Page 131 - World of Darkness

Contested Actions More time-consuming or demanding activities that
are performed in competition are considered extended
Some activities that your character performs are con- actions and use the rules detailed above. These feats are
ducted in direct competition with someone else, whether also contested, though. Rolls are still made for each com-
it’s another player’s character or one of the Storyteller’s petitor in each stage. He who gets the most successes wins
characters. A race is a good example. Trying to crack the that stage, and successes achieved by each side are added
hard-drive protections created by someone else is another. to a running total. The winner is the first competitor who
You pit your character’s capabilities against someone else’s. accumulates successes equaling the total required to com-
Contested actions are easy to resolve. You simply de- plete the project. Such competition over a period of time
termine your dice pool, apply all modifiers, and roll. The and effort occurs in a long-distance race, a car chase, a
same is done for your character’s opponent. He who gets debate or in an effort between scientific teams to be the
the most successes wins. Exceeding your opponent’s suc- first to find a vaccine. Essentially, any effort that demands
cesses and gaining five or more of them indicates an ex- more than a single turn’s effort to decide a winner involves
ceptional accomplishment. If it’s a tie or neither side gets an extended and contested action.
any successes, the effort fails altogether or successive at- Example: At first, Karen and her mugger struggled
tempts (see p. 132) may be made in subsequent turns, if over her purse, but now that a giant wolf has descended
appropriate. The Storyteller decides if the effort can be upon them, they both run for their lives. The two race,
attempted over and over until one competitor wins. If both because the slower of the two will be the wolf’s victim. The
try to grab a fish that swims downstream, they both prob- Storyteller decides that the race is an instant action —
ably have only one chance before the fish is gone. If one decided in the space of a turn. The wolf is satisfied with
tries to hack into another’s computer, the effort might whoever is closest when it pounces. Dexterity + Athletics
persist as long as the intruder likes or until fail-safes shut rolls apply for both. Karen’s Speed trait is two higher than
him out. If either side of a contested roll gets a dramatic the would-be thief’s, so the Storyteller awards two bonus
failure, he either fails utterly or his opponent automati- dice, but she wears dress shoes that impose a -1 penalty.
cally achieves the equivalent of an exceptional success. Karen’s player rolls, and the Storyteller rolls for the mugger.
In some cases, rolls aren’t made for opponents in the Karen’s roll nets four successes while the mugger’s gets three.
moment of the contest. Sometimes one participant sets The wolf has its victim, the slow thief.
up a defense or creates a situation that a challenger later
tries to overcome. The roll for the defender is made when Now, if the wolf holds back and allows its victims to
he creates the object or defense, and any successes achieved run, judging which is the weaker of the two, the Storyteller
are recorded for future reference. Challengers’ rolls are could decree that the race is a contested and extended effort.
made as they approach, and are compared to the defender’s He decides that whoever gets six successes first is allowed to
original score. So, if an IT manager creates a firewall for a escape — the wolf ignores the victor and chooses the loser as
server and four successes are earned for him, a hacker who its prey. One roll marks a turn’s time and the loser is dinner.
comes along a year later needs to attain five or more suc- The Storyteller also decides that since this isn’t a measure of
cesses to get in. pure reaction time, but of endurance, Stamina + Athletics is
The Skill descriptions in Chapter 3 indicate when rolled. Karen’s Stamina is 2 and her Athletics is 4, for a total
contested actions are appropriate for various tasks. Rolls of 6. The same modifiers above still apply, so seven dice are
made are based on the activity performed, as always. Hack- rolled for Karen each turn. The criminal’s dice-pool total is
ing a computer might involve Intelligence + Computer five. In the first turn, Karen gets one success to the thief’s
for both sides. Running a race may involve Dexterity + three. He has the lead. In turn two, Karen gets three
Athletics or Stamina + Athletics. successes, while her opponent gets none. Karen is a step
Note that in a contested action, the total successes ahead now, but neither party has gotten away. In turn three,
rolled for each participant are compared, and he with the Karen gets a tragic zero successes while the mugger gets
higher total wins. The difference between successes rolled three, for the required total of six. Abject panic gives him a
is not the “margin of success.” So, if one participant gets burst of speed, leaving Karen to fend off the beast that howls
two successes and the other gets five, the latter of the two greedily and leaps in her direction.
wins with five successes. He doesn’t win with three, the If participants in an extended and contested action
difference between the two totals. accumulate their required number of successes at the same
Contested feats can be based on instant actions or time, no winner is determined. They could both finish
extended ones. Activities that take only a moment — a their separate projects simultaneously with no clear leader.
turn — to perform between competitors are considered Both scientific teams present their successful findings at
instant actions and are resolved with one roll each. Wres- the same time, for example. Alternatively, the competi-
tling over a fallen gun probably involves only one action’s tion could continue until someone overcomes the other.
effort to decide who ends up with the weapon. If rolls tie Rolls continue to be made, perhaps to improve upon ef-
or neither results in successes, the struggle can continue forts that have already been achieved. Say, debaters both
into the next turn, but it’s still considered an instant ac- make valid points, so they continue their discussion to
tion because it can once again be resolved in the space of see who can get the last word.
one turn.

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Chapter 6- DRAMATIC SYSTEMS