Difference between revisions of "Book:How to Play"

Revision as of 17:19, 28 February 2010

Roleplaying games are essentially stories in which a player can assume the role of a fictional character. Using the ideas in this book, a Game Master (or GM for short)can craft stories that can fall anywhere in the gamut: from simple, light-hearted stories that last an hour or an evening, all the way to richly detailed, legendary epics that take months or years to finish.

Any story contains these three things: a setting (the where and when), characters (the who), and plot (the what and why). The GM provides the setting. There are two kinds of characters: those whom the players portray and those that the GM portrays. All of the characters and creatures that the players meet—friend or foe—are called Non-Player Characters (or NPCs). These are the characters controlled by the GM. Characters controlled by the players are called Player Characters (or PCs). The plot is a joint effort of the GM and the players; the GM describes events in the story and the players describe what their characters do and say in response to those events.

The Basics

Setting the scene

A typical roleplaying session is guided by the narratives of the Game Master. He or she describes the setting and actions that occur while the players weave together a mental picture of the scene. They ask the GM questions to further detail the scene in their minds. When a player wants his or her character to take some kind of action in the story, he or she tells the GM. The following is an example of the dialog that might occur between a GM and players.

"As the dust settles, the four of you realize that you've fallen into a cave or perhaps an underground room," the GM says. "A beam of warm daylight pours in through the hole in the ceiling through which you came. The air in this place smells dusty and stale, but not unpleasant. Listening for a moment, you hear only the periodic crumbling of earth from the ceiling above; it would seem no one is around."

"Is anything in the room?" one player asks.

"Broken shards of earthware, a few old, crumbling statues and some dated relief work along the walls," the GM replies.

"Does it look like we can get back out?" another player asks.

"The ceiling is easily 10 feet off the ground, and at first glance, there don't appear to be any doors leading out of this chamber." the GM notes.

"Maybe there's a hidden door out of here," a third player suggests. "I'm going to take a moment to search the room."

Spoken Dialog

The GM acts out the spoken lines of the NPCs and the players, acting as their own characters, engage in dialog. Some players find it enjoyable to change their voice or demeanor when playing their characters (some even employ props). The following is an example of some dialog between the GM acting as an NPC and some players acting as their own characters.

"I've never seen a device like this before," the GM mumbles, portraying the part of a wise, old wizard.

"Are you certain?" one of the players asks. "We were told that if anyone in this city knows, it would be you."

"Aye, I've never seen its equal." the GM replies. "It's likely a remnant from some forgotten culture, but its purpose is not readily apparent to me."

"Some people have tried to take it from us," a second player states. "We fear for our safety, but if this is important, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"You should go see a friend of mine at the Royal Academy in the capital. He loves this magic archeology stuff."

"But that's like… a week's travel!" a third player exclaims.

Rolling the Dice

The element of chance is very important to any roleplaying game. It adds suspense and surprise to the game. It wouldn't be much fun or very exciting if the players went through the story with no element of chance of success and failure. This is where the dice come in. The dice used in Elysium are ten sided dice—that is, they have ten sides that are numbered from 1–10.

Whenever there is a task before a character that constitutes a challenge or something that is integral to the story, a roll is needed. Some things, like putting food in your mouth, or going to sleep, obviously don't require rolls. Unless, of course, you have no hands or are an insomniac, then they might require rolls. But for most people, simple tasks like these don't require rolls. Rolling the dice for any mundane action would make the game totally too slow, boring, and complicated—but jumping a chasm, tickling a sea monster, or swallowing a golf ball-sized hunk of wasabi without crying… now that requires a roll. It's possible that the players and GM can spend an entire game session in dialog and description and the table doesn't see a single die roll.

All rolls in the game are equally comprised of three things: luck, ones innate talent, and relevant experience. In game terms, a roll is comprised of the following:

• A die roll (the luck)
• Points in an ability (the talent)
• Ranks in a skill (the experience)

Sometimes a character has a Trump, an item, or a spell cast upon them that grants bonuses to certain rolls. Similarly, penalties can be applied from Faults or other circumstances to certain rolls. Ask your GM if you're unsure if bonuses or penalties apply to your roll.

In this book you will often see the abbreviation d10. This is simply another way of telling you to roll a ten-sided die. For example, if the GM asks a player to make a Spot check for his character, that might be expressed as (d10 + Cunning + Spot).

Success or Failure

Your total roll (the die, plus any abilities, skills, and bonuses/penalties) is compared either to a set Difficulty Level or a roll from another character. If your number meets or exceeds the other number, the roll succeeds. If your number is less than the other, the roll fails. Usually, with your GM's approval, you can spend a Fate Point to re-roll a failed roll, or force another character to re-roll their own.

Critical Success and Failure

If you roll the die and it comes up 10, this is a critical success. Essentially, this means Lady Luck gives your character a kiss and so the character performs much better on the given action than normal. You can roll the die again and add that number to the 10 you have already rolled.

However, it can work the other way. If you roll the die and it comes up 1, this is a critical failure. Essentially, this means Lady Luck kicked your character in the crotch and the character fouls up the task somehow. Your GM will let you know if your roll carries some kind of extra misfortune—jamming your gun, breaking your lock pick, or destroying a priceless vase. Additionally, the GM may require you to roll again and subtract that number from your total (usually, this is best applied to combat rolls).

These rules can be altered as the GM sees fit. For instance, your GM may not enforce Critical Failures. He or she may not enforce Critical Successes either! Maybe he or she wants the 10 you roll to continue "exploding", so that if you roll 10 a second time, you can add a third roll to the 20 you have already rolled and so on. We encourage players and GMs to experiment and see what works and is fun.

Rolling Etiquette

It may seem like common sense, but there are a few rules of dice-rolling etiquette that should be mentioned. When you roll...

• ...roll on a hard, flat surface.
• ...if your dice fall on the floor, re-roll them again on the table.
• ...don't wing your dice at the GM or other players. Glass eye surgeries are expensive.
• ...don't "fudge" your dice rolls. Fudging entails rolling a die where your GM and fellow players cannot see and then lying about the result. Fudging also includes rolling dice a second time to achieve a better result. This only makes the GM and other players resent you and creates negative vibes around the table. The prospect of failure is what makes rolling the dice important and the game itself suspenseful. So don't cheat.