Push — RPGaDay #21

The Agents of Dee are always looking to push on and weather the storm, as the system opts to Fail Forward rather than simply to fail (I touch upon the concept in Meet).

There is no push mechanic, as such. You can spend Fortune to re-roll a really bad throw, but otherwise you either succeed or you succeed with Consequences. Admittedly, sometimes those Consequences might make you feel like failure might have been the better options, but at least in this version of events you’re always pushing on.

For example, a player portraying a street-schooled ruffian might want to pick a lock. They plan to do it with a set of lockpicks, and the other characters will keep an eye out to provide some quiet time to for their colleague to focus. All seems set, on this dark and stormy night, for the Agents to break into the home of the Duke of Norfolk. The player throws a 1. The lock clicks and the well oiled mechanism slides free without intervention. Alas, a gust of wind catches the door and thrusts it open with a bang. As the characters gaze inside — worried a little that they have angered some spirit and set it free — a flame flickers into life in a ground floor servant’s chamber and a muffled bell chimes in the quarters of the Duke’s faithful guard. The game’s afoot; can the Agents find what they’ve come for before either the servant or the guard catch them in the act?

If they’d been stuck outside, the Agents might have found another solution or way in, but how would that have helped other than to have wasted time and set the story back? Now, the Agents can push ahead with raised stakes and an extra challenge or two to face; but, they’re pushing onward nevertheless.

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK.