The Throne War:Resolution

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Non-Random Mechanics

A roleplaying game where characters have stats but no random element--no rolling for successes or to beat a difficulty--may seem counter-intuitive but, in a way, we've all been doing it since we started playing Storium! When we make a move and play a card on a challenge, we're describing our character's actions according to how we understand their abilities. We don't question whether Draega can hit something with a throwing knife, we know that the only reason he would miss is if there was an extenuating circumstance in-story--he's going up against a foe with vastly superior skills, for instance, or perhaps he's been poisoned and is fighting off a weakened state! In Storium, we narrate what our characters can do and what they're trying to accomplish, only narrating their success (or failure) once all the cards have been played.

Make your moves in The Throne War the same way you would in any Storium game, just without the cards. Your stats will tell you what your character can and can not do. When success is called into question--when you are fighting a closely matched foe, for instance--your choices in-game, i.e., your strategies, will help me, as narrator, decide who wins. I will make it obvious in my narration which direction a conflict is moving, allowing all parties involved the time to try different strategies and pull different tricks from their sleeves. In the end, though, the narrator is the final arbiter of the outcome of a conflict; no different than if a challenge in standard Storium was completed with a Neutral outcome.

Some Examples

Sanek is an ancient dragon warrior, Second Class in Prowess and Might but Olympian class in Fortitude and Ego. His foe, a Khaos-worshipping madman who is called, most often, simply "the Beast," is First Class in Might, Third Class in Fortitude and Olympian in the others. The Beast has tracked Sanek to his jungle temple with one goal: the destruction of his rival.

The Beast has no hope of sneaking up on Sanek--he knows he is greatly outclassed in Prowess, the ability to analyze and detect incoming threats, even subconsciously--and so, prideful as always, he marches out of the jungle into the courtyard and loudly invites Sanek to die.