Challenges and Checks Part 2: Feudal vs. Reiver

To summarize the preceding post.

In a Challenge both players will (1) Draw cards and select one then add the card's value to their specified Combat Trait. (2) Buff as an optional play. (3) Push as an optional play. Determine the victor. The loser will have one or more Checks to perform.

In a Check, the victor adds the Force of his effect to a base 10 to determine the Target Number for the Check. The losing player will (1) Draw cards and select one then add the card's value to their specified Protection or Resistance Trait. (2) Push as an optional play. Compare the result to the Effects Table. Repeat if hit by additional effects.

These are the profiles for the engaged troops from the previous example. The circled areas of their Crew Cards are the Combat Traits they will use for this encounter.

The Feudal has used his Main action to fire at the Reiver. The Reiver has lost one hit point and used one of his Push points. The Push total for figures can be found on their ID line inside double parenthesis just right of the figure's title (2+2 or 4 total for each crew, now 3 for the Reivers).

Both Buff and Push use limited resources so there use requires some forethought.Here's a review of the Buff Hands from the previous post.

The shooting has alerted a second Feudal sentry and the Reiver's partner coming up behind him.

The Reivers gain the initiative for the next turn.

Reiver 1 (the lightly wounded figure) shoots back at the Feudal who shot him. He gains a bonus card for his skill [+] and a second card for a Crack Shot ability when using basic shooting. He draw 3 cards and scores a 7 high card to add to his Shoot 6 for a 13 score. Feudal 1 gains one bonus card for concealment. He draws 2 cards and scores a 10 high card to add to his Def 6 for a 16 score. The shooting misses. The Reiver uses his Move action to disappear deeper into the brush.

Feudal 2 moves up to support his partner from behind a tree at the brush-line. Reiver 1 has moved so no line-of-sight can be traced to his location. Feudal 2 ends his activation by hiding so his movement does not count as an automatic detection.

Reiver 2 crosses the path and takes a detection along the pathway. Feudal 2 is in line-of-sight but hidden so Reiver 2 initiates a detection challenge by drawing 2 cards (a default card and a Notice [+] bonus) and adding a 7 high card to his Notice skill 5 for a 12 score. Feudal 2 has no Stealth skill so he draws a single card adding a 7 to his default 4 for a total 11 score. He has been detected.

Reiver 2 shoots gaining a bonus for his skill and Crack Shot ability. He draw 3 cards and scores a 7 high card to add to his Shoot 6 for a 13 score. Feudal 1 gains one bonus card for concealment. He draws 2 cards and scores a 6 high card to add to his Def 6 for a 12 score. He chooses to Buff since he is losing and uses his 4 card to reinforce his score. The Reiver declares a Buff as well reinforcing with a 7 card. Cards are revealed, gaining the Feudal a +4 and the Reiver a +7. The scores are Feudal 16 to Reiver 20. Both figures pass during the Push Step.

The Reiver is the victor with one Edge and chooses the Abuse column shift from Moderate to High Severity damage.

The Feudal takes his Protection Check against an attack rated at b[-] 6pH for a Target Number of 10 +6 (16 total). His armor [+] cancels the penalty [-] so he draws a single card for a 5-card to add to his ballistic Protection 7 for a 12 score.  His Margin of Failure is 4. On Effect column M, the -4 to 7 line indicates 3 hits lost.


Feudal 1 moves to take position by the boulder for the hard cover protection bonus [+]. He passes his Main action since he has no targets in line-of-sight and hides.

The Reivers gain the initiative for the next turn.

Reiver 2 activates first and shoots again as a Focused action (aiming) using both his Main and Move actions together. He gains a bonus card for his skill, one for his Crack Shot ability and one for his Focus for a total of one default plus three bonus cards. He draws four cards and scores a 10 high card to add to his Shoot 6 for a 16 score. The Feudal draws two cards, one default and one for concealment, and scores a 9 high card to add to his Def 6 for a 15 score.

The Feudal is losing so he Buffs to reinforce with his 3-card to increase his 15 to 18. The Reiver Buffs as well reinforcing with his 4-card to increase his 16 to 20. When the cards are revealed the Feudal is losing by a 2-point margin.

On the last Step both choose to Push. When the cards are revealed the Feudal has an 8 and the Reiver has a 9. The Feudal loses by a margin of 3. This gives the Reiver one Edge is spend on an Abuse column shift from Moderate to High Severity damage.

The Feudal's Protection Check is against a b[-] 6pH for a Target Number of 16 (10 +6). His armor’s [+] cancels the penalty [-] so he draws a single card and scores a 4-card to add to his ballistic Protection 7 for a 11 score. He pushes and adds a 3-card for a total of 14. His Margin of Failure is 2 points. Due to the Reiver’s focused shooting the Severity column result on the 1 to 3 Effects line is lowered to the 4 to 7 line for 3 hits scored (now 6 hits on Feudal 2).

Feudal 2 activates and returns fire. He gains a bonus card for his skill but takes a penalty card for his Damage Capacity being below one-half hits. He draws a 5-card to add to his Shoot 5 for a 10 score. Reiver 2 gains one bonus card for concealment. He draws 2 cards and scores a 5 high card to add to his Def 6 for a 11 score. The shooting misses.

Reiver 1 continues retreating now that their mission is blown and calls out to his partner “Hey Curly let’s get outta here”.

Feudal 1 moves to the corner of the brush line for a line-of-sight on the shooting Reiver but is blocked by intervening terrain.

The Reivers retreat and the Feudals hold their ground waiting for support to arrive.

Next post continues discussing Card Tricks including Force Deck special ability uses and wild cards. Also, the use of Force icons (since it is called a Force Deck after all).

Challenges and Checks in Frac'd Earth

A Challenge occurs when two figures oppose one another, as in attack versus defense.

A Check occurs when a figure attempts to score higher than a fixed Target Number.

In this example a Reiver is moving into position behind a hedge when detected by a Feudal sentry. The Feudal is the attacker and begins shooting at the defending Reiver. Both have their respective card stats circled below.

Checking for Step One modifiers on the Challenge Draw table, the shooting Feudal declares no modifiers under the Shoot column while the Reiver declares Concealment (for the hedge) under the Def-Manv column.

The Feudal has one default card draw plus one bonus card for the skill [+] with the rifle for a two card draw. The Reiver has the one default card plus the concealment bonus for a two card draw. Both draw and select from the cards available; the Feudal chooses the nine and the Reiver the five card. Their respective totals are 9 + Shoot 5 (14 total) and 5 + Def 5 (10 total). The Reiver is losing.

The five cards laying flat on the left are the Feudal's Buff Hand and the five right-hand cards are the Reiver's Buff Hand. The losing figure gets the first play during the Buff Step. Replacing the 5 with the Reiver's highest 7 card does not change his situation by more than 2 points (a lesser hit but still a hit). Reinforcing the 5 with the 4 card brings his total to 14 (a partial hit with a left column Effects  shift in the Reiver's favor; see the Effects Table below). Since the Feudal could buff with a 1 or better and still beat the Reiver's totals, he chooses to pass. The Feudal passes as well.

During the Push Step, the Reiver (still losing) goes first and decides to pass (saving that Push point for his Protection Check). The Feudal seems to be considering a Push to increase the Effect value of his attack. If the Feudal does Push and add his face-down top draw card, the Reiver would be able to re-consider his pass play and Push as well. In that case, a 4-point advantage could go either way. The Feudal decides to pass.

The challenge ends with a 4-point Margin of Success for the shooter. The Reiver is hit. Every 3 points in a Margin of Success allows the victor to choose one Edge advantage on the Edge Table below.

The Feudal chooses "Abuse" from the Shoot column; that gives his attack one Effect shift to the right. Since the Feudal only gained one Edge, this Step is finished.

The Reiver has been hit once with an Abuse Edge that changes the Feudal's weapon damage profile from b[-]6pM to b[-]6pH (translation: ballistic piercing [-] 6 physical Force High severity). The Reiver's protection profile is [+] 4p◄~4e (translation: overall [+] protection with 4 physical plus one column shift left or 4 energy and no additional modifiers). The Reiver's Target Number is base 10 +6 (the Force of the hit) for a total of 16.

The piercing [-] and protection [+] cancel each other, leaving the Reiver with the default one card draw. Since the attack is physical, the column shift moves the Severity from column H to column M on the table below.

          

The Reiver draws an 8 adds his 4 protection for a total of 12. Now he decides to spend one Push point and adds his top Draw Deck card to this total. It's a 3, bringing the final total to 15. His Margin of Failure is one point. Going down the Effects Table's Moderate column to the -1 to 3 row produces a Light Level of effect. Check the Damage or Condition Effects below for either lost hits or impaired condition. In this case, 1 lost hit point (the Push saved the Reiver from 2 additional lost hits).

        
        

These tables make up the entire resolution system for Frac'd Earth and is used to handle all types of Challenges, Checks and Effects regardless of the setting or type of attack, defense, protection or resistance encountered in the multiverse.