We had a situation last game where the players had made camp and they had a person in their camp that didn’t speak their language and who was hostile to them (the person was in cage so the party wasn’t in danger, but they had no interest in helping the party).
Varg cast Wisdom of the Sages to speak with the person and then wanted to convince them that the party wan’t their enemy, and that they would let them free if the person promised not to attack them.
In the adventure phase I would have handled this as a spell (no turn passing) and a persuasion test (one turn).
In camp phase however, it made me wonder.
According to page 83:
You may not make two tests in a row in camp
and
Spells and payers do not require a check to cast in camp.
Since two tests were required (but only one check), is the correct thing to do to have Varg cast the spell, then shift the focus to another character taking an action, and then back to Varg for the persuasion test?
Why does the interrogation have to take place during the camp phase? The GM could have the camp phase proceed as normal with the party resting, but once the interrogation of the prisoner happens this could be done in the adventure phase? Why would a group want to precious checks on interrogation?
I’m guessing when it says you may not make two tests it doesn’t mean casting spells, but I could be wrong, at least that’s how I’d rule it. But also, Opcero has a good point, saving the interrogation for the adventure phase would also make sense.
I think the word “tests” was used because they didn’t want to allow for an instinct exploit where a player uses a check, then an instinct, then a check again without giving other people a chance to act. “You may not use two checks in a row or apply a check immediately after or before using an instinct while in camp.” I think that’s what they meant, but I could be very wrong. It seems like the spirit of TB is that spells are always a free action, they are considered to be part of whatever else you are doing not a separate action, even though they require a roll of the dice.
The word “tests” rather than “checks” is a very deliberate choice. Casting spells, invoking prayers and using instincts don’t cost checks, but you still need to pass the spotlight around.
In the worst case scenario, someone other than Varg would be forced to perform the interrogation while Varg maintains the spell.
Okay, I am now confused. Can a player not recover a condition and after that, make a, say, hunter test? That would be two tests. Does “no two tests in a row” mean you can’t do hunting and cooking, even if you have the checks? Or does it simply mean pass the spotlight around so everyone is using their first check, then the second check, then third and so on if they have them? I feel like I am asking a stupid question here.
A player cannot make two tests in a row in camp. Period. Ever. If you are alone in camp with two checks, you can make one test. Discard the other. If you have a friend in camp, donate the check to them.
Ah, so it was the wording that threw me off. Sometimes I read things that aren’t actually there. Like a senior moment for 25-40 year-olds. A player can’t make more than one test in camp, no matter how many checks he/she has. I think that clears things up completely. Unless of course I am being a dummy again.
Are you trying to confuse me now? Or am I just being thick?
If there are three adventurers:
Adventurer A has 3 checks
Adventurer B has 1 check
Adventurer C has 0 checks
A donates to C a check, he then rolls for recovery from exhaustion.
B goes makes a hunting test
C uses his donated check to cook
Then A uses his last check to make a cartography test.
From what I gather from your cryptic but hilarious reply, the above example is okay by the rules?
A donates to C a check, he then rolls for recovery from exhaustion. He then makes a cartography test
B goes makes a hunting test
C uses his donated check to cook
In this example, this is not okay by the rules.
Am I right? For the love of all that is RPGs, tell me I am right and help me make sense of it this time!
-with love. I swear. it’s all with love
EDIT: Terribly sorry for the thread hack. It is late and I am being a dufus.
Can spend 2+ checks, just can’t act twice in a row. Donating a check is not using it; you could use a check to recover from angry, donate your second check to Samwise (who uses it to make coney and taters) and then use your third check to scout for orcs.
A player can’t make two tests in a row. A more complex example:
Player A has an Instinct for creating poultices when in camp. Also he’s the mapper.
Player B has the Afraid condition. Also he has Scavenger.
Player C is the Cook.
They gather, between all three characters, 5 checks.
Player A tests his Alchemy skill to craft a poultice that helps B’s recovery. He really really wants to roll Cartographer, but he can’t because he already made a test and we jump to B.
B spends a check to test his Will and recover from Afraid with A’s poultice, but fails. He now wants to roll Scavenger to gather supplies for A’s next poultices batch, but he can’t because he already made a test, so we jump to C.
C spends a check to test Cook, then we jump to B.
B spends another check, tests Scavenger and succeeds, now A can make more poultices the next camp. We jump to A.
A now spends a check to test his Cartographer, but fails. Since he cannot test again and no one has the Cartographer skill, the group gives the last check to C so he can test a Begginer’s Luck to complete the map. (he succeeds, btw )
Great example DagaZ but there are two things that seem off to me.
You can’t attempt to recover from a condition more than once per camp or town phase, see page 80 (wow look at me citing page numbers, I feel grown up). So unless someone else is making a test to try to remove your condition, like Healer to get rid of Injured, you are stuck with it if you fail your first recovery attempt until you get a chance to camp again.
If you fail a Cartographer test there’s either a condition and you get what you wanted or there is a twist that most of the time will make it impossible to try Cartogropher again. The most obvious twist is that the character thinks they mapped it correctly but they will get some kind of encounter or event the next time they use the map. Of course it’s also possible that the GM handed out a twist that didn’t make another attempt impossible, but either way it’s worth mentioning that in most cases the players shouldn’t have an opportunity to just retry a test a they just failed.
Cartographer is subject to the same failure outcomes of any test, so the hypothetical GM might have given them an unrelated twist (“you spilled all your ink on top of the map, C tries to redraw it”).
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