Roleplaying Bonuses as "Stunt Dice"

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    • Roleplaying Bonuses as "Stunt Dice"

      My group and I recently completed a successful Scion game. Scion is a white-wolf game in which you play the children of ancient gods in the modern world. The game itself is rather irrelevant to what I have in mind for this discussion, but if you really need to see more about the game here is a link to the website.

      In Scion there is a mechanic called "Stunting" in which you add dice to the character's dice pool after a player's particularly engaging description of the action. The summary (in a combat example) of how the mechanic wotrks is simple.
      [list]
      +0 Stunt Dice: You don't give a player stunt dice for a non-descriptive action, i.e. "I hit him."

      +1 Stunt Dice: Any descriptive addition to the action, i.e. "I punch him in the face."

      +2 Stunt Dice: A really good description that makes everyone at the table sit up and take notice, i.e. "I haul back with my right arm as I grab the guy's collar with my left and pull him into my punch...I'm hoping to add some teeth to my collection."

      +3 Stunt Dice: This is a rare bonus, only really given when everyone at the table loudly clamors for the extra die. It's hard to explain, but you'll know it when you see it.
      [/list]
      So, why do I go on and on about some mechanic this other game uses? I know that Shard mentions the "Roleplaying Bonus" dice fairly often, and seems to tacitly encourage them for most actions. The questions I have are pretty specific though:

      One, Are we encouraged to use Roleplaying Bonus dice in combat?

      Two, if almost every action, including combat, gains one or more bonus dice, does that break the system?

      When I run Shard (hopefully very soon), I would like to use stunt dice in a way similar to Scion's, and I am worried that the game may not be set up for it. If it isn't, what mechanic advise do I need to keep my game's system from falling apart? IS there any need?

      From my reading of the Basic Compendium, I am pretty confident that nothing drastic will happen to the system, and I can roll with punches since I've been GMing for almost 20 years...but surprises happen, and I want to make sure I don't get sideswiped.
      -JFC Wolz
      HISTORIAN

      The post was edited 2 times, last by joewolz ().

    • RE: Roleplaying Bonuses as "Stunt Dice"

      You can absolutely use Shard's "Roleplaying Bonus Dice" to do exactly what you describe as "Stunting" in Scion. In fact, I highly encourage it. I'd even say that the chart you wrote is a good guideline for the use of these Action Dice Bonuses, whether in or out of Combat.

      So by all means, use them. You won't break the system; you'll simply use it as it was intended to be used. :)

      Please let us know how your Shard game goes. I'm dying to hear what sorts of cool things you and your players do.

      -Aaron
    • Yes indeed,...I totally agree with Aaron! What you described may be just the type of mechanic that could be dependably used for those types of occasions...

      When I run my game, I always have my players describe the intent of their action before they actually roll their dice.... I tend to let players add extra dice (usually one or two) on those occasions where the rest of the players are so impressed by another player's description that I hear a chorus of "ooohs", "aaahhhs", and "oh yeahs!" fill the room before an actual roll is made...

      This usually happens less frequently for the players in my games than what the rules from Scion you mention seem to indicate, since SHARD's Maneuver Location Table provides players with much of the essence of what they might say when making basic attacks, such as "I attempt to Stun the tiger by performing a Fatal strike to the back of his head"...or "I'm using the pommel of my crystal sword to strike the hand of my opponent in an attempt to Disarm her, combined with a spinning Sweep to her foot to knock her flat to the ground!"... But anything that goes beyond that, especially when a cool series of heroic or risky maneuvers is described right at a climactic moment during a particular round or battle, usually gets a die or two (or even three) added to the roll.

      I will occasionally also give them an additional three, or even four, dice to roll if my players plan ahead for some event (like the forging of a mystic weapon to defeat some major villain in the game during their final confrontation, the fabrication of an especially clever and deadly trap, the preparations for an elaborate or cool ritual, etc.) and actually write up a really creative and detailed description of what they do to prepare, and how they want the whole scene to play out in the game... Some of the greatest scenes in my games have been made in this way,...and I love to reward my players for collaborating to make them happen...

      But it sounds like you are on exactly the right track! Try out those rules you found once you start using our system,...adapt them as necessary, and let us know how they fly!

      Scottie ^^