Chapter IX: The Game Master
T raffICkIng wITh s hadows The PCs are all undercover agents charged with rooting out information about specific groups and threats to the Empire for whatever group they happen to work for. A group that works for a crime syndicate will doubtless lead a far different night-to-night life than one who works for an order of Witch Hunters. Along the way, they will doubtless learn far more than they ever wanted to, as there is some knowledge that is as fatal as any disease and Spies can always be replaced. — d ealIng w ITh g ame m eChanICs —
O nce you know what adventure you are going to use, you need to actually run it. To be a successful GM, you must know the rules in this book and how to use them. The heart of the WFRP system is the percentile test roll. Canny use of Skill Tests and Characteristic Tests will allow you to adjudicate nearly any situation. The basics rules for tests can be found in Chapter 4: Skill and Talents . You will note that the GM is responsible for determining many of the details of these tests. If you are to be the group’s Game Master then you must be able to make decisions quickly and fairly. What follows is some advice on using tests the right way. T esT d IffICulTy Table 4-1: Test Difficulty on page 89 is the GM’s universal tool. This handy table can be applied to both Skill Tests and Characteristic Tests and it’s sure to be the most referenced table in the book. Its purpose is to give you a simple but robust tool to help you adjudicate nearly any situation without a lot of downtime and page flipping. As the GM, the first question you must answer when a test come up is: how hard is this task? The table is intentionally abstract. While WFRP could provide page after page of carefully calculated modifiers, such an approach would bog down play. The ethos of the WFRP rules is to empower the GM, but that also means that you have the responsibility to be fair and to keep things fun. It is thus of crucial importance that your rulings be just and even-handed. There are many factors that can affect the difficulty of a test. Here are some things to think about when assigning difficulty: • Time: Is the character trying to do something with extra speed or is he taking his time? Time if often of the essence but rushing a task can have consequences. Equipment: Does the character have the right tool for the job? If not, does he have a reasonable substitute? Some tasks may be flat-out impossible without the right tools. • Distractions: Is anything distracting the character? Sights, sounds, and even smells can break concentration. Complementary Skills: A character’s skill in one area may be helpful with certain tasks. A character that knows the Classical language, for instance, might find translating a document written in Tilean easier than normal. Aid: Does that character have anyone helping them? Help from friends can make a big difference. Environment: Is the character in a hazardous environment? Weather, darkness, and terrain can all affect tests. p uTTIng IT all T ogeTher Once you’ve considered all the various factors, you have to distil that down to a final test difficulty modifier. There is no wonder formula for doing this. You must trust your gut and your sense of fair play. You should also try to make a ruling quickly so the game can proceed apace. • • • •
Once you settle on the difficulty, inform the player. The character’s talents may further modify the test but it’s the player’s job to remember those details. T esTs and T Ime The other important area that requires frequent adjudication is time. Namely, how long does it take to attempt any given test? In combat situations, this should be expressed in actions (free, half, and full). Remember that a complete round is only 10 seconds long, so there is limit to what can be accomplished. situation. A Knowledge (History) Test to remember a fact would take no time at all, while a Knowledge (History) Test to research an obscure prince might represent hours or even days of work. Also remember that you can require multiple successful tests for certain tasks, which gives you another way of controlling the time a task takes. T ryIng a gaIn Players who fail tests often want to know if they can try again. In combat situations, the answer is usually yes, since any new attempt requires taking additional actions and so has a real opportunity cost. In non-combat situations, you should decide on a case-by-case basis if retries are allowed. Keep in mind that letting players roll and roll until they get the desired result can quickly become tedious. In such situations, you have four options: • Allow retries without penalty. You should choose this option for characters making Extended Skill Tests. • Allow retries with a –10% penalty for each additional test (–10% for the second test, –20% for the third, etc.). This gives characters a chance to recover from a bad roll, but puts a cap on the number of retries. Only allow retries when the situation changes. A character who fails to climb a sheer cliff, for example, could only try again if he returned with a grappling hook, the weather improved, etc. This requires players to use their wits and is more engaging than simply rolling and rolling. f ear and T error T esTs There are unspeakable horrors in the Old World, things that can literally paralyze you with dread. When PCs encounter certain monsters and scenes, they may become overwhelmed with fright. This is handled with two special variants of the Will Power Test: Fear and Terror. Table 4-1: Test Difficulty can modify Fear and Terror Tests, just as it does for Skill and Characteristic Tests. Out-of-combat tests can be for nearly any amount of time, though minutes and hours are most common. It really comes down to considering what is appropriate for the • • Do not allow retries. This not only makes sense in many situations, but speeds up play as well.
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