SYSTEM MECHANICS

How to Make it Happen
A scenario is a set of situations, each of which demand some action and reaction on the part of the players. Each situation is a kind of challenge and will hopefully tax the imagination and intellect of the player. At times, there may be very little that is a direct challenge. These passive situations will simply be information gathering for the player as they hear about what is happening and make uncontested decisions of how they want to proceed. However, once the character is in the right place at the right time, that's when the action happens – and that's when the character will be challenged to survive what the player has piloted him into.

Think of each conflict that a character comes across in a story. He may have to climb a cliff, fight an opponent (maybe several), repair a machine, operate a machine, maybe pilot that machine, then even jump out of that machine when instinct might dictate otherwise. What kind of a situation would that be?

If you can think of something that can be done in life, then it can be done in the game. That's the basis of the Probabilistic System (PROSYS): it approaches those critical moments in the narrative by describing them as tasks and giving them a rough estimation of difficulty. Then it's up to the character and a little bit of luck.

The task challenge, as listed in the "Degree of Difficulty" (DoD), is an arbitrary number, mostly based on practitioner consensus. Where and when possible, metrics are applied to the DoD and described so the Ref has an idea of comparable tasks and appropriate modification. The higher the DoD, the more challenging the task. Some tasks may simply be so complicated that they are impossible in a single attempt and must be broken down into discreet stages.

Unless you're using this as a pre-mission simulator, the player is probably not going to have the same skills as the character. On average, the character is going to have a very different and far more dramatic skill set than the player. Let the character do what they do.

Sometimes, though, a player may have to find a way to compensate for a lack of character skills by finding a different way to resolve a problem. This is another bit of acceptable metagaming, where the player is the intuition and possible divine inspiration, improvising around the limitations of the character to save lives and accomplish missions.

The Probabilistic System (PROSYS)

 * The workhorse of Speculation, this is the primary engine for accomplishing tasks.

Combat Systems (COMSYS)

 * A dynamic variation of PROSYS, this is the definitive form of conflict resolution.

Nonviolent Encounters

 * People are complicated. Here are the guidelines for nonviolent character interaction.

Transportation

 * Because getting there is half the fun.

Other Worlds: rules particular to Science Fiction environments

 * If it's related to futuristic scenarios, check here.

Other Realms: rules particular to Fantasy environments

 * Magical creatures and arcane processes? check here.

Urban Mythology: crossroads of the Supernatural and the Paranormal

 * If it's fantasy bleeding through a modern setting, check here.

Experience Points

 * How interaction and accomplishment boosts character skills and traits.

Applied Psychology for Referees

 * Guidance for Refs and Facilitators.