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How to Play

Helping

SRD v5.1 · View original spread 6

A player may declare that they are Helping another character with a Throw. Narratively, this can represent anything from providing a distraction, assisting physically, offering advice, creating an opening, or supporting the action in some other meaningful way.

Mechanically, Helping grants:

  • +1 to the final Outcome of the Throw

Any number of allies may assist narratively, but no matter how many people are involved, a Throw may only ever gain a maximum of +1 from Helping.

To Help, a player should explain how their character contributes to the action within the fiction. The assistance must make reasonable sense for the situation at hand.

For example:

  • Holding a rope steady while someone climbs
  • Distracting guards during a stealth attempt
  • Assisting in lifting a heavy object
  • Providing covering fire during an escape
  • Chanting alongside a ritual caster

Helping allows characters who are not directly making the Throw to still meaningfully participate in the scene.

Group Actions

Sometimes the entire group attempts something together. Escaping a collapsing ruin, sneaking through enemy territory, rowing through a storm, or collectively performing a ritual are all examples of Group Actions.

When performing a Group Action:

  • Every participating character makes their own Throw for the same {Skill}
  • Every participant becomes part of both the action and its consequences
  • Add together the total Outcome Numbers of every participant
  • The combined total determines the overall result

This means a Group Action can produce massive success through teamwork — or catastrophic failure if several members struggle.

For example:

Three players attempt to force open an ancient sealed gate together:

  • Player One achieves a +3
  • Player Two achieves a +1
  • Player Three suffers a -2 The final Group Outcome becomes: +2 The gate opens, but only partially or with complications

Importantly, Group Actions expose everyone involved to danger. If the action fails disastrously, everyone participating suffers the consequences in some form.