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Aug. 24th, 2004
rules for mage
Aug. 24th, 2004 12:36 pmRules for Mage: House of Fools
The rules for House of Fools are simple. Arbitration is resolved through Rock-Paper-Scissors, mainly because it is simple, portable and everyone knows it or can be taught quickly. There are two varieties of arbitration, which will be referred to as tests, Throw 'til you Win and Throw 'til you Lose. These are simple and all function on basic principles. In every test you have your skill pool, which is the combination of attribute and skill. In the absence of a GM for a given test, these things can be determined consensually for most cases. I will lay out the two separate types of test.
Throw 'til you Win
The TTYW tests are simple. They are used for any skill test where the test resolves merely success or failure. This is most skill tests and hedge magic.(the numbers listed in parentheses indicate the next number to go to in series)
1. establish test pool(appropriate attribute+appropriate skill)(2.)
2. establish difficulty(generally 1, can be altered by other players action)(3.)
3. throw RPS with either a GM or another player(RPS is not one player against another. It is one player against the universe, the player is simply helping). Throw a number of ‘chops’ until either you accumulate enough wins(not ties or losses) to overcome the difficulty(4.) or you reach 1/2 the test pool, rounded down.(5.)
4. if you have overcome the difficulty, then you have succeeded. Congrats.
5. if you reach 1/2 the test pool, then you have a choice. You may quit at this point, and accept failure, or continue and risk a botch. (6.)
6. Throw RPS with either a GM or another player. Throw a number of ‘chops’ until you accumulate enough wins to overcome the difficulty(4.) or you reach the full test pool. (7.)
7. If you reach the full test pool and do not overcome the difficulty, then you may have botched. If you have no wins, then you have botched, failing spectacularly(botches can be handled consensually or by GM). Otherwise, you have simply failed.
Throw 'til you Lose
The TTYL tests are also simple, resolving tests where you accumulate successes. The prime examples of this are damage and true magic.
1. establish test pool(generally damage rating of weapon or arête)(2.)
2. establish degree of success(1 for a test pool of 1-4, 2 for a test pool of 5-7, 3 for 8-10)
3. Throw RPS with either a GM or another player. Throw a number of ‘chops’ until you either lose(not tie or win)enough to overcome the degree of success or you reach the total of the test pool.(4.)
4. Count the number of wins you have accumulated. That is the success total.
These are the two tests. There are some special rules, but they will be described in a separate section. The important things to remember, especially in contrast with MET, are that there are no retests and that everyone gets one action in a round(If you are dodging, then you use your action to dodge, you do not get to use it every time someone attacks you).
Character creation is done as per tabletop Mage: the Ascension except for two things. All Mages have mortal attributes of 6/4/3 instead of 7/5/3. This balances things more between dynamic and static mages. All books published for revised are fair game.
The rules for House of Fools are simple. Arbitration is resolved through Rock-Paper-Scissors, mainly because it is simple, portable and everyone knows it or can be taught quickly. There are two varieties of arbitration, which will be referred to as tests, Throw 'til you Win and Throw 'til you Lose. These are simple and all function on basic principles. In every test you have your skill pool, which is the combination of attribute and skill. In the absence of a GM for a given test, these things can be determined consensually for most cases. I will lay out the two separate types of test.
Throw 'til you Win
The TTYW tests are simple. They are used for any skill test where the test resolves merely success or failure. This is most skill tests and hedge magic.(the numbers listed in parentheses indicate the next number to go to in series)
1. establish test pool(appropriate attribute+appropriate skill)(2.)
2. establish difficulty(generally 1, can be altered by other players action)(3.)
3. throw RPS with either a GM or another player(RPS is not one player against another. It is one player against the universe, the player is simply helping). Throw a number of ‘chops’ until either you accumulate enough wins(not ties or losses) to overcome the difficulty(4.) or you reach 1/2 the test pool, rounded down.(5.)
4. if you have overcome the difficulty, then you have succeeded. Congrats.
5. if you reach 1/2 the test pool, then you have a choice. You may quit at this point, and accept failure, or continue and risk a botch. (6.)
6. Throw RPS with either a GM or another player. Throw a number of ‘chops’ until you accumulate enough wins to overcome the difficulty(4.) or you reach the full test pool. (7.)
7. If you reach the full test pool and do not overcome the difficulty, then you may have botched. If you have no wins, then you have botched, failing spectacularly(botches can be handled consensually or by GM). Otherwise, you have simply failed.
Throw 'til you Lose
The TTYL tests are also simple, resolving tests where you accumulate successes. The prime examples of this are damage and true magic.
1. establish test pool(generally damage rating of weapon or arête)(2.)
2. establish degree of success(1 for a test pool of 1-4, 2 for a test pool of 5-7, 3 for 8-10)
3. Throw RPS with either a GM or another player. Throw a number of ‘chops’ until you either lose(not tie or win)enough to overcome the degree of success or you reach the total of the test pool.(4.)
4. Count the number of wins you have accumulated. That is the success total.
These are the two tests. There are some special rules, but they will be described in a separate section. The important things to remember, especially in contrast with MET, are that there are no retests and that everyone gets one action in a round(If you are dodging, then you use your action to dodge, you do not get to use it every time someone attacks you).
Character creation is done as per tabletop Mage: the Ascension except for two things. All Mages have mortal attributes of 6/4/3 instead of 7/5/3. This balances things more between dynamic and static mages. All books published for revised are fair game.