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through 1s either going to be really good or really lucky.
These Results Will also have far more to do with what your
Actors can think up, and w1th how well they roleplay, than
with how well they roll dice
TIMING, TENSION, AND AMBIGUITY
Timsng, tens1on, and ambigUity are Interdependent
upon one another Remember that the flowcharts are
ava1lable to help you come up w1th Results. but you
always need to supply the deta1ls of those Results, and all
other descriptions, yourself This allows the flowcharts to
be independent of the action, and sndependent of any
time scale The obtained Result can represent the culmi­
nation of some final goal, an sntermediary goal, or just the
outcome of some brief action The interval of time be­
tween the initiation of the act1on and the application of the
Result may be a single Combat Round several Combat
Rounds, a mmute, an hour. a week, a month or even
several years. Even in the short duration g1ven to most
combat act1ons you don't need to apply a Result 1n any
immediate way. Your descnpt1on of the Result may even
take place over an extended period of time, w1th the
possibility that the Actors will do somethsng during that
time to alter the final Result
For example, in a fencing duel between two fairly
matched opponents, you may decide that you'll have the
Actor, who's slightly less skilled than her Supporting Cast
opponent, lose the duel You could decide that in order to
g1ve the opponent (whom our heroine will meet aga1n} an
air of danger, you're go1ng to have h1m hurt her a little
This way our heroine will be hes1tant upon their next
meeting, a little doubtful, and therefore victory will be less
certasn This 1s also a good opportuntty to express her
opponent's vileness. However, you needn't apply this
decision in a single Combat Round. Your description
could include several minutes of close back and forth
sword play, w1th ne1ther participant able to obtatn an
advantage What you're do1ng here IS buildtng the tension
by leaving the moment unresolved Ask the Actor what
she's having her character do Describe how every move
is foiled, while she is barely able to parry each of her
opponent's strokes. If our Actor can come up with some­
thing really brilliant dunng th1s t1me, then by all means
change the outcome Barring this contingency however,
after enough of this cat and mouse game has built the
tension, bnng it to a close by applying your Result The
villain gets in a daring slash of his blade, cuttmg through
the fabnc of our herorne s fencing suit and drawing blood
Our vrllain apologizes Instantly However could the safety
t1p have come off hke that? Must have caught oddly
against the fabric of the su1t I'm so sorry May I help you
w1th that? Maybe we mrght fimsh thrs at another time?'
Feel free to play with the hmmg of your Results in
order to hold the tensron 1n the plot In fact, you can feel
free to play With the Result rtself Knowledge of the
outcome, and Magnitude of a Result, can be withheld for
as long as the D1rectorteels rs necessary That makes the
Result itself ambiguous This technique leaves room
between the initiation and outcome of an action, for either
the Actors or the D1rector to alter the Result The Actors
may walk away from v1ctory, or change defeat into
salvatron That's part of th1s type of storytelling Try to
hold to your JUdgements but be open for anythsng else,
because anythtng can and Will happen
lllt•ahix- The Core Rules 65