We've finished our first game, and everyone agreed, this is a GREAT game!

I was more than hesitant on the dice, but we love them. Bought the app during the game, but I'm not convinced yet. I still prefer the feeling of real dice.

We put the first 6 encounter in one evening, including searching the rules once in a while to clarify a few details. So not bad, not bad at all!

Now to the questions:

1 - When a NPC has results with threaths left, what should we do? If we apply Strain, it may become wounds if there is no Strain Threshold, is that correct?

2- Having a Triumph on rolling the initiative, does it do anything? It's just a success, right?

3 - PC Roll for combat, no success, but 3 advantage, he can still use them? I assume the same for threaths.

4 - When a NPC rolls advantage/threaths, the same benefits that the PC have can be applied? Though, most NPC in the first encounters don't have strain Threshold, they can't gain/regain Strain, so only boost die would apply?

5 - Does a Thriumph can always be used to trigger a critical?

We haven't played yet (Hopefully tomorrow) and I'm not 100% on the rules but here's what I'd do in a snap decision.

1 - When a NPC has results with threaths left, what should we do? If we apply Strain, it may become wounds if there is no Strain Threshold, is that correct?

EDIT: Man I'll never get used to this wacky message board. I pine for the days of phpboard or vbulletin.

1. Using Threats to apply strain is just one way to go. As indicated in the Rulebook, you can improvise what a Threat indicates. Ask youself this "what kind of situation is this NPC in? What could have gone wrong?" If the NPC has fired his pistol, and successfully hit a PC, but rolled a Threat, you might determine that the NPC's gun jammed, and he'll need to make a Mechanics check on his next turn to fix it, or maybe an innocent bystander comes to the aid of the PC unexpectedly (perhaps distracting the NPC and giving the PC a Boost die on his/her next attack). There are a lot of ways you can go with Threat, it's really only limited by your imagination.

2. I'm not sure about rolling Triumphs on Initiative checks. I think really since you're just comparing the Initiative to what others rolled, that anyone with a Triumph would get the first slot in the Initiative order.

3. Yes, Advantages count as Successes in addition to their other functions. If you don't roll any Successes, but you roll 3 Advantages, treat it as if you rolled 1 Success and 3 Advantages (so long as none of these Advantages are canceled by Threats). And yes, it works the same in reverse for Threats.

4. Boost Dice, yes, or being able to perform an extra maneuver, or something else that fits the situation you invent.

5. Yes, on attacks, a Triumph can always trigger a Critical Hit, no matter how many Advantages the Critical normally requires. It's not the only use of Triumphs … a Triumph can, for example, be any especially beneficial result.

To give you an example of what I mean by improvising … let's say you're sneaking into a restricted military complex, and you try to deceive the guard out front into believing that you have clearance to be there, because you're looking for a prisoner who has information you need. You might determine that the following can happen based on the dice rolls …

A) Success with no Threats or Advantages = You successfully convince the guard to let you pass, but you'll still have to be convincing once you get inside and deal with further security.

B) Success with Advantages = You successfully convince the guard to let you pass, and he even tells you where you need to go to find the prisoner you're looking for.

C) Success with Threats = You successfully convince the guard to let you pass, but he's a little suspicious of you and notifies his superiors to keep a close watch. This adds 1 Setback die to any further Deceit checks in the military complex.

D) Success with Triumph = You successfully convince the guard to let you pass, and you are so convincing that he gives you a passcode which will enable you to bypass any other security in the fascility.

E) Failure with no Threats or Advantages = The guard doesn't believe you and tells you to scram

F) Failure with Advantages = The guard doesn't believe you and tells you to scram, adding that he's not paid enough to deal with riff-raff like you. This is an indication that he's open to bribery, so you've learned an alternative means of entry.

G) Failure with Threats = The guard doesn't believe you and tells you to scram, and his suspicion leads him to notify his superiors to keep a close watch. This adds 1 Setback to any further Deceit checks against the guard or anyone else in the facility.

H) Failure with Despair = The guard doesn't believe you and is so suspicious that he attempts to bring you in for questioning, initiating combat!

aljovin said:

Well, here's my responses at least, take them for what you will.

Q1 - When a NPC has results with threaths left, what should we do? If we apply Strain, it may become wounds if there is no Strain Threshold, is that correct?

A1 - Nominally correct, though as others have said the Threat can be used a variety of ways beyond just inflicting Strain. Perhaps the attacker left themselves wide-open on their attack, providing the next PC that attacks that NPC a boost die on the PC's attack roll. Perhaps the NPC took cover, but when they shot at the PCs, they left themselves too open, thus negating the effect of that cover. If the NPC rolled a lot of Threats (3 or more), perhaps they fumble their weapon in all the excitement and thus have to stoop down to pick it back up (mechancially, the NPC just fell prone).

Q2 - Having a Triumph on rolling the initiative, does it do anything? It's just a success, right?

A2 - It can be used to upgrade an ally's first skill check in the combat encounter (including that of the person that rolled it as a basic effect, or maybe even be used to bump an NPC's high result down lower in the initiative order as a means of "turning the tide of battle," or even be spent to provide the PCs with a notable advantage at the start of a fight, such as giving all the PCs the benefits of cover for the opening round. Triumphs are very much like rolling natural 20's in D&D or any other d20 game, so feel free to let the players have a little leeway in describing how that Triumph affects the scene in a positive fashion for the PCs.

Q3 - PC Roll for combat, no success, but 3 Advantage, he can still use them? I assume the same for Threats.

A3 - Yep, the PC can spend those Advantages however they wish, such as providing a boost die to one or more players, including themselves, on their next action. it could be used to cause a target to drop their weapon (since the disarm effect only costs 3 Advantage and doesn't require you to actually hit and deal damage to the target), or it could be used to negate some advantage the enemy has (like cover) or even to give the PC a boost to their own defense until their next turn. Quite frankly, if a PC was restricted to only spending Advantages if they scored a success, things would really suck for PCs that are operating out of their element (i.e. making checks for skills they have no ranks and/or few Ability dice in). And some does hold true with Threats, which can be spent regardless of the success or failure of the roll, making it possible to fail but come out with some kind of edge or to succeed but suffer a drawback.

Q4 - When a NPC rolls advantage/threaths, the same benefits that the PC have can be applied? Though, most NPC in the first encounters don't have strain Threshold, they can't gain/regain Strain, so only boost die would apply?

A4 - Pretty much.

Q5 - Does a Thriumph can always be used to trigger a critical?

A5 - That's one of the predominant uses of a Triumph in combat, given most weapons require at least 3 Advantages in order to trigger a Critical Hit. But even if the attack misses (note that a Triumph doesn't guarentee success on a roll), the Triumph can still be spent for other things.

Hope these answers help, even if only a little.

Triumphs count as 1 advantage and 1 success when calculating a roll but it can add a boost dice to your next check or anothere players check. In the rule book it states you can add a benefit to the action which examples are not clear.

DylanRPG said:

Is that a Beginner's Box rule (can't wait for Christmas to get it)? In the beta, it isn't the case. For a task to suceed, there must be at least 1 remaining success symbol after all symbols have cancelled each other. If a PC rolls 3 advantages only, then the task fails… but the advantages can indeed be used for positive effects. If the PC rolls 3 threats only, the task also fails (there is no remaining success symbol) and in addition there may be negative effects.

Cheers
Ceodryn

Ceodryn said:

You're right, I appear to be mistaken. I thought I remembered this, but I must have been thinking of the rule for Triumphs counting as Successes. Thanks for the clarification

Thanks to all, this is highly appreciated. I guess I'm used to get more direction (with board games, in perticular) with the rules, and it's where I will need more guidelines. I think that I'll start making some more samples to help out during the next game (planned for tomorrow), when we'll finish the introduction adventure and start the "Long arm of the Hutt" storyline.