ULTIMATE ANIMIST MECHANIC: EVERYTHING IS A REACTION

 * TAKES DEEP BREATH *

...all actions are resolved by a 2d6 reaction roll- and specifically a reaction roll: this is god/the spirits/the fates/the forces of the universe responding to your actions based on how much they "like" you.

(or, more specifically, how much they react in your favour)

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This emerged from the ongoing GENIUS LOCI project:

• Atop the Wailing Dunes
• MOSAIC strict Genius Loci
  
• Initial Genius Loci post
• Refined Genius Loci post

...being that, beyond animals and plants being treated the same way we treat NPCs... isn't time to start thinking of the terrain and weather in the same way?

This idea also occurred as a result of how we're resolving skill/ ability checks in CITY OF GHOSTS at the moment, which I'll elaborate on towards the end of this post.

Bargaining with the Spirits

This mechanic is simple, and arises from the following core concepts:

• Pariahs live in an animate world: the environment itself is not only alive but conscious
• Pariah actions represent an expression of their will, intent or preference within that environment
• The success of their actions depends on their ability to convince the environment that it is in its best interests to let that happen

When entities encounter one another for the first time, the GM rolls 2d6 and consults a reaction table. I've lifted this one from Kevin (I always want to write Arnold then have to double check) Crawford's Worlds Without Number:

Kevin Crawford's reaction roll table: hover for alt-text

This reaction roll might be modified by the lead PC's charisma, or indeed by the party's reputation. On the NPC side, I prefer to make the roll favoured (roll 3d6, keep 2 highest) or unfavoured (roll 3d6, keep 2 lowest) to represent other contextual elements of the encounter, though this is perhaps not necessary given how Kevin's table is worded.

So far so familiar: how could this apply to making a skill check? Consider the occurrence of a crevasse at a mountain pass. The distance is enough to give the pariah's pause (10 feet?): the environment decrees that it only the mightiest may hurry past it at this point. Those less worthy should show due respect and ritual (even if this merely means taking a respectful run-up).

The pariah doesn't have much time: they take the leap, rolling 2d6...

Consider the outcome against the Worlds Without Number NPC Reaction table:

2: As aggressively hostile as the situation allows

Pariah fails the jump, falling to their death, no save

3–5: More unfriendly and hostile than they’d be expected to be in the given situation

The pariah thought they were going to make it: they thought wrong. Allow a save to avoid death/instead receive massive damage/half falling damage etc.

6–8 As predictably hostile or friendly as they’d usually be in this situation

The prediction was that the crevasse would take its toll: perhaps a "No, but..." situation, in that the Pariah appears to fail but has a chance to save and get a hand on a ledge etc, unless they are happy to expend HP and nudge the roll…

9–11 More friendly and benign than you’d expect them to be, given the circumstances

They just make the jump!

12+ As friendly and helpful as their nature and the situation permits them to be

It's a jump, the made it- what more could you possibly want? Maybe the crevasse whispers some words of encouragement such as "good lad"...

...now: already this looks to be another emulation of World of Dungeons, and in many respects it is: this is replacing a binary success/fail with something more granular. However, consider the following:

• Ritual and preparation needn't be pragmatic: before committing to an action, pariahs might offer sacrifices, ritual worship or promises of service in return for success
• ...this can also be addressed on an ad hoc basis, though the price might be higher: bumping the result up a whole step in return for the promise of carrying out some task or quest (or even something simple, like promising to come back and through something down the crevasse at a later date)
• Alternatively, Pariahs can simply expend HP to improve the result of any die roll: the outcome is negotiable!

This is perhaps where I want to express, very clearly, where PARIAH might differ from an OSR game: there are a millions of ways pariahs can stack the odds in their favour as they navigate the dangerous primeval animist wilderness, but ultimately this is an accumulation of debt. Adventures generated for Into the Odd begin with a debt they go on adventures to clear: in PARIAH the characters start with nothing, but quickly find themselves in debit to multiple patrons (spirits of the Here & Now, settled folk, other pariahs) as they attempt to survive.

Something to develop further? It also presents a possible  motivator for embarking on psychedelic trips: to clear the balance of accumulated spiritual debt.

(write that last one down, it might be important)

Streamlining skills checks

Just to circle back from this fledgling idea, I wanted to take a look at how I'm (sort of) dealing with skill checks in the present campaign.

I didn't like how the outcome of how ability scores and skills interacted with one another in PARIAH, for the following reasons:

• Required the GM to set a DC/TN 
• Required ad hoc mathematics
• Felt clunky and awkward: I was almost embarrassed to describe what a player had to roll and why...

I'd considered jettisoning skills entirely and focusing on either ability checks or saves, but realised that in a classless system they gave characters an element of distinction that most players enjoyed. Players also seemed to appreciate how they scaled (D6 being unskilled, D8 being trained etc.), drawing parallels with Jason Tocci's 24XX system (in fact this scale was inspired by this vintage OSR post), I did consider dropping ability scores but... well, I guess I want PARIAH to mostly feel like Old School D&D.

With that in mind, I decided to make ability score modifiers less generous, opting for the bands listed in Swords & Wizardry:

• 3-5: -1
• 6-15: -
• 16-17: +1
• 18: +2

For the most part, ability scores confer no penalties or bonuses: however, at chargen the character's strongest attribute skews the selection of skills with which the character starts. Note that being skilled confers only a slight edge over an untrained person:

D6= untrained

D8=skilled/proficient

D10=expert

D12=master

Not only is this advantage only marginal, it's also swingy, especially when difficulty is factored in. When it is necessary to make skill checks, the check is against the GMs roll on an opposed die.

The player needs to beat the GM's roll to to succeed: the GM cranks up the size of the die they roll based on the context: D6 for something challenging for the untrained, D8 for a task even a skilled person would find challenging etc.

So: an untrained person doing a "challenging" task has about a 42% chance of success. There's also a 16.67% chance of the two rolls being equal: this grants players the opportunity to accept a "no, but..." result or sacrifice a hit point to improve the roll (success at cost).

Taking a look at the "1d6-1d6" distribution versus 2d6 distribution helped push me towards the mechanic outlined at the beginning of the post:

1d6 - 1d6 has the same graph as 2d6, just knocked down 7 steps, obviously!

Reaction Rolls

Most OSR GMs don't bother with social skills.

Hey! Wait! Come back! I didn't mean it that way...

I meant in terms of  PC abilities e.g. bluffing, diplomacy, deception etc.

However, what is commonly recommended is that players describe their character's actions then the GM makes a reaction roll, modified by context (and possibly by the PC's charisma bonus, if any). 

I've allowed for social skills to exist, following the D8/D10/D12 progression described above: however, the skill die is rolled along with the other D6 instead of carrying out an ordinary reaction roll e.g. Howling Wolf is especially good at intimidation (D10). His player describes to the GM how he sets about scaring the shit out of a group of farm labourers, and 1d6+1d8 is rolled to determine how they respond:

This same arrangement can be used for bluffs, bargains, persuasion etc., all tempered by existing relationships of the pariah with the "mark". 

Must go now, still have a few post labels to attach to remaining Kickstarter deliveries!

Links

Atop the Wailing Dunes: proto-Neolithic sandbox
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2022/07/atop-wailing-dunes-pariah-adventure-for.html

MOSAIC Strict Genius Loci
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2022/06/genius-loci-and-foothills-of-teeth.html

Initial Genius Loci post:
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2021/07/genius-loci-linking-encounters-hazards.html

Refining the concept:
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2021/11/spirit-of-wilderness-second-look-at.html

City of Ghosts Play Report
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-one-hour-pariah-sandbox-city-of_26.html

Rod of Lordly Might: skills
https://rodoflordlymight.blogspot.com/2009/03/skills-middle-road.html

Reaction Rolls and Reputation
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2021/01/reaction-rolls-and-reputation.html

World of Dungeons
https://johnharper.itch.io/world-of-dungeons