thread: 2009-07-13 : How About Some Q and A
On 2009-07-15, Vincent wrote:
Bwian: Couldn't the original example have been played as two separate IIEEs? ... If so, how did the group know to treat it as one resolution rather than two?
Sure.
The rule in Rock of Tahamaat is that you resolve when a character goes to do something that would bring her into conflict or expose her to danger. In my example, in my imagination of the scene as GM (which is what we always go by in Rock of Tahamaat), climbing the wall would expose her to danger, but once she reaches the window, going through the window won't expose her to any additional danger.
So that's how the group knows whether to resolve it in one go or two: is there one conflict-or-danger, or two?
If I'd decided that there were some armed guys up there, for instance, I'd do it pretty much like you say. First, she'd climb up to the window, exposing herself to danger, with these possible effects: she sails through (that is, makes it easily), she makes it, she's stuck. Second, she'd try to (let's say) sneak in the window behind the armed guys, bringing herself into conflict with them, with these possible effects: she gets away with it, she arouses suspicion but goes unchallenged, she's caught out.
The game - as any well-designed game should - tells you what to resolve. That's how you know whether to resolve a thing in one go, or more than one go, or as only a step in one go. Make sense?
I'm afraid that all the answer I have for concrete vs abstract actions and characters' involuntary actions is: it depends on the game design. Those are both interesting areas a designer can explore.
Like, if I say "my guy climbs the social ladder," a well-designed game will tell us how to handle it. ("That's not a legit action, do over" is one way.) If you're designing a game and you want it to resolve abstract actions like climbing the social ladder or overthrowing the space tyrant, all you have to do is design your game so that it does.
In my designs right now, I'm paying close attention to involuntary actions.
