The Drama Deck

The Drama Deck
What’s on the Cards?
The
face of every card in the Drama Deck is divided into two areas. At either end of
the card is a colored bar, either gray or orange. Gray bars indicate player
information while orange bars indicate gamemaster information. Some special
cards have orange bars at both ends, indicating that the information in the
player area of the card is also used by the gamemaster. Each card also has a
number next to the colored bars. This number is used to identify each card and
can be used to keep track of which cards a player has at the end of a game session.
That way at the beginning of the next game session the player can get back the
same cards. Torg uses
the cards of the Drama Deck to
mimic the ebb and flow of action in an adventure story by introducing dramatic
surprise and storytelling elements into the adventure. While Torg can be
played without the Drama Deck, it is less involving and exciting when the cards
are not used. Rules for handling certain situations when playing without the
Drama Deck are included at the end of this chapter.
Gamemaster Information
Underneath
the colored bar on the gamemaster’s side of each card are five elements. During
round play these elements are used by the gamemaster to determine the general
course of the action during that round. Starting under the colored bar, these
elements are as follows:
“Flavor” text: The text
has no effect on play, it’s purely there to provide atmosphere. It can be used
to give the gamemaster an idea of how to describe the action in that round.
Standard encounter line: During
standard scenes
this line is used to determine which side in a conflict has the initiative and
any special modifiers in effect during the round.
Dramatic encounter line: During
dramatic scenes
this line is used to determine who has initiative and any special modifiers in effect
during the round.
Approved actions: This
line indicates which actions will provide player characters with additional
cards from the Drama Deck if they successfully perform that action during this
round.
Dramatic skill resolution box: The
text in this box is used with the dramatic
skill resolution rules.
Information
on using each of these elements in play (except for the “Flavor” text) is
covered below under “Gamemastering with the Cards”.
Player Information
Underneath
the colored bar on the player’s side of each card is a special game effect that
players can use to modify their characters actions and the game story. There
are two types of effects on the player side of the cards, enhancements and specials. Enhancements are
indicated by a gray bar at the top of the player’s side of the card.
Enhancements typically add a bonus to an attribute or to a bonus number. For
example, a Willpower card
gives the player a +3 bonus to his Perception
or Mind
attribute for the round. When an
enhancement card is played, it takes effect immediately. Some enhancements are
discarded immediately after being used while some last for the remainder of the
round. An orange bar on the player’s side of the card indicates specials. Unlike
enhancements, specials do not have to take effect immediately when played. A
special card takes effect when the gamemaster decides that it takes effect. The
involvement of the gamemaster in its activation is why specials have the same
colored bar as the gamemaster side of the card, it lets them know that they need
to work the card into play. Whenever a player puts a special card into play he
needs to notify the gamemaster. Some specials are discarded after being
activated; others may remain in play and continue to have their effect on the
character or the story until the end of the adventure. The effects for both
enhancements and specials are described below under “Card Descriptions”.
Playing With the Cards
At
the beginning of every new adventure, the gamemaster deals a hand of cards to
each player character. (If a player is running multiple characters, each
character receives a separate hand of cards.) The number of cards each character
receives depends on how many player characters are involved in the adventure:
CARD PLAY AND GROUP SIZE
Number of PCs Number of cards
1
6
2
5
3–6
4
7
3
The
gamemaster does not deal herself a hand, and nonplayer characters do not
receive cards. After dealing out the cards, the remaining cards are kept in a
stack for use by the gamemaster. When players discard cards, they are placed
face up in a discard pile to
the side of the Drama Deck. When cards are flipped by the gamemaster they are
placed in front of the deck in the action
stack. If all of the remaining cards are
used up during play, the discard pile is shuffled and turned face down,
becoming the new stack of cards. During normal scenes, when the player
characters are searching a room, using a macro skill, discussing among themselves
or anything of that nature, time passes at about the same rate in the game as
it does during real life. At these times, players may use cards from their
hands at any time. When the action involves a chase, combat, or some other kind
of conflict the action is divided into rounds
and card play becomes restricted.
Instead of being able to freely play cards out of their hand, players must
first build up a card pool before
they can put the cards into effect.
Keeping
the Hands Secret'''
Each
player should keep his hand a secret from the gamemaster and the other players
- just as in any card game. This way he has the chance to surprise the group with
what he plays; it also means that each player is in full control of his own cards.
If a player doesn’t want to use a particular card, he doesn’t have to. If he
wants to save cards to use later, they’re his to save. Players may reveal their
cards whenever they want to - but to speed up game play, it should usually only
happen when they play cards into their pools.
Card Pools
When
a scene is progressing by rounds, players build a card pool by
setting cards face up in front of them, aside from their hand. In a round, one
card may be played from the hand into the pool after the character takes an
action that would help move the scene along (whether he succeeds or not). If a
character takes an action that does not directly contribute to the events in
the scene, the gamemaster may choose to not let a card be played into the pool
that round. During the first round of action, normally no one will have any
cards in their pools because no one has had the opportunity to act yet.
However, if there are only one or two player characters involved in the action
they are allowed to start with a few cards in their pools. This is to give such
a small group of characters enough of an edge that they can make it through the
first few rounds. If there’s one character, he can start round play with three
cards in his pool. If there are two characters, they can start round play with two
cards in their pool. During round play, cards
in the hand cannot be played for their advantages,
only cards in the pool may be used. At any time during a round, players may
spend the cards in their pool in any combination they wish, from one card out
of the pool to using all the cards in the pool. The only restriction is that
the player must decide on all of the cards he wishes to use before telling the
gamemaster his final result and learning the outcome. He can’t play a card, ask
the gamemaster if he’s successful, and then play another card after that.
Why
the Card Pools?'''
Wouldn’t
it be easier to just let the players use cards directly from their hands during
round play and skip the whole idea of a card pool? Yes, it would be easier. But
it would make things too easy. The card pools help build a natural flow of
action for an encounter. The player characters should be at something of a
disadvantage at the beginning of most encounters, just battling to survive. But
as the encounter wears on, more and better options open up to the characters,
until they can finally come out on top. The use of card pools simulates this by
slowing down the rate at which players can use their cards, trading time for
success. As the card pools grows in size, the characters have a wider selection
of options available to them, they have more choices about what to do and how
to do it. If players could use any number of cards they wanted straight out of
their hand in the first round of an encounter, most encounters wouldn’t last
past that first round. It would certainly be easier and more efficient, but a
lot less exciting and not as much fun to play.
Playing for the Critical Moment
There
is one exception to the restriction about only being able to use cards from a
pool during round play. Once per act during round play a player may declare a critical moment and
choose to play as many cards from her hand as she wishes directly onto an
action. Cards from the pool may also be used during the critical moment. A player
must declare a critical moment before
they roll the die. 
Trading Cards
Players
may trade cards with each other, representing teamwork and cooperation between
the characters. During round play, only cards in pools may be traded. Outside
of round play, cards are traded between hands. Both players must agree to the
trade and an equal number of cards have to be exchanged.
Trading
can take place at any time but needs to be more than just giving and receiving
cards. The players involved in the trade must explain the trade in terms of how
their characters are helping each other or working together.
Example: Quin and
Marco have escaped from the mummy’s tomb and must now find their way out of the
desert. Quin is badly hurt and can’t do much on his own so it’s up to Marco to
find them some shelter and a source of water. Juan makes a survival skill
check for Marco and rolls a 1, generating a really bad skill total of -2! Juan
doesn’t have any cards that could help. Paul however has a Second Chance card, but
must think up something for Quin to do or say that would let him trade the card
to Juan. Quin has survival so
Paul asks Becky if Quin would be able to give Marco some advice on how to
locate water in the desert. Becky says that he can so Quin tells Marco what he
should be looking for and Paul gives Juan the Second
Chance card. Juan has to trade one of his
cards back to Paul in exchange so he gives Paul a Haste card.
Juan uses the Second Chance card
to generate another survival skill
total and this time rolls well and succeeds, spotting an oasis just over the
next sand dune.
Refilling the Hand
At
the end of each scene, players pick up the cards from their pools (except for
some of the special cards as described later in this chapter) and put them back
in their hands. If they have more cards in their hand than they were dealt at
the beginning of the adventure they need to discard down to that number of
cards. After that, or if they are already at that level or less, they may
discard one card they no longer want in their hand. Once all the discarding is done,
hands are refilled with cards from the deck up to the specific number of cards.
Example: It’s the
end of a scene so each of the players picks up the cards from their pools and
adds them back into their hands. Roger currently has three cards in his hand,
Barbara has eight cards and Alan has four. Since there are three player
characters, the number of cards each one should have is four. Barbara will need
to pick four of her cards and discard them. Neither Roger nor Alan needs to
discard any cards. Once Barbara has discarded down to four, each player may choose
to discard one of the cards in their hand. Barbara is happy with her four cards
and chooses not to discard another one. Both Roger and Alan decide to discard one
card they don’t think their characters will need in the next scene. Barbara has
four cards so she does not get to refill her hand. Roger is down to two cards
after discarding and Alan has three. Becky deals Roger two cards from the deck
and one card to Alan. Players may not
trade cards with each other before
discarding at the end of a scene since they aren’t likely to be doing anything,
so there’s nothing for them to be cooperating on. If the players can come up
with a reasonable explanation though, gamemasters may allow some card trading
to occur before cards are discarded and hands are refilled. When the final
encounter of the adventure is over, hands
are not refilled. Cards are not saved from one
adventure to the next, though they are saved from act to act (players should
write their card types or ID numbers on their character sheets so that they get
the same cards back at the start of the next gaming session).
Game mastering with the Cards
The
gamemaster side of the cards affects the flow of the action by giving the
initiative to one side or another, and by introducing additional dramatic
elements. Each round, the gamemaster flips a card from the drama deck and
places it on the action stack. Even if the action is not a combat and is not
proceeding in 10-second increments, such as a character using charm on
someone, the gamemaster might still flip cards to mark the beats and to
regulate the flow of the action that each character performs in the conflict.
Standard and Dramatic Scenes
The
gamemaster sets the tone of a scene depending upon how important the scene is
to the story. Ordinary scenes are called standard
scenes. In a standard scene, the player
characters have the edge; the pace is quick and the action fast. In a dramatic scene, the
player characters are faced with a tough situation, or a conflict central to
the story. The cards are stacked against them, literally - only clever play,
good cards, and a little luck will save the day. The pace is slower and more
intense, as there is more at stake and the odds are greater. Guidelines for
working with standard and dramatic scenes can be found in Chapter Nine.
Initiative and Advantage
The
card on top of the action stack determines which side of a conflict has
initiative and what advantages or disadvantages, if any, the sides have. The
deck assumes there are two sides to any conflict: the hero side, consisting of
player characters and their allies, and the villain side, which is composed of
all of the characters opposed to the heroes. If the action includes true neutrals,
those that are simply caught in the way, they are lumped with the heroes for card
purposes. The faction listed on the left half of the encounter line has the
initiative. An “H” stands for hero and “V” stands for villain. Any other
advantages, disadvantages, or instructions are listed next to the appropriate faction.
There are two conflict lines on each card. The top conflict line, marked with
an S, is used in standard scenes. The second conflict line, marked with a D, is
used for dramatic scenes. There are three advantages and five disadvantages
that can appear on the conflict lines:
Conflict Line Advantages
Flurry: Every
character on that side of the conflict gets an extra action that round. All
characters on the one side take their normal actions and then everyone gets to
act again. Characters can receive cards for performing approved actions during
either or both of their actions but are still limited to only playing one card
from their hands into their pools.
Inspiration: Characters
who are inspired immediately remove
all shock damage, KO conditions and knockdown results. Unconscious characters
wake up fully recovered but suffer a knockdown result that round. Player
characters that are inspired also receive a card from the Drama Deck for their
card hands.
Up: Every character on
the affected side receives a free additional roll to add to their normal rolls
this round, like getting to reroll the die on any result instead of just on
10’s and 20’s. This reroll from an up
condition cannot be countered with a
hero Point, though it can be canceled by a stymied
result, and vice versa. A Point may be spent
normally to gain another roll on top of this reroll. Any character with
multiple actions, such as someone playing a Haste
card, gets the free additional roll for
all of their rolls in this round.
Conflict Line Disadvantages
Break: Breaks
will only occur on the Villain portion
of a conflict line. During a break,
any injured characters on that side of the action will flee the battle or
concede the conflict if they are unable to harm someone on the other side,
significantly improve their position or otherwise improve the situation in
their favor somehow. Villains who break
will flee or concede at the end of the round
the break occurs.
Confused: Confused
will only occur on the Hero portion of
a conflict line. When confused,
no player may use cards from her pool, although they may still gain cards from approved actions and
can still play a card from their hand into their pool.
Fatigued: A fatigue result inflicts
two shock points of damage on every character of the afflicted side. (Note that
some types of armor and equipment might increase the amount of shock damage
caused by a fatigue result.)
The damage from a fatigue does
not necessarily have to represent exhaustion, it could be due to fear, stress
or a delayed effect of injuries.
Setback: Setbacks
make life rougher for the afflicted
side. There is any number of ways to represent a setback so it
will be covered in detail later.
Stymied: Every
character on the affected side of the action loses the first reroll they would
otherwise normally get for any reason.
If a character never has an opportunity for a reroll, stymied has no
other effect. A stymied result
can be canceled out by an up result,
and vice versa.
Special Villain Actions: When
any of the interaction skills (trick,
test, taunt and intimidate)
are listed on the villain side of the dramatic conflict line, a villain who
successfully uses the listed skill against a player character gets to remove
cards from the player’s pool. This is described in further detail below.
A
“—” on the conflict line means no advantages or disadvantages are in effect for
that side during the round.
Setbacks
A
setback on
the conflict line is a good tool for the prepared gamemaster, a chance to make
the lives of the player characters even more difficult in a tense situation (or
to help them out if the setback
affects the villain side.) Gamemasters
should plan in advance possible setbacks for encounters when designing an adventure,
but if you feel comfortable with winging it, go ahead. Setbacks include sudden
and unexpected turns of events, disastrous coincidences, and failures of people
or items outside the characters’ control.
Example: Becky
sets up an encounter along a narrow path leading up the side of a mountain. The
heroes will be following the villain’s trail into an ambush set by a group of
the villain’s henchmen. She decides that if a setback
should come up on the conflict line, a
character from the side receiving the penalty loses his footing and slips off
the trail. While the character can grab onto a scrub bush growing out of the
side of the mountain, he will hang nearly helpless, thousands of feet above
certain doom, out of combat and
in
desperate need of aid. The number of possible setbacks is only limited by the
gamemaster’s imagination. Here are a few general suggestions for possible
setbacks to use:
• Nonplayer characters
on the heroes’ side lose their nerve and flee the scene (like a break result).
• The other side
receives reinforcements.
• Equipment fails to
work properly that round, bow string breaks for example.
• The nonplayer
characters come up with a new fact or astounding but- believable-lie to
confound the players, causing them to lose their actions this round.
• The environment
causes problems - a rope begins to fray, a smashed lantern starts a fire, a
bystander wanders into the middle of the fight, even something as big as an
earthquake if it fits the situation and makes things tough for the afflicted side.
• Characters with
projectile weapons have only a few rounds of ammunition left.
• Melee weapons are
accidentally dropped out of reach.
• Characters slip on
something and suffer a knockdown result.
If
nothing appropriate can be thought up for a situation, a generic approach to a
setback is to apply a +5 penalty to the actions of every character on the
afflicted side. With a little experience, gamemasters should be able to find
dozens of plot complications that can be introduced through a setback result.
An effective technique is to set up a setback that could happen in any of
several encounters, and give hints to the players that this might happen. If
the villains’ underground complex is near a fault line, have tremors ripple
through the tunnels now and again – then let the quake rip after a setback is
flipped onto the action stack.
Combat
Between Two Player Characters'''
Although
it’s hard to fathom - every once in a while some heroes will see fit to fight
each other. Since both sides are heroes, the conflict line advantage or penalty
applies to both of them. The characters involved generate action totals with
their Dexterity to
determine initiative, highest total getting to act first. They play cards into
their pools and use them as they ordinarily would.
Using
Conflict Lines in the Story'''
The
penalties and bonuses that appear for the villains and heroes each round can be
used to inspire more varied descriptions of the conflict’s resolution. For
example, although the card says “V Flurry,” the gamemaster could describe a
specific way the villain is letting loose rather than just saying that she gets
two actions. Does she suddenly go mad from watching the heroes destroy her
meticulously built machine, and launch herself into combat without any regard
for her own life? Does she suddenly put on a dazzling display of swordsmanship?
Remember though, no one has to add color like this if they don’t want to. The
game mechanic advantage of the villain flurry
(two actions for the villain that
round) makes what is happening clear enough.
Special Villain Actions
Taunt, test, trick and
intimidate are
possible villain instructions on the dramatic conflict line only. They have an
additional effect when they appear on the conflict line: if the villains
successfully use the appropriate skill when that option appears on the conflict
line, the gamemaster removes one card of her choice from the card pool of the
affected character and discards it. If the villain gets a superior success, two
cards are taken from the pool; on a spectacular
success three cards are taken. At the
gamemaster’s discretion, the villain does not have to use the listed skill when
the opportunity presents itself; she may attack or perform whatever action the
gamemaster believes makes the most sense for that villain at that time. Keep in
mind that, for instance, a mummy would be unlikely to use taunt, Zombies
rarely trick,
unintelligent creatures can’t really test,
and so on.
Approved Actions
On
the top card of the action stack is a line labeled “Act:” which stands for approved actions.
The line lists two actions, or “any” which means any of the following
seven actions are approved: Attack,
Defend, Trick, Test, Taunt, Intimidate,
or Maneuver.
If a player character succeeds at
an approved action, he draws a card from the Drama Deck and adds it to his card
hand. An attack is considered successful if it hits, even if it does not cause
any damage. A defense is successful as long as the character is attacked and
not hit. The gamemaster may disallow certain actions in certain cases. Taking
approved actions is the only way players can build up the really large card
pools that are necessary to affect impressive opponents.  Otherwise they would quickly run out of cards
after just a few rounds. The approved action line is meant to encourage players
to use tactics other than hacking away at their opponents (though at the same
time, attack is
in the list of approved actions because sometimes there’s no other choice but
to fight.) The approved actions are not meant to be taken as actions that the
players must perform in that round, there’s no way a card can predict what
would be most effective for the characters to be doing that round. Sometimes
the approved actions just aren’t appropriate to what’s going on so there’s no good
reason to do them.
Dramatic Skill Resolution
In
most situations, a skill use is resolved in a single roll; most of the skills
are set up with that assumption. But there are times when it is desirable for
the sake of drama to stretch out the skill resolution, to introduce tension
that is not possible when something is accomplished with a single roll in a
single round of action.
For
example, disarming an arcane ritual falls under the province of one of the magic
skills, and could be done in a single roll. But this isn’t very exciting, it
misses the point of having to take steps to deactivate the ritual in a story;
if that ritual were an important element in a story for example, a considerable
amount of time would be devoted to defusing it before it goes off. Situations
like this call for dramatic skill resolution. A
dramatic skill resolution breaks down the use of a single skill into up to four
steps, labeled A through D. The gamemaster determines, preferably in advance,
what each step represents when performing the task. The same task can be
assigned to more than one letter if necessary in Order to stretch things out.
Each different step will also have its own difficulty. To successfully complete
a dramatic skill resolution, a character must succeed at steps A,B, C and D in
that Order (or complete however many steps are involved if not all four steps
are being used.) Succeeding at each step requires a separate skill check. If
the card shows more than one step for which the character is eligible, he may
try to do more than one step in that round by taking a multi-action using the
One on Many Chart.
Bad Things Can Happen
Not
only can a dramatic action take time, but also things can happen to make the
task more difficult along the way. These problems include possible setback, complication, and
critical problem.
Each of these effects occurs when listed if
the character fails her skill roll for that round.
If she succeeds, she does not gain a step, but there is no penalty. The
difficulty number is the same as whatever step the character would perform
next.
Possible Setback
Failing
when a possible setback appears
causes the character to lose a step. If he had been on step C, something causes
the character to slip back to step B; step C will have to be repeated.
Complication
A
complication makes
the task more difficult. Failing the skill check during a complication round
adds +1 to the difficulty of all further skill checks for the dramatic skill
resolution.
Critical Problem
Failing
the skill check during a critical
problem round is real trouble; now the
character must use another skill to accomplish the task, or attack the problem
from a new angle (which would mean starting over from step A). The player is
responsible for figuring out the new skill or course of action; if it does not
sound convincing, she must try a different tack next round.
Skill Use as an Approved Action
During
a dramatic skill resolution, whenever the character does not have the
opportunity to gain a skill step he still gets to make a skill check against
the current difficulty number. If he succeeds, it counts as an approved action
and he gets a card for his hand. He may also play a card from his hand into his
pool that round. This represents the fact that even when temporarily stymied,
the heroes of fiction are usually still working toward the final goal. When a
character succeeds on a step of the dramatic skill resolution, he may of course
play a card into his pool, but it is not counted as an approved action. This
may seem perverse, but the intent is to keep the tension high - success is its
own reward, and failure leads to eventual success in a dramatic skill
resolution.
Last Ditch Effort
It
is always possible during a dramatic skill resolution that time will run out
before the last step can be completed. If a character is on step C of defusing
a Ritual when the spell is about to go off, for instance, he needs a way to
take a final, rushed attempt at the problem. During any round of a dramatic
skill resolution, the player may declare a last
ditch effort to resolve the skill use; any
unfinished steps are resolved all at once with the usual multi-action penalty.
The difficulty number is additionally increased by +4 beyond the normal multi-action
penalty to account for the desperate circumstances of the last ditch effort. If
the last ditch effort fails, and there is still time remaining, treat it as a
failure during a critical problem.
Other Characters
When
appropriate, other characters may aid the lead character during a dramatic
skill resolution. To do this, use the coordination rules in Chapter Four to
determine any bonuses their aid contributes. They may also help out by trading
cards or playing Supporter cards
from their pools.
Working the Timing Out
Timing
dramatic skill resolution can be tricky. If disaster is looming on the horizon
(as it almost always is), how much time should the player get to complete the
skill resolution? Use the following as a guideline.
To
have the sequence A, B, C, and D appear in Order requires about 14 cards to be flipped
if the character is going through the steps one at a time, or about 10 cards if
the character is skilled enough to attempt two when the opportunity presents
itself. For characters with high skill values (larger than the difficulty
number), good cards, and no other pressing business, five flips is fine. As an
average, we recommend giving them seven to 10 flips before disaster strikes. The
player should be given an indication of how much time their character gets so
that they know if they are expected to attempt multiple steps at a time or if
they’re expected to go one step at a time. While it may not seem fair to
penalize skilled characters by giving them less time, it may be the only way to
create any tension for that character with the dramatic skill resolution. If
they have too much time available, then all they’re really doing is just making
a couple of skill checks instead of one skill check.
Other Uses for Dramatic Skill Resolution
Gamemasters
may find other ways to use the dramatic skill resolution system during play.
Generally anything that requires multiple steps or has to be done multiple
times could use what’s in the dramatic skill box on the card the gamemaster
flips onto the action stack. For example, it can be used as a randomizer; if
the gamemaster needs to make a random decision about something the players are
doing he can assign a letter or letter combination to each possible choice and
then flip a card to see what comes up.
Card Descriptions
The
two basic kinds of effects on the player side of the cards are enhancements and specials.
Enhancement Cards
Many
of the cards in the deck are enhancements.
Some of these cards increase a character’s skill or action values while others
allow characters to do something unusual. An enhancement card, once used, is
discarded.
Action
The
Action card
increases the bonus number for all actions a character takes that round
(including flurry results
and Haste cards)
by +3. It cannot be used passively since it increases the bonus and not the
underlying value.
Adrenalin, Willpower, and Presence
There
are three types of attribute value cards, each of which increases any one of
the appropriate attribute values by +3. Adrenalin
increases the physical attributes Dexterity, Strength or
Toughness,
Willpower increases
the attributes Perception or
Mind, and
Presence increases
Charisma or
Spirit.
The player chooses which value to increase with each card. One card may not
affect more than one attribute. The effect of attribute cards lasts an entire
round - if the character uses a Haste
or has a flurry, the
benefit lasts for all actions taken that round. If Adrenalin was played on Toughness to
increase the character’s resistance to damage, it will last for the rest of the
round against any damage the character takes. The benefit does not extend to
values that are not generated by the character’s attribute. For instance, an Adrenalin card
could not increase the damage value of a gun but the damage value of a bow could
be increased.
Coup de Grace
The
Coup de grace card
increases only the effect value of
an action; if the action total fails, the Coup
de Grace is no help. If the action the character
performs does not have a separate effect value, only then can the Coup de Grace be added
to the action total.
Drama
The
Drama card
may be spent as a Hero Point. This Point may be spent in addition to Hero
Points a character may normally spend, including other Drama or Hero cards.
Villains may negate a Drama card
used for an extra roll just as they can a regular Hero Point. If the adventure
is completed and a player still holds a Drama
card, that player receives three extra Hero
Points for his character. This is a reward for surviving the adventure while
taking the more difficult path of not using the Drama card
during play.
Escape
Escape allows
the entire party of player characters to escape an encounter. There is only one
Escape card
in the deck. In Order to use the Escape
card, it must be the
first card played into a character’s card pool when round play begins. This is
so the gamemaster will have time to arrange the necessary circumstances. Once
in a card pool, the card can be played at any time.
Glory
Glory cards can
only be played in rare circumstances. If a player rolls a 60 or more on an
action that has a major impact during a dramatic scene, he may play this card.
The award given out at the end of the adventure for all player characters involved
in the adventure is increased by three possibilities. 
Haste
The
Haste card
grants the character an additional action. The action is taken immediately
after the card is played. A player may play a Haste
card out of turn, during another
player’s turn, or during the villain’s turn, as well as during her turn in a
round.
Hero
The
Hero card
can be played to gain an extra Hero Point for any action. The point from the
card can be used in addition to hero points that a character can normally
spend, including other Hero or
Drama cards.
Villains may negate a Hero card
used for an additional roll, just as they can a regular possibility. Unlike the
Drama cards,
an unused Hero at
the end of an adventure is not worth any extra possibilities.
Idea
The
Idea card
simulate those brainstorms fictional characters always have at the right moment.
Whenever a character (or the player) is stumped as to what should be done next,
the Idea card
can be used to get a hint from the gamemaster. When the card is played the
player poses a specific problem dealing with the adventure to the gamemaster,
who provides an answer. This reflects the fact that the character has deeper knowledge
of the world’s workings than the player has, and simulates fictional characters
who “get the right idea” at the right time. The gamemaster might simply give
the answer to the problem, or might offer a list of solutions that the
characters have to pursue.
Leadership
A
Leadership card
allows the player to give up to two of her cards to another player, and then
she can immediately discard any cards she wishes from her hand and refill her
hand to however many cards she was dealt at the beginning of the adventure.
Cards in her pool, if any, are not counted for this purpose. The player should explain
what her character is doing that provides leadership for the other character. The
player using the Leadership card
can take the two cards from either her hand or pool if she has one. If used
during round play, the Leadership card
must be played from her pool like any other card. The cards given to the other
player will go into his pool if done during round play, otherwise they go into
the player’s hand.
Master Plan
This
card lets a player take the top card off of the discard pile in exchange for
the Master Plan card,
which is placed on the discard pile. The exchanged card must be from the top of
the discard pile, not the top card of the action stack. If the Master Plan is used
during round play the exchanged card goes into the player’s pool, not the hand.
Monologue
This
card allows a character to stop all hostile action on both sides of a conflict
while she makes a dramatic speech (this counts as her action for the round). If
the conflict in question is openly violent, the odds of anyone listening to reason
are small, but the card will still have the effect of canceling all other
actions for the round. The effect of the card lasts a round, possibly more
depending on what the character actually says. The gamemaster may want to have
players actually perform the monologue themselves in Order for this card to
work. There is only one Monologue
card in the deck
Opponent Fails
This
card negates any one successful action taken upon the player’s character. If a
villain shoots at this character and hits, the player can use the card and the
attack fails; it may just miss, or be stopped by hitting something in his
pocket, or be deflected by some other stroke of luck. The card “rewrites the
script” so that the opponent’s action fails. This is the ultimate defensive
card. It is important to note that the card in no way safeguards a character
from his failures; that’s what the other cards are there for. An Opponent Fails card
may be played after any successful action taken against a character, but must
be played before the next roll of the game is made by anyone. It cannot be used
to negate actions of other characters that are not directed at the player character.
Second Chance
This
lets a character immediately retry an action after he has failed the first
time; all consequences of the first die roll are ignored, but any cards or
possibilities used do not carry over to the second roll. The gamemaster must enforce
the “immediately” - the Second Chance
must be taken before another player
rolls or any other cards are played.
Seize Initiative
This
card allows the players to either keep the card currently on the action stack
for one more round (if it is beneficial to them), or flip another card up for
this round (if the one just flipped is bad for them).
Once
the gamemaster flips the next card over, Seize
Initiative may only be used to flip again, not to
go back to the previous card. If the gamemaster flips over a card with a confused result on
it, the Seize Initiative may
not be
played to flip another card; the confused
result takes precedence and prevents
the players from using any of their cards, including Seize Initiative.
Supporter
This
card lets a player add +3 to another character’s bonus number. This card may be
played after the other player rolls the die but before the
gamemaster announce the final result. The supporting character’s player should
explain how her support benefits the acting character.
Rally
The
Rally card
lets all players
discard as many cards as they wish from their hands and immediately draw to
refill their hands to however many they were dealt at the beginning of the
adventure. Cards in their pools are not counted for this purpose. There is only
one Rally card.
Special Cards
There
are three types of cards that have an orange bar on the player’s side. When
these cards are played into a pool they remain there until used or until the
end of the adventure. Players do not pick them up and put them back into their
hands at the end of a scene and they do not count as being in the player’s hand
when it comes time to refill the hand. These three types of cards are Alertness cards, Connection cards and
subplot cards.
Additionally, there are several different types of subplot cards.
Alertness
Alertness lets a
character notice an item or clue she otherwise would have missed. The card
assures that a hero searching or examining an area will find or notice
something (information, an item, an ambush) as long as it is there to be found,
whether he makes his find roll
or not. It is placed into the card pool normally, but once there, the gamemaster
keeps track of it; when there is a clue to be found, and all characters have
missed their chance to notice it, the gamemaster activates the Alertness card and
tells the player what they missed. When the Alertness
card is activated by the gamemaster, it
is discarded.
Example: Father
Wagner, when he arrived at the scene of a murder, failed his find skill
check and did not discover the murder weapon, an ancient dagger, buried at the
bottom of the garbage can in a corner of the room. However, Tina had earlier played
an Alertness card into her pool. Because there is something to find in the room
and Wagner missed it, Becky takes the Alertness
card, puts it in the discard pile and
mentions that Wagner spots a glint of gold in the garbage can - a rather
peculiar sight. If there had been nothing to find in the room, the card would have
remained in Tina’s pool. It would not be used until Wagner was in a situation
where there was something to find and
he failed to find it on his own.
Connection
Connection lets a
player character know someone in the area that might be able to offer her some
help. This reflects the fact that characters have a “past” that reaches back
beyond the point where the player began playing the character. It does not mean
that the character automatically finds the person, just that there is someone
available. A Connection is
played into the card pool normally, but once there the gamemaster keeps track
of it until he activates it (which may not be exactly when the player expects
it to be activated.) Once activated, it is discarded. It is up to the
gamemaster to decide exactly who and what the contact is, and how helpful she
will actually be to the player character. The players are free, and encouraged,
to provide suggestions, but the gamemaster has final say. A Connection should
show up as soon as it makes sense for the story. If the heroes are trapped in a
tomb and someone plays a Connection
card, there isn’t really much of an
opportunity to introduce a friendly nonplayer character at that time, but it
should show up somewhat soon.
Subplots
A
subplot is
a story within a story. In Torg,
a subplot card adds an additional wrinkle to the story as told by the players
and the gamemaster. A subplot card assigns a character a role to play or a motivation
that helps the player guide her character’s actions. When a subplot card is
played into a card pool, the player can suggest to the gamemaster how this
subplot applies to his character, but this is not necessary, sometimes the
player may not have an idea for how the subplot might work. The subplot cards
give players a chance to introduce elements that will broaden the role of their
characters in the story. By making the subplots into cards that each player has
the option to play or not, no player is forced to participate in a subplot that
he does not want. The player decides for himself what entanglements he wishes to
take for his character. If a player would rather not play a subplot, she may
discard it instead of putting it into her pool. When a subplot is discarded,
the player receives a “compensation” of one possibility for her character and a
replacement card from the Drama Deck. The gamemaster can disallow any subplot
card that he feels does not fit in the story. If the gamemaster disallows a
subplot, it is discarded and the compensation is given to the player. Once a subplot
has been accepted though, it cannot be discard later for compensation. Players
may only have one active subplot per adventure. Subplot cards that have been
placed into a pool may not be traded, though un-activated subplots in a
player’s card hand may be traded like normal cards. Once in play, a character
who has a subplot in his pool gains an additional possibility at the end of
each act in which the subplot is active, as a reward for taking on the
exciting, but sometimes detrimental, effects of the subplot. If a player takes
on a subplot and then consistently ignores the story elements of that subplot,
they do not get the extra possibility at the end of the act. Gamemasters may also
wish to reduce a player’s final adventure award if the player consistently
ignores the subplot throughout the entire adventure. Before an adventure
begins, the gamemaster should outline which of the subplots are easily
incorporated into the adventure and which ones won’t work. That way when a
player puts a subplot into her pool, the gamemaster already knows whether or not
to disallow the subplot. Subplots do not have to start as soon as the
gamemaster approves it. It’s possible that a player will put a subplot card
into his pool long before the planned circumstances will occur. For example, a gamemaster
may have planned on introducing a nonplayer character in the middle of the
adventure that would be suitable for a Romance
subplot. At the very beginning of the
adventure though, one of the players puts a Romance
card down on the table. Even though the
Romance can’t start
until the nonplayer character shows up; the gamemaster can go ahead and approve
it at that time. The subplot just won’t be considered active until it can begin.
The player must keep in mind that he does not necessarily know how the subplot
will affect his character or whom it will involve. For example, when Paul plays
a Romance card
after Quin meets a jungle princess, it does not mean that Quin will become
involved romantically with the princess - Becky might have a romance prepared
with one of the princess’s slaves instead.
Circumstances
of Subplots'''
Depending
on circumstances, several of the subplots could be quite similar. If a villain
kidnaps the true love of a character, it might be a Romance with a
twist, or a Personal Stake,
or the Nemesis pulling
another stunt. If a hero is thought to have stolen the Queen’s jewels, is it Suspicion or Mistaken Identity?
There are two reasons for leaving a degree of overlap between the subplots. The
first is that the subplots are more flexible this way. If there is a theft
involved in the adventure and the gamemaster wants one of the characters to be
suspected of the crime, there are two subplots by which this suspicion may be
introduced (Suspicion or
Mistaken Identity).
However, the circumstances may
vary between the two subplots. Is the hero mistaken for Milton Avery, a
renowned jewel thief, the man whom the guards suspect stole the jewels? Or does
the detective investigating the case suspect the hero on a hunch? In one case
there is an actual, well-known individual who is involved in the subplot, and
in the other the hero has to clear his name. In other words, it makes a great
deal of difference if the villain who kidnaps a woman is a nemesis or if the
woman kidnapped is the hero’s romance.
Not only would an encounter between the hero and the villain be played very
differently, but also the motivation for the two subplots would differ greatly
as well. In one case the hero would want to prevent the fiend from ever
performing evil actions again, and in the other he would want to rescue his
true love at all costs.
Types of Subplots
Mistaken Identity
With
this subplot the character is thought to be someone else by one or more
gamemaster characters, or else believes another character to be someone she
isn’t. The former is usually more fun to play. The mistake may be because of
physical similarity or misinformation (“It will be the first man who walks
through the door and says “good-morning! Fine day, eh?’”) The subplot may be
comic
Nemesis
There
is, somewhere in the adventure, someone against whom the character has a
grudge, or who has a grudge against the character. The conflict may stretch
back to their childhood, or may start when the player character bests the
nonplayer character during their first encounter this adventure. The gamemaster
should make sure that the nemesis and the player character have a few scenes
alone together, including (and most importantly) a final showdown. The showdown
does not have to culminate in a huge, knockdown battle to the death, but there should
be a satisfying resolution. The nemesis might not settle for less than the
hero’s death, though the player character might want to merely imprison the
villain. If a Nemesis is
campaigned, the villain might seem to be killed (falling off of a cliff or into
a snake pit) only to reappear later, but he should be out of the hero’s hair
for at least a couple of adventures.
Personal Stake
When
the Personal Stake subplot
is played, the character becomes emotionally tied to the major plot at hand. The
woman his group has been hired to rescue may turn out to be someone he loves,
or a long lost relative. The villain may turn out to be the man who killed the character’s
family or scarred him for life. The city under siege might be the character’s
hometown. Whatever it is, it gives the character a stronger reason to triumph
when facing challenges encountered during the adventure.
Romance
The
player character becomes romantically involved with a nonplayer character. The
romance may be one sided, with the nonplayer character in love with the player
character or a love struck player character scorned by a nonplayer character.
They may be in love with each other, but separated by social standing or jealous
spouses. They may start out hating each other but eventually become attracted
to each other. Remember that a complicated romance is more interesting than a
romance with no problems, because a perfect romance isn’t very dramatic to
anyone but the two people involved. There are two
Romance cards
in the deck. If both are in play it might mean that both player characters are
involved with the same nonplayer character (causing some tension), or that
there are two separate romantic interests available. The former is usually a
lot more interesting to play.
Suspicion
This
subplot casts a pall of guilt over a character. The character might be
suspected of a murder in the past, a recent theft, or simply be regarded as
somebody worth watching with a careful eye. The suspicion may be well founded
or it might only be the result of rumor. The people who suspect the character
might even be other player characters.
True Identity
This
subplot is the opposite of Mistaken
Identity. The character actually is somebody
who matters to one or more nonplayer characters, but nobody knows it.
Alternately, the player character knows the true identity of someone else. The
character with the True Identity may
be completely unaware of her true identity, or may be deliberately hiding
behind a false identity. Examples of true identities are the heir to the throne
who was spirited away at birth, the son (or daughter) of the villain the heroes
are pursuing, the man who was prophesied generations ago to kill the beast in
the mountains, and the master villain masquerading with a double identity.
Martyr
The
Martyr card
hangs a peculiar shadow over the character whose player took the subplot, for
everyone knows that the character is so noble in intent that his own life is
less important than the defeat of evil. Or perhaps the character feels so certain
that he’s going to die on this adventure it casts a gloomy pall over everything
he does that adventure. It could even be a death wish; the character wants to go out
in a blaze of glory. However it’s interpreted, the character should be played
as if his life is on the edge, because it just might be that way. The Martyr subplot
card, because of the special game mechanics associated with it, cannot be
campaigned. The Martyr card
is the only subplot card with an additional rules mechanic. A character whose
player has this card out may, at any time, sacrifice his life and automatically produce a victorious condition in the
face of disaster. It is important though to remember
that a character with the Martyr card
does not have
to sacrifice herself during the adventure. It is simply an option when all else
fails. If the character makes it to the end of the adventure without using the
card’s special game mechanic, the gloomy shadow hanging over the character is
lifted. However, if the Martyr card
was treated more as an “automatic victory” card rather than roleplayed as a
subplot, the gamemaster has the option of reducing the character’s final
adventure award by the same number of possibilities gained from the subplot
during play (i.e., one Possibility Point per act the Martyr card was
active.) But if the subplot was roleplayed, the character gets to keep the
possibilities. The Martyr subplot
cannot be campaigned.
The Campaign Card
In
most cases a subplot lasts from when it is played to the end of that adventure.
For example, a Nemesis is
established for a player character at some point in the story, and by the
story’s end the nemesis is defeated by that character. The player of a
character with a subplot may want to retain the subplot for his character, in
effect create a new background subplot (see Chapter Two) for the character. To
do this he, or another player, plays the Campaign
card while the subplot card is active.
A player must agree to have his subplot “campaigned”, even if another player lays
down the Campaign card.
The gamemaster must also approve the campaigning of a subplot. For example, if
Alan plays the Campaign card
on Quin’s Romance subplot,
and both Paul and Becky agree, Quin’s affair with the jungle princess’s servant
continues through adventures to come. She may not be involved in all adventures
(he’s a busy fellow, trotting all over the globe and such), but when she is
involved in an adventure, Quin automatically has a romance subplot
activated in that adventure, just like a background subplot. She may be in
trouble, somebody else may be courting her, but the gamemaster will have her
there, waiting with a subplot. This, of course, gives Quin extra Hero Points at
the end of each act the subplot is active. Additionally, if Paul gets the romance subplot
card again during a game and activates it, Becky already has some idea of who
and what it should entail. A Campaign
card is used only in campaign games, which
are a string of related adventures using the same heroes. Campaign games are
played on a regular basis; if you are not running a campaign, then the Campaign card has
no effect. The Campaign card,
if discarded or disapproved, is worth one possibility and a replacement card,
as any other subplot.