[Torg] Possibilities: Better Results Now VS Character Advancement

[Travis James Hall]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com 
> [mailto:torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com] On Behalf Of 
> Benjamin Grant
> Sent: Saturday, 8 December 2007 9:25 AM
> To: torg at justintimeadventures.com
> Subject: RE: [Torg] Possibilities: Better Results Now VS 
> Character Advancement
> 
> I just had a conversation with one of my players about this, 
> who had this to say: He thinks that the more success he has
> in game, the more reward he should get.

To an extent, he's correct here - but only to an extent. If he plays well,
he should be rewarded for it.

What he's not getting is that if he spends 5 Possibilities in an act, and it
hasn't been a particularly difficult act, he hasn't played well. He hasn't
*succeeded*, in my estimation. My response (which may well differ from
yours, so don't take this as telling you what your response should be) would
be to tell him that success is rewarded, and those players who complete
their adventure goals while spending only a couple of Possibilities, if
that, are the ones who have succeeded.

This can even be expressed in D&D terms. In D&D today, characters are
routinely raised from the dead, but that carries with it a penalty - the
loss of a level. (True Resurrection bypasses this loss, but isn't available
quite so routinely.) In other words, dying slows advancement - even sends it
backwards. So in D&D, success is defined as not dying, and failure slows
advancement.

Torg requires a higher standard for success - death removes your character
from play permanently, and without that revolving door into the afterlife
there needs to be another way to measure success. In Torg, to succeed, you
not only have to survive, but achieve your objectives. In D&D, Raise Dead
spells let you overcome the setback of death to go on an achieve in-game
objectives. In Torg, Possibilities let you overcome the setback of poor
rolls to achieve in-game objectives. Same thing, different scale.

> With DnD, you don't have any Hero Points, I don't think.

Not as standard at the moment. They are there as an option from supplements
- specifically beginning in certain setting-specific supplements, I believe.
And there are rumours the idea will appear in 4th Edition core.

> Ultimately, he seems to be having issues with the idea of the 
> main reward for success being the victory itself, although he
> also always gets his 6-12 possibilities per arc of course.

It sounds to me like he doesn't separate character success and player
success very well. You could ask him whether he is seeking a reward for
player success, or character success. If he says character success, point
out that the character is receiving in-game benefits appropriate to his
achievements. (You are having the character recognised for what he does,
right?) If player success, tell him that there's no challenge in crossing
Possibilities off his character sheet, so in doing so he hasn't achieved a
victory. When he does so, he'll be rewarded.

Travis Hall