Jun 20, 2025 5:25 pm
In QuestWorlds, contests (I. e. anytime a dice roll is needed), are very definite things:
- The player wants something or outcome (called the prize).
- There's a story obstacle to them getting that.
- They describe their tactic, which means: which ability they're going to use to overcome the obstacle, and how.
- The GM sets a resistance, describing how hard or difficult that would be to achieve, and set modifiers if needed.
- They both then roll under the ability and resistance and count successes, the one with the most successes win, with 0 degrees of success/failure often being considered victory with a cost / defeat with a boon, or simply: 'yes, but...' / 'no, but...' to the question of: 'do I get the prize?'. Though there are moments where these don't fit. If a benefit or consequent is yielded by a contest, the modifier is normally: +5 (0 degrees), +10 (1 degree), +15 (2 degrees) and so forth.
- The important thing to keep in mind is this: the player always wins the prize in a success, and never on a failure, so the outcome is always clear.
How we're going to play it in PbP:
- Most of the times, the existence of a story obstacle is pretty obvious, be it in the form of an antagonizing figure, literal obstacle, time limit, etc. In these situations, the player can get ahead and write his tactic for overcoming it (in OOC) and make a roll. The GM will then (without looking at the player's roll), set the resistance and any modifiers and roll for it, describing the outcome afterwards;
- Alternatively, if a player wants to know the resistance and modifiers before they roll, they can post just their tactic and wait; the GM will then make a post describing the resistance and rolling for it; finally, the player rolls and (already knowing the outcome) is asked to describe it himself, with the GM being able to add to it in his next post, giving benefits/consequences, etc.
Further considerations:
- Group contests: these contests where a bunch of players (often the whole party), act jointly after a single goal. In this case, they state their tactic, the GM the resistance, and the side with the most total successes at the end is the victorious one, with individual contests being able to give advantages/disadvantages.
- Sequences: sequences are used for more dramatic and important scenes in the story. In them, instead of resolving the whole conflict in a single contest, it is resolved in a series of them, which each degree of victory in them tallying a point against the loser contestant. Any contestant with 5 or more resolution points tallied against them are out of the contest, with the opposing contestant being victorious; the difference between resolution points of the contestants determine the degrees of success/failure.
Story Points(SP): You have a story point pool (1 point per PC) and you spend from the pool. Pool refresheswhen the GM sees fit (usually when sessionsstart, but perhaps during downtime or other moments).
- The player wants something or outcome (called the prize).
- There's a story obstacle to them getting that.
- They describe their tactic, which means: which ability they're going to use to overcome the obstacle, and how.
- The GM sets a resistance, describing how hard or difficult that would be to achieve, and set modifiers if needed.
- They both then roll under the ability and resistance and count successes, the one with the most successes win, with 0 degrees of success/failure often being considered victory with a cost / defeat with a boon, or simply: 'yes, but...' / 'no, but...' to the question of: 'do I get the prize?'. Though there are moments where these don't fit. If a benefit or consequent is yielded by a contest, the modifier is normally: +5 (0 degrees), +10 (1 degree), +15 (2 degrees) and so forth.
- The important thing to keep in mind is this: the player always wins the prize in a success, and never on a failure, so the outcome is always clear.
How we're going to play it in PbP:
- Most of the times, the existence of a story obstacle is pretty obvious, be it in the form of an antagonizing figure, literal obstacle, time limit, etc. In these situations, the player can get ahead and write his tactic for overcoming it (in OOC) and make a roll. The GM will then (without looking at the player's roll), set the resistance and any modifiers and roll for it, describing the outcome afterwards;
- Alternatively, if a player wants to know the resistance and modifiers before they roll, they can post just their tactic and wait; the GM will then make a post describing the resistance and rolling for it; finally, the player rolls and (already knowing the outcome) is asked to describe it himself, with the GM being able to add to it in his next post, giving benefits/consequences, etc.
Further considerations:
- Group contests: these contests where a bunch of players (often the whole party), act jointly after a single goal. In this case, they state their tactic, the GM the resistance, and the side with the most total successes at the end is the victorious one, with individual contests being able to give advantages/disadvantages.
- Sequences: sequences are used for more dramatic and important scenes in the story. In them, instead of resolving the whole conflict in a single contest, it is resolved in a series of them, which each degree of victory in them tallying a point against the loser contestant. Any contestant with 5 or more resolution points tallied against them are out of the contest, with the opposing contestant being victorious; the difference between resolution points of the contestants determine the degrees of success/failure.
Story Points(SP): You have a story point pool (1 point per PC) and you spend from the pool. Pool refresheswhen the GM sees fit (usually when sessionsstart, but perhaps during downtime or other moments).