[Torg] reality storms

[Dominick Riesland]

The rules were always a bit fuzzy on storms (in part to reflect their
chaotic nature), but here's what I have been doing:

Border storms: These are innate obstacles that are found whenever
crossing realities. The first time a group runs into one should be a
dramatic event, because they are that chaotic. Play it up, and use any
of several mechanics for getting them through it. There are examples
of things to do in published adventures. One adventure involved an
English Channel crossing, and had a dragon attack the group's boat.
Halfway through, the scene shifts into the GodNet, everything goes CGI
on them and all the damage becomes mental damage. Other ideas are to
use Dramatic Skill Resolution to get through it intact, treat it as a
"combatant" that needs to be attacked using reality skill or treat it
similar to an invoked storm but with the players able to help each
other (more on invoked storms below).

Once you impress on the players that first storm, other storms should
be treated as wandering monsters. You don't have to check every time
someone goes through a storm if that check breaks the dramatic flow of
the story. On the other hand, part of the danger of realm hopping is
that possibility of a storm transforming you on the way in or out of a
reality. So use them enough to emphasize the dangers of realm hopping,
but not so much that they become a distraction from the adventure.

Invoked storms: Here the rules are better, but still unclear. This is
a summary of the procedure from Torg: Revised & Expanded.

The character must understand that the intended target is not from the
same reality. In some cases it's obvious, but not always. Then the
character must generate a reality total higher than the intended
target's reality value. You only get one chance to invoke a storm on
someone, but if someone fails against you, you can respond on your
action by trying to invoke it yourself.

Once the storm is established, the combatants only have two options:
Attack the other player using reality skill versus the opponent's
reality skill, or generate an active defense against an opposing
attack. (These may be combined into an aggressive defense using the
normal rules.) All conflict line modifiers still apply (who gets
initiative, flurry results, etc.) but Break results are impossible.
The Storm Table is used, and the -X results strip Possibility points
first, then adds in reality skill. When they are both gone, or when a
Transform result hits before a Maelstrom result, the storm ends.
Maelstrom removes the direct transformation result (instead changing
it to +5/-5, meaning that the character gains 5 Possibilities while
the opponent loses 5), but allows any other result to be converted
into a gain of Possibilities for the character (so a result of -2
means that I can either drain 2 Possibilities from my opponent or gain
2 myself).

As for the storm itself, it begins with a 5-meter radius (centered
between the two combatants) and a strength equal to the higher reality
skill. Every storm multiplier result that hits before a Maelstrom
result adds one to the storm strength. Anyone other than the
combatants caught in this storm gets attacked in a manner similar to a
border storm of equivalent strength. The two combatants are cut off
from the rest of the world until the storm resolves; no cards may be
played to aid them, nor may they play cards to aid others. I allow the
Attack and Defend actions on the conflict lines to generate cards for
the player, but that's not a hard and fast rule. (Considering that
many cards are useless in a storm, it's not that unbalancing to allow
it IMO). Storm multipliers increase the size of the storm (my personal
record is 2000 meter radius).

General Note: Characters in their home reality get +3 to resist
storms. Border storms are considered home reality for the realities on
both sides of the border.

Villains Invoking Storms: Most villains will not invoke storms.
Factors that might induce a villain to invoke a storm are: having home
cosm advantage, experience in cosm conquering (high-level lieutenants
of experienced High Lords), and as retaliation for anyone who tries to
invoke a storm on them and fails by a decent margin. This does not
stop you, however, from creating a villain whose primary tactic in the
situation is to invoke a storm.

If you have other questions, let me know.

Dominick Riesland, aka Rabbitball
Creator of the Cosmversal Grimoire
"There are always possibilities, my sergeant told me. But he never had
his possibilities torn away like wings from a fly."



2008/9/14  <Crabshtick at aol.com>:
>
>                    hi guys,
>                          im talking about realm border storms mostly. what
> happens in one? does reality shift constantly in one/ for example are things
> constantly being made/ destroyed (plus all other wierd stuff i can think
> of?) as the 2 realitys battle against each other? or is it just a bleak
> landscape ravaged by storms? and do you need to get characters to roll there
> reality skill each time they cross one or possibly more? how do you roleplay
> the storm that 2 opposing characters create when they battle? how does it
> affect everyone else around them? also how often or indeed would you have a
> villain invoke one against a pc? could other pcs help there comrade at all
> (supported cards etc or even just trading)?
>
>             cheers, mark.
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