Salvaging Failure
Oct 21, 2012 15:40:53 GMT -8
Post by savagedaddy on Oct 21, 2012 15:40:53 GMT -8
Don't get me wrong, the built in 'ret-con' reward (bennies) system is awesome. However, it can be a little too one dimensional in a heavy story game. The problem I have with bennies is that it only really exists to turn a failure into a success. While this is cool, it only allows the plot to proceed on a one way track.
Here's a little trick I picked up from John Wick -- a 'wagering' mechanic. This allows the character to 'yes, and..." his failure or success. It goes a little something like this:
A swashbuckling pirate, we'll call him d'Artagnan, finds himself being chased across a roof top by the castle guard. He's trapped and decides to leap 25 feet to the next roof top.
He rolls and fails to hit the 4 TN. He could spend a bennie and re-roll for a second chance to succeed. Boring! The player accept the failure and begins to narrate the scene... 'd'Artagnan leaps, missing the ledge by mere inches. He's falling toward the cobblestones five stories below..." The player throws down a benny and says, " but at the last minute, he grabs hold of a flag and swings to safety on a nearby balcony".
BOOM!! The player just yes, and'd his failure and made a plot opening.
The GM can wager a benny to take dramatic control from the player. For example, the GM slaps down a benny and says.... "And the room belongs to the King's Mistress! The King is lying in bed beside her and shouts for his private guards! Who burst through the door and head straight at you"...
The player and GM can go back and forth like this depending on the number of bennies they are willing to spend on this. And spending a benny in a wager is an automatic success for anything you can imagine, except combat.
Just thought I'd share another way to use Bennies in Savage Worlds
Here's a little trick I picked up from John Wick -- a 'wagering' mechanic. This allows the character to 'yes, and..." his failure or success. It goes a little something like this:
A swashbuckling pirate, we'll call him d'Artagnan, finds himself being chased across a roof top by the castle guard. He's trapped and decides to leap 25 feet to the next roof top.
He rolls and fails to hit the 4 TN. He could spend a bennie and re-roll for a second chance to succeed. Boring! The player accept the failure and begins to narrate the scene... 'd'Artagnan leaps, missing the ledge by mere inches. He's falling toward the cobblestones five stories below..." The player throws down a benny and says, " but at the last minute, he grabs hold of a flag and swings to safety on a nearby balcony".
BOOM!! The player just yes, and'd his failure and made a plot opening.
The GM can wager a benny to take dramatic control from the player. For example, the GM slaps down a benny and says.... "And the room belongs to the King's Mistress! The King is lying in bed beside her and shouts for his private guards! Who burst through the door and head straight at you"...
The player and GM can go back and forth like this depending on the number of bennies they are willing to spend on this. And spending a benny in a wager is an automatic success for anything you can imagine, except combat.
Just thought I'd share another way to use Bennies in Savage Worlds