< One-Round Multiple Action Conflict Between Three Characters | Conflict Examples

Now we get down to it: the hardest part of the conflict system. What happens when everything doesn’t neatly resolve when all the actions are worked out? That’s when you have multiple action rounds.

In this conflict, we have two characters; an Inuit shaman, Ataninnuaq, and a white nurse, Emily. Michelle is running the game, Krista is playing Emily, and Jason is playing Ataninnuaq. The shaman has the ability, set by magic token, to smoke illness out of a person with a fiery ritual.

Jason: I have the fire built in the back of the orphanage and I set the platform over it. I’m going to go inside and get the kid to put him over the fire.

Krista: Oh, man, I’ve been watching this from inside. I’m not going to let this guy take any of the kids away.

Michelle: That sounds like a conflict. Jason, what’s your goal?

Jason: I want to heal the kid with my fire cure.

Michelle: Fair enough. Krista?

Krista: No way he’s putting a kid atop that fire. I want him scared off, afraid to come back to the orphanage.

Michelle: All right. Ataninnuaq forces his way in the back door and heads over to the bed where little Joseph is lying, shivering with fever. Emily has been tending to Joseph all day, and she now stands by the bed, defiantly. Allocate your tokens for the conflict.

Jason knows the nurse is going to try to stop him, but he isn’t interested in physical violence. He allocates 3 action tokens to Force and his Hunter aptitude. To change the nurse’s mind, he decides to allocate 2 action tokens to his Will and Shaman aptitude.

Krista is pretty sure she won’t be able to win a physical conflict with the hard-bitten shaman, but she puts 2 tokens in her Grace along with Nurse to block him from the child. She also puts 4 tokens in Will and the Missionary aptitude to intimidate the shaman into backing off.

Michelle: Ready? Time to reveal.

Jason: Ataninnuaq’s Force action here is to pick up Tiriaq and take him out to the fire.

Michelle: Tiriaq?

Jason: Yeah, that’s Joseph’s real name. Ataninnuaq certainly won’t refer to him by his missionary name. All right, the Will action is to use his words to shake Emily’s faith.

Krista: Emily is using this Grace action to block the shaman from reaching Joseph. She’s also trying to get Ataninnuaq to back off, that’s the Will action.

Michelle: OK, the two Will actions are opposed, and Ataninnuaq is testing his Force against Emily’s Grace. Let’s see how it shakes out. Let’s start with the mental conflict. Jason, what have you got?

Jason: Ataninnuaq’s Will is 3 and his Shaman aptitude is 4, combined with 2 action tokens, that’s 9.

Krista: Emily is using Will, too, and her Will is 4. She is also using Missionary 3, which counters the Shaman aptitude nicely, I’d say. With the 4 action tokens I put in there, that’s 11.

Michelle: A win for Emily. Yeah, no advantage on either side between Missionary and Shaman. OK, let’s check that physical conflict.

Jason: Ataninnuaq’s a wiry old bastard, Force 3, and his Hunter aptitude, also 3. With 3 actions allocated, that’s another 9.

Krista: Emily’s Grace is only 2, but she has Nurse at 3. Along with 2 action tokens, it’s a 7.

Michelle: Hunter and Nurse are both stretches for this one, but since both are equally implausible, no advantage to either side again. This one’s a win for Ataninnuaq.

Jason: So, Ataninnuaq will pick Tiriaq up and take him outside to the fire, but he can’t shake Emily’s faith? That works.

Krista: Not quite. Emily may have lost that physical conflict, but she’s not done. No way is she going to let him put that kid over the fire, not while she can still move.

Michelle: OK, it sounds like this conflict isn’t over. Let’s describe what happened after the first conflict, though.

Jason: Ataninnuaq walks up to Emily and fixes her with a baleful gaze. “The ways of my people are long, and we know secrets you whites have forgotten. I can cure the boy.” He stares at her for a long moment, something old and powerful revealing itself in his flinty eyes.

Krista: Emily looks at the old shaman for a long time, and it seems almost like she may shrink back and yield to his will, but then she reaches up and touches the cross hanging from her neck, and her uncertainty turns to horror. “You won’t touch him, not while I live.”

Jason: Ataninnuaq seems unmoved by her statement, and with nothing more than a grunt he roughly pushes her aside and picks up the shivering boy. He carries him briskly through the door, to where his fire and platform are prepared.

Michelle: But Emily’s not done, right, Krista?

Krista: Right. Let’s do another conflict round. He’s going to have to really neutralize Emily if he wants to get away with this.

Michelle: OK, same goals as before. Allocate your tokens.

This time, Jason thinks he needs to get physical. The mental conflict didn’t work. He puts in one token in Will and Shaman to resist anything Emily may throw against him, but dumps the rest (4 tokens) in Force and Hunter to overpower Emily and tie her up so she can’t stop him.

Krista also decides to go physical this time. She decides to put 3 tokens into Force and Nurse to grab up Joseph, and 3 tokens in Grace and Frontierswoman to run away from Ataninnuaq with the boy in her arms.

Michelle: Everyone ready? Let’s reveal.

Jason: I need to finish this ritual without interruption, now. The Force action here is to overpower Emily and tie her up. The Will is to resist any mental assault she might try on me.

Krista: I’m using Force to grab Joseph back and then Grace to run from Ataninnuaq.

Michelle: Jason, since Krista didn’t use a mental action, your defense isn’t too useful. It looks like your action is directly opposed to both of Krista’s, though. Let’s take her first step, which was to grab the kid away from you. What have you got, Krista?

Krista: My Force is just 2, but I have 3 in Nurse. With 3 action tokens, that’s 8.

Jason: I’ve got a Force 3 and Hunter 3, and I put 4 action tokens in there. That’s a 10.

Michelle: I’m sorry to do this to you, Krista, but Jason’s Hunter aptitude is much better suited for the conflict at hand. He knows how to overpower and tie up things, and your Nurse aptitude isn’t as applicable for snatching kids away from people. That gives Jason another +2, putting him at 12 to your 8. That’s a complete success.

Krista: Oh, crud. Well, Emily is going to be damaged by this, for sure.

Jason: Yeah, Ataninnuaq isn’t trying to hurt her. She’d be scratched at most.

Krista: I don’t mean physical damage. She’s going to be tied up and have to helplessly watch as this guy burns a kid in her care over a fire, at least that’s how she sees it. She’s going to be anguished by this, that’s 2 action tokens spent.

Michelle: That makes sense. Of course, the shaman’s ritual is actually going to work, and Joseph…

Jason: Tiriaq.

Michelle: Sorry, Tiriaq, is going to get well. Jason, why don’t you describe what happens.

Jason: OK. Emily comes rushing out after Ataninnuaq, and she grabs Joseph, trying to wrestle him away from the shaman.

Krista: Tears are streaming down her face, she’s clearly desperate.

Jason: Obviously annoyed, Ataninnuaq pulls the boy away, setting him on the ground. As Emily tries to dart around and pick him up, the wizened old shaman leaps at her like a wolverine, knocking her to the ground. He quickly overpowers her and binds her up with leather ties, putting a gag in her mouth so she can’t scream for help. He has a sad, almost sympathetic expression on his face as he turns back to the boy. Taking him up, he lifts Tiriaq above his head, and begins chanting. He places the boy down on the platform and begins to sing.

Krista: Emily screams into her gag and struggles to reach her charge, but to no avail. She closes her eyes and turns away from what she expects will be the horrifying death of the sick little boy.