Introduction & House Rules
Subplots:
Mistaken Identity; Nemesis; Romance; Suspicion; True Identity
Note, some of these are not in the Eternity deck, so I will be adding them
A player may choose to hold any of these cards in their hand, in which case it will count towards hand size but will not trigger unless played.
Alternatively, the player may place the card in play, like pooling but not requiring rounds, regardless of it's availability (ie Romance when there are no NPCs around); the card will not count towards hand size, and will be available for me to Trigger at my first/best opportunity (Remembering this is a PG13 game «for now at least», per RPOL rules for non-mature, non-adult games. I want the widest possible player pool...but is that Ravagon looking at you funny?)
Thirdly, the player may choose to discard a Subplot for a replacement card and one Possibilitiy (More Eternity Influence)...or if I am 100% certain that Subplot cannot trigger in the current adventure when it is put into play, this will also occur (this will be extremely rare).
Other "Gold" cards
Alertness: Pooled like a Subplot, this card will not affect hand count. If it is in play and the group is missing something, I will take this card and provide information. If this card is in play at the end of an Act, the player can turn it in for 1 XP§. IF this is turned in at the end of the adventure, it nets 1 XP per act it was in play. If held in hand, it does count against hand size. If the player gets through the adventure with this card in there hand, the reward is 2 XP and each character also gets 2 bonus possibilites awarded in time to pay adventure costs.
Connection: Pooled like a Subplot, this card tells me the Storm Knight knows someone helpful in the area. Where in the area, how you know them, and how helpful they are is up to the creator of the adventure with portential tweaking from me. There is no advantage to saving this card, and Good Role Playing with the connection can earn XP, but remember...just because you are assured aid does not mean the connection is a friend.
Escape: This can only be pooled in combat, and it must be the first card pooled by the player who does so(I will allow some leeway if multiple cards are pooled at once--Leadership pooled and immediately played to put Escape into another Knight's pool for example. This is the ultimate "Safe Word". As long as Escape was pooled corretly, not a single character will die in this combatφ ensuring the party will have a chance to at least run away.
Idea: The same as Alertness, exept when this triggers the Character will get a clue about what to do next, even if there wasn't something in the area to spark it.
NormL cards
These cards are played out of your hand when out of Rounds and must be pooled first in Rounds. Cards not detailed here function as written. If further explanation is needed ask. I may add that card and its answer here.
Coup De Grace: I am going to experiment here, so this card may change during the game. Counter to what I said before, I am going to bring the Eternity Bonus Die into this game, but only for the CdG. This card will add 1 Bonus Die to the Effect Value of a succesful attack. This will average out to only a little bit better than the Original +3. If it causes a problem, I will revert, but I think this will be a minor change for a few extroardinary results.
Glory I am afraid my change to this may be too powerfull so again, though I think you all know that everything in this game is subject to change at My Whim, I am specifically declaring a few items Experimental. For Now, a successful Glory (60+ in Dramatic Scene on Roll That Matters) will increase both XP and Possibility awards for the entire party by 3.
Martyr: This is technically a Subplot card, however, unless you are tired of the character and want to start a new one, it should never be played as one. This card is the ultimate triple W..."We Win! Wait,"... card. If pooled in Rounds, it only guarantees the option to buy the win at the price of the character's life. If combat ends without resorting to it, it may be picked up like the other cards and does count toward Hand Limit. If pooled outside of Rounds, it "Triggers" immediately. For the rest of the adventure, this character does not spend a possibility to Roll again and gets the First "packet" of Soaking free...This character is destined for something spectacular. When the group is at its darkest and all seems lost, the Martyr may give up their life for a guaranteed success, no matter the odds. However, all Possibility awards stop for this character through the first Act of the next adventure; which will only be a problem if the character doesn't die. This is a war for the very nature of Reality. Shirking your Destiny after you chose to accept it (by playing for the subplot) has its punishments.
Monologue: Rounds are supposed to be about 10 seconds, not hard and fast but around there. The Monologue card throws that out the window. When this card is played (from the pool) all hostile action stops for as long as the playing character speachifies. As part of the speach, the character may make 1 interaction attack or 1 persuasion attempt on any group of people who hear the speach...Think Azeem towards the end of Prince of Theives; the peasents in a panic pushing, shoveing, fleeing, and then this man who they have all been culturally conditioned to think of as something to flee stands and shouts, "English! English! Behold..." and EveryOne stops to listen...And Joins Him! ... Or think Pixels, Professor Iwatani plays Monologue and Pac Man stops; Professor Iwatani, "Hello, my sweet, little boy. Look how big you've grown. (Reaches out Hand) I know, you're a good boy." Rolls a 2 on his Charm roll for a total failure; Pac Man bites his hand off. The rest of the party may move around during the speech but must wait like everyone else for it to end before they may take hostile actions. Healing, Recovery, Defensive, or otherwise non-hostile actions may take place during the speech, including long cast time spells, miracles, and psionics that are expressly not hostile, as long as the monologue takes long enough to deliver. Note: this is all on the Monologuing character. There can be no give and take, no lead and respond, just one long speach by the character. I will allow OOC thread assistance from the other players in writing the speech, if the player of the speeking charachter accepts the help. If the length of this doesn't show it, this card is my favorite thing about my favorite game, when used right.
Opponnent Fails: If you are part of a Multi-Target, the opponent misses everyone; if you are part of a Multi-Action, you can only Fail one of the actions with one of these cards▲.
Supporter: I want to see How you are supporting the action, it doesn't need to make perfect sense...how many times does House come up with The Answer after someone says something completely unrelated to anything to do with the problem? I just don't want to see {I play Supporter} without {I yell "Boo"} or Something This is not a Hard Fast rule. Play By Post will sometimes put us in a "I'm not available for a while, consider my Supporter playable" situation where the "Playng" character is not available for further comment, for example. However, Supporter is one of the cards that allows for Excellent Role Playing which can lead to increased XP awards from enhanced Group activity.
Notes:
§ Unless otherwise noted, all card generated XP awards apply to the entire group (I cannot think of any that won't, but reserving the right). Unless otherwise noted, any Possibility awards apply to the playing character.
φ Capture, maiming (not permanet), and abject failure are still possible, and a Martyr card play voids this warranty.
As we are using Group XP, character death is not the abject horror it could be, but the Player could be out of action for some time waiting for a replacement character to be included.
▲ This is counter to at least one set of rules for this card. Consider it a House Rule.