Ashwood CrossExpedition 0:
Game Mechanics and Information:Ashwood Cross is an Illustrated Suggestion Game, in which the readers shape the story by suggesting actions for the characters to take. You definitely don't need to read these rules to participate; you just need to follow the updates, and post suggestions if you like. That said, knowing the rules can show you what options are available to you as players, and will probably help you make the best use of your resources, skills, and abilities. It may even help you understand what's going on in the story a bit better! Feel free to poke around at your own initiative. If you have questions about anything confusing in there, feel free to ask! Odds are that if you're confused, other folks find it confusing too. I'll do what I can to keep this section updated, as we discover new mechanics and such, too.
Note: For folks familiar with tabletop gaming, you may recognize this dice system as a simplified tweak of the Dice Pool mechanics from the World of Darkness games! >_o
Skill Tests:
Whenever a Character attempts something with a decent risk of failure, they make a Skill Test. This is a Dice Roll, which determines whether they Succeed or Fail at that action, and to what degree. Based on the action, the Skill Test will involve 2 Attributes, 1 Skill, and any situational Bonuses/Penalties based on Equipment, the Environment, or the character’s Conditions. The character rolls a pool of 10-Sided Dice for every Star in their tested Attributes and Skills, modified by Bonuses/Penalties. If they roll more Successes than the test’s Difficulty, they perform their action. If not, they fail to perform the action. Often, a failure means that character can’t attempt the action again, unless the circumstances change, or the character uses a sufficiently different method.
Extended Tests:
Extended Tests are a special kind of Skill Test, where multiple Skill Tests are made in a row, and their Successes are totaled together. Multiple characters can participate in Extended Tests, and based on how they participate, different Attributes and Skills can be involved in each Roll. Successes are totaled together from all Skill Tests, and compared against the Difficulty to determine if they succeeded or not. Some Extended Tests have a Duration, which determines how long each Skill Test takes to perform. Some Extended Tests also have a Limit, which determines how many Skill Tests can be attempted in total, before the outcome is determined.
Assistance in Skill Tests:
Sometimes, a character can try to aid another in a Skill Test. An Assistance Test is a special Skill Test, made by one or more assistants before the main Skill Test. Tested Attributes and Skills are based on how they are assisting the Main Test, and each Success on the Assistance Test grants a bonus die roll on the main Skill Test. A Critical Failure imposes a -1 penalty on the main Skill Test, and a Critical Success grants an extra +1 Bonus. If there is more than one assistant, the highest-rolling Assistant’s roll is used, reduced by -1 for every Critical Failure, and increased by +1 for every Critical Success. Depending on the Skill Test, there may be a limit on how many Assistants can actually help at once, for practical reasons.
Dice Results by Color:
Advantaged Skill Tests:
Normal Skill Tests:
Disadvantaged Skill Tests:
Dice Color Key:
≫ Violet Dice: Exploding Success (+1 Success, and +1 Bonus Die)
≫ Teal Dice: Success (+1 Success)
≫ Orange Dice: Failure (No Effect)
≫ Red Dice: Critical Failure (A Failure becomes a Critical Failure if 1/2 or more dice are Red)
Quick Reference:
≫ Difficulty: Determines how many Successes must be rolled to Succeed at an action. A simple test has a Difficulty of 1 Star, while a hard test may be 3 Stars or more.
≫ Success: Any roll of 8, 9, or 10 contributes a Success toward that Skill Test's outcome.
≫ Critical Success: Any Test with 5 or more Successes is a Critical Success. These grant a particularly good outcome, with additional benefits!
≫ Failure: Any roll of 7 or lower is considered a Failure, and does not contribute a Success.
≫ Critical Failure: On a failed Test, if half or more of the rolls are 1, it’s considered a Critical Failure. This imposes a very poor outcome, with additional penalties!
≫ Duration: Optional (Default: Instantaneous). How much time elapses between each Skill Test in an Extended Test. Often measured in Minutes or Hours.
≫ Limit: Optional (Default: Unlimited). The maximum number of Skill Tests in total that may be attempted, before results are determined.
≫ 10 Again Bonus: Any time a 10 is rolled in a Skill Test, it grants +1 Bonus Dice toward the roll.
≫ Advantage: A bonus applied to Skill Tests made under particularly favorable conditions. With advantage, a roll of 7 is also a Success, and a roll of 9 will also grant Bonus Dice.
≫ Disadvantage: A penalty applied when a Skill Test is made under particularly harsh conditions. With disadvantage, a roll of 8 is no longer a Success, and rolls of 2 contribute to Critical Failures. Attributes represent a character’s general physical and mental abilities, while Skills represent specialized training and experience. Both are ranked in Stars, from 1 to 5. On Skill Tests, the number of Stars determines how many Dice that Skill or Attribute contributes to the Dice Pool. Some Attributes are used to determine other traits, such as Maximum Health and Willpower, Carry Capacity, or Dodge Defense in combat.
Base Attributes:
≫ Might: Physical power. Add Dice to Skill Tests for sprinting and jumping, heavy work, throwing, brawling, etc.
≫ Grace: Physical speed. Add Dice to Skill Tests for tumbling and dancing, reflexes, dexterous work, aiming, etc.
≫ Stamina: Physical endurance. Add Dice to Skill Tests for carrying and climbing, sustained work, resisting maladies, etc.
≫ Logic: Mental power. Add Dice to Dice Rolls for problem-solving, research, investigation, tests of knowledge and experience, etc.
≫ Wit: Mental speed. Add Dice to Dice Rolls for perception, socializing, tests of cleverness and quick-thinking, etc.
≫ Composure: Mental endurance. Add Dice to Dice Rolls for self-control, resisting influence, common sense, tests of focus and rationale, etc.
Derived Attributes:
≫ Carry Capacity: Characters can comfortably carry 10kg per Star in Might and Stamina. A successful Lifting Test (Might + Stamina) can let them carry up to 2x that for a matter of minutes, or 4x that for a matter of seconds.
≫ Dodge: When a character is aware of an incoming attack, the base difficulty to Hit them is equal to their Stars in Grace or Wit, whichever is lower.
Health:
Vitality and physical wellness. Max Health is equal to your total Stars in Might, Grace, and Stamina. Damage comes in different severity levels: Bashing, Wounds, and Critical Wounds. Where possible, more severe wounds will replace less severe wounds, before being dealt to uninjured Health Points. If there are no less severe wound points left, remaining damage overflows and is upgraded by one level of severity; Bashing damage becomes Lethal, and Lethal damage becomes Critical.
Damage is recovered naturally by resting, with more serious injuries recovering more slowly. Medical Care can reduce the severity of wounds, allowing them to recover more quickly.
Willpower:
Energy, emotional wellness, and personal drive. Tracks Spent Will and Enervation. 1 Spent Will recovers every night. Enervation recovers with specialized Medical Care, or over a long time. A fully Spent character takes a -1 on all Rolls. A fully Enervated character has lost their will to act.
Integrity:
Structural wholeness. Tracks Battering and Wrecking Damage. Damage is only recovered when Repaired, using appropriate Crafting Skills and raw materials. A fully Battered character takes a -1 on all Rolls. A fully Wrecked character is broken beyond repair.
Mana Battery:
Raw arcane energy, which creates the matter and physical laws of the universe, and can also be used as a power source. The 6 fundamental types are considered to be Sky, Grass, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Other types exist as well, including combinations of these. Mana is normally only Spent or Gained using certain Specials. A fully Spent character who uses Mana as a Power Source will instantly fall unconscious.
(PARDON THE DUST THIS WILL BE MORE PRETTY AND INFORMATIVE LATER)
Inherent Specials:
≫ Willful: Humans have the unique ability to inspire themselves to greater heights, through force of will alone. By spending 1 Willpower, you can gain Advantage on one Skill Test (increasing every die's odds for a Success), as well as +1 bonus dice. If used when you are Disadvantaged, ignore the Disadvantaged state on this roll.
Gate Specials:
≫ Artificer Gate: Enables Mana-based fabrication. Depending on it's type, Mana can be used to quickly Manifest elemental energies, forces, or simple raw materials. This can be used for practical purposes, or as an attack in combat, as appropriate. Mana can also be used with a Crafting Skill Test, to design and Fabricate useful objects or goods. Specific objects can be Repaired, Augmented, or Cloned using Mana as well. Stored Mana can also be supplied to other nearby devices or individuals. An Object can be Extracted into Mana, yielding Mana and destroying the Object. Using the Artificer Gate may induce Gate Fatigue, which restricts it's use for the next Hour.
Some images, such as the Character Status Sheets, have Alt-Text with additional information. Normally, this can be viewed by mousing over the images. Unfortunately, Alt-Text can't be viewed on many mobile devices. I'll do my best to make Alt-Text gameplay information available in plain text, but feel free to check the Game Mechanics section above for that info as well!
Fan Art and Miscellanea:This was submitted by the lovely and talented Dexexe1234, whom you may know from numerous Quests and Illustrated Suggestion Games here on the Bay12Games forums, the MSPaintAdventure forums, and more recently on Sufficient Velocity. You can check out his latest work, Terrene Spire, over here on his website, or play along at the Sufficient Velocity quest thread. I'd highly recommend it; it's weird and creepy and silly and cool, features some excellent worldbuilding, and the art and animation is Through-The-Roof awesome. Go now! Experience Slagmar! Shower him with your love! Support his Patreon even! I will wait.
Anyway, this is actually the first time that something I've made has received a piece of Fanart, and I can't stop smiling about it. I'm super stoked and super geeked about it, all at the same time! Steeked? Sure! But in any case, you made my evening, Dex, so thanks a ton for this. I adore her stockings and flappy skirt! 
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Topic: [ISG] Ashwood Cross (Read 79063 times)