The player in the simple contest states, "I want to shoot him before he get around the corner." The Narrator says, "He wants to escape unhurt." Simple enough. In a more traditional game you would roll an attack, maybe a dodge, perhaps a location if hit then damage. A bunch of die rolls that you use to describe the action, right? In HQ you roll the NPCs "Rabbit Run" and the PC rolls "Not On My Watch" and the PC gets a Marginal Victory. Okay, a couple of dice rolls before you describe the action. I feel the difference is that "Rabbit Run" is descriptive, as is "Not On My Watch". So, "the guy starts jumping and hopping down the hallway. You take aim and squize off a shot as you mutter 'not today', and hit him in the buttocks. He jumps and squeeze, 'you shot me!' as he tries to limp around the corner."
In either system you are still just rolling a couple of dice without "doing anything".
In an extended contest the PC has "Not On My Watch", "Brawler", "Fast on his Feet" and "Quick Witted", the NPC (for sake of color only) has "Takes a Punch", "Catch Me If You Can" and the "Thug" Keyword. In the first round the Thug is "going to sneak up and knock him in the head," while the PC is "using my Quick Wits to recover from the attack at the last minute." Roll is made and the PC has a marginal defeat (taking some negatives to future actions in this encounter). "You dodge at the last minuted, but not far enough... he hits you up-side-yo-head."
PC is "Going to give him a fight; I am a Brawler!" "He can take a Punch." Rolls. Minor Success. "But a kick? Not so much I guess."
"Not going to get me On My Watch!" says the PC. Realizing he has overestimated the situation the Thug says, "Catch Me If You Can!" and runs. The PC has a Minor Defeat, and the Narrator ends the contest with, "As you go after him he pours on the steam and with your bell still ringing form the hit he outdistances you in no time. Wonder why he attacked you?
A buck of rolls, but the abilities kind of told the story. And if they don't they certainly help the creative processes.
My only word of warning is: Don't let the apparent difference in the system from more traditional systems confuse you: in the end they are all rolling a bunch of dice without "doing anything" if that is how you play it.
I hope this helps and that you enjoy what every game you choose to play, and hope you will give this a try. I think (as an unassociated guy with all of this) this system has great potential for storytelling a game, but it is lacking "crunchy bits" and is defiantly not for everyone. I have one Power-Gamer in my group and I think this is going to be a deal-breaker for him. So...
Bo
On 12/14/2011 7:18 AM, Howard wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for the replies. I've been searching online for examples of
> play, AARs and reviews - that sort of thing. It remains to be seen if
> this will work... combat is always tends to be the most exciting part
> of the game and if it is just down to a bunch of die rolls without
> "doing anything" that seems like a let down.
>
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