Sep 24, 2022 5:37 am
A Primer on the Warlock! Mechanics...
Right. You'll have seen this by now, but the basics of Warlock! are:
Right. You'll have seen this by now, but the basics of Warlock! are:
| ◊ | Stamina -- your health, vitality, fitness, staying power in a fight. Run out of this and you risk serious injury if someone whomps you again. Thirty minutes of rest recovers half your lost Stamina; the rest returns after a good night's sleep. When NPCs and foes run out of Stamina, they are like to flee or surrender. |
| ◊ | Luck -- think of this as a last resort saving throw. It's rolled like a normal skill check (more on that in a moment), and won't be pinged all the time because every time you test your luck you lower it by one point after rolling. Note that you can choose to failed a Luck roll I call for -- you won't lose a point... but you will obviously fail the save. |
| ◊ | Pluck -- a measure of how well you deal with stress and fear. If you're Lucky, you haven't faced much in life to allow you to have lots of Pluck. Conversely, if you've been unlucky you've seen and experienced your fair share of things... and have toughened up. (Represented by Pluck being 20 minus your Luck score). When a PC encounters something Shocking, Fearsome, or Terrifying, they will test Pluck by rolling 2d6 and adding their Pluck. There's a set of tables in the Black Edition covering the results of what happens -- lower rolls are worse, higher rolls are better. Results include: catatonic, frozen to the spot, screams and flees in horror, screams but keeps control, visible shaken, and unaffected. You can lose Pluck from some of these results, but it's fairly easy to gain back. If it ever hits 0, there are permanent effects to roll for on yet another awesome Greg Saunders table. |
| ◊ | Skill Tests -- the heart of the game. With no attributes, every test will be against a skill, Luck, or Pluck. With Skills and Luck, you're trying to hit 20 to be successful. Difficulty modifiers are typically -4, -2, 0, +2, and +4. |
| ◊ | Combat and Other Opposed Skills Tests -- when you're competing with someone directly, in combat or otherwise, you'll both roll. Whoever has the higher number wins -- no need to beat 20. Note that this means you can take damage on your turn in combat, and your can damage your opponent on their turn -- just like in Fighting Fantasy and Troika! Here though, one thing I really like is that the attacker gets a +5 bonus for initiating the exchange. |
| ◊ | Improving and Changing Careers -- you'll typically earn 1 to 3 XP for each session / chapter. These points can be spent one for one to improve career skills (and only your career skills), or they can be spent to change careers. That costs 5 points. Also note that when your increase your career skill -- which starts at the lowest value of all your career skills, you gain points of Stamina. (e.g when your career skill goes from 10 to 11, you gain +1 Stamina.) There are also Advanced Careers, but we likely won't get there in this game. |
| ◊ | Reputation -- a rating (starts at 0) that can be rolled like a skill to see if you are known. Once your reputation grows, it will have a descriptor and a number, such as Noble Deeds 5 or Scoundrel 7. |
| ◊ | Initiative -- is driven by what makes sense in the narrative to start, then the two sides alternate. PC 1 acts, then a goblin, then PC 2, then a goblin type thing. If necessary, both sides can throw a d6 to see who goes first. |
| ◊ | Moving in Combat -- you can move 10' and take an action, or spend your whole action moving. |
| ◊ | Armor -- is rolled for each hit, and subtracts from the weapon damage. |
| ◊ | Mighty Strike -- in the combat exchange, if you triple your foe's result (say, 25 vs. 7), you'll deal double damage. |
| ◊ | Critical Hit Tables -- exist and are pretty nasty. You'll roll 1d6 + Stamina points below zero and consult the tables based on the weapon being slashing, piercing, or crushing. |
| ◊ | Magic -- casting spells has a Stamina cost, and you have to make an Incantation skill roll. Failure means you pay the Stamina but the spell fizzles, a 1 means a potential mishap. Roll Incantation again -- if you roll, head for the lovely Miscast Table. |