EXAMPLE OF ROLLING IN PLAY
Samalibosi’s had a sheltered life as a relative of the king, so she has Hardened Violence 0, and Failed 2. Her Merciful is 7 and her Honest is 6; she’s a 2nd-level bard, so her Attack is +1 and her Will is +2. One day, while she’s checking out a parcel of property she’s inherited, someone shoots an arrow at her, proclaiming that her wicked uncle, the Duke Esorbma has seized her inheritance. The archer refuses to accept merely wounding Samlibosi and gladly agrees to duel her. The fight is fierce, but Samalibosi is hoping to temper each stroke of the steel with the knowledge that the archer is merely a hired agent and not the architect of her distress. The GM agrees that such an approach would be within her character, and so tells her to roll a rank-3 MeFV+Attack 29 roll to represent the first minute of her duel, when she’s on the defensive. The dice come up 3, 6, 7, 7, 9, 11, and 12. She needs to keep the 11 and the 12 in order to have any chance of succeeding on the roll, which will happen if she keeps either the 9 or one of the 7s. However, keeping the 9 will force her to act Cruelly towards this henchman, so she keeps one of the 7s in order to preserve the chance of Mercy. This leaves all but one of the unkept dice higher than the intensity of the roll, so she also keeps her wits about her, utilizing them in a measured flurry of parries and footwork. Her reward for staying cool is Hardened Violence 1. The majority of kept dice are higher than her Virtue, but not all of them are, so she rolls 1d10 and compares it to her Cruel. The roll ends up being 4, one point higher than her Cruel.
With a sigh of relief, Samalibosi’s character is about to use her freedom of choice in the situation, unbound by Virtue or Vice, to accept a merciful surrender from the archer when suddenly the GM, a devious smile on their face, decides that the close nature of the roll means that Samalibosi hears a cry from the woods whence the archer emerged. A man is tied up amongst the bushes, having worked the gag out of his mouth. It is Samalibosi’s beloved, who cries out that Samalibosi’s uncle’s assassin had planned to kill him. Samalibosi’s character changes their mind about their planned course of action and chooses death for the unhappy failure of a murderer. The victim gets his revenge, the dastardly uncle’s plot is for the nonce defeated, and a marriage is planned, but no checkmarks are written next to either of Samalibosi’s Virtues since both rolls failed (even though a very significant event took place).
A few weeks later, after she’s recovered somewhat from the ambush, she’s jumped by a man in a mask and leather armor as she’s leaving the marketplace. He tries to cut her up with a dagger, and she responds in kind. This one is a rank-1 CoFV+Attack 18 roll. She gets 1, 2, 5, 7, 7, 8, and 10. Since she’s already got Hardened Violence 1, she doesn’t have to worry about the numbers on her unkept dice, so she keeps the 10 and one of the 7s, a 50/50 split between above her Virtue and not. Samalibosi has complete freedom in this situation, unmodified by conscience or damage. Fleeing to her new home, she runs right into the clutches of her uncle. He’s broken into her castle and is waiting for her. He ties her up and begins interrogating her about “the chamber of the undying.” She truthfully tells him she knows nothing but he doesn’t believe her, so he starts burning her hand with a log from the fireplace. Resisting this torture is a rank-3 HoHV 24 roll (he’s not very good at torture). Now, she’s already succeeded at one rank-3 Violence roll, but she only has Hardened Violence 1, so she does have to check her unkept dice. Her Honest is 6, so she rolls 6 dice and keeps 2 of them. The results of the dice are 1, 1, 3, 5, 10, and 12. She refuses to give into her uncle and his use of detestable methods, so she keeps the 10 and the 12, just beating the DC. However, that means that 3 of the 5 unkept dice are equal to or lower than the intensity of the roll, giving her Failed Violence 1. She can freeze, fight, or flee, and she must not tell the truth (though she resisted the torture, and thus won’t tell her uncle what he wants to hear, all of her kept dice were higher than her Honest). Her player decides that she’d try to flee, and so Samalibosi begins desperately thrashing against her bonds and screaming a wild story she’s making up on the spot about her aunt stealing from her churl of an uncle. She thrashes so violently that she hurts herself ~ and this convinces her captor that she’s telling the truth. Incensed at his wife’s supposed betrayal, he momentarily forgets about the chamber of the undying and rushes off to confront her, leaving Samalibosi there. The GM then tells Samalibosi’s player to roll a rank-2 EnHH+Escape Artist 18 roll to work her way out of the ropes.
ALIGNMENTS AND EXTREME STATES
Idealism and faith can help make a person a hero. By ascribing to and behaving in accordance with certain values ~ that is, by maintaining a minimum value in a number of prescribed Virtues ~ a character gains certain rewards and benefits beyond those given to people of lesser honor. Some of these gifts are of a magical nature. Devotion and dedication reach beyond the world and its limitations, and the world bends itself to reflect the shining example they set. Heroes remake the world in their exalted image, and the right kind of villain does the same.
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