Stepping Up Doom Pool Dice

[konate]

Don't forget that you can have a villain grandstand (OM15), adding their effect die to the doom pool! Also, whenever a villain uses a distinction at d4, you step up the lowest doom pool die.

So combine the two! Grandstand with a d4 distinction, you step up the lowest die in the doom pool, and add another one!

And, as Doc Hydrogen suggested, have your villains use those d6s, so the doom pool consists of d8s and d10s! In addition, don't forget that when you add a doom die to a villain's action, you can give a PP to the player the villain rolled against to put that die back into the doom pool! Spend the d6s, but don't put 'em back in, but keep those d8s/d10s so you can step them up to d12s!

-EF

Could the watcher character "split his attention" and achieve both stress and add to the doom pool (at a cost of d6 to the doom pool, essentially stepping up a die should the effect die be higher than a d6)?

[EldritchFire]

Don't forget that you can have a villain grandstand (OM15), adding their effect die to the doom pool! Also, whenever a villain uses a distinction at d4, you step up the lowest doom pool die.

So combine the two! Grandstand with a d4 distinction, you step up the lowest die in the doom pool, and add another one!

And, as Doc Hydrogen suggested, have your villains use those d6s, so the doom pool consists of d8s and d10s! In addition, don't forget that when you add a doom die to a villain's action, you can give a PP to the player the villain rolled against to put that die back into the doom pool! Spend the d6s, but don't put 'em back in, but keep those d8s/d10s so you can step them up to d12s!

-EF

Could the watcher character "split his attention" and achieve both stress and add to the doom pool (at a cost of d6 to the doom pool, essentially stepping up a die should the effect die be higher than a d6)?

That, unfortunately, doesn't work. In order to keep a second effect die, you need to spend a doom die of that size or larger (OM16).

-EF

[chatty]

That's exactly what I was referring to on another thread when I was talking about disasters. Having things like this treated as simply scene distinctions doesn't feel right. Making it a "specialty character" (for lack of a better reference) works like a charm.

For things like a fire, the effect die could go to harm the characters (i.e. "attacking" them) or into the doom pool as it's a form of grandstanding. "No, this is a really big and heavy plane. It's impressively large."

Where's your post on this, Doc? I'm trying to soak up as much as possible as I try to formulate some Doom Pool ideas. I am thinking some object similar to a Distinction or an Effect, but that can take something analogous to a turn in order to increase in severity or affect characters is a good idea, but my thoughts are unformed.

[Battlechimp]

That, unfortunately, doesn't work. In order to keep a second effect die, you need to spend a doom die of that size or larger (OM16).

It does too, you just have to have the right circumstances... which aren't too hard to achieve.

First, you need a villain who can throw out effect dice that are larger then the dice you have in the doom pool to start with - Constrictor isn't likely to grow the doom pool in this fashion very much as he's chucking mostly d8; but Graviton can lob d10's and d12's pretty easily.

Second, your doom pool needs to have a few spare dice sitting around equal to what the villain will have as potential extra effect dice. Typically you'll want d8's, maybe a d10 if you're aiming high, and d6's might work if they're using a SFX that grants extra d6's such as weapons, area attacks, or complications.

Then it's just a matter of pulling off the action roll using just 2 dice... this is the risky part, as most heroes can oppose pretty well, so it's probably best to grandstand as the main narrative action to make it harder to oppose and then use your spare effect die to punish whoever tries to oppose you...

Example: Your doom pool is 2d6 and a d8.
Graviton grandstands by tearing up the local environment and chucking bits of scenery here and there.
His die pool is Solo d8 + Vain d8 (he's probably gloating) + Gravity Supremacy 2d10 (stepped back and doubled from Versatile) + Science Mastery d10 (He's controlling gravity, that's SCIENCE!).

If he gets a good roll on 2 dice, he could grandstand with a d10 Effect die (even if two of his 10's roll well he still has a spare 3rd) and then pull a d8 from the doom pool and keep one of his 2d8's for an additional Effect to cause stress to who ever tried to oppose him. If he succeeds then the doom pool is down a d8 but up a d10 and a hero ate some stress.

Down side to this is you're gambling on succeeding and if the hero beats you your doom pool has shrunk. Also you can only keep a d8 for an extra effect die so you might end up without a d8 to actually keep - for Graviton it'd make sense to split Science Master into 2d8 to up the odds of getting one you could keep.

Alternatively, if you have a doom pool that is a big pile of many smaller dice you could probably swing something where you add them into your roll and keep them for the result in hopes of getting a higher total and converting them to a single bigger die from grandstanding.

Example: Doom pool is 6d6
Graviton grandstands again but this time doesn't step back his Gravity Supremacy or or his Science master and also adds in 2d6 from the doom pool. As long as those d6's don't come up 1's he could spend 2d6 from the doom pool and add them to his result and use his d12 or d10 as his Effect die and the doom pool would change to 2d6 + 1d12(1d10) if he succeeds. You could also probably drop 2pp and put those d6's back in the doom pool if you REALLY felt the need.

[gforce1985]

I'm cool on all the doom pool rules except one thing. If a player rolls one opportunity and you use it to step up an existing doom die (as opposed to creating a new one) do you still have to pay the player a PP?

[Cam]

It's the activation of an opportunity that involves the Plot Point being handed over, not what you do with it. So whether you step up your lowest die in the doom pool by one or add a new d6 or both, the player is getting PP.

The confusion might come from the situation where a player rolls more than one opportunity. Basically, by activating the opportunity, you can affect one die in the doom pool. For the sake of argument, adding a new die to the doom pool counts as affecting one die. If you want to affect more than one die you need to activate more opportunities. Multiple opportunities DO allow you to step up a doom die more than once, which is how you can hand over 1 PP to activate an opportunity and then add a d12 to the doom pool because the player actually had 4 ones rolled (the first gives you the d6, the other three step the d6 up to d12).

Cheers,
Cam

[konate]

It's the activation of an opportunity that involves the Plot Point being handed over, not what you do with it. So whether you step up your lowest die in the doom pool by one or add a new d6 or both, the player is getting PP.

So you are allowed to step up a doom die on a single opportunity? The book seems to say (in the example as well) it can only be done when multiple opportunities are rolled. It also seems to state that if a doom die is stepped up, you don't pay a pp for it, only when a die is added.

[Supplanter]

Cam, how does the analogous situation work on the player side. Say the Watcher rolls two 1s on her reaction roll. Does one PP get me a D8 Stunt, or a stepped-up D10 Stunt?

Thanks,


Jim

[N01H3r3]

Cam, how does the analogous situation work on the player side. Say the Watcher rolls two 1s on her reaction roll. Does one PP get me a D8 Stunt, or a stepped-up D10 Stunt?

Thanks,


Jim

A Stunt is a d8 anyway, and automatically gets stepped up to d10 if you Activate an Opportunity to get it. As far as I can tell, there's nothing else that lets you step up a Stunt, and activating multiple opportunities wouldn't let you step it up further.

[mocachild]

that is correct N01H3r3.