STORYGAME - Defense, Saves, & Grit

Heroes in classic fantasy stories may not always acquire increasingly protective armor, or have the best natural reflexes or resistances, but they usually all have one thing in common: that special something that helps them succeed in the face of the greatest and most fantastical of odds. 

Whatever you call it - perseverance, determination, or grit - characters in STORYGAME are no exception.

Defense Bonus

PCs have a Defense Bonus (DEF), which is used to avoid attacks in combat. DEF begins at +0, or +1 if the PC's Dexterity is 15 or greater.

Armor. DEF is further increased by worn armor and carried shields, as shown:

• Unarmored: +0 DEF
• Leather armor: +2 DEF
• Scale mail: +3 DEF
• Chain mail: +4 DEF
• Banded mail: +5 DEF
• Plate mail: +6 DEF
• Suit of Armor: +9 DEF
• Shield: +1 DEF

Defense Roll. When targeted by an attack, a character can make a defense roll to avoid losing Plot Armor or receiving a wound. The player must roll d20 plus DEF greater than or equal to the attacker’s Attack Rating (AR) to succeed. On a failure, the attack is a close call, and the PC loses Plot Armor equal to the damage of the attack.

Critical Success. An unmodified result of 20 on the d20 indicates the defense roll is a critical success, and the player may choose one of the following:

• Patient Guard. Make attacks against this NPC with a +1 bonus until the end of next turn.
• Dodge Roll. Move up to 5 feet around themselves in any unblocked direction.

Critical Failure. An unmodified result of 1 on the d20 indicates the defense roll is a critical failure, and the NPC has scored a critical hit. The character does not lose Plot Armor, and instead receives a wound with a duration equal to the attack’s damage.

Saving Throws

All characters have three saving throws, determined by their level and class:

• Resist. Used to fight poison, disease, physical force, paralysis, petrification, and death.
• React. Used to dodge unwanted effects or peril, such as from wands, traps, and dragon’s breath. 
• Ward. Used to repel ill magics and mental influence, such as from spells, rods, and staves.

Saves. Saves are reactive rolls, typically made to avoid or mitigate unwanted effects or consequences. The player must roll a d20 less than or equal to the saving throw to succeed.

Critical Failure. An unmodified result of 20 on the d20 indicates a save is a critical failure. If it was made versus a non-magical damage effect, the character does not lose Plot Armor, and instead receives a wound with duration equal to the damage.

Grit

A limited resource that PCs can spend to immediately re-roll any d20 roll: ability checks, saves, attack rolls, and defense rolls - as long as the previous result of the roll isn't a critical failure.

Gaining Grit. Each PC gains 1 Grit at the start of each session, and another 1 Grit each time they roll a critical failure on a d20 roll. The GM may also award grit to a PC for surviving something they should not have been able to. There is no maximum amount of grit.

Losing Grit. Whenever a PC rolls a critical success on an attack roll, all characters lose all their grit. All unused grit is also lost at the end of each session.

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