The first rule ofImage: No rule should ever be enforced, no cards ever drawn unless it's interesting. Ifyou ever find yourselfdrawing cards that slow the story or frustrate players you're doing it wrong... So take what you will, and start telling stories.
•Every character has an image.
An image is a short description of the essence of a character. It can be a profession, class, or calling. •Each card suit represents a type ofaction.
Each suit represents a way of solving problems: ♣ Clubs ♥ Hearts ♠ Spades ♦ Diamonds
-
Force Conviction Finesse Insight
•Every character has strong suit and a weak suit.
Characters pick suits to represent their strongest and weakest attributes. •Cards can be drawn to determine outcomes.
Actions or events can be resolved by drawing cards. In order to succeed, the card(s) drawn must be equal to or greater than the difficulty set by the storyteller: 7 - Low King - Very High 9 - Moderate Double 7's - Extreme Jack - High Triple 6's - Hellish Cards run from 2 - Ace. If multiple cards are drawn, the highest card or combination is taken. Jokers count as 2 bonus cards. •Strong suits count as any suit but your weak suit. •Any suit but your weak suit counts as your strength. •Bonus cards are drawn for advantages.
Among other advantages, characters draw one extra card for things generally in their image, and two extra cards for things that are the purpose of their image. ·There are other advantages besides a character's image. It's great to try to use the story to gain extra cards. ·Concentration cards can be used as temporary wound cards for actions that require concentration.
•Characters can use wildcards for any other card.
Characters usually start with 2 wildcards and are awarded more for excellent role-playing. Wildcards are used in place of any other card, or to alter the story. •Wounds are cards that represent damage.
A damaged character takes a wound card. Characters cannot use any card equal to the number on a wound card. Characters may not use any card lower than any double wound (two wounds of the same number). A character with a triple wound is out of action. •Combat can be handled simply, or play by play.
Drawing a card to resolve combat is fast and easy, but combat can also be broken into rounds. Each round: 1. The storyteller sets the scene.
This includes describing the intent ofnon-player characters.
2. Any characters with no position draw position.
Position is a card(s) showing the current defensibility ofa character. Actions against the character use this as difficulty.
3. Each character gets one turn every round. 4. Turns go from highest position to lowest. Characters may also choose to hold their turn.
5. Characters may use their turn at any point to defend themselves ifthey are attacked.
This uses their draw rather than their position for defense.
6. Finally characters redraw position ifit was used. • Characters can split actions on a single turn.
If you draw multiple cards for an action, you can set aside one or more of these for a separate action on the same turn. You can never set aside more cards than you'd normally be able to draw for the other action.
·Armor or other defensive items and abilities protect characters from wounds. Odd wounds, even wounds, wounds of a certain suit, wounds below/above a number, etc. For standard armor, try wounds below 7.
·Let characters combine their cards when they work together. ·Characters can receive story specific bonuses or items to reward their experience. Changes or additions to image can also be a good option.
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Copyright Š 2013 Jester Silhouette This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This work is for playtesting. In order to keep feedback consistent, we ask that it not be modified. The final manual will be released under a different license allowing modification for non-commercial use. Also, though we don't object to free distribution ofthis work, we do appreciate any feedback from those who use this system, as it helps us improve the final product, which is... kind ofthe point. Please send such feedback to gusjohnson1013@gmail.com
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IMAGE is some sort of game we designed... We think you'll like it?
“Any fool can tell a story. Take a few odds and ends ofthings that happen to you, dress them up, shuffle them about, add a dash ofexcitement, a little color, and there you have it.� -Lloyd Alexander (The Arkadians)
IMAGE is a storytelling game. The whole point is to help you and your friends tell stories together. One of you becomes a storyteller, and everyone else becomes characters in the world. Playing cards are used to drive the story, drawing on them for inspiration. A deck of cards is expressive in ways dice can't be. This manual gives rules for how cards can be interpreted, but even these rules are subject to the story. Image was created with the idea that if a rule isn't interesting, doesn't further the story through simple conflict resolution or inspiration, it should be ignored. The rules were designed to be as full of inspiration as possible, while being easy to pick up, and easier still to set aside. So take what you will, And start telling stories.
“No, no! The adventures first... explanations take such a dreadful time.” - Lewis Carroll (Alices Adventures In Wonderland)
THERE are only a few rules you need to understand to use the Image system to tell stories; Whether you're looking for a light, powerful system that leaves all of the bells and whistles of the story to your imagination, or are excited to go on to draw inspiration from every page of this book, it all starts here. On the following page you'll find an overview of all of the rules you'll need. Though we offer commentary, recommendations, and further rules that can be used for specific situations, this is the heart of it all — the idea that good stories are built on good characters, and that good characters are built around their image.
Dont want to read the whole chapter? That's fine. That's what overviews are for... Every character has an image.
Everyone playing a character in the story chooses an image for that role. This is a short description of who that character is; It can be a description, profession, passion, class, or calling. The more specific an image is, the stonger the bonuses that character gets. Every character has a strong suit.
Each card suit represents a different way to solve problems. Every character has a principle way of approaching conflict. Every character has a weak suit.
Likewise, each character finds one of the suits to be more difficult than the others, a less intuitive way of dealing with issues. Cards are drawn to help tell the story.
Some actions have a difficulty expressed by the cards that must be drawn for them to occur. The difficulty can be general, requiring no suit, but usually will have a required suit, chosen by the storyteller, based on what sort of action it is. Cards run from two through ace high. If multiple cards are drawn, the highest card or combination is taken. Jokers count as two redraws. Characters can trade suits based on their strengths.
A character may always consider any suit as his strong suit, except for his weakness, and visa versa. This means that if a character needs to draw his strong suit, but draws a card of a different suit, it still counts unless it's his weakness. If a character draws his strong suit, but needed to draw something else, it still counts unless he needed his weakness. A character can still accomplish tasks requiring his weakness, but must draw that specific suit. Bonus cards are drawn for advantages.
If a character has any advantage when performing an action, she draws an extra card. Most advantages relate to the character's image. If an action is generally something that character would do well, she draws an extra card. If an action is specifically the focus of her image, she draws two extra cards.
"Each suit represents a way of solving problems"
♣ - Force ♥ - Conviction ♠ - Finesse ♦ - Insight
A card is given to represent the difficulty ofan action, or the improbability ofan event.
Card Difficulty 7 - Low 9 - Moderate Jack - High King - Very High Double 7's - Extreme Triple 6's - Hellish
The rules on trading suits make it so that there is always a certain chance ofdrawing the right suit.
Suit Chance Strong - 75% Secondary - 50% Weak - 25%
WHAT is the image of your character? This is the question that should define characters in this game. In Image creating characters isn't a matter of juggling numbers, in fact there are no numbers to worry about at all. Instead it's all about carefully considering the type of character you want to play. Choosing an image starts with creating a character concept. Keep in mind that this should be a discussion
with the storyteller. Obviously not all characters are going to be appropriate for every story, so the first step is asking what type of story is being told. Genre's a good place to start. Fantasy? Western? Sci fi? How realistic is it? What's the world like? What time period? Is there magic and if so what's it like? By now you should start to have an idea of some of your options. Discuss these with the storyteller and you'll start to narrow in on a character. Don't worry about focusing too much on the specific image in the beginning. The whole point is to get
an idea of who your character is. Talking about backstory, relationships, or motivations can sometimes be the best way to decide what image you want.
“When the characters are really alive before their author, the latter does nothing but follow them in their action, in their words, in the situations which they suggest to him.� -Luigi Pirandello
(Six Characters in Search ofan Author)
Now try some different images. Once you get a basic idea of what character you want to play, try to describe her, if you haven't already. Don't worry about being too specific at first. Your image may change several times while creating your character. You may find that when you choose your character's strong suit, you come up with an even better idea or more accuracte description. Say you want a character who's an musician. What type of musician? A pianist? A singer? Ensemble? Soloist? A teacher? These are the sorts of questions you and your storyteller should ask. How specific or broad an image you choose is up to you.
Keep in mind that images depend on the story; Even how specific they are depends on the setting. In a story about gladiators, a "Roman melee weapons expert" is a very broad image, but in a modern mystery setting, that character could be a very interesting .
The more interesting your image is, the better. Because of this, adding to your image is encouraged. There are many ways to add to your image to make it more interesting.
“I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.� -Steven King
You may want to play just a general athlete, or fighter, or scholar, or thief, etc. There's nothing that says you can't, but keep in mind that the more specific an image is, the better it is for the story and the more advantages it will grant your character. Advantages will be discussed in greater detail later in the chapter, but for now understand that while an athlete might get small bonuses for any act of physical strength, a runner would get most of the same advantages plus large bonuses for running. A collegiate runner would get that plus further advantages for anything associated with his college. There's built in incentive to pick images specific to the type of character you really want to play. Compound images are generally encouraged.
(On Writing)
A crooked police officer, elven woodsman, magician of flame, or psychic detective are all more interesting than their simpler counterparts. These compound images are formed by adding descriptions, affiliations, or even other images to an image idea. Anything added to an image that has both positive and negative aspects (like crooked or elven) should pretty much always be permitted if it makes sense in the story. Other options should be considered, but need to be discussed with the storyteller. By now you should have some image in mind, but it may still grow or change because there's one more thing that defines characters:
Can combining images make characters too powerful? In some cases, absolutely. A gunslinging firebreather assassin is probably not an appropriate image for most stories (though there are some where it makes perfect sense). Therein lies the storyteller's role in knowing which characters fit in the story being told. Creating characters should always be a conversation.
EACH of the card suits represents a different way of approaching the world: Clubs represent Force Hearts represent Conviction Spades represent Finesse Diamonds represent Insight Each character has one of these four that is her strong suit. At first glance, these may seem to follow directly from whichever image you're considering. But don't make the mistake of assuming that all warriors use force, all rogues finesse, all sages insight, and all priests conviction. That would miss the entire point. These suits were chosen very carefully to be as universally applicable as possible. What does that mean? Well, let's consider the warrior. A warrior could primarily use force, yes. Such a warrior would be straightforward and decisive. But a warrior might also use finesse, deftly reacting to his opponent with precision and speed. A warrior of conviction would ignore the wounds he received and wouldn't back down when he saw an opening, while an insightful warrior would try to read his opponent, waiting to attack until he saw a weakness to be exploited.
A warrior would probably not make a good image though, because it's far too general...
Even that example may still be a rather narrow illustration of suits. Say that you were telling a story about courtly intrigue and social politics. A forceful orator wouldn't need to be someone who physically intimidated others (though that could work). Instead, a forceful orator might be someone who confidently asserted her position, someone who cut off others when they had no business continuing and pushed the crowd to see things as she did. In contrast, a diplomat might carefully navigate the arguments made, using finesse to avoid offending and to deftly manipulate the audience. Then, an honest expression of conviction might rouse the listeners - a speech from the heart. All the while another character would listen carefully, smartly identifying the flaws in others' arguments, always ready to offer some insight or clever view on the subject. Or take wizards. A mage who used force might be fond of fireballs and explosions while another who preferred finesse would manipulate the world around him. Conviction could be used to control people's minds or to hold onto spells far longer than the others, while insight could come from divination. The strength of suits doesn't come from our ability to define them for you, but from your ability to apply them in ways never before considered. The interplay between suits and image can be really rewarding. You may have settled on an image only to find that the suit you choose gives you an even better idea. You want to play a doctor who uses finesse? Would you rather play a surgeon? You want to play a thief who uses force? Would you rather play a thug? Image affects suits and suits affect image.
You can then pick a new suit, or even go back and forth several times. Maybe you wanted to play a swordsman who uses insight. This inspires you to play a samurai, maybe one who uses conviction, fighting duels all the time. But a samurai duelist could primarily use any suit. All this helps you create a character.
Would a forceful mage be physically strong? Since the suits are applied across the board is a forceful warrior no stronger than a forceful mage? The answer is yes and no. A mage who uses force would be slightly better at all actions that require the use offorce, whether they were in his image or not. But more important than the suit are the advantages gained for acting in your image. So a forceful warrior would outperform a forceful mage every time when it came to physical tasks. Ifyou really want a character to be disadvantaged in some use ofhis suit but not others, that should be a part ofhis image. A "decrepit old sorcerer" would get disadvantages for being decrepit and old, where appropriate. And isn't that a more interesting character anyways?
EVERY character also has a weakness. A way of solving problems that is less intuitive for them. What's most difficult for your character? Is she clumsy or irresolute? Is he oblivious or frail? Once you have your strengths and weaknesses, and your image, you're ready to start.
STORYTELLING really is an art, and there have been hundreds of books written on the subject. There's no way this manual could cover storytelling as a subject. What Image does offer are ways to use cards to help inform the story. Anytime you want inspiration you can draw a card.
You can draw cards for numbers or suits. How many magic beans did you get? How many bullets does the gunman have left? What kind of treasure do you find? What sort of knight do you meet in the clearing? You can also draw cards to see whether or not something happens. Maybe a character wants to try something
risky. Maybe the group wants to let the cards decide if an event takes place. Here, the storyteller needs to give a difficulty to the action. How unlikely is an event to occur? Though each case is unique, generally: 7 - Low difficulty (likely) 9 - Moderate difficulty (uncertain) Jack - High difficulty (unlikely) King - Very high difficulty (very unlikely) Double 7's - Extreme difficulty (extremely unlikely) Triple 6's - Hellish difficulty (it would take a miracle) For an action to succeed, cards must be drawn equal to or higher than the difficulty. Cards run from two through Ace, with ace high. If you ever draw multiple cards, muliples count as well. Any double is higher than any single, and any triple is higher than any double, etc. A joker itself counts for nothing, but drawing a joker lets you draw two extra cards. Because of this, any character is theoretically able to do anything, if she's lucky enough.
Remember the first rule of Image: No rule should ever be enforced, no cards ever drawn unless it's interesting. Ifyou ever find yourselfdrawing cards that slow the story or frustrate players you're doing it wrong.
Characters face the same difficulty for the same action, regardless of their image. Actions in a character's image are easier because he draws more cards, not because the difficulty changes. This will be discussed more later. Difficulties are objective.
The storyteller can assign suits to difficulties.
When an action is of a specific type, the card might not just need to be equal to or higher than the difficulty, but also need to be of the correct suit. Assigning suits isn't always appropriate (random actions don't need suits), but it can be a great way to give characters a chance to use their strengths. Some actions have clear suits. Lifting a car off of someone takes force, and noticing the suspicious figure in the theater would be an insight. But as was discussed before, it's dangerous to think that one suit is always appropriate for an action. Picking a lock can be done with finesse, carefully manipulating the pins, but a lock can also be picked or bypassed using insight; Maybe a character has studied the lock and knows the secret to easily picking it, or sees a way to disable it. Some locks can also be forced, either at the latch, or by breaking the mechanism itself.
Ifa disagreement comes up about which suit is right, don't let it slow down the story. Let the storyteller
decide or draw a card. Accuracy can be important, and this system allows for a great degree of accuracy if it's interesting, but more important is getting players to think about how their characters would solve problems: getting characters to work through and around their strengths and weaknesses.
An action that's random doesn't need a suit, but that doesn't mean it can't take one. Characters spinning a roulette wheel might need to draw red or black cards, for example.
WE'VE discussed how characters are rewarded for using their strengths. This happens because characters can count any suit as their strong suit, except for their weakness, and visa versa. This means three things: • • •
Ifa character needs his strong suit, everything counts but his weak suit. If a character draws his strong suit, it counts for everything but his weak suit. If a character needs his weak suit, he must draw that suit specifically.
Because of this, even before bonuses from a character's image are considered, characters are more likely to succeed if they do things they're good at, and less likely to succeed when they need to use their weaknesses. Trading suits can be incorporated in the story as well.
Cards can help describe not just what happens, but how it happens. Trying to block something with force, and substituting finesse can represent getting out of the way or parrying, for example. Don't ever feel you have to come up with a clever interpretation though, since that often just ends up feeling contrived.
HANDLING advantages or disadvantages in Image is usually straightforward. If your character has a greater chance of success, for whatever reason, you draw more cards. If your character is disadvantaged for any reason, you draw fewer cards. If an action is interesting, characters should probably be allowed to draw at least one card. The most important advantages relate to a character's image. Advantages are given to characters when they act
in their image. A single bonus card should be given for any general advantage a character would have for her training or background, and so if an action is something a character would be better at than an average person she would draw two cards. The best images are specific though. These characters have a clear focus or specialty at which they excel. Whenever an action is the focus of a character's image, that character should draw two bonus cards for that action. The cut-purse picking pockets, the woodcutter felling trees, or the get-away driver speeding through traffic would all draw three cards. An image which is not specific can't get the two card image bonus. This motivates characters to pick specific images and to role play, which is really the point. There is a question of balancing large and small image bonuses. A good rule of thumb is that characters should usually draw two cards for most actions, and drawing either one card or three cards should be slightly less common. But this ultimately comes down to a question of prioritizing the story, and trust in the storyteller. In some circumstances, characters might draw three cards for every action involved, and in other circumstances, a character may not be able to relate his image at all.
Perfect balance is something that a lot of systems chase, but is ultimately illusory. A non-combat character in a story that focuses on combat will not be as good as the other combatants. The balance between characters is only really as meaningful as the balance between the types of situations they face.
In some cases you will want a character to be disadvantaged beyond one card. You can accomplish this by having the character draw more cards and taking the lowest (rather than highest) card. This should be rare though since it slows gameplay and frustrates players.
"Power gaming" is the term used in many other role playing games for characters trying to manipulate the rules to their advantage. Rather than fighting this, Image counts on it. Ideally, characters would get bonuses to almost all draws. The only requirement is playing your character.
The balance between characters is only really as meaningful as the balance between the types of situations they face. But what if they only face one type of situation? Well... We don't encourage this. Even in combat focused games, variety comes from location or different enemies. Ifyou'd like though, balance can be achieved by assigning characters 3 cards, 2 cards, and 1 card for offensive, defensive, or maneuvering actions based on their image. This will be addressed more later in the section on combat.
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“Don’t loafand invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and ifyou don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it.” - Jack London (Getting Into Print)
THE RULES in the previous chapter are enough to tell any story you want. But most people prefer more structure, more inspiration. In general, the rules in this chapter will only add to the story. They add more luck, more game elements, and more ways for characters to directly engage. On the following page, you'll find an overview of these rules: giving characters wildcards to spend however they want, rules for damage of all sorts, and rules for dynamic combat.
Characters use wildcards to change the story.
Characters have hands of cards that can be played with, or in place of any other card. These cards can also be used to change the story. Generally, characters start with two wildcards, but are awarded more for excellent role-playing. Players may not discuss which wildcards they have. Doing so results in discarding the wildcard. Wounds are cards that represent damage.
Wound cards are given when a character takes damage of any sort: physical, mental, social, etc. The higher chance a character has of being seriously injured, the more cards are drawn for that wound. Damage handicaps a character.
Characters with wounds are less effective. You cannot play any card equal to a single wound your character has. You cannot play any card lower than a pair of wounds. Three wounds of the same number take your character out of action. Combat can be handled simply, or play by play.
When interesting, combat can also be broken into rounds. Each round: 1. The storyteller sets the scene.
Including the intent of non-player characters.
2. Any characters with no position draw position.
Position is a card(s) showing the current defensibility of a character. Actions against the character use this as the difficulty. 3. Each character gets one turn every round. 4. Turns go from highest position to lowest.
Characters may also choose to hold their turn.
5. Characters may use their turn at any point to defend themselves ifthey are attacked.
This uses their draw instead of position for defense.
6. Finally characters redraw position ifit was used. Characters can perform complex actions on their turn.
If you draw multiple cards for an action, you can set aside one or more of these cards for a separate action on the same turn. You can never set aside more cards than you'd normally be able to draw for the other action.
Suits are applied to defense, including position. Ifyou can:
♣ - Block or stop, ♥ - Resist or disregard, ♠ - Dodge or deflect, ♦ - Take cover from or invalidate ...an attack without taking damage, you can use that suit in defense.
GIVING players more control over the story can be very rewarding. Wildcards are a good way to do that. These cards are drawn at the beginning of each story (or session), and can be played at any time, for anything. Characters can save the cards for extraodinary feats, or use the cards to get out of tight scrapes. They can even use the cards to inform the story. Characters should be given a small number of wildcards.
The exact number of cards given to the players each session should depend on the number of players there are, and how powerful the storyteller wants them to be. A good place to start is two cards per player. Giving the players too many wildcards can devalue them. The storyteller can award extra wildcards for excellent role-playing. Sometimes there are moments when
players act so well that everyone involved is impressed. This can be because of a commitment to acting; Players who get into character and deliver powerful dialogue from that perspective can make the experience all the more immersive. This can also be because of choices characters make. Sometimes the decisions that a character would make are different than the decisions a player would prefer. Having that extra drink may not be wise for the fight coming up, for example, but your character does like alcohol. Wildcards can reward players staying true to character even when it takes effort.
“Be sure not to discuss your hero's state ofmind. Make it clear from his actions.� -Anton Chekhov (Letter to Alexandre Chekhov)
When characters use their wildcards in place of another card, this can happen before or after the other card is drawn. They can also add wildcards to their draw to form doubles or triples. Characters could even play wildcards on other characters' draws, to help out their teammates when necessary. Wildcards have very few limits.
As with suit exchange, wildcards can help tell the story.
When a character spends a wildcard to help a teammate avoid taking damage, this can be the character pushing her teammate out of the way, or even just yelling "Watch out!" Usually this will fall out of the mechanics themselves. Using a wildcard to form a double will describe a heroic action, because doubles describe heroic actions. As with any rule, don't force an explanation if there's not one there. Wildcards can be used to add actions that weren't there before, or to change the difficulty of actions. Think of
using wildcards this way as a more powerful version of normal actions. Instead of using diamonds to have your character notice something, you can add something to notice that wasn't there before: torches in an unlit room, or money that you find on the street. Instead of using clubs to force something, you can change what it is that you're forcing: the cage bar is loose, or the door has hinges that can come off. Instead of using hearts for your character to convince people of things, you can alter the person himself: he has a daughter that looks like you, or a secret hate of a mutual enemy. Instead of using spades for your character to manipulate things, you manipulate the world itself: a wagon wheel falls off, or someone trips at an ideal moment. This allows characters to accomplish incredible things and still have it make sense in the story. Of course any such change of the story needs to be approved by the storyteller, but the storyteller should be open to ideas. When players know what cards are in their teammates hands, they can play differently in ways that don't make sense in the story. Any wildcard that is shown or discussed should be immediately discarded. Players are not allowed to discuss their wildcards.
For general guidelines on how to use wildcards to change the story:
♣ - Alter something physical, ♥ - Alter a character, ♠ - Manipulate the world, ♦ - Add to the world.
Is it more powerful to use wildcards to alter the story than to spend them on actions? Possibly. But that's why the storyteller should be very careful in vetting ideas. The changes to the story should not be large, even though the effects ofthe change can be. Wildcards should not strain verisimilitude. You should never be able to play a wildcard to randomly cause a rockslide, for example. But you could absolutely spend a wildcard to set a rockslide up, waiting for the slightest upset to bring it all down...
CHARACTERS taking damage is not only a staple of most role playing games, it's a major element in many wonderful stories. Damage in Image is represented by cards kept in front of a player. Anytime a character would take damage, he draws a random wound. Physical damage is obvious. Cuts and contusions are the inevtitable result of dangerous actions, but wounds can be so much more. Social wounds can come from embarassment. Mental wounds come from fear. The effects of the elements, fatigue, shock, and even selfdoubt can all be represented by wounds. Any time a character is harmed or distressed in such a way as to handicap him, he takes a wound. Wound cards can represent any type of damage.
Characters cannot use any card equal to a wound.
Wounds make a character less effective. The number on a single wound doesn't come up often, but it can be incredibly frustrating when it does. The higher a wound is, the more it handicaps a character, and the more single wounds you have, the more they come up. Characters cannot use any card lower than a pair of wounds. Characters who start to take a lot of wounds
have a high chance of receiving two wounds of the same number, which can be debilitating. Only the highest draws count, and the character is often left defenseless. Some storytellers will take characters with high double wounds (kings or aces) out of action. Three wounds of the same number renders the character incapacitated. It depends on the story whether this means that the character dies, is dying, is unconscious, or simply falls out of combat. A triple wound takes the character out of action.
Generally speaking, it doesn't matter how many decks you use to play image. However triple wounds are significantly more difficulty to draw from a single deck. Because ofthis, storytellers should consider taking characters out ofaction when they take high double wounds.
Characters can choose to give their successful attack as a wound. When characters take wounds, they should
usually draw for their wound card(s). When characters wound others though, they have the option of giving whatever they drew as a successful attack as the wound itself. This gives characters some degree of control, and rewards high attacks with high damage. Whether or not this applies when players are fighting other players should be a group decision. It makes combat faster, but more deadly. Each wound has a suit (often) unrelated to the attack that dealt it. This can be used to the storyteller's advantage. An insight wound in a brawl might be dirt thrown in the eyes of an opponent. Likewise, a warrior who drew conviction for a wound from a skeleton king may be more terrified than injured, and if it's a double wound it might stay with him even after combat. Nightmares. As with any rule of interpretation, don't force it if it's not there. Wounds can also inform the story.
Wounds heal at different rates based on the story.
Obviously the realism of the story will affect how wounds heal. For most settings, healing all single wounds with rest is appropriate. Double wounds then would require special attention. For a more deadly campaign, only allow one single wound to heal per day spent resting. On the flip side, less serious stories can have characters heal completely after every battle.
“And lastly there is the oldest and deepest desire, the Great Escape: the Escape from Death.� -J.R.R Tolkein (On Fairy-Stories)
COMBAT or confrontation of some sort or another is a major part of almost any story. Because of this, it's not satisfactory to say that it can be resolved by drawing a few cards, though this answer may be appropriate in certain circumstances. In cases where the story itself would not linger on combat, neither should you. The storyteller can always assign a difficulty to an encounter and have the group draw to see if they prevail. But often that's too simple. Rounds allow for a detailed description of the action. Each round gives every character a chance to act, and the strength of the characters' positions determines the order. Interesting combat can be broken into rounds.
This means giving a description of the surroundings. This information might help characters use it to their advantage. The storyteller must also declare what nonplayer characters intend to do this turn. This allows faster characters to interrupt them if they choose. Each round, the storyteller begins by setting the scene.
Then any character without a position, draws one.
Character's positions are represented by a card(s). This is some combination of their location, their awareness, their footing or stance, or any other factor that could contribute to the strength of their position. Drawing for position is just like any other action. Because of their image, some characters will draw more cards and take the highest. Position is kept in front of the character (above her wounds if she has any) for the duration of combat, though position may change several times. If a character does not use her turn to defend herself, her position is used as the defense. A character only gets one draw per round, though this can be used for any action (including complex actions discussed later). Characters' turns go in order from highest position to lowest position. Those characters in the best position get to act first. This includes non-player characters as well. A character can hold his action if he would like, saving it for later in the round. Each character gets one turn every round.
“Our battle is more full of names than yours, Our men more perfect in the use ofarms, Our armour all as strong, our cause the best; Then reason will our hearts should be as good.� -William Shakespeare (Henry IVpartII)
Characters may use their turn to defend themselves at any point. Even if it's out of order, characters should always
be able to try to defend themselves, though they can always use their position as their defense if they prefer. Regardless, different suits permit different types of defense. Clubs represent blocking or stopping, Hearts represent resisting or disregarding, Spades represent dodging or deflecting, Diamonds represent taking cover from or invalidating. If you are able to react to an attack in that way without taking damage then you can use that suit as your defense. Otherwise it does not count. As in the case of any action, you can trade suits based on your strengths and weaknesses. Characters may also try to manipulate the suits, but that's desirable. Though you may not generally be able to take cover from a sword, rolling under a table would definitely count, and would allow that character to use diamonds, for example. Defending yourself is the only action that can be taken out of turn. Other common types of actions will probably fall into a few categories: Defending others. You can use your action to help defend other characters. If both of you defend, you combine your draw and take the highest draw. Attacking. You draw attacks against the position of your opponent, unless they defend, in which case you draw against each other. Maneuvering. If you have a low position, you can spend a turn to redraw. This maneuvering can help you go sooner next round, or defend better against multiple opponents this round (you only have one turn to use as defense). Your new draw can be combined with your old position if doing so results in a double or triple.
Preparing. You can use your action to ready a separate action for the next round. This can be your character circling, looking for an opening, or lining up sights. Preparing for an action grants one bonus card for the action. Miscellaneous actions. There is of course not way to describe every action a character could think of. Using items, activating devices, and otherwise interacting with the world are all options for your turn. At the end of each round, characters who used their position redraw position for next round. Only used
positions are redrawn, so a character who used his turn to defend successfully gets to (or has to) keep his position. Unsuccessful defenses still use a character's position. Because positions change, combat is kept dynamic. Rounds continue until combat is resolved.
Because only used positions are redrawn, it may sometimes be worth defending just to hold onto a good position. This also means that a bad position might not be worth defending, even ifit means a wound.
Characters may perform complex actions on a single turn.
If a character can draw more than one card for an action, she can split those cards with another action. A character who draws three cards for attack, may set aside one of those cards for defense. This would mean that she is attacking while simultaneously defending with her offhand weapon, or something similar. Any actions can be combined if it makes sense, but you can never set aside more cards than you would normally be able to draw for an action. A character who normally would draw one card to defend, could not set aside two cards for defense even if two cards were available, for example.
“Ifyour enemy offers you two targets, strike at a third.� -Robert Jordan (Crossroads ofTwilight)
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“Don’t loafand invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and ifyou don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it.” - Jack London (Getting Into Print)
NO MORE rules. On the following page, you'll find an overview of these rules: giving characters wildcards to spend however they want, rules for damage of all sorts, and rules for dynamic combat.