Alternate Ordeals

Ordeals (with their Stages, Rounds and Phases, and card play) are a quite complex part of the game, and a strong combination of the crunchiness of simulation play and the flexibility of free-form narrative play, but they don’t suit every Player, or every situation.

For these reasons we offer up some alternative ways of handling Ordeals that can be used instead of, or alongside, a standard Ordeal. Of course, these additional Ordeal types are purely optional, but can be very useful for certain situations and genres as they have a very different game-feel.

Snap-fire Ordeals

Snap-fire Ordeals are a variant of normal Ordeals intended for high Suspense and Open Conflict scenes. Snap-fire Ordeals can take place as part of a larger Ordeal, and are often handled alongside them, often a Snap-fire Ordeal is ideal for rapid action scenes, like the most dangerous Stages of a chase, or a last ditch battle.

During Snap-fire Ordeals normal player Actions are limited by a single card called the Snap-fire card. Generally, only one Character gets to perform a Full-Action in each Phase, but all Characters get to take a Half-Action instead.

The Snap-fire card is turned at the start of the Phase, and controls play during that Phase. Which Character gets to perform a Full-Action is chosen by a bidding system.

• The Snap-fire bidding works according to Phase Order Initiative System (POIS) and Tide of Battle as follows:
  • Sweeping spotlight POIS, the next three Characters on the Flowing side get to bid on the Snap-fire card, which moves around the group with each Snap-fire card. Two Characters from the Ebbing side also get to bid, and they will also cycle around.
  • Yarn-Teller Directed POIS, the Yarn-Teller picks who gets to bid. Usually at least one Character from the Ebbed side should be allowed to bid, and most of the Flowing side.
  • Ordeal Pool POIS, Characters may bid if they have more cards in their Ordeal Pool than half the Snap-fire card Pips when Flowing and more cards than the Pips when Ebbed.
  • Card POIS (Recommended for Snap-fire), Characters may bid when they have Initiative cards with more Pips than the Snap-fire card Pips Reduced when Flowing and the Snap-fire Pips when Ebbed.
  • Scored POIS, Characters may bid when they have a Score of Twice (× 2) the Snap-fire card’s Reduced Pips when Flowing and Twice the Pips when Ebbed.
  • Pay Sway POIS, Characters must pay a blind of the Snap-fire card’s Pips Reduced in Sway to buy into the bids when Flowing and all the Snap-Fire Pips when Ebbed. This can be added to all other modes to allow all Characters to bid.
• Bids may be made in:
  • Sway: Specific Facet Sway, Chi, Yarn or Twists (Yarn Reduced) may be used to bid. Bids must be paid before the attempt can be made.
  • Success Levels: Bidding Success Levels is a bet that you will get a certain number of Success Levels, the highest bid wins. Failure to reach this number of Success Levels means Snap-Failure.
  • Failure Levels: Bidding Failure Levels adds that number of Automatic Failure Levels that must be overcome to succeed.
  • Wound Limits: Bidding Wound Limits set the Wound Limits for the cards that will be played, betting Mortal, for example, states you will try to create or will take a Mortal Wound. The Wound Pips must be paid for this level of Wound at the current Stakes, with the Full-Action, or Snap-Failure occurs.
  • Relative bids can be calculated from Sway, using the Sway Table, the highest bid takes the Snap-fire card, adds it to their Ordeal Pool, and pays their bid.
  • They may then take a standard Full-Action, the Snap-fire card counting as one of their card draws. Umbrals should now be paid. Failure of Umbrals causes a Snap-failure.
  • All Characters that lost the bid may now take a Half-Action (they do not have to pay their bid) usually in the Order of the bids.
  • Characters that didn’t get a chance to bid now may take a Half-Action in any order (but usually Flowing first).
• At any point during procedure, any Character who has a matching card (by Pips) in their Ordeal Pool, or a Style Reserve, to the Snap-fire card may draw the Snap-fire card and add it to their Ordeal Pool. This immediately interrupts any bids under way.
  • The card must match Pips, and Colour and Suit may be used to break ties. E.g. If the Snap-fire card is the Jack of Hearts and Jim tries to claim it with a Jack of Clubs, Liz beats that with a Jack of Diamonds, but Dave beats even her with his own Jack of Hearts. Miscalling a Snap-fire action results in an immediate Snap-failure.
  • The Character may then declare a Half-Action (just keeping the Draw) or they may attempt a Full-Action, where they pay their Umbrals (or risk a Snap-Failure) and continue their Draw and then Play cards (that must include the Snap-pair, ideally as a Set) or take a Snap-Failure.
  • After their Action (Half or Full) a new Phase begins. Because of this kind Referees may ask for matches before resolving the POIS Order or determining Bidders, with a late call counting as a miscall. Less kind Referees may allow a call to take place even after the winning Bid has been played. Creating a Snap-failure on the Bid winner.
• After all actions in the Phase the Snap-fire card is replaced for the next Phase.
• Referees and Yarn-Tellers can bid and match cards as NPCs just like other Characters.

Snap-Failure

Snap-Failures occur when someone tried to claim the Snap-fire card and something went wrong. Maybe they miscalled Snap-fire and didn’t have a matching card, or maybe they didn’t make their bid (didn’t generate enough Success Levels, overcome the number of Failure Levels, or couldn’t generate enough Pips for their Wound Limit), or they failed their Umbrals somehow…

Snap-failures are terrible turns of events that depend upon the Snap-fire card played and the situation. Generally, a Snap-Failure will drop a Character out of an Ordeal, causing failure and often injury, but sometimes they divert entire Plots, or corrupt Characters. Snap-Failure can create additional complications at almost any level, usually low-level complications affect Grunts, where as the greatest complications are created by Yarn-Tellers failing. The current Yarn-Teller or Referee may use the Snap-fire card as:

• … an Obstacle, created by the Character’s actions. The new Obstacle usually has a Diff equal to the Difficulty of the Snap-fire. A common and solid choice.
• … a Yarn-card with the Snap-Failure causing a Snag, or Fray as required. This is usually reserved for Yarn-Teller Characters, but not always.
• … an Unsoakable Wound taken by the Character (or one of their Descendants). Always a good choice, as accidents can always happen.
• … as a Facet based:
  • … Test: The Snap-Failure causing a new Test can be an excellent use depending upon the Facet, and is suitable for all Characters.
  • … Failure: A specific Snap-Failure can be great, but should not be forced if they don’t match the situation.
  • … Turn: A Snap-Failure can divert an entire narrative if it happens at the right time, good for Heroes and Yarn-Tellers, usually too powerful for Grunts.
  • … Narrative Moment: Narrative moments can make for a diverting failure, and are very good for Grunts, but are often not applicable to the current situation.
  • … Quest: Quests, especially small ones, can be great when a snap-failure happens, although they may not always fit the situation.
  • … Ordeal (Ordeals within Ordeals are not generally recommended but can work, occasionally).
  • … Twisted: Only Bids that used Twists should result in Twisted Snap-Failures, and not all bids that involve Twists have to, although they are often strangely applicable.

Yarn-Tangling Ordeal

A Yarn-Tangling Ordeal is how T13 handles a Moderated Retcon situation, such as when someone travels back in time and changes the past, but not quite enough to completely alter history in between. Yarn-Tangling occurs when:

• Two or more Yarn-Tellers disagree about something that should be an established fact (such as the name of the current or even last King or the funny quote from last year’s hit comedy).
• Anyone tries to time-travel to deliberately alter the past in some small but specific way, and especially to “correct” history after it has already been changed by a time-traveller (often the same time-traveller).
• Two or more Yarn-Tellers disagree about the outcome of an event that is taking place, or may take place in the future, and spend Yarn to alter reality in direct conflict with each other.

Yarn-Tangling Ordeals almost always take place at Paradoxical Stakes, universes can be diverted, created and destroyed by Yarn-Tangling Ordeals, so Referees should always be paying careful attention.

Yarn-Tangling Ordeals take place in an abstract manner, as the Yarn-Tellers (and perhaps Heroes) involved throw their will and Yarn into determining the nature of reality. Narration of this Ordeal is complicated as Yarn-Tellers are themselves battling mentally, magically, or technologically to literally control reality.

Each Character attempts to gain some modicum of control over reality, history, or the paradox. Differing aspects of reality are governed by the suits as detailed below.

• Diamonds: What rumours, art, books, and movies exist about what happened. How do people imagine it? How was it glorified or explained away? What art or music did it inspire or create?
• Hearts:What myths, jokes and lies are told about what happened. How do people try to forget it? How do people twist what happened and who does that twisting? What do the conspiracy theorists think happened and what lies do people believe really happened?
• Clubs: What really happened there, what were the actual facts? Who profitted from the situation? Who did they profit off and what do those people think happened?
• Spades: How things are perceived, or remembered. What do people think happened? What do the History books say happened? What is the general man on the street’s opinion?

All of this boils down to a special card Ordeal. This involves trying to control one of the suits of the cards at a time. This is usually decided by the Referee, with a suggested order of Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds and Spades, as this defines what really happened, how that was twisted and lied about, the art and cultural response that was created, before deciding from all that what the man on the street thinks about it all, but you can modify this order as you like to match the importance to the change in history.

• All competing Yarn-Tellers Draw 3 Cards to create a Yarn-Tangle Pool.
• The Referee should turn over the top card of the deck to create a Discard pile if there is none.
• Each Round every Character must try and get 3 suited cards with a total Pip value of exactly 31. Each Round they must try to get a different suit (but they decide in what order).
• Phases involve each Character paying a Blind bet of 1 Yarn (paid in Chi); Drawing a card from either the top of the Deck, or from the Discard pile; adding it to their Yarn-Tangle Pool and then Discarding a card face up to the Discard pile.
• During your turn instead of Drawing, you may attempt to Knock-Out another Character, this involves both Characters revealing their Yarn-Tangle Pool, and narrating their suggestion for the Retcon. The Challenged Character gets to make a Draw and Discard before they show their Pool automatically.
• The Yarn-Tangle Pools are first compared by suits alone. If one Character has more suited cards (of any suit) than the other then they win, knocking out the other Character.
• If both Characters have the same number of suited cards then Pips are compared with the highest (up to a maximum of 31) winning and Knocking-Out the other Character.
• Knocked out Characters take their own Yarn-Tangle Pool as a 3 card Negative Emotion Psych Attack or as a Backlash Yarn Situation Spread as they prefer, and may not participate further in the Round.
• If a Character has Yarn-Tangle Pool of 32 Pips or more during a Knock-Out then they are Bust. A Bust Character is Knocked-Out, and may not continue in the Ordeal at all.
• After a Character is knocked out play continues, until all Characters bar one are knocked out, or someone get exactly 31 Pips on 3 suited cards.
• If all other Characters are knocked-out then the survivor takes the Round in whatever suit they have most of.
• At any time if a Character gets 31 on 3 suited cards they declare a Blitz. A Blitz ends the Round, and are counted towards deciding who wins the Ordeal overall.
• The First Character to win 4 Rounds, one in each suit wins the Ordeal. However, if they win a Suit and then later concede that suit to someone else they must incorporate the ideas that Character promoted for that Suit.