Stunts?

[Adminenkainen]

Hey all who still wander by,

I'm still struggling with stunts. Of late, I'm growing increasingly unhappy with the idea of stunts as a power- or spell-like mechanic, particularly as I move away from the idea of stunts being class-specific and making them available to everyone. In that regard, stunts become more like the class-less, non-improving skills H&H has always had, like finding secret doors and hearing noises.

So, what I'm considering switching to is giving everyone a 1 or 2 in 6 chance of performing a stunt, while giving Mysterymen higher chances of performing certain stunts, and then giving everyone a chance of an automatic success at one or more stunts per day, at higher levels.

The downside of this, that I'm still considering, is how to handle any stunts I already came up with that can't be reduced to a 1 in 6 chance, or raised to a 1 in 6 chance (like disarming shot)...

[order99]

Hmmm....I forsee two possible paths in my Black Shewstone of polished obsidian...

Method One, the Quick D6-every Hero has a 1 in 6 chance to do anything that a normal person would find really, really hard (spotting well-crafted Secret Doors, snapping stout rope or escaping tight chains, understanding that Assyrian Scroll, Moving in total silence etc). Let's just invert the numbers and say 6+ on a D6. At the Editor's discretion a Hero's Abilities might make a difference-Burly Bob with a 15 STR might get a +1 to that 'Burst his Bonds' check, while Benny the Weasel gets no roll at all due to his 5 STR (-1), and uses his 14 Dex to try to pick the lock on his cuffs instead (5+)...

A Human usually gets two Knacks (Hide in Shadows and Keen Senses in the Basic Game, but if a Player asked the Editor nicely for something like Escape Artist or Track Prey instead, why not?) Any roll covered by a Knack gets a 5+ rather than a 6+ (1-2 rather than 1 in Old Method) also modified by Ability Modifiers where appropriate.

Now those Advanced Classes like Mystery Man, Aviator, Cowboy etc? They have Knacks as Class Skills starting at 5+, and getting better as the Hero Levels Up. Using the Holmes D&D Thief Hear Noise Table as inspiration, add +1 to all Knacks at Level 3, again at 6 and again at 9, with no roll ever being greater than 2+ (1-5 on D6). Alternately let the Hero get a +1 to ONE Knack covered by a Class-this lets a team of Mysterymen have different specialties, allows a team of Cowboys to have a Master Tracker, a Horse Whisperer etc.

An Advanced Class controlled by Knacks might look like this:

Aviator Abilities(Knacks)-Dead Reckoning/Navigation, Repair Plane, Insane Aerobatics, Pinpoint Bombing/Delivery, Wingwalking, Boost Performance.
Mystery Man-Signature Move, Wanted by The Law and(Knacks)Climb Building, Keen Senses, Hide in Shadows,Tracking.
Cowboy-(Knacks) Tame and Ride Mount, Trick Shootin, Trick Ridin', Track/Foil Tracks...Abilities such as Raise Posse or Turn Vamp could now be either considered Knacks or just good CHA and roleplaying...

As for Combat Stunts such as tripping and Disarming or Blinding an opponent-whenever a Hero rolls Maximum Damage on a roll, that Hero may elect to reduce damage to the bare minimum of 1, and add an Effect such as Prone Opponent, Dazed Opponent, Disarm Weapon, Cut Rope, Snuff Fuse etc. In the Basic game every Hero (and some Mobsters as per Editor fiat) has a 1 in 6 chance to use a Combat Stunt, and in the Advanced Game with variable Weapon damages, the Shotgun may savage an opponent but the Throwing Knife, Whip and Naked Fist are more likely to pin an arm, trip an opponent or send a body over a cliff...


Method Two, One Save to Rule Them All-Heroes use Saves to try anything, modified by Ability and Class Modifiers. Anyone can try anything the Editor allows, just as in Book I Page 28. The Abilities used by Humans such as Hide in Shadows and Keen Senses add a +2 to Saves for those conditions, whereas the Class abilities of Mystery Men and Cowboys might add a +3. Note that Saves improve with Level automatically (and stack with Ability, Class and Knack modifiers) meaning a significant increase in Skill competence with Level equal to Combat prowess or sorcerous might...

Combat Stunts under Method Two are already covered in Trophy Case Volume 1 Number 5, under 'Special Effects in Unarmed Combat' (page 4). This could easily extrapolated into Armed and Ranged Combat Effects as well-Aviators could 'Hit Gas Tank' on 4 over AC, a Cowboy could Disarm with his 6-shooter just like an Unarmed strike, etc.

As always, feel free to use anything from me that inspires you and to laugh uproariously at the rest...