Challenge Resolution System

Core Design Concept

The Challenge Resolution System (CRS) is designed to handle most noncombat/PvE challenges on the MUSH.

A player is faced with a challenge of some kind. To resolve this, the player will choose an action and apply any abilities or assets they have available, and roll 2d10. The GM running the scene will adjudicate the applicability of the actions, abilities, and assets and provide a modifier to the roll. This roll is compared to a needed target number to achieve an objective. If the number matches or exceeds, the person is successful.

This can either be applied to a single roll challenge or applied to an ongoing situation in the form of a Meter.

Activity Flow

• Challenge is posed by the GM.
• During their turn, the player chooses what actions, abilities, and assets to apply to the challenge (if any).
• GM determines total modifiers, whether increasing modifiers or altering TN.
• Player rolls 2d10 and adds the modifiers.
• If equal or above, register success.
• Continue until success or failure conditions are met.

Target Numbers

The target number (TN) of a challenge roll depends on how the GM assigns difficulty to the task, with the following guidelines. The higher end of each difficulty band tends to be caused by complications to the task, but particularly extreme complications can also push a task up to the next level of difficulty.

If something is simpler than Easy (i.e. there is no reasonable chance that they would fail), one should generally be able to just accomplish it without a roll.

Abilities

Abilities that are listed on a player's sheet can be applied to a proposed roll as appropriate. Abilities will be given a value between +1 and +3, or denied if inappropriate... or even act as a negative. The more specific and directed an Ability is, the higher the bonus that is likely to be given. Only one Ability can be used for any given roll, but an Ability can be used as many times as is appropriate based on contextual restrictions.

Assets

Assets (Resources and NPCs) can be committed to a given challenge roll in order to allow the player to roll twice and take the better result. Upon being committed, an Asset is assumed to be actively used and will not measurably alter the situation through further application unless the GM declares otherwise. The Asset cannot be reused again in the same scene, even if the additional roll was not necessary to succeed at the task.

Using an Asset in a scene may or may not expend the Asset ICly, and its use should also be included in the pose.

Actions

The specific action being taken is also important and generally provides a base modifier to the d10 roll, anywhere from +1 to +3 as deemed appropriate by the GM. The GM is encouraged to be generous with this unless the action is particularly inappropriate, but appropriate effort should be provided if someone is seeking to maximize their Action bonus.

Teamwork

With GM allowance, more than one player can work together on a single metered challenge roll. Each player rolls as though they were making the roll individually (each committing their own Abilities, Assets, and Actions as appropriate), but the group chooses which final result they want to use, alongside up to a +2 Teamwork bonus as applicable. Keep in mind that too many people working on the same task can make it harder, not easier.

Teamwork and all participants must be declared on the earliest turn of someone involved in the team effort. The rolls are made during the turn of the latest-acting participant.

Sidebar: TN or Modifier?

If a circumstance affects only one person, it is a modifier. If it is an alteration to the environment that would change the situation for everyone, it would alter the TN.

Meters

Meters are used to represent large or complicated tasks that require more than one successful roll to complete, to demonstrate progress of a developing situation, or to track the various positive and negative facets of the circumstances at play. Multiple meters can be present in a scene at once, but a given individual can usually only intentionally alter a single meter per Action, where they specify which meter they want to affect. Each meter may have different actions and accompanying TNs for successfully affecting them.

Meters can track many different facets of a situation as shown below:

Meter Example

There is a situation where a reactor is overloading and threatening to melt down.

• The main meter would be one involving suppressing the overload. Completing this meter would successfully resolve the threat. (TN 12)
• A secondary meter could involve damage to the reactor that levies penalties to rolls to alter other meters. This kind of meter is usually called a Penalty Meter, (TN 14, -1 to rolls on other meters per 2 points on the meter)
• A third meter tracks the progress towards a meltdown. If this fills, the scene will end in failure. (Cannot be manipulated directly, this is a timer. GM would add 1 tick per round.)

On their turn, participants declare which meter they want to influence and apply their Actions alongside Abilities and Assets to try to do so. This can be further complicated in other ways as well, but it often pays off to complicate things enough to keep it interesting but not so much as to bog the process down.

For every 5 points a roll is higher than a TN, the magnitude of shift is increased by one point. (For example, if the TN is 10, rolling 15 will give 2 points, etc)

Meter Types

• Positive: Standard meter that fills green, intended to positive effects. Useful for bonus meters or success meters.
• Negative: Bar display in red, intended to emphasize negative effects. Useful for penalty meters or failure meters.
• Balance: A balance meter is intended to start at the midpoint (and so must be odd). One group is trying to fill the meter, the other is trying to empty it. This is useful for 'pvp' challenges to demonstrate 2 groups clashing over a goal.