The Twice-baked Honey Cake conundrum

[Rich H]

When they use their Bonus dice from the Preliminary rolls for Travels, then they can say "Beorn gave us some juicy bread with honey. Not the TBHC, but close to it."

That’s always my answer to “how do I Sneak Attack?” You spend your bonus dice and describe it as a backstab.

There's a lot to be said for making it so that bonus/advantage dice have to be accompanied by a narrative and not just added to the dice pool without any reasoning behind them. It means all those 'fiddly bits' and exception-based mechanics found in other games are handled in TOR with just this particular element of the system. It's such a cool mechanic.

[Glorelendil]

When they use their Bonus dice from the Preliminary rolls for Travels, then they can say "Beorn gave us some juicy bread with honey. Not the TBHC, but close to it."

That’s always my answer to “how do I Sneak Attack?” You spend your bonus dice and describe it as a backstab.

There's a lot to be said for making it so that bonus/advantage dice have to be accompanied by a narrative and not just added to the dice pool without any reasoning behind them. It means all those 'fiddly bits' and exception-based mechanics found in other games are handled in TOR with just this particular element of the system. It's such a cool mechanic.

If I were writing TOR 2.0 I would increase the ways in which bonus dice could be gained, especially with experience. It really is a great catch-all for lots of narrative concepts that, in other systems, get their own rules.

[Rich H]

If I were writing TOR 2.0 I would increase the ways in which bonus dice could be gained, especially with experience. It really is a great catch-all for lots of narrative concepts that, in other systems, get their own rules.

I often hand them out to players if they come up with good ideas, say something insightful, etc. They get used on the test/task at hand but I find it works as a bit of a stimulus at the table when playing.

[Geomtje]

If I were writing TOR 2.0 I would increase the ways in which bonus dice could be gained, especially with experience. It really is a great catch-all for lots of narrative concepts that, in other systems, get their own rules.

I often hand them out to players if they come up with good ideas, say something insightful, etc. They get used on the test/task at hand but I find it works as a bit of a stimulus at the table when playing.

So how lenient are you when doing such a thing; aren't you afraid to off balance the game by doing so? Does doing so make your players greedy?

[Rich H]

So how lenient are you when doing such a thing; aren't you afraid to off balance the game by doing so? Does doing so make your players greedy?

So lets just be clear that for standard stuff like describing a sneak attack or describing the particularly nice food Beorn gave them to aid in that travel check - those kind of things are all handled with the bonus/advantage dice players get at the beginning of an combat/encounter/journey from their preliminary rolls. That kind of thing doesn't get extra dice from me, but it's what the players come up with in order to use those bonus dice in a test/task. They don't do the same thing again and again, repeating the same description and expecting bonus dice each time so that isn't a problem.

For the extras: I can only speak for my players (three 40+ blokes who I've gamed with for years) but it tends to make them more creative rather than 'greedy' plus I always get to veto it anyway and there are no hard and fast rules - it really is up to me as to whether I hand them out; particularly inspired or creative ideas or some great RPing are generally the barometer for me. Its only the occassional extra d6 it doesn't imbalance the game - especially as it's up to me to award those extra ones and not the players to ask for them. So, no, no issues at all.

[Glorelendil]

Everything Rich said, and I will add that I tend to reward storytelling more than tactics (and definitely more than acting). I don’t want to encourage players to concoct elaborate schemes just to get bonus dice; I want them to contribute to the narrative.

[Rich H]

Everything Rich said, and I will add that I tend to reward storytelling more than tactics (and definitely more than acting). I don’t want to encourage players to concoct elaborate schemes just to get bonus dice; I want them to contribute to the narrative.

Yes, you're spot on there. Clever ideas or great RPing etc must add to the narrative.