
Note that earning Conviction for harmful behavior is motivation for players in a game to occasionally spotlight their character’s dark side. It is not an endorsement or rationalization of poor conduct in the real world.
Wound Cap
NotesUse this Setting Rule when you want combat to remain dangerous but reduce the chances of characters (and villains!) dying from a single lucky blow. It can still happen, but it is far more rare. Characters can never suffer more than four Wounds in a single hit and therefore never have to Soak more than four wounds either.
Large Creatures: The Wound Cap applies even to creatures with more than three Wounds (due to their Scale or the Resilient/ Very Resilient Special Ability, both explained in Chapter Six). A Huge creature that can take five Wounds, for example, can’t take more than four from a single attack, so it can’t normally be killed with a single attack. The GM can always overrule this in specific and obvious situations, of course, such as massive blasts, falling from towering cliffs or mountains, etc.
Use this Setting Rule when you want combat to remain dangerous but reduce the chances of characters (and villains!) dying from a single lucky blow. It can still happen, but it is far more rare. Characters can never suffer more than four Wounds in a single hit and therefore never have to Soak more than four wounds either.
[b]Large Creatures[/b]: The Wound Cap applies even to creatures with more than three Wounds (due to their Scale or the Resilient/ Very Resilient Special Ability, both explained in Chapter Six). A Huge creature that can take five Wounds, for example, can’t take more than four from a single attack, so it can’t normally be killed with a single attack. The GM can always overrule this in specific and obvious situations, of course, such as massive blasts, falling from towering cliffs or mountains, etc.
Creative Combat
NotesTests make a game even more exciting and memorable. Creative Combat enhances a pulp-style game with additional benefits for those who Test with a raise.
A successful Test (page 108) works as usual, but if a Wild Card character succeeds with a raise while in combat, her foe is not automatically Shaken—she rolls on the
Creative Combat table instead:
CREATIVE COMBAT
| 2D6 | RESULT
|
| 2 | Second Wind: The foe’s reaction gives your hero hope or allows her to catch her breath. She may remove a level of Fatigue or a Wound (her choice). If she doesn’t have Fatigue or Wounds, the enemy is Shaken instead.
|
| 3 | Inspiration: Fate favors the bold. The clever hero receives a Benny.
|
| 4–5 | Double Whammy: The target is both Distracted and Vulnerable.
|
| 6–8 | Shaken: The foe is Shaken.
|
| 9–10 | Setback: The target suffers a setback of some sort. She might fall off a ledge, lose the confidence of her minions (who then desert her), take a rash but foolish action, or simply lose her next action as she attempts to recover from whatever situation she finds herself in.
|
| 11 | Insight: The hero has new insight into the target’s nature. Once during this encounter, she may add +d6 to any Trait roll made to directly attack, affect, or damage the same foe. If rolled a second time in the same encounter, the foe is Shaken instead.
|
| 12 | Seize the Moment: After the hero resolves this turn, she immediately gets an entire additional turn. This includes movement as well! She may use the turn to go on Hold if she wishes. |
Tests make a game even more exciting and memorable. Creative Combat enhances a pulp-style game with additional benefits for those who Test with a raise.
A successful Test (page 108) works as usual, but if a Wild Card character succeeds with a raise while in combat, her foe is not automatically Shaken—she rolls on the
Creative Combat table instead:
CREATIVE COMBAT
[table=htl]
2D6 | RESULT
2| [b]Second Wind[/b]: The foe’s reaction gives your hero hope or allows her to catch her breath. She may remove a level of Fatigue or a Wound (her choice). If she doesn’t have Fatigue or Wounds, the enemy is Shaken instead.
3| [b]Inspiration[/b]: Fate favors the bold. The clever hero receives a Benny.
4–5| [b]Double Whammy[/b]: The target is both Distracted and Vulnerable.
6–8| [b]Shaken[/b]: The foe is Shaken.
9–10| [b]Setback[/b]: The target suffers a setback of some sort. She might fall off a ledge, lose the confidence of her minions (who then desert her), take a rash but foolish action, or simply lose her next action as she attempts to recover from whatever situation she finds herself in.
11| [b]Insight[/b]: The hero has new insight into the target’s nature. Once during this encounter, she may add +d6 to any Trait roll made to directly attack, affect, or damage the same foe. If rolled a second time in the same encounter, the foe is Shaken instead.
12| [b]Seize the Moment[/b]: After the hero resolves this turn, she immediately gets an entire additional turn. This includes movement as well! She may use the turn to go on Hold if she wishes.
[/table]
