Page 132 - World of Darkness

If an extended and contested action is a tie, the Sto- Exceptional Success
ryteller could rule that ongoing competition is worthless.
Perhaps time has run out or the goal that both sides pur- Sometimes your character performs a feat with amaz-
sue is no longer available. Debating teams could refuse to ing ease, flair or grace. In game terms, when you roll your
quit, but the panel of judges has already decided that nei- dice pool for an action and get five or more successes,
ther has won. your character achieves an exceptional success. When that
happens, the Storyteller is encouraged to elaborate upon
Reflexive Actions your character’s accomplishments, allowing for even more
than was intended to happen. Maybe an exceptional Drive
In addition to the instant, extended and contested roll not only allows your character to avoid a hazard, but
actions that your character can perform are reflexive ac- he manages to swerve around it and resume his previous
tions. These behaviors don’t qualify as any of the above, course without spilling his beer.
because your character doesn’t take time to perform them The significance of an exceptional success varies ac-
— or even think about them. They’re performed auto- cording to the kind of roll made and the circumstances of
matically, almost like the autonomic functions of your the task. For an instant action that happens in the space
body. Accounting for them in a turn would be like rolling of one turn, such as the above driving example, the Sto-
for your character’s heart to beat or lungs to take in air. ryteller typically decides what happens. Some extra ben-
Reflexive actions are best considered defensive or efit or reward is gained. If an exceptional success is gained
reactionary activities that don’t intrude upon other be- in combat, the extra benefit is obvious. Each success rolled
havior. They include resisting poison, seeing through a inflicts a point of damage on the target. See Chapter 7 for
deception, defying social pressure and spending Willpower more information.
points. These activities do not preclude your character For a contested action that involves two characters
from taking his normal action in a turn; they are performed in competition, the winner who has five or more successes
in addition to that action, and are resolved immediately — and more successes than his opponent — is the clear
after the instigating action or attack (when the poison is and obvious victor. He makes the contest look easy and
injected, when the threat is leveled or when your charac- his opponent look bad. Say, your character and a thug
ter decides to go for broke). dive for the same gun. You not only roll more successes,
Various actions discussed in Chapters 2, 3 and 7 are but you get five or more. Your character gets the gun and
termed “reflexive.”
points it in one motion, leaving the thug facedown with a
handful of air and a mouthful of dirt.
Action Example For an extended action that occurs over a period of
time, any single exceptional success catapults your char-
Instant Throwing a punch, controlling a acter toward a quick completion of his task. You gain five
vehicle or more successes toward the total that you need. Your
A one-shot chance of success or failure; suc- character has a major stroke of luck or moment of inspira-
cess is determined by a single roll. tion that advances his project considerably.
If, by virtue of some extremely good luck, you accu-
Extended Mountain climbing, tracking in mulate five or more successes than the number required
woods to complete an extended action, the Storyteller may be-
Task stretches over a period of time and stow some extra effect or favorable result. Say that you
each stage renews the chance for failure or suc- need 10 successes for your character to research a shady
cess. You make several rolls with the goal of col- councilman’s background. You currently have nine suc-
lecting a stated number of successes. cesses and make another roll. Incredibly, you get six more
successes, for a total of 15. Not only has your character
Contested Pickpocketing or sneaking by a discovered a gold mine of information and wrapped up
guard the investigation, but you have gained five more successes
An instant action that pits two characters than you needed. The Storyteller decides that your char-
against each other. The two compare successes. acter stumbles upon ledgers that implicate the council-
He with the highest total wins. man in blackmail. Normally, the Storyteller might not
have allowed your character to have uncovered that much
Extended + information, but your exceptional number of successes
Contested Chasing someone, a pie-eating beyond those needed confer the bonus.
contest Examples of possible exceptional successes are pro-
Players roll repeatedly in order to accumu- vided throughout Chapters 2 and 3 for different Attribute
late successes. The first to reach the total set by and Skill tasks.
the Storyteller wins.

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SYSTEMS- ACTIONS