Conversations, Endeavors, and Events
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 09:30:07 PM
Fellow Worldhoppers,
The Cosmere RPG campaign is going strong, and today we crossed the $9 million mark! As we hope you can see by these daily updates, we’re incredibly proud of this game and so excited to share it with this community. Tonight we have some fun details to share about different scene types, plus a stretch goal and a new Add-On option.
Behind the Scenes
In the Cosmere RPG, there are three different scene types: combats, conversations, and endeavors. The scene types are meant to weave together, so a conversation that goes poorly might become a combat, or an endeavor might involve social tests that draw on the conversation rules. In general, our system encourages freeform roleplaying rather than rigid “encounters,” so you'll see a lot of overlap between the mechanics and systems you'll use in every scene.
We’ve talked about combat in previous updates, so let’s talk about the other scene types!
Conversations
Whenever at least two characters are talking and attempting to achieve their goals through dialogue, that’s a conversation. In a conversation, player characters make skill tests to negotiate, deceive, interrogate, or establish personal connections.
Conversations aren’t as rigidly structured as combat scenes, and it’s not unusual for one character – perhaps a Leader or Envoy – to take the lead. But scenes still take place in "rounds," and each character has the chance to make a contribution. A character’s contribution might just add flavor to a scene, but most contributions involve making skill tests to help achieve the group’s goals:
- Persuasion. Use charm to convince someone to act against their better judgment.
- Deception. Lie to convince someone of an untrue premise.
- Intimidation. Browbeat someone to weaken their position.
- Leadership. Inspire someone to follow their better nature.
- Perception. Observe someone to notice whether they take any suspicious actions.
- Insight. Use empathy to understand someone else’s position.
- Deduction. Think through an opponent’s argument logically to find flaws.
In general, the difficulty for these tests is equal to an opponent's Cognitive or Spiritual defense, though the GM can increase or decrease that DC depending on the context and subject matter. Some conversations might only require a couple of tests, but Cosmere stories often involve more climactic discussions where multiple tests contribute to the final outcome.
When you succeed on a socially oriented skill test against a stubborn NPC, your opponent can spend focus to resist influence (typically spending 2 focus). Once the NPC is at zero focus, they’re too frustrated, scattered, or impressed to continue arguing.
As a player, when your character fails on a skill test in a conversation, you’re losing ground. Once the GM decides you’ve said the wrong thing or failed too many times, the conversation ends in failure. Some socially-oriented adversaries might even make their own skill tests against your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses. In those situations you’re always in control of how your character thinks and reacts, but you might need to spend focus to stay in the debate and make a counterargument.
The Stormlight Handbook details four different conversation types: inquiry, negotiation, scheme, and social. Each provides GM guidance and includes suggestions for how to spend Opportunity and Complication results from the plot die.
Endeavors
Sneaking through an enemy-occupied city, helping refugees find shelter from an oncoming highstorm, uncovering hidden secrets of the Lost Radiants… any of these scenes can be thrilling and dramatic, but they go beyond what’s covered in the combat and conversation rules.
In an endeavor, player characters work together to achieve an objective through a combination of roleplaying, problem-solving, and skill tests. An endeavor might be “zoomed-in,” like characters collaborating to solve a tricky puzzle, or handled more as a montage, like characters exploring a new city to gather information and allies.
In most endeavors, the GM sets a collective threshold for success and failure. For example, the GM might decide that characters succeed on a test if they achieve 8 successes before making 4 failed tests. However, a GM never needs to announce “we’re in an endeavor” or make those numbers public. Often, roleplaying proceeds more fluidly when the GM presents information narratively and keeps mechanics behind the screen.
Nearly any kind of narrative scene could be handled as an endeavor, but the Stormlight Handbook provides detailed examples of four endeavor types.
- Discovery: Investigate a murder, mystery, or arcane secret.
- Exploration: Traverse an unpredictable or precarious environment.
- Mission: Infiltrate a secure location, or perform reconnaissance.
- Pursuit: Chase an enemy, or be chased.
Here’s an example of one endeavor type, the pursuit!
Events
Events are a storytelling option that a GM can bring into any scene type. An event is used to represent impending circumstances that count down to a climactic moment, building anticipation and excitement. Events can be either positive or negative; either way, they act as ticking clocks that are separate from the main objective of a scene.
The GM introduces an event by telling players what to expect, and how many Complications or Opportunities will trigger it. Once an event has been declared, the GM or players can spend plot die results to advance the event. Events can be specific or mysterious -- the GM might declare any of the following as events.
- Impending Everstorm: “After three Complications, anyone not in a shelter will start taking damage every round.”
- Reinforcements: “After four Opportunities, a platoon of soldiers will come to your aid.”
- Something Bad: “After three Complications, something will put you in serious danger.”
The GM can use scratch paper to track events, but in playtesting, we’ve found it helpful to use a card to track an event’s progress. To spend a result on an event, simply place it on the card! The Cosmere RPG website will include print-and-play event cards, but as today’s stretch goal, we’re also adding physical copies to every pledge that includes the Plot Decks!
If you’re using event cards, it can be helpful to have extra plot dice. While a couple of Basic Dice Sets should be all you need for an entire table, we’ve heard from a lot of backers who want even more. So today we added a set of five Extra Plot Dice as a $5 Add-On independent of the basic dice set.
Staff Spotlight: Sebastian Yūe
Tonight’s spotlight is on Sebastian, who works closely with Laura Hirsbrunner to edit adventure and supplement content for everything the Cosmere RPG team is producing! A first-rate editor who’s always working on awesome projects, Sebastian is currently editing the Stormlight Stonewalkers campaign.
Sebastian Yūe (they/them) is a queer writer, game designer and Gold ENNIE Award–winning editor. Past credits include Flee, Mortals! (MCDM Productions), Incantations (Metal Weave Games), and UNCAGED: Goddesses (Unseelie Studios); future credits include Pathfinder Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries (Paizo) and Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth (Evil Hat Productions). In addition to freelancing, they work full time at Canadian TTRPG publisher Hit Point Press.
In their spare time, Sebastian enjoys rolling dice with friends, teaching themself how to draw, or canoeing on a lake. They also write for leisure and are a published poet and occasional lifestyle journalist. A former competitive fencer, they are delighted to bring both pen and sword to the Cosmere RPG team. Find their work at https://www.sebastianyue.ca/ttrpgs and follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sebastianyue