Travel Fatigue and Traits

[zedturtle]

Well it's important to note that by skipping Fatigue tests characters are also avoiding the risk of a Hazard. This is why I consider it 'too good' and hence (for me) it is unbalancing to the game and therefore too powerful as an automatic success for Travelling.

Unless everyone has Hardy (and is electing to use it for automatic success every time) there's still a chance of a Hazard. And if everyone is tweaked out for Journeys then that means that they're probably pretty weak on Encounters and Combat.

[Falenthal]

I must admit that the possibility of avoiding ALL Travel rolls with Hardy is disturbing for me. As I understand it, as per RAW it should be allowed. But I would feel the same if someone who is "Fair spoken" used the Trait to autosucceed at every Encounter when using Courtesy. He could act as the spokesman and use Courtesy seven times, invoking the Trait everytime, to get the maximum profit of every Encounter.

And if I rule that Traits allow sometimes only to reduce the TN, then it should be a house-rule that applies to all Traits, not only to Hardy when on Travel.

Maybe allowing the use of a Trait for autosucceed only when the TN is 14 or less wouldn't be a bad idea. Otherwise a Hardy character could walk into Mordor with a 5D armour and still be fresh as new when reaching Mt. Doom.

[Rich H]

... and if everyone is tweaked out for Journeys then that means that they're probably pretty weak on Encounters and Combat.

Hardly, as the Hardy trait would only account for one trait selection out of numerous that a character would possess.

[Rich H]

I must admit that the possibility of avoiding ALL Travel rolls with Hardy is disturbing for me. As I understand it, as per RAW it should be allowed. But I would feel the same if someone who is "Fair spoken" used the Trait to autosucceed at every Encounter when using Courtesy. He could act as the spokesman and use Courtesy seven times, invoking the Trait everytime, to get the maximum profit of every Encounter.

I only allow the application of a trait to one use per scene. That way it keeps things fresh and gets the players looking at their other traits and other options instead of just invoking one trait continuously as a solution. In relation to Encounters, a scene is pretty self-explanatory; it's the duration of the interaction/encounter with the NPC, whereas for something like a journey it's each 'scene' equates to a leg within the journey.

Maybe allowing the use of a Trait for autosucceed only when the TN is 14 or less wouldn't be a bad idea. Otherwise a Hardy character could walk into Mordor with a 5D armour and still be fresh as new when reaching Mt. Doom.

It's a good point and a rule I sometimes use in my games. I think it's fine for LMs to say "no, you can't invoke that trait, the action's too difficult [or too dramatically relevant]".

[Falenthal]

Nice ideas, Rich. I think I'll adapt them, too.

[Tantavalist]

All Traits have some potential to break the various sub-systems of the game, but Hardy used with Travel is the wost offender. With Encounters, the group could indeed have a Fair-Spoken representative and auto-win the maximum number of rolls. But this would mean no advancement rolls, and with a limited number of rolls for the party as a whole I can see that plenty of people will want to chime in to try and get advancement points of their own. "I want to use Awe with my Bold Trait to impress the chieftain wityh my Courage" and so forth.

The argument regarding how players will want to get Advancement Points and so not choose the auto-succeed option works for every other situation. But with Travel, every player is going to be rolling and will likely do so several times per journey. It will be a very rare adventure where the party won't make so many travel rolls that the Movement section's APs will be maxed out long before the Adventuring Phase is over.

Regarding the idea that Automatic Success can only be used with low TNs, though... That's fine if usage is unlimited, but the higher the TN, the more tempting an automatic success becomes. Either/or here is best IMO- if the player can only use a Trait once per scene, then let them save it for a high TN roll. Or use it on a low TN roll to get an AP and then kick themselves for not saving the Trait use when a vitally important TN20 roll comes up later on.

Now that I think on it, limiting Trait use to once per scene is probably the best way to run things. Otherwise, it'd be very easy to abuse certain situations in order to get the full three AP in an area as well as the Travel loophole. I'd say that each step of a journey counts as one scene for this purpose.

Having a rule like this in place also means that there'd be a reason to have overlapping traits rather than punishing characters who don't diversify as much as possible.

[Rich H]

They also are taking away the chance to get a Superior or Extraordinary success (the opportunity for their character to really shine).

Is there any benefit in obtaining a superior or extraordinary success on a Travel test besides gaining Advancement Points?
How do you interpret such lucky dice rolls when travel is concerned?

One benefit to obtaining a superior or extraordinary success is that the player can narrate how they accomplished something remarkable or impressive. I realize that's mostly just fluff, but again - when you reinforce that Travel roll with the Hardy trait - it's a way of getting that (otherwise tough to accomplish) third Advancement Point.

I use a number of additional tasks during a journey that are accessed through obtaining Great or Extraordinary successes within a journey. They are effectively 'purchased' with those extra successes and allow characters to obtain further mechanical advantage during the journey. Things like:

Awareness [Look-out]
Staying alert for signs of danger.

Awe [Slayer]
Going where others fear to tread.

Craft [Wanderer]
Fashioning a good camp out of the materials at hand.

Explore [Scout]
Exploring the surrounding area for good campsites, ancient ruins, or better paths to travel.

Hunting [Huntsman]
Foraging for extra provisions to provide for a hearty meal.

Inspire [Warden]
Keeping spirits up whilst travelling through blighted areas.

Lore [Scholar]
Searching ancient runes for vital pieces of information.

Search [Treasure-hunter]
Searching ancient ruins for items of value.

Song
Passing the long hours of travel by singing songs and playing simple musical instruments.

Stealth
Moving carefully and quietly to avoid detection and ambush.

Travel [Guide]
Choosing better paths to travel.

... These can be found in more detail on pages 24 and 25 of: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/795 ... 0Rules.pdf

The way I've described that they are accessed within that document aren't up to date with how I use them now as the players were forgetting that they could choose such tasks during an adventure so I basically allowed them to be 'purchased' on great or extraordinary successes based on the character's role within the journey. They now work pretty well and provide a reward to achieving those great and better successes.

[bluejay]

Rich, the one use per scene rule is an exceptionally elegant way to deal with Traits. Definitely the way I'll be using them moving forward!

[Rich H]

Rich, the one use per scene rule is an exceptionally elegant way to deal with Traits. Definitely the way I'll be using them moving forward!

It does work extremely well for both the LM and players; the fact that it stops things getting boring and repetitive is the biggest advantage from my perspective but my players also like it as it gets them thinking about when to invoke their traits and also means that a character with two similar traits gets to use them both in one scene - ie, there's a mechanical/system reason for having those two traits.

[Stormcrow]

Well it's important to note that by skipping Fatigue tests characters are also avoiding the risk of a Hazard. This is why I consider it 'too good' and hence (for me) it is unbalancing to the game and therefore too powerful as an automatic success for Travelling.

Just have 'em roll a Feat die to see if they roll an Eye.