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"The world lives and breathes. It changes, and the smallest of things can change the world."
Sanctioned Stories are one way in which players can have an active impact on the canon of the Outer Sanctum. All Sanctioned Stories, big or small, influence the ongoing story. Sometimes, the impacts of these actions will be immediately evident; other times, it may take time for the results to come to light. Unlike standard roleplaying stories in the Outer Sanctum, Sanctioned Stories will always have an impact on the canon, and those who participate in the stories will be immortalized in the annals of history.
Sanctioned Stories will be guided by the Narrator, who will lead players through the world, and introduce characters and obstacles to help the heroes (or villains) of the adventure navigate the world. The Narrator will be the guide, but the players drive the story.
The fate of the Outer Sanctum, for better or worse, rests on your shoulders.
Sanctioned Story Difficulty Levels
Sanctioned Stories have three different tiers of difficulty. The greater the degree of challenge, the more dangerous the risks will be (but greater will be the rewards). Keep in mind, that sometimes, a reward may not immediately be evident.
- Low Challenge Level.- Medium Challenge Level.- High Challenge Level.The challenge level of a Sanctioned Story corresponds to the risk level to your characters:
- High chance of minor/small injuries. Extremely low chance of death.- High probability of injury, high chance of permanent injuries (permanent scars for example).- Very high chance of injury. Death is possible.Beware, the business of being an adventurer is not without risk. By participating in a Sanctioned Story, your character may face great risks. These can lead to permanent changes to your character, or even death.
Keep your wits about you.
What is a Risk Event?
There will be times during a Sanctioned Story where an event outside of the player's control will happen; a rock slide may occur, a trap could be triggered, or the group might get ambushed.
A Risk Event has two goals:
1. To provide an element of surprise in the Sanctioned Story;
2. To inject RP elements into the thread for players to use in their own character's narrative.
2. To inject RP elements into the thread for players to use in their own character's narrative.
For example, In each of these cases a percentile roll will be carried out by The Narrator to determine whether or not a character is successful in avoiding the Risk Event (or if they fail). Players will be notified of the success chart, and it's up to them to RP those results. Importantly, while a Risk Event can be dangerous, they will never be lethal.
But, what does this look like in practice?
The Narrator injects the Risk Event into the story by rolling for the event. The results of the roll are included in OOC thread, and the in-game events play out based on those rolls. Here is what a Risk Event might look like:
The group, as they travel through an underground labyrinth, unwittingly trigger a volley of arrows from hidden traps in the walls.
As the group makes their way through the darkness, lit only by their torches, there is a loud click and the woosh of a number of arrows as they launch from hidden traps in the walls towards the group. Mikaela Corvid, Nobilis, and JamesMartin are fortunate and the arrows shoot past them and embed themselves into the opposite wall, but Ipsie is caught unawares and is struck by an arrow.
With the Risk Event completed, the players would roleplay the aftermath of the event. Ipsie was struck by an arrow, but where and the degree of severity is up to her. Ipsie may rip the arrow out and then seal the wound shut with magic; she might simply break the shaft of the arrow, leaving the head in place until she is in a position to more carefully remove it; she may ask another party member to remove it for her, and so on. If a player is injured by a Risk Event, we hope that players will roll with the punches in good faith.
With the Risk Event completed, the players would roleplay the aftermath of the event. Ipsie was struck by an arrow, but where and the degree of severity is up to her. Ipsie may rip the arrow out and then seal the wound shut with magic; she might simply break the shaft of the arrow, leaving the head in place until she is in a position to more carefully remove it; she may ask another party member to remove it for her, and so on. If a player is injured by a Risk Event, we hope that players will roll with the punches in good faith.
It is the good and the bad that shape our characters' fates.
The failure chance of any Sanctioned Story cannot be altered and corresponds to the difficulty of the story.
- 5% - 10% - 15%All character's have a 10% chance of rolling a Critical Success. If a player's roll is 90% or higher, that Critical Successes can be used in one of three different ways:
1. It can be "saved" for use if the character fails a different challenge later in the story;
2. It can be used to "save" another character who failed a roll;
3. It can be used to "greatly influence your fortunes in a fight".
2. It can be used to "save" another character who failed a roll;
3. It can be used to "greatly influence your fortunes in a fight".
Once a Critical Success is used, it can no longer be used in other situations. Critical Successes are limited to the story in which they occur and cannot be used outside of the confines of that particular Sanctioned Story. Players can use the OOC thread to let The Narrator know how they would like to use their Critical Success.
General Sanctioned Story Rules
Because Sanctioned Stories involve multiple people, in order to ensure that the story does not stall, there is a ticking clock. It would be unfair to keep several people waiting for several days without notice.
1. When it is your turn, you have 48 hours to post. If you do not post in the window of time, your turn will be skipped.
2. Please use the OOC thread for communication.
3. Please roleplay with integrity.
2. Please use the OOC thread for communication.
3. Please roleplay with integrity.
Every Sanctioned Story will have an associated OOC thread for questions, banter, combat information, and so on. Please avoid OOC comments in the Sanctioned Story itself. Finally, when it comes to roleplaying, we ask that if you maintain a high degree of integrity—no godmodding, no spontaneous generation of powers, and accepting that sometimes, you just have to take a hit.
Sanctioned Story Combat Rules
1. When in combat, there will be a posting order determined at random at the start of a fight. Failure to post in the 48 hour window will result in your character "defending" themselves and nothing else.
2. If your character is inactive for two turns in a row, your character's morale will break and will flee combat. This will remove them from the Sanctioned Story for the remainder of the story. You will be able to participate in future Sanctioned Stories, but the other characters that watched you flee may have a poor opinion of you.
3. Combat will be determined through a "3-action combat system." During a combat encounter, during your turn, you can only take three actions.
2. If your character is inactive for two turns in a row, your character's morale will break and will flee combat. This will remove them from the Sanctioned Story for the remainder of the story. You will be able to participate in future Sanctioned Stories, but the other characters that watched you flee may have a poor opinion of you.
3. Combat will be determined through a "3-action combat system." During a combat encounter, during your turn, you can only take three actions.
During one round of combat, your character has three actions "points" that they can use.
There are five ways to spend your actions:
1. Prepare Action;
2. Attack (Physical or Magical);
3. Move in one direction;
4. Defend from an attack;
5. Planning.
Magical abilities and dangerous physical abilities (attempts to target specific body parts or "unique abilities", for example) require an action spent to prepare the attack as they are more dangerous abilities. Basic melee attacks do not require preparation. Moving in a single direction is considered an action, as is defending from an attack (blocking a sword strike with a shield, for example). Unlike these four actions, "Planning" is different. Planning requires you to use all three of your points in exchange for one extra action in the following round, granting your four action points. Because during that turn you are focusing on analyzing the battlefield, you will almost certainly require your team's help to avoid grievous injury.
In the following round, however, your advantage may be enough to end a fight outright as you attempt to overwhelm your opponent with a planned attack.
Beware, not all enemies will have the same number of ability points. Some may have less—others more.
There are five ways to spend your actions:
1. Prepare Action;
2. Attack (Physical or Magical);
3. Move in one direction;
4. Defend from an attack;
5. Planning.
Magical abilities and dangerous physical abilities (attempts to target specific body parts or "unique abilities", for example) require an action spent to prepare the attack as they are more dangerous abilities. Basic melee attacks do not require preparation. Moving in a single direction is considered an action, as is defending from an attack (blocking a sword strike with a shield, for example). Unlike these four actions, "Planning" is different. Planning requires you to use all three of your points in exchange for one extra action in the following round, granting your four action points. Because during that turn you are focusing on analyzing the battlefield, you will almost certainly require your team's help to avoid grievous injury.
In the following round, however, your advantage may be enough to end a fight outright as you attempt to overwhelm your opponent with a planned attack.
Beware, not all enemies will have the same number of ability points. Some may have less—others more.
A good example of a combat round might look like this:
JamesMartin took a few steps back and quickly sized up his enemies. The three goblins had come out of the underbrush and had caught him off guard. Quickly, he spoke the words of an incantation, steepling his fingers in front of his chest, concentrating on forming a fireball (Prepare Action). Quickly he hurled it towards two of the three goblins, hoping to catch them both in the blast (Attack). There was no way that this fight wouldn't devolve into a messy flurry of blades and blood—he drew his knife as he tried to put some distance between himself and the goblins (Move).
Here's an example of an incorrect combat round:
JamesMartin threw a fireball at the goblins (missing Prepare Action) and then engaged them all in hand to hand combat while they were on fire and practically melting (Autoing Results). He stabbed one of the flaming goblins in the neck (Action), then kicked it to the ground (Action), before bringing the knife down and killing the goblin by stabbing it between the eyes (Autoing Results and Action). Then he got up and ran over to the second one (Move) and slashing his throat (Autoing Result and Action). The last goblin, still on fire, panicked and ran away (Godmodding).
The second example has more than the three allowed actions, but also has autoing and godmodding, which are both not permitted. The receiver dictates the results, not the one attempting to inflict an effect.
JamesMartin took a few steps back and quickly sized up his enemies. The three goblins had come out of the underbrush and had caught him off guard. Quickly, he spoke the words of an incantation, steepling his fingers in front of his chest, concentrating on forming a fireball (Prepare Action). Quickly he hurled it towards two of the three goblins, hoping to catch them both in the blast (Attack). There was no way that this fight wouldn't devolve into a messy flurry of blades and blood—he drew his knife as he tried to put some distance between himself and the goblins (Move).
Here's an example of an incorrect combat round:
JamesMartin threw a fireball at the goblins (missing Prepare Action) and then engaged them all in hand to hand combat while they were on fire and practically melting (Autoing Results). He stabbed one of the flaming goblins in the neck (Action), then kicked it to the ground (Action), before bringing the knife down and killing the goblin by stabbing it between the eyes (Autoing Results and Action). Then he got up and ran over to the second one (Move) and slashing his throat (Autoing Result and Action). The last goblin, still on fire, panicked and ran away (Godmodding).
The second example has more than the three allowed actions, but also has autoing and godmodding, which are both not permitted. The receiver dictates the results, not the one attempting to inflict an effect.
A General Note on Etiquette
Sanctioned Stories are where you have an opportunity to truly make a mark on the world. Sanctioned Stories will move the narrative of the world forward, in visible and invisible ways, and may also reward the player with unique badges to put on their profile or powerful tools that your character will be able to retain and use. We ask that players participating in a Sanctioned Story to leave OOC egos at the door. During a Sanctioned Story, you will be expected to accept that sometimes things will be out of your control. That's part of the fun, and part of the risk.
If the path to success were easy, everyone would have walked it.
If you have questions about Sanctioned Stories, please post them in the Rules and Roleplay Q&A.