Bonuses and Penalties
Not everything is cut and dried. Sometimes circumstance, weapons, and skill will work for or against you, changing your chances of success. Certain things, like items and traits, will give you bonuses and penalties in the form of extra draws.
- Bonus Draws
- If you draw a Black Suit, you may use any Bonus Draws you have to draw again and discard the current result.
- Penalty Draws
- If you draw a Red Suit, you have to draw again and discard the current result so long as you have any outstanding Penalty Draws.
- Note: Penalties and Bonuses are drawn one at a time and are used as needed by both the player and Judge. For example:
- Example: Barrett attempts to sneak into the old church. He draws: It's black. Fortunately he used to be a Thief (Profession) and redraws: it's Red. Unfortunately, the place is Creaky (Penalty Draw) and all the doors are rusted stuck; opening them will make a bit of noise. He discards and draws again: It's Black.. That's ok though, because Barret is Agile (Talent) and draws again: Red! Like a silent shadow, Barett sneaks into the old church without alerting anyone.
Applying Circumstantial Penalties
- To keep your game challenging and realistic, you will need to apply penalties to situations. If a character is impeded, apply a penalty for each additional layer of complication and challenge to a situation.
For example,
Fletch is on a windswept cliff. She has to climb up from a cave and a rival expedition has cut the rope she descended on. Climbing the cliff would be a simple draw as it is a singular story element. However, the cliff face is very sheer and handholds are poor (she gains a Penalty Card). She is also carrying a heavy artifact in her satchel and it weighs her down (she gains another Penalty Card). Finally, the wind is picking up and whips wildly at Fletch should she attempt the cliff face (she gains a third Penalty Card). If Fletch should attempt the climb, her Bonus Cards would cancel any Penalty Cards, but what started as an easy task, spiraled into difficulty.