Ordeals

In T13 when we are dealing with complex large Tests, such as action sequences we break the Test down into smaller Tests and call this an Ordeal. During an Ordeal we usually use cards to resolve actions, and you can see an example card here. Click on it to see more details about the card.

Drawn:

Types of Ordeal

Ordeals can cover a huge variety of Tests and situations, you can get a grasp of this from looking at the Yarn/Ordeal section of any of the cards. Here’s a few randomly drawn cards to examine:

Drawn:

Referees (and Yarn-Tellers) can use card Draws to randomly determine the Ordeal Type, Stakes, a suggested Test, the number of Obstacles in the Ordeal, a suggested Action (which usually falls within the suggested Test), a suggested Stage, a suggested type of Fight or the type of Motional Ordeal.

Trumps

During Ordeals we use the term Trumps for the Suit most suited for the task. It should be noted that any card can be used to perform any sort of action, but some Suits are better suited to some actions. For example any card can Heal a Wound that matches suit, but you can use Hearts to essentially match any Suit. Often, this is what Trump means in Ordeals, the Suit will automatically match a different Suit (or has some other bonus).

However, there is another use of Trump that applies more generally in Ordeals that do not include direct conflict, arguments or combat. If you are using the right Suit for the Test at hand (for example when preparing ingredients playing a Diamond) then you can add +2 Pips to the action which you can think of as a 2 of whatever Suit, or add to the Trump itself (it can even cause Spades to unlock a Wound with a Lower Limit card (see Attacks and Wounds).

Trumps tend to match the Facet Suit of the action or Test. You can see how this works here.

Suit — Diamonds Symbol — ♦ Ordeal Trump — Preparation (Research / Work / Patience) / Movement (Sneaking / Sprinting) / Listening Description — Diamonds represent the finer things of life, they are bright and sparkling. Representing the creative even spiritual aspects of materialism such as beauty and art, that transcend base materialism like wealth. Despite this the Diamonds are recognised as being the Coins suit of the Tarot, with a strong tie to Elemental Earth. Tarot Text — Travel, Money, Business, Contracts, Deals, Voyages. Ordeal Text — Ordeal Types: Travel (e.g. Chase, Race) / Creativity (e.g. Smithing, Painting). Diamonds act as Trump for the following Action Types: Art, Building, Charming, Crafting, Driving, Emoting, Forgiving, Keeping Your Cool, Listening, Meditation, Motion, Prayer, Preparation, Research, Sprinting and Working in general. Any type of action can be prepared with a Diamond. Parry — Seize the initiative : The cards of the original attack (less the matched card) are immediately added to the Defender’s Ordeal Pool. They may then play as many cards as their Descendant/Annex normally plays including the Parry card (1-4) usually into one of their Style Reserve, and then immediately discard any cards over Pool Limit. Soak — Ready : The matched Attack card is immediately Prepared by the Defender (as they wish). The Soak card is discarded.

Suit — Clubs Symbol — ♣ Ordeal Trump — Defence / Trade / Control / Magic (Negative) Description — Clubs represent the power of politics and a stoic, blind materialism. Clubs can be seen as a dark corrupting force on the world, crass materialism, sin, magic and anger, but the club is also symbolic of protection, law and justice. In the Tarot the Clubs are called Staves or Wands, in some traditions they represent Intellectual Air, but in most they are Fire. Tarot Text — Power, Fame, Politics, Ability, Money. Ordeal Text — Ordeal Types: Wealth, Politics, Power. Clubs act as Trump for following Actions: Bartering, Controlling, Corrupting, Emotional-intensity, Guarding, Magic, Displaying might, Politics, Self-Defence, Socializing, and Trade Negotiations. Clubs can be used to defend any type of attack. Parry — Disarm : All the cards of the attack are immediately discarded, along with the Parry Card. The remaining cards of the Defender’s Parry can now each be used to cause the Attacker to drop a Descendant (starting with the attacking weapon usually), can also cut armour straps, belts etc, or steal hats. This basically adds RT equal to the card Pips to the Annex that was used to attack. Every 5 Pips also creates a point of GRT for the Character (representing how much time the Character must spend picking up, or readying the weapon again. Court cards additionally may damage the Descendant that was disarmed, as standard for the Stakes. Soak — Ward : The matched Attack card, and one other randomly selected Attack card are discarded.

Suit — Spades Symbol — ♠ Description — The Spades Suit is the suit of suffering, said to be good for the soul, but miserable for a Monday. Competition, perception, endurance and curiosity are positive aspects associated with the suit, but spades also represent destruction, betrayal, distance, might and death. In the tarot, the Suit is replaced with Swords, which (depending on the tradition) may represent either damaging Fire, or more commonly the cutting intellect of Air. Tarot Text — Misfortune, Suffering, Loss, Mourning, Treachery, Betrayal, War, Lawsuit, Conflict. Ordeal Trump — Attack / Perception / Penetration (Opening / Navigation / Logic) Ordeal Text — Ordeal Types: Confrontation (e.g. Warfare, Lawsuit), Competition (Sports, Quizzes etc), Perception (Spot Hidden). Spades act as Trumps for the Following Action Types: Attacking, Balance, Climbing, Contagion, Desecration, Destruction, Feats of Strength, Lock-picking, Navigation, Perception (Search/Spot), Staying power, and Stoicism. Spades can be used for any type of attack. Parry — Redirect-Attack : The damage from the original attack (less the Parried Card) is redirected by the Defender to the Attacker, their Descendants or their Allies. Soak — Counter-Attack : The matched Attack card is reflected back at the Attacker, or their Descendant, as Narratively appropriate.

Suit — Hearts Symbol — ♥ Ordeal Trump — Healing (Survival / Magic) / Deception (Hide / Feint) / Magic (Positive) Description — Hearts represent Love, Family and the comforts of home. Hearts are the warmth of a cosy fireplace, and social wealth rather than material. In the Tarot the suit is called Cups, and represents the feminine and elemental Water. Tarot Text — Love, Relationships, Affections, Family, Sympathy, Peace. Ordeal Text — Ordeal Types: Nurturing, Farming, Relationships, Medical. Hearts act as Trumps for the following Actions: Blending in, Cooking, Escaping, Healing, Hiding, Hunting, Insulting, Joke-telling, Lying, Magic, Mimicry, Riddling, Spinning a tale, Surgery, and Survival. Any type of Wound can be healed with a Heart. Parry — Locked Respite : All unmatched Cards from the original attack are Discarded by the Defender, however with each card they Discard they may either use the card to Heal/Stabilise one of their own wounds (or damage to the Parrying Descendant), or they may use the card to slow their attacker with additional RT (Pips) or GRT (Pips/5). Soak — Disengage : The Soak Card acts as a Heal card, and is discarded along with the Attack card. This immediately Heals all Wounds in play that have less Pips, including the remaining Wounds in the Attack, by one Wound Level (discards Distracts).

Ordeal Procedure

When the Yarn-Teller declares that you are entering an Ordeal they will usually declare “Roll Profs” or “Roll Initiative” which is the same thing for a combat Ordeal. But there is actually a procedure that should be followed.

1. Stakes — The Yarn-Teller (or Ref) should decide (and usually announce) the Stakes of the Ordeal. Ordeal Stakes vary from Low Stakes (where there is really nothing at risk) to Soul Stakes (where your Soul is on the line), see Stakes.
2. Roll Proficiency Dice — When an Ordeal begins the first thing that you need to do is find suitable Proficiencies for the Ordeal. This works just like the Proficiency Dice for a standard Test. So, at most you need to find four Proficiencies.

   Number of Applicable Profs	Result
   0	No Proficiencies applicable means the Character cannot act until the end of the first Phase, and all Draws are halved through the Round.
   1	1 Applicable Proficiency allows you to draw a single card into your Ordeal Pool.
   2	Roll 1 Prof Die (1d6 normally) and Draw as appropriate (see below).
   3	Roll 2 Prof Dice (2d6 normally) and Draw as below
   4	Roll 3 Prof Dice (3d6) and Draw as below.

   You Draw cards equal to the Draw of the Boon (or the Score Reduced). This table summarises the first few so you can get the idea.

   Score	Draw
   1-4	1
   5-7	2
   8-11	3
   12-15	4
   16-20	5
   21-25	6
   26-31	7

3. Play by Stages, Phases, and Rounds — Play then begins, order determined by POISE, see Rules for Ordeal Rounds and Ordeal Stages.

Stakes

Ordeals come in differing levels of risk. In a High Stakes Ordeal like Combat failure and death is always an option, but the same Combatants meeting for a Fencing Competition are unlikely to kill each other in Medium Stakes, and when training before the competition both competitors would be much more controlled, and the risk of injury and Stake would be very low.

See the Rules page on Stakes for more details.

Ordeal Time

Time in Ordeals can vary greatly, a lot more time passes during a shipwright building a yacht than takes place over a bank heist and both are longer than a 100 metre dash, yet we can model all three with the same Ordeal (at least on paper). The Time taken by each is very different, but the system doesn’t really care, in fact one of them could be taking place on board a spaceship travelling at close to the speed of light and really take millennia to finish, with time dilation.

Time is not a linear experience for human beings and so it isn’t linear in Ordeals either. Ordeals deal with Time as a Narrative flow, this flow is broken into Rounds, Stages and Phases which we’ll look at in a bit, but it is important to remember that time flow is subjective. Minutes can feel like hours, or vice versa, and this is the sensation of time that Ordeals use.

1. Round — The Round is a Game Mechanic structure that can encapsulate several Stages or we can pass through multiple Stages in a Round. Narratively speaking, a Round is about three pages of a Comic Book, or several pages of a Novel. A lot can happen during a Round, as the Round ends only when the Round Wild Pool is emptied or if the card deck is emptied.
2. Stage — A Stage is a Narrative Structure in the Ordeal. A Stage can be thought of as being a Location (and in a Motional Ordeal it usually is a Location) or a step in the Ordeal (like those of a twelve-step program, or the instructions for self-assembly furniture). While you are in the Stage you may have Obstacles that must be overcome and a Stage Difficulty (which can represent the size or the difficulty in traversing a Location or the difficulty of the step). Stages of Ordeals are like Scenes of a Story (and can be treated this way by larger Plots). Narratively speaking a Stage is usually at least three panels of a comic-book and a page of a Story.
3. Phase — A Phase is a cycle of single narrative moments, it can be a page or a single panel of a comic-book, or a paragraph (or even sentence) of a Story, depending on the panel or sentence. During a Phase each Character gets to have a Moment, where they can take a turn, make a full-action, half-action, or wait as required. These actions may all take place simultaneously, but they are resolved according to the Phase Order Initiative System that you are using (so if there are multiple panels or sentences you know what order they should go in).

Rounds

The Round is the largest and most important structure of the Ordeal. The Round controls how play proceeds, deciding the order of Actions and who may act when. You can read the rules page on Ordeal Rounds to find out more.

Phases

A Phase is a collection of single narrative events or ‘Moments’. At its fastest, in High Stakes situations like action sequences or fights, a Phase lasts about half a second of subjective time (it feels about as long in a Never-Time bubble, or travelling in Time, or whatever, as it does at normal pace), and is just about long enough for each Character to do a few quick things, usually an Full-Action or Half-Action (drawing and/or playing 1 or more cards). To find out more about Phases and timing read the Rules for Ordeal Rounds.

Action Spaces

All Action within the Ordeal takes place in what we refer to as an Action Space. This Action Space can be a close representation of a real space, some imaginary space, or some Psychosocial space such as a dreamworld or imagination. It is the Action Space and how it is constructed that controls how cards are played to move Characters aroud in the Space. See the Rules on Action Spaces (with reference to Ordeal Stages also) for details.

Stages

The Stages of an Ordeal are often procedural points of the Ordeal that the Character is working through, although they can instead describe the Action Space. You can find out more by reading the rules page on Ordeal Stages.

Tide of Battle (Optional Rule)

These are optional rules intended to make combat, and particularly large scale battles simpler to manage and more Narrative.

Tide of Battle follows from the Rounds of the Ordeal and can only occur during combat.

Tide of Battle can either work for you, when it is said to be Flowing, or work against you, when it is said to be Ebbing.

The Tide of Battle is decided at the end of each Round (by the Referee), usually with Flowing going to the Characters that have (in order of importance):

1. Won the most Tricks during the Round.
2. Inflicted the largest Wounds
3. Soaked or Avoided the most damage.
4. Played the most cards in Preparation or Movement.

conversely the Ebbing Tide generally goes to Characters who have:

1. Taken the most Wounds cards
2. Taken Carnage + Wounds

Each Stage of the Ordeal becomes affected by an Ordeal Card, that is drawn and played by the Referee or Yarn-Teller, and Narrated to all Characters as part of the Staging. The card defines the current Tide of Battle circumstances, perhaps indicating that the Flowing forces are breaking through, or that the Ebbing forces are regrouping, this adds semi-tactical nuances to the situation, beyond those indicated by how the coma.

When the Tide is in your favour you may receive Flow Success Levels. If the Tide is against you you can receive Ebb Failure Levels, in very rare circumstances you might receive Ebb Success Levels or Flow Failure Levels.