Crib sheet on basic mechanics?

[IMAGinES]

Okay, here's my shot at a summary one-sheet:

Testing Yourself
A given roll of the dice is called a test. When you roll, each die with a 4, 5 or 6 is a success. You count the number of successes and compare to an obstacle or an opponent’s total. Each die with a 1, 2 or 3 is a worm.

When Do You Test?
You test when a conflict arises: you, the player, want something that someone else won’t let you have without a fight (p.292).

You can also test to give yourself or another a bonus to another test or when starting a conflict, but doing so risks making the situation worse! This is a Linked test (p.299).

Finally, you can test to create a fact about the game’s world using a wise (p.309).

Before You Roll

State Your Intent

Make clear what you want the successful result of your test – the effect on the game world – to be. (p.294) The GM must tell you what you risk before you roll. (p.305)

Describe What You’re Doing

Tell the group how you’ll go about achieving your intent. This is your task, and must incorporate the skill, stat or attribute that you plan to use (p.295). If you’re trying something that requires a skill you don’t have, you can use the skill’s root stat, but the obstacle will be doubled (p.308).

Check Your Exponent

Your skill, stat or attribute will have a number – the exponent – which is how many dice you roll (p17). You can try for extra dice:

• If current circumstances are in your favour, you can ask for one Advantage die. (p.301) Keep your justification short.
• If a friend has a related skill, stat or attribute, he can offer you one (exp1-4) or two (exp5+) Helping dice. He must describe how he’s helping you; you can say no. (p.302) Helpers get to advance, and can help with the end-of-manoeuvre test.
• You can get one Fields of Related Knowledge (FoRK) die from another of your skills and/or one from a wise. You must work them into your description (p.303).
• You can spend Artha to give you extra dice or re-roll worms (p.336-340).
• If you or another linked a previous, successful test to this one, you get one Linked die (p.299).
• Certain die traits give extra dice (p.247).

Be Warned: Extra dice slow advancement!

The Test
When you roll, you need enough successes to either equal or beat the obstacle listed for the skill or set by the GM or beat the number of successes rolled by an opponent (p. 296).

The GM can increase the obstacle if current circumstances work against you (p.301). If you linked a previous, failed test to this one, the GM increases the obstacle by one (p.299).

If you fail, check whether any call-on traits you have allow you to re-roll (p.247).

After You Roll

If you’ve succeeded, explain how you achieved your intent (p.304). If you got additional successes, work them into your description. If you failed, the GM (or your opponent) describes the negative result (p.305).

Succeed or fail, your test for that intent stands for the manoeuvre and cannot be re-rolled unless circumstances change drastically (p.306).

Learning and Advancing

Whether success or failure, compare the total number of dice you rolled, including Help, FoRKs, Advantage, Linked and die trait dice (but not Artha), and the obstacle or total successes of your opponent on the “Difficulty of Test” table on your character sheet. Note the advance you’ve earned (p.312). If you earn enough advances to increase an exponent, the exponent increases now (p.315).

If you Helped another player's roll, you gain an advance as if you had tested your skill’s full exponent against the full obstacle (or total successes) the other player faced (p317).

[Z-Dog]

When Do You Test?
You test when a conflict arises: you, the player, want something that someone else won’t let you have without a fight. (p.292)

The GM must tell you what you risk before you roll. (p.305)
roll.

Great stuff, Rob! I've got my two copies for this weekend.

A couple of minor quibbles:

I'd restate the first statement as, "You test when someone at the table (player or GM) say, "No" to what you want."

And the second one as, "The GM must describe the consequences of failure before you roll."

[IMAGinES]

Thanks for the feedback, Z-Dog!

Wording is always tricky with these things; you have to get the concept across without pusing a paragraph onto another page, which is why I used "what you risk" instead of "consequences of failure".

Which is odd considering my lengthy opening statement, I admit. I wanted to introduce the word "conflict", which is a core concept in this game. Also, "no" seems too negative to me. It implies someone who's straight-out blocking an idea; it doesn't really embody "Say 'Yes' or Roll the Dice"; agree or fight.

[IMAGinES]

Actually, how about this?

Make clear what you want the successful result of your test – the effect on the game world – to be (p.294). The GM will explain the consequences of failure (p.305).

[GreedyAlgorithm]

You can also test to give yourself or another a bonus to another test or when starting a conflict, but doing so risks making the situation worse! This is a Linked test (p.209).

This is page 299. I discovered that fact when I was surprised you could make linked tests to start a conflict, and didn't see information to that effect in the Kerrn lifepaths chapter.

Also, what can you roll during a conflict scene you initiate, but before the Firefight or DoW? There is a +1 Ob listed in the circles table for "opening to a conflict scene"... can I circles up some mercenaries or something just before a Firefight in my own conflict scene? Or for +3 Ob, during? My assumption is that those count as building rolls that only the non-initiators can use barring instincts.

I see (pg 464) that Infiltration and Recon can sometimes be rolled before a Firefight, without needing a phantom builder. I assume as linked tests toward the Officer's roll (either) or Contact (Recon) when appropriate? Ambush (pg 506) specifically says it needs a builder to set up.

--Guy

[IMAGinES]

Whoops! Ah, well, what's ninety pages between friends? Okay, I'll fix that in my post.