Challenge

When the narration comes to a perilous moment or tipping point with an uncertain outcome, the PC must face a challenge. To face a challenge is a catch-all phrase for doing risky things or dangers with the possibility of severe consequences. The challenge is a moment when you must test your total capability and roll dice to determine the outcome. A few examples:

“You run with hasty steps across the crenelation, until you reach a big gap made by a ballista. It’s wide and you could probably jump it if you are lucky, otherwise you need to find another way to the tower. What do you do?”

“As they chase you down under the deck, you enter a storage room, filled with piled barrels and caskets on top of eachother. The enemies are right behind you and you don’t have long before the reach this part of the ship. What do you do?”

“The guardsman at the gate refuse you all to pass into the city, claiming you’re nor welcome. He’s stern, and as soon as he is done he turns around to he fellow guardsmen that scrutinize you as if you were thieves, or worse. What do you do?”   

When the player whose character faces the challenge has narrated what it intends to do, and how it intends to do it, the GM determines what affects the challenge. To do this, the GM leads the player through the following steps:

1. Assessing the Situation – The challenge always starts with an assessment of the situation. The GM declares what facets from the scene apply from the previous narration, and the players describe what actions look like, which traits, character facets, and abilities are used, along with what other types of facets apply, like qualities from tools or weapons or maybe conditions taken from harm. 
2. Assembling the Dice Pool – From the assessment of the situation the player sums up the dice pool by summing up:
   • Trait dots + facets + ability special rules ± external and situational facets
   • The sum equals the number of dice used in the dice pool.
3. Rolling the Dice – When the dice pool is summed up, the player makes the roll to determine the outcome. Only the highest die result is counted, but there are variations to this. The five outcomes are:
   • Die Outcome
     > one 6 Triumph
     6 Success
     4-5 Costly Success
     1-3 Failure
     > one 1 Catastrophe

Once the dice are rolled, the challenge phase is over. The GM and player now move to the outcome phase, to determine what the outcome means for everyone involved. 

Facets in Challenges 

In play, facets represent various kinds of difficulties working for or against the PCs. The GM describes the facets in the scene, and the player can either choose to try to use them or avoid them. One important rule of thumb is that only relevant facets modify the dice pool for the roll, not every facet in the world around the PCs. If it is there and relevant, the player should assume it affects the PC. 

Relevance is determined by the GM and the narrative, if something makes sense when talking about it, it applies.

Basic Usage

There are four different facet types that work as difficulty modifiers in a challenge:

• Advantageous / Disadvantageous – This is the basic and most common type of facet that, in the scene, either works for you as an advantage or against you as a disadvantage. All relevant facets can affect you, stack up, and modify your dice pool, good or bad. Summed up, several of the same types can pivot the attempt in either direction. For example: 
  
  Kim (GM): The wooden door before you seems sturdy. It’s the only thing standing between you and the bridge. You can hear the enemies closing up the hallway. What’s your plan?
  Alex (Player): I’ll use my battleaxe to break through. Its tool quality should make this easier.
  
  • More examples: Dry wood for making a fire, moist wood when making a fire, a strong horse to pull timber, a waterfilled tunnel to be passed, a misty forest to be oriented through, and so on.
    
• Comparative – These types of facets are also common and are called scale facets. They usually describe a comparable state on a scale of some sort. When encountered, you compare the PC’s facet with the challenging one. If the PC is better, it counts as an advantage. If it is worse, it counts as a disadvantage. For example: 
  
  Kim (GM): Before you looms a large troll, its massive form nearly twice your height. Its eyes burn with a feral glow as it snarls, readying its club. Eira, you’re up close; this beast is towering over you. Meanwhile, Joran, you’re a safe distance away, arrow nocked and bow drawn. What do you do?
  
  Eira (Player): With my sword drawn, I know it’s risky to go toe-to-toe with something so large. But I’ll use my training and experience. We must try to keep the village safe. I’m going for it!
  
  Joran (Player): I’ll take this opportunity to aim for its broad side. A target this large is hard to miss from this range. I let my arrow fly toward the troll, hoping to draw its attention away from Eira.
  
  Kim (Gamemaster): Eira, the troll’s large size and strength pose a real threat as you engage it head-on, putting you at a disadvantage. Roll your dice with that in mind. Joran, your distance and the troll’s size instead work in your favor, giving you an advantage for this shot. Let’s see those rolls.
  
  • More examples: A herdsman who by himself (a single individual) tries to fight a small pack of wolves (counts as a group) is at a disadvantage. A sage (an ordinary scholar) who tries to translate an overwhelmingly complex book is at disadvantage until they get tools or help to counter it.
    
• Negational – This type of facet is the direct opposite of what another facet states and may render the attempt futile and cause the action to automatically fail, or, the opposite, automatically allow for something that would normally not allow the challenge to take place. Since facets are always true, a negating facet just simply does not allow a thing to happen. For example:
  
  Kim (GM): The river, usually impassable due to its strong currents, is now frozen solid. It’s a clear path for your army. What’s your move?
  
  Mara (Player): I command my soldiers to march across, taking advantage of the frozen surface to advance quickly toward our destination.
  
  • More examples: A blocked hallway for a fleeing thief or a razed bridge for a carriage trying to pass.
     
• Discoverable – These types of facets are concealed traits within the game that players can uncover through investigation, intuition, or interaction. These facets can provide strategic benefits, unveil alternative routes, or enrich the story with secrets and surprises. Discoverable facets incentivize players to interact with their environment and think outside the box, rewarding curiosity and cleverness with potential game-changing advantages.
  
  Kim (GM): “The dungeon is flooded, the murky water stretching down a long, dark tunnel. It’s impossible to see the bottom, and you have no boat. How will you proceed?”
  
  Player: “Using my navigator trait, I begin probing the water with my staff, feeling for hidden ledges, pathways, or currents beneath the surface.“
  
  • More examples: An abandoned campsite with stocked provisions can replenish supplies and provide temporary shelter, or a bloody dagger dropped at the site of a murder.

Facets used in these ways can, therefore, play different and dynamic roles during play. Creative use of narration provides both advantages and disadvantages, depending on style and role. Consider the facets for every challenge in a scene – the usage of facets may change depending on who tries something out and the context around that person.

Facet Potency

The summarized facets working for you or against you in a challenge are sometimes referred to as potency. Some dangers that might affect you passively, such as poisons, diseases, or fear, use their potency to determine both possible consequences and conditions if harm occurs, but also the total amount of disadvantageous dice used in that challenge. Potency is also used when describing the power of spells and curses, something explored more thoroughly here.

Comparing Scale, Sizes & Numbers  

In the table below, you can find how different types of scale facets relate and how they can be used to differentiate comparisons. When comparing two facets, a difference means either an advantage or disadvantage, depending on whether the PC is greater than or lesser than the challenger. For simplicity’s sake, it doesn’t matter how many steps are in between. If you want a more tactical focus, consider using the more granular approach to comparison, described in the box here above.

Scale can affect a character and a challenge in many ways, and here are a few examples:

Scale	Size	Numbers	Location	Complexity
Small	Child / Goblin	Small Individual	Object	Simple
Normal	Human / Changeling	Individual / Soldier	Spot	Ordinary
Large	Horse / Ogre	Group / Squad	Room	Detailed
Enormous	Hippo / Troll	Mob / Unit	Building	Elaborate
Gigantic	Elephant / Giant	Band / Company	Village	Overwhelming
Gargantuan	Whale / Dragon	Tribe / Brigade	Town	Extreme
Titanic	Titan	Horde / Army	Region	Impossible

Feel free to create your own scales to be used for whatever reason. It can be based on anything that can be compared. 

Tactical Focus If you want tactics, numbers, and positioning to have greater meaning in your game, you can, as a GM, easily make the use of facets more granular and detailed. For example, if you are running a game with more focus on tactical combat, facets can be used to describe levels of detail. Instead of just comparing scale facets, you might instead allow for comparing levels of scale, which means more work before you can resolve an outcome, but on the other hand, you will be able to parse different types of comparison at the same time and make them meaningful. For example, using both size facets and number facets could make fantasy battles more interesting if players want to challenge larger enemies with greater numbers. If so, just translate each scale facet step to one step of advantage, meaning if there are several steps of difference in comparison, it has to be met and countered with equally many levels of scale on the opposite side. For example, a gigantic monster (three size steps above normal size) must be met with a large force of soldiers equal to a company (also three steps above a normal, individual soldier)to even the odds out. If you could only muster a unit instead of a company, you would be at disadvantage, while a squad would be at a major disadvantage (two disadvantageous dice). This way, dealing with larger and more numerous opponents in challenges becomes more detailed, and the planning and tactics used can become more meaningful.

Assessing the Situation

At the heart of every challenge lies a conversation between the player and the GM. It’s an important interplay where the GM delineates the scene’s contributing facets, painting the scene with what’s at stake. The player, in turn, articulates their character’s response and what their intended action looks like. The following aspects of the situation can be good to get on top of:

GM Considerations

From the narrated scene and events in it, the GM defines the facets relevant to the challenge and communicates them along with the associated risks. The type of challenge will determine what type of disadvantageous facets there could be:

• Obstacles – Challenges often involve obstacles that the PC must navigate past or overcome. These obstacles can be physical, like locked doors or muddy terrain, or situational, like poor lighting or an intricate puzzle. They are static, presenting a clear hurdle that doesn’t actively harm the PC, barring bad luck. Success in these challenges means overcoming obstacles; failure means seeking an alternative path or facing the consequences.

Kim (GM): “The vault’s door looms before you, a massive steel barrier etched with runes. It’s locked tight, no visible keyhole, just a riddle carved into the stone frame. ‘Speak the wealth that lasts beyond gold and silver,’ it beckons. What’s your approach?”

Alex (Player): “I ponder the riddle, my scholar’s background coming to the fore. Wealth beyond riches… I speak aloud, ‘Knowledge is the wealth that endures.'”

• Opposition – Occasionally, a player’s character faces direct confrontation from enemies with conflicting aims. Such opposition brings its own set of challenges, leveraging skills, resources like equipment, or environmental advantages. Engagements can range from combat using skills like melee or brawling, trying to get into safety from a huge avalanche, or escaping a burning house, each demanding a proactive approach or physical capabilities tested against the opposition. Opposition always has a number of character facets describing it, its integrity and health, and others relevant to its nature. When facing a challenge with opposition, there is always a risk of harm or significant setback.

Kim (GM): “The bandit leader stands defiant, a notorious brawler known as Ironfist. The clearing where you’ve met is tight, no room for fancy footwork. His cronies circle, eager for a brawl. How do you engage?”
Joran (Player): “With the odds stacked against us, I’ll call upon my experience as a soldier. I aim to disarm him with a swift maneuver, using his overconfidence against him.”

• Interpersonal – Interpersonal challenges revolve around social dynamics, often a character’s lifepath, requiring the PC to engage with others through dialogue, negotiation, or subterfuge. These challenges might call on a PC’s charm, wit, or social standing to gain favor, extract information, or sway opinions.  In such a challenge, facets such as being an admired war hero, a greedy merchant, or a feared outlaw, or a personal attribute such as being vengeful may come into play. When facing an interpersonal challenge, the outcome often affects the relationship or character prestige. Appreciated behavior from the PC’s side can build alliances and open doors, while missteps or humiliations can lead to social fallout or worsened relations.

Kim (GM): “Lady Elara, the influential courtier, regards you coolly. You sense an opportunity to gain her support in your quest. But you’ll need to navigate this conversation with care. She’s known for her  cunning and not easily swayed.”

Eira (Player): “I’ll tap into my silver-tongued ability, weaving praise for her renowned intelligence into my plea for aid. My aim is to make her feel as if she’s guiding us, rather than us seeking her help.”

• Mystical – When facing challenges involving magic or unnatural powers, the PCs need ways of interacting with the magic even before considering succeeding. Magical facets are often hidden, invisible to the mundane eye, and revealed only through specific actions or knowledge. These challenges can range from breaking enchantments to countering arcane threats, often requiring specialized skills or insights to navigate. Hidden magic must be discovered by some means, for instance, if it exists as a protected sigil or magic lock, shielded from mundane eyes. Otherwise, magic revealed to the mundane eye may work as quality facets with special treatment, such as a lantern with a comforting flame or a dagger cursed with a blood-letting enchantment. The unknown nature of magic means that the GM may keep some secrets from the players to be discovered, adding a layer of mystery to the challenge.

Kim (GM): “The ancient library is silent except for the soft whispers of arcane energy. Before you is a pedestal, and upon it, a tome bound by a glowing sigil. This is the knowledge you seek, but the magic guarding it is potent.”

Mara (Player): “I consult the mystical symbols I’ve studied for years, searching for a pattern or weakness. My arcane tongues or mystic lore skills should give me an edge in discerning the sigil’s function and hopefully, how to safely break its hold, right?”

To summarize it for the GM – make clear what type of challenge it is and what disadvantageous facets are there affecting the PC’s chances of success. A challenge can consist of several disadvantageous facets, and having between one (an easy challenge) and three facets (a very difficult challenge) is not uncommon. Five facets or more (an extremely hard challenge) is very rare. Use with care. 

Player Considerations

Players should describe what their intended action looks like and what outcome they aim for before they try to calculate their facets or dice pool. You can read more about how traits and skills can be used during play below. Each challenge uses both a trait and a skill, together with external facets in the given scene, along with an ability if applicable.

Traits

The traits are used in the following way:

• Vigor – A character’s Vigor represents physical strength and endurance. Use this trait when your character needs to exert force, withstand physical challenges, or engage in melee combat.

“As the gate starts to close, I charge forward, using my vigor to shoulder through the narrowing gap. My brute strength should keep the gate open long enough for my companions to slip through.”

• Agility – A character’s Agility encompasses speed, dexterity, and coordination. Apply this trait for actions involving quick movements, precision, or dodging attacks.

“Spotting a loose chandelier above our foes, I swiftly throw my dagger, cutting the rope with precise agility. I aim to crash down the chandelier, and create chaos among the enemy ranks.”

• Wits – A character’s Wits cover intelligence, cunning, and problem-solving. Utilize this trait when your character needs to devise strategies, solve puzzles, or understand complex situations.

“Confronted with a cryptic riddle, I tap into my wits to decipher the clues. Realizing the answer plays on ancient mythology, I aim to quickly solve the puzzle, unlocking the hidden compartment.”

• Charm – A character’s Charm is about persuasion, social grace, and influence. Use this trait in situations where your character needs to negotiate, deceive, or inspire others.

“To bypass the guards, I employ my charm, spinning a tale of urgent messages and high authority. I try to use my convincing demeanor and confident tone to persuade them to let us pass without question.”

• Senses – A character’s Senses involve perception, awareness, and intuition. This trait is crucial when your character needs to observe their environment, detect lies, or sense danger.

“In the eerie quiet, I rely on my heightened senses to pick up subtle sounds. I attempt to detect any faint sounds or whispers behind the wall, to discern potential foes lying in ambush.”

• Spirit – A character’s Spirit reflects willpower, courage, and mental fortitude. Engage this trait when your character faces fear, resists mental control, or endures emotional strain.

“As the haunting melody tries to lull us into despair, I draw on my spirit, rallying my resolve. My unwavering determination breaks the spell, freeing us from the siren’s grip.”

Skills

Together with a trait, any relevant skill possessed by the characters is used for the challenge. Below, you will find a brief description of the skills, along with examples:

• Academics – This skill combines reading, writing, general linguistics, scholarly training, and understanding multiple languages. 

“At the archive, my academics skill helps me translate an old manuscript, revealing crucial information for our mission.”

• Alchemy – This skill might be used to prepare a material to become something fantastic, an antidote to a creature’s venom, or a potion to enhance one’s abilities temporarily.

“In a dimly lit cavern, I combine glowing mushrooms and iron shavings. With my  alchemy skill a create a radiant paste, illuminating our path through the treacherous darkness.”

• Arcane Lore – This skill involves the knowledge of magical history and can unlock the secrets of ancient spells or artifacts, which are crucial for overcoming supernatural challenges. 

“In the ruins, we discover a mural depicting an ancient magical battle. I use arcane lore to interpret the symbols, revealing the secret of a long-lost spell.”

• Archery – The skill of using a bow and arrow with precision and accuracy, often essential in ranged combat and hunting.

“Spotting the gargoyle perched atop the cathedral, I draw my bow and, using my archery skills, send an arrow whistling through the air to strike it squarely in the chest.”

• Beast Ken – This skill offers unique approaches to combat and exploration, allowing for non-violent resolutions or reconnaissance through animal allies.

“Reading the behaviour of the forest birds through beast ken, I try to understand about the movements of the orc patrol in the area.”

• Brawl – Brawling involves hand-to-hand unarmed combat skills or the use of improvised weapons. It’s essential for close-quarters fights and sudden skirmishes.

“Cornered by thieves, I use brawling to disarm one with a swift move and turn the tide of the fight.”

• Camouflage – This skill provides tactical advantages in ambushes or evading detection by fearsome beasts.

“In the dense forest, I apply camouflage, masking my presence as I move unseen amongst the trees to observe the bandit camp.”

• Craft – This skill is essential for maintaining equipment, which could be the difference between life and death in a monster encounter.

“After a fierce skirmish, I use Craft to repair a dent in my armor and sharpen the blades of our party.”

• Gossip – The skill to gather information, rumors, or secrets through social interactions, often useful in piecing together puzzles or understanding local dynamics.

“At the tavern, I mingle and use gossip to learn about the mysterious disappearances, picking up hints about a cult active in the outskirts of the village.

• Herbalism – This skill not only heals but can also create poisons or hallucinogens, adding complexity to combat and problem-solving.

“I use herbalism to identify healing herbs in the wild, creating a salve to treat wounds sustained in our last encounter.”

• Influence – This skill will help sway NPCs, plant seeds of disbelief or demoralize opponents, create trust, and persuade someone to do your bidding with both threats or promises of better days.

“I stand tall and use influence to coerce the captured spy into revealing the enemy’s plans.”

• Investigation –This skill is key in unraveling mysteries, finding monster lairs, or uncovering hidden treasures or threats in a story.

“I meticulously examine the scene of the murder, using investigation to uncover hidden footprints that lead away into the dark alley.”

• Lockpicking – This skill allows access to forbidden or hidden areas, opening up new paths and secrets.

 “Faced with a locked chest in the abandoned fortress, I deftly use my lockpicking skills to hear the satisfying click of the lock giving way.”

• Melee – This is a classic combat skill, essential for duels or close-quarters combat.

 “In the heat of battle, I engage in close combat, relying on my melee skills to parry an orc’s blow and counterattack with a swift strike.”

• Language – This skill covers learning other languages. This skill is taken for every new language that is learned.

“As we arrive to the new harbor, I try to find someone who speaks Low Brygge”

• Stealth –This skill is essential for gathering intelligence, following a suspect without raising the alarm, surprise attacks, or avoiding overwhelming odds.

“To infiltrate the enemy’s stronghold, I move silently, utilizing stealth to evade guards and slip past security undetected.”

• Survival – This skill skills ensure characters can find food and endure in hostile environments, something crucial for extended expeditions or when stranded.

“Stranded in the desert, I rely on survival to find a water source and navigate using the stars.”

• Tracking – This skill is indispensable for hunting monsters or finding lost individuals in the wilderness.

“I notice broken twigs and faint footprints, using tracking to follow the trail of the thief through the dense forest.”

• Trap Making – This skill provides the essential knowledge to create traps that capture and control prey, enemies, or bigger monsters and disarm them. 

“Anticipating the enemy’s path, I use trap making to set up a series of snares and pitfalls to slow their advance.”

• Strategy – Strategy involves not only tactics on the battlefield or in games but also long-term planning, resource management, social intrigues, and anticipating adversaries’ moves. 

“Facing an army larger than our own, I draw up a strategy to turn the odds in our favor. I aim to send a small force to feign an attack, drawing the enemy out, while the rest of our army ambushes them from a hidden position.”

Spellcraft

Magic users have a special set of spellcraft skills that can be taken, that revolves around spellweaving and the effects from it. The spellcraft skills are:

• Command – The spellcraft skill allows the mage to create fantastic, incredible, and interesting magic effects, both inspiring and terrifying for mundanes witnessing them.
• Destruction – The spellcraft skill for causing harm and ruin, both for the mage and the opponent. Besides risking harm from discord and other effects, destructive spells inflict additional harm and are counted as weapons.
• Ward – The spellcraft skill that provides mystical protection defined by the mage, but depending on the magic path used and the outcome, the potency may vary.
• Ritual – The skill to master powerful spells to achieve a higher potency, and are treated as projects. A ritual is time-consuming and even more dangerous than a regular spell.

More information about how these skills work is available in the chapter about Magic below.

Finally, you have abilities you can use if they apply in a relevant situation. Each playbook has its unique abilities, so consult the playbooks for a more thorough description of how they work. Some abilities create additional facets the character can use in a certain situation, and others provide a fictional positioning, allowing the character to act in a certain way that would not be possible without them.  

To summarize it for the player – describe your character’s action as if it were a book or a movie script. Be vivid and use any facets to make it clear what you use and what you try to avoid. Combine the use of your traits and skills in a way that explains how it all happens. Make the action as cool and interesting as you can and want to. 

Requirements

Some challenges require a certain type of facet (skill, ability, situational facet, equipment quality, and so forth) to be overcome. When the GM says so, any attempt to face that challenge without fulfilling the requirement is made with disadvantage, as the PC is incompetent in that. 

Assembling the Dice Pool

When you are assembling the dice pool, you put it all together:

1. Trait – Equal to the rating 
2. Lifepath or Skill – Add one die
3. Ability – Add one die according to the used ability (or any special rule from it)
4. Advantageous Facet – Add one die for everyone working for you
5. Disadvantageous Facet – Subtract one die for everyone working against you

The dice pool will usually consist of between 1 to 6 or more dice but can grow even bigger.

Rolling the Dice

When you roll the dice pool, you only count the single highest result as your outcome unless you roll double 6s or double 1s, which are treated as especially good and bad results.

If the disadvantageous facets ever decrease the dice pool to 0 (zero) or fewer dice, the player instead rolls 2 dice, counting the lowest as a result. Without any relevant facets besides the trait, the character is deemed to be unfit for the challenge, which counts as an extra disadvantage facet.

Once you roll the dice and get a result, the challenge phase is over, and you move to the next phase, the outcome. Here is a gameplay example:

Kim (Gamemaster): “As you advance through the shadowy forest, you suddenly spot a terrifying bat-creature, twice the size of a man, its legs adorned with torn manacles and chains. This is a formidable foe, for sure. How do you engage?”

Mason (Player): “I’m a seasoned war veteran, so I’ll rely on my strategic combat skills. I’ve got three dots in vigor and expertise in melee. Plus, I have my trusted broadsword. I should be prepared for this encounter.”

Kim (Gamemaster): “Indeed, but remember, the creature’s size and agility pose a significant threat. However, your familiarity with such terrains evens the odds. Go ahead with your roll.”

Mason (Player): “Got it.” [Rolls dice]

Mason (Player): “Alright, I rolled a six, along with a couple of lower numbers. That’s a success, right?”

Kim (Gamemaster): “Yes, it is! Describe how you handle the attack.”

Mason (Player): “With a calm, calculated approach, I anticipate the creature’s movements. As it swoops down, I use my vigor to swiftly maneuver and strike with my broadsword, aiming to disable it to start with. The beast reels from the impact of the blow. So, what does that mean in terms of harm?”

Kim (Gamemaster): “The creature is momentarily stunned by your attack, giving you and your party a brief advantage. However, the extent of the harm you’ve inflicted is still uncertain. We’ll need to resolve the conflict to determine the full impact of your actions.”