Hi all,

I have two questions concerning despair and triumph:

1.) Why don't despair and triumph cancel each other? What cancels a despair? What cancels a triumph? If I role a triumph and a despair in the same dice pool, does one very good thing happen and one very bad thing happen, or does nothing happen at all?

2.) In the rules, it says that triumph can (instead of doing something very good) do anything advantages can. Does that mean it counts as one advantage or does that mean it can do one thing that advantages could do, regardless of how many advantages it would take?

1.) Why don't despair and triumph cancel each other? What cancels a despair? What cancels a triumph? If I role a triumph and a despair in the same dice pool, does one very good thing happen and one very bad thing happen, or does nothing happen at all?

They don't because that's the rules. Nothing cancels a triumph or a despair. So yeah, if you roll both, something good and something bad happens. And it's entirely possible its the same thing, like *Triumph* you kick the remote control out of the bad guys hand, so he can't give commands to the wardroid anymore but *Despair* the control lands on a workbench covered in droid controllers so you can't tell which is the one you need to stop the haywire wardroid.

If you're new to the system (welcome to the forums btw) then I suggest you look up the skill monkey mini podcasts that just present different ideas on how to handle advantage, threat, ect. It also might help to just practice. Next time you find yourself waiting around for something, think of an action and imagine you get a triumph or despair trying to do it, then come up with possible effects.

Also don't forget to ask the players for help. It's their story after all, always give them first shot at using stuff like triumphs. If they can't come up with something, or they come up with something too good, then step in. Pro-tip: Triumph and Despair results should not end the encounter unless you're down to the last bad guy or something.

2.) In the rules, it says that triumph can (instead of doing something very good) do anything advantages can. Does that mean it counts as one advantage or does that mean it can do one thing that advantages could do, regardless of how many advantages it would take?

Typically it can do any one thing that any number of advantages could do.

Thanks for the help!

A Triumph and a Despair at once might be something like this:

You make a Stealth check to try to hide from the Stormtroopers who are blocking your escape from the prison block. You succeed with a Triumph and Despair.

The success means you hide from the Stormtroopers!

The Triumph means you find a place where they can't get to you--the garbage compactor!

The Despair means you're not alone in there...

How about. . . .

* You find a buyer for your Controlled Substance. The police conduct a raid in the middle of your transaction.

* Yes, you managed to get your rebreather in your mouth despite the raging rapids. And then you go over the waterfall.

* You are an ace at hacking the computer and getting the layout of the secret base. But you learn your objective is in another complex.

* You bring down the crashing YT1300 into a lake resulting in minimal injuries for everyone aboard. The ship promptly sinks out of sight, making recovery much more difficult.

* You manage to woo the beautiful, charming contact, who turns out to be a cousin.

or. . . .

* Breaking out of a prison, you hack a terminal and locate their cell: in the Hardened Criminals ultra-secruity wing. . . but you can open ALL the cell doors, distracting the guards.

* During a robbery, you come out to find that your getaway speeder has been stolen by thieves. But now the police are looking for that make of speeder and are chasing them, not you.

* You easily spot the Bounty Hunter sitting across the bar from you as you slip out the back door. The establishment was a mob boss headquarters and a rival gang shoots the place (and him) up just after you leave.

Can a success cancel the failure part of a despair and can a failure cancel the success part of a triumph without canceling the other aspects of a despair/triumph or can NOTHING cancel ANY part of a triumph or despair?

In other words, if I roll a despair and a success, do the failure part of the despair and the success cancel each other and leave only the narrative/storytelling negative part of the despair left?

You've got it correct, the Success and Failure symbols do indeed cancel the "success" and "failure" part of a Triumph or Despair.

In other words, if I roll a despair and a success, do the failure part of the despair and the success cancel each other and leave only the narrative/storytelling negative part of the despair left?

Yes, but you need to have more success than the one for it to be a success. Everything canceling is still a failure (and the despair is still there), so one success and a despair doesn't really cancel out the failure part as it still would not succeed.

Hi all,

1.) Why don't despair and triumph cancel each other? What cancels a despair? What cancels a triumph? If I role a triumph and a despair in the same dice pool, does one very good thing happen and one very bad thing happen, or does nothing happen at all?

1. I think this is a game design/game mechanic question. What would you do as a player if the GM flipped a destiny point and they cancelled out? At which point you just risk having the same destiny flip with every skill check. By not allowing the cancelling out the Destiny Point flip and the rolling of the triumph or despair has more impact.