Example of play
Sometimes it can be a little confusing to understand what a game actually looks like. Below is a quick example of a situation which could unfold during play:
It’s the middle of the night. Our two player characters LUNA and FINN creep up towards a BANDITS FORT where they believe the STOLEN MAP is located.
The FACILITATOR starts by describing the situation: " It is the dead of night as the pair of you make your way through the woods, the wind lightly whistles through the trees. Up ahead, the bandits' makeshift fort comes into view. It’s made up of rickety stone walls and a shoddy-looking gate. You can make out a flickering light from a would-be campfire located in the central compound."
The Facilitator asks "What would you like to do?"
Luna asks a question: "Can I see any signs of life around the fort?"
"It’s pretty dark except for the campfire". Responds the Facilitator "I assume you extinguished your torches before sneaking up?"
"Yeah, we certainly did" says Luna.
The Facilitator goes on: "You can make out a couple of shadows moving around inside the fort. You also spot a silhouette of a man standing guard outside—a solid, imposing figure."
Finn pipes up: "Wait, I’ve got an idea. You said the fort is ‘makeshift’, right? Does that mean it might be possible to climb the walls if they’ve been somewhat thrown together? "
The Facilitator thinks for a moment... "that might be possible, but let’s do a LUCK ROLL to CHECK what condition the fort is in. We’ll make it a straight 50/50".
The Facilitator rolls a six-sided die (d6) and gets a 4, meaning luck is on the characters’ side.
"Yep, it’s possible!"
Finn doesn’t even hesitate as he commits to his action: "Let’s go for it. Should I roll an ATHLETICS CHECK to see how well I scale the wall?"
"Go ahead." Responds the facilitator.
Finn rolls a 16 - meaning a SUCCESS!
The Facilitator then describes the new situation based on the outcome of the roll: "It’s dark so you can sneak right up to the base of one of the walls without detection. The fort has shoddy building work with plenty of foot holes and things to grab onto - as such you scale it with ease, leaping over the top, you land in the compound below and manage to hide behind some crates."
"Ok great" says Finn, "so I’m looking for the stolen map, right?… Where might it be? "
"From this position, hard to say exactly," says the Facilitator, "what you can see is a couple of bandits warming themselves by the fire, there are some weapon racks, a table with dirty dishes and a small wooden building nearby. "
"Ok, cool" Finn says, "I guess I’ll go take a look inside the building?"
“Not without a STEALTH ROLL you won’t” the Facilitator interjects "We need to check if those guards catch sight of you…”
Finn signs: "Ah, of course. Ok, that’s fair…"
Finn rolls a 5 - meaning a FAIL!
"Shoot! Do they see me!?" He exclaims.
"They haven’t seen you straight away" says the Facilitator " but as you make it to the door of the structure, in your haste, you bump into a set of stacked crates, knocking one of them to the ground with a crash. The bandits turn to face the director from which the noise came, one of them starts heading over to investigate…"
Finn’s eyes widen: "Err, ok... what are my options!? Can I still try and get inside the building!?"
"You make it to the door and try the handle but it's locked" says the Facilitator.
"I'm a thief!" cries Finn. "Can I pick the lock?"
"You can certainly attempt to" replies the Facilitator "of course, if you FAIL the guards are likely going to spot you... is that what you'd like to try?"
Finn nods trepidatiously...
"Ok" says the Facilitator "give me a LOCK PICKING check and let's see what happens........."