Basic Mechanics Revised CN: Ascend

Further work on Ascend. I am working on the part that would occur during the Introduction to briefly describe the Mechanics. Not there yet. :)

Ascend: Base Mechanic

The stories of Heroes is colored by details. Snippets of conversations, the smell of a new day, the stirring of shadows. With nothing at stake, Players and Game Master reach accord and Narrate new additions to the story of the Heroes. They share a world and explore its depths.

But the stories of Heroes are also testaments to conflict and struggle. Passion and drive, belief and failings, duress and suspense demand Heroes who risk their lives, minds and souls. When the Hero is called upon, stories speak not of accord and compliance, but of mettle and resolve.

To Resolve a conflict, whether an impediment, argument or enemy, a Hero is Tested. A Test can be used to sway a lord or combat a horde. Tests can be to overcome an Obstacle Narrated by the Game Master, an Adversary seeking to destroy a civilization, between two Heroes who cannot reach agreement, or between two conflicting priorities within the Hero.

Tests comprise of three parts. A Hero's character sheet details Traits, Tools, and Skills that enable the Hero overcome and Succeed. The Game Master provides Difficulty. And Ascend, like many games, uses dice to add a random element.

Randomness provides suspense and drama, as the fate of Hero hangs in the balance. It enables a Hero to triumph in desperate situations. Crisis of faith, overwhelming success, sundering of bonds, lasting companionship are all results from the storytelling randomness enables. Most importantly, random results give Players the opportunity to define that which is most fundamental to their Heroes, and that which can sacrificed.

The dice used in Ascend are ten sided dice, also known as d10. These dice are commonly used in games, and usually have the numbers o, 1, 2 and so on up to 9. In many games the 0 is used to represent the number ten. In Ascend the 0 is used to represent the number zero, for a range of 0 to 9. Multiple d10's are rolled at the same time, and this collection of dice is a Dice Pool. The number of d10's in a Dice Pool is placed in front of “d10” to signify the size of a Dice Pool.

Example: Susan is rolling a Dice Pool of 5d10. Therefore she rolls 5 ten sided dice.

Dice Pools are rolled to determine not only the success or failure of an action, but how successful the action is. Rolling to determine success is called a Test. To roll a Test, the Player determines which Skill is being tested, sometimes with the aid of the Game Master. Skills are Rated from 0 (non-existent) to 5 (supreme ability). The Skill Rating determines the Target, the number each individual d10 of the Dice Pool must be equal to or be lower then to count as a Success.

Example: Jayme's Hero is making a Stealth Test, and has a Rating of 2. Once the Dice Pool size is determined, Jayme rolls that number of d10's and any dice that come up 0, 1, or 2 give Jayme's Hero a Success.

When the Hero's action is being opposed, the Game Master may provide a Difficulty. Difficulty represents a concerted effort to oppose or defeat the Hero. Difficulty has a minimum Rating of 1, and can be higher. The Hero's Player subtracts the Difficulty from the Skill Rating to determine the Target for the Test.

Example: Trent's Hero is attacking a Guard on alert. The Hero's Weaponry is 3, but the Guard is defending himself. The Game Master rules that the Difficulty of the Test is 1, so Trent's Target is 2, which is his Hero's Skill Rating of 3 minus 1 for the Difficulty.

A Player's Dice Pool for a hero's action is determined by both Traits and Tools. Traits are more or less constant values, used to represent a Hero's characteristics and relationships. Traits are Rated from 1 (mild) to 3 (strong). The Rating of a Trait determines how many d10's are used in the Test's Dice Pool.

When making a Test, the Player may briefly Narrate the action and describe which Trait they are using for the Test. If a Hero is particularly vested in the action, with much at stake for the Hero, the Player may Narrate a more detailed action. The goal of this Narration is not length, but quality, aiming for a fluid description that invokes more than one Trait. For contributing to the storytelling in this way, the Player may use two Traits in a Test.

In the most rare situations, when a Player's description is both simultaneously beautiful and appropriate, the group may award that Player. In this instant the Player may use up to three Traits to determine the Test's Dice Pool.