Tavern Tales Rules

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j0wtqgwwhywp6ad/1.01.pdf?dl=0

TELLING TALES
The order of telling tales goes as follows: GM > Player 1 > GM > Player 2 > GM > Player 3 and goes like that continually. Players may choose their order in a round-by-round basis (once all players have had a turn and the GM has had their turn afterward) or continue the current order of actions. A turn can take up any amount of time, depending on the situation. Normally in combat or other tense situations, a turn consists of only a few seconds.

If you want to tell Neutral Tales talking in character, you can treat these Neutral Tales as taking up even less time than normal speech (Rule of Dramatics). You can say a lot more than normal in just a few seconds, because it is much more fun and dramatic that way. You still can't recite a whole novel in one turn of combat, though.

When it is your turn, you tell at least 1 Neutral Tale (preferable more), and if you make a roll based on your action, you could also tell a Good Tale. If you rolled poorly, the GM might tell a Bad Tale on their next turn, which may or may not be tied directly to your character. You only ever roll if there is some kind of Risk involved in your action. If you want to use one of your traits to make a bench to sit on while camping, more than likely you will not have to roll. Rolling is given in detail below.

What constitutes a particular kind of Tale?
Good Tales
Good Tales have a significant, positive impact on the story for one of the players. Think of Good Tales as moments in the story when the hero triumphs over adversity. The players are in charge of telling Good Tales. Here are a few examples:
• I slash the orc with my sword.
• I dive out of the way of the rolling boulder.
• I grab the rope and swing across the open chasm.
• I silently pick the lock on the massive iron door.
• I chat with the locals and gather valuable rumors.

Neutral Tales
A Neutral Tale is anything that doesn’t have a significant impact on the story. Both the GM and the players are in charge of telling Neutral Tales. Here are a few examples:
• I draw my sword.
• I move across the battlefield.
• I kick over the tavern table.
• I put on my camouflaged cloak.
• I flash a warm smile at the guard.

Neutral Tales can also be descriptive. Descriptive Tales don’t affect the story whatsoever; they simply help everyone visualize the action. Here are a few examples:
• My muscles ache from the long march.
• Blood drips down my arm.
• A dragon roars in the distance.
• The soldier wears a green tunic and a silver helmet.
• My sword shines in the light of the campfire.
Neutral Tales may not be as flashy as Good and Bad Tales, but they are very important to the game because they help set the scene. Whenever someone takes their turn, they should tell at least 1 Neutral Tale.

Bad Tales
Bad Tales have a significant, negative impact on the story for one of the players. Think of Bad Tales as moments in the story when things take a dramatic turn for the worse. The GM is in charge of telling Bad Tales. Here are a few examples:
• The dragon bites you.
• You get lost while exploring the forest.
• You step on a pressure plate, triggering a trap.
• Your request offends the locals.
• Your wound becomes infected.


ROLLING
When you do something that has a risk tied to it, such as attack a goblin, sneak by some vigilant guards unnoticed, or convince someone you're not the droid they're looking for, you roll 3d20. Normally, you take the middle result (on a roll of 1, 20, and 9 you take the 9).

However, if the task you're doing is deemed especially difficult to perform, your roll is Decreased and you take the lowest of all the rolls. (1, in this example)

If the task is deemed especially easy to perform, or you spend your bolster to perform it (a special bonus gained by traits or circumstance), your roll is Increased and you take the highest of all rolls. (20, in this example)

You add to the result of your roll the relevant Stat (listed below). If you roll an 8 or higher (8+), you get to tell a Good Tale. If you roll an 13 or lower (13-), the GM gets to tell a Bad Tale during their next turn. So, on an 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, both a Good Tale and a Bad Tale can happen.

To roll on this forum, when you click Reply to Post (not when you make a Quick Reply) simply scroll down under the Send button to the Die Roller and select the type of Die and number of them you wish to roll. It will do the rest for you.


THE STATS
Your attributes cannot be higher than 3, and no lower than -2.

Brawn
Brawn is a measure of physical fitness, might, bodily awareness, presence, athleticism, and strength.
Roll when you’re: • Brutish and strong.• Direct and forward.• Physically powerful.• Forceful.
Examples:• Pick up a boulder.• Intimidate someone.• Kick down a door.• Make a harsh demand.

Finesse
Finesse relates to agility, grace, subtlety, precision, delicacy, and speed.
Roll when you’re:• Subtle and smooth.• Agile and graceful.• Deceptive and sneaky.• Quick.
Examples:• Tell a lie.• Walk a tightrope.• Hide in the shadows.• Dash to cover.

Mind
Mind involves logic, knowledge, memory, perception, and intuition.
Roll when you’re:• Shrewd and intelligent.• Observant and wise.• Witty and clever.• Logical.
Examples:• Research in a library.• Check a room for clues.• Outsmart someone.• Solve a puzzle.

Spirit
Spirit involves willpower, force of personality, morale, and fighting spirit.
Roll when you’re:• Tough and determined.• Passionate.• Charming.• Lucky.
Examples:• Hold your breath.• Give a fiery speech.• Seduce someone.• Gamble.


CHALLENGE NUMBER
When you attempt something with some sort of challenge or Risk, it has a Challenge Number tied to it. These are basically the "hit points" of the challenge. Players also have Challenge Numbers, representing when they themselves are defeated by a challenge. When a Challenge Number reaches 0, the challenge is considered defeated. If it is a challenge against the players, they can describe the remainder of how they overcome that challenge. If it is a challenge IS a player, the GM gets to tell a Bad Tale that is particularly bad against them, not necessarily death or physical harm.

Each time you tell a Good Tale against a challenge, its challenge number goes down by at least 1 (If your action is deemed especially effective for some reason, the GM may reward additional damage). A Bad Tale told against a player always gives them at least 1 damage to their Challenge Number. When a challenge is officially considered over, Challenge Numbers reset.

The exception to Challenge Numbers resetting are Conditions. Sometimes, traits or particularly effective/horrible actions will do more to affect a person or a particular challenge. When something gains a Condition, it takes 1 damage to its Challenge Number, and that number does not go away until circumstances change enough to reasonably have the Condition no longer affect them. The GM might alter your Condition, or have certain events occur, based on the condition and how you perform around it.

(Example: If you throw a pie at the king, you might get the condition Wanted for Treason. Until you're no longer Wanted for Treason, this will prevent you from performing at your fullest. If you make up to the king or he forgets about you, the condition goes away. While you still have the condition, assassins or bounty hunters may occasionally appear to capture you, or certain NPCs might not want to talk to you because you're a traitor)


TRAITS
Traits are special quirks of your character that make them unique to others, and allow them to perform certain actions, or be generally more effective/diverse. It is recommended that a player have at least 2 traits. Monsters you encounter will not have Stats, but have only Traits and a Challenge Number tied to them, as only players roll.


MINIONS
Minions are hirelings or assistants which aid or hinder you in combat. If they are enemies and not allies, they will not have any Stats, but they can have Traits. You can gain minions through Traits, Good Tales where appropriate, or from story elements.


MAGIC ITEMS
Magic items are often ill-defined in nature, much like traits. When you acquire one, you should collaborate with your GM on what it does. With most magic items, you must find some way to identify what they do, lest they be activated blindly (potentially causing a Bad Tale).


BEGINNING STUFF
You start the game with 10 XP and 2 Treasure. You also have an item slot capacity of 5.

To purchase your Stats and Traits, you use XP. The first of anything you purchase for a category (Brawn, Mind, Exploration Trait, Interaction Trait) costs 1 XP. The second costs 2 XP, and so on. Treasure is spent much the same way, but for your items, and items have their own set of traits.

When you first purchase your Stats, you can choose to lower a Stat below 0, to a max of -2. You gain extra XP equal to the value as if you purchased it in positives (3 if -2, 1 if -1). To increase these stats later, you must spend XP equal to its negative value to raise it (2 XP to go from -2 to -1).

Treasure is spent much the same way, but it is used to buy traits for your items instead, which have their own list of traits. If something isn't worth about a bag of gold (and doesn't have a trait) it costs you 0 Treasure to purchase. Normally, an amount of items that can be held in one hand, or otherwise constitutes a handful, counts as 1 Item Slot. Normal clothing does not take up a slot, but clothing with a trait might. Every player can have ordinary backpacks or pouches etc, which themselves do not take up an item slot.

Hey Alex, what does a normal turn consist of? Also are you allowed to use traits every turn?

A normal turn consists of whatever you think you could do in 5 or so seconds. But as stated, you can bend that a little bit, especially if you're just talking. Don't have to speed blurt out dialogue. Think of every anime ever. They say a ton of stuff in just 3 seconds. The entire 3 episode battle against Freiza was supposed to be like 3 minutes in.universe time, but they had so much dialogue.