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Some props are less ub1quitous, but can be just as vital. Both the Actors and the Director should try looking for the less obvious improvisations, if only because they're often the most useful. Remember that one of the best ways to impress the Director during a battle, and to maximize your chance of Success, is with the interesting use of a prop. The Director should also endeavor to include the environ ment and its props in the description of her flowchart Results Remember all the obstacles on the Stage, ie. the ledges, windows, furniture, protruding objects, etc. These should be included in both the actions and Results of the Main and Supporting Casts. Including the environment in each of your descriptions will make the Scene come alive in your Actors' minds HANDS, SWORDS, GUNS, AND AUTOMOBILES We're going to start getting into some real detail now, so lets begin with a few definitions. In our view, there are three major types of combat; unarmed, armed, and ranged. All of these may occur as either vehicular or non vehicular combat. In unarmed combat a character has only her own body to rely upon as a weapon. In armed combat the character will be using an implement of some sort, such as a sword, a whip, or a chainsaw. Both armed and unarmed conflicts are types of melee combat, where the cast get to hammer It out face to face. The third major type of combat is ranged. This is where a character has access to some sort of weapon or ability that allows her to carry out combat at a distance. Both guns and magically 90 1 heatrix - The Core Rules generated lightning bolts may be classed as ranged combat In non-vehicular combat the cast will be using their own feet to move them around the Stage. Forth is reason, the fight is likely to be contained within a relatively small space. During vehicular combat the characters will be riding in, or on, a moving 'Stage'. What happens if a persona falls off of her vehicle? What happens if the vehicle runs out of road? What if the combat takes place on more than one vehicle, and an Actor wishes her role to jump back and forth between them? As you can see, the type of combat that the Actors choose to engage in can have a dramatic effect on the feel of each Scene. Each type of combat has a particular pace, and its own methods of portrayal within the Chronicle. Always remember that the various types of combat can be combined. If a fight Scene only involves two characters in a field swinging swords at each other, that's fine. But imagine the impact of a Scene where two combatants fight for survival on top of a runaway train, one armed with a four foot sword, the other equipped with only her wits, while a third party takes high caliber pot shots from a nearby helicopter Which combat do you think would be more fun to portray? CHOREOGRAPHY Most of the following sections have been condensed onto 'Theatrix Reference Sheet C' for your convenience. In many other roleplaying systems you generally describe your modes of attack with such heart pounding
descriptions as, 'I swing my sword at the guy.' All that this will kill is the mood. This is Theatrix, so you're going to need to use a lot more dramatic license than that. In Theatrix you describe your attacks with descriptions more like 'I wait for his swing, parry it over my head with my shield, and take a full swipe with my mace, aiming for his legs in order to sweep them out from under him.' Yeah, the second description is a little longer, but we feel it's well worth the wait. Just remember to have fun and you'll do all right Not only that, but if you're not having fun, the Director is instructed to lean on you hard. No acting, no action, no Successes. FIGHTING STYLES While it may be more fun to embellish in combats, it's sometimes hard to do. Especially for those of us who lack basic training in modern and historic weapon's tactics. So we're going to give you a basic framework, off of which you may roleplay through almost any fight, with almost any weapons. The basic options in any Theatrix combat are Plain Fighting, All Out Attack, Full De fense, and Trickery. Plain Fighting With Plain Fighting you're simply doing whatever is easiest, making attacks of opportunity, and keeping up a good defense. You're not trying anything too fancy, but you're still attempting to win. You're not going to take any chances, but you're not going to let any get by you either. The disadvantage of Plain Fighting is that you can sometimes be caught off balance by a more daring and ferocious attack (see All Out Attack). You may describe Plain Fighting as ... ¢ Fencing, Taking a rest. Contending, Keeping All Out Attack the pace, Keeping her at bay, Taking her measure, or Sizing her up. In an All Out Attack you throw caution to the wind and go for the most damage you can possibly inflict. The problem is that you're basically defenseless, and if your opponent is much better than you, probably in a lot of trouble. This is often the kind of action you commit to, only to realize it was a mistake shortly thereafter. However, All Out Attacks make excellent finishing moves (putting a fading opponent out of the battle before she has a chance to recover or get lucky), and an unexpected onslaught of this ferocity can occasionally have great effect if used properly. An All Out Attack may also briefly cover a lack of skill with a flurry of blows, but this is a dangerous bluff against anyone who clearly outmatches you. You may describe All Out Attacks as .. ¢ Going for It, Raining blows, Going all out, Full Full Defense committal, Berserk, or Frenzy. When choosing Full Defense, an Actor is concen trating solely on keeping her character alive and unin jured. With this type of fighting the character will be very hard to hurt, but then again, she won't be accomplishing much else. Full Defense may sometimes be the only way to keep yourself intact against a superior opponent. The problem with a Full Defense is that it's very hard to get the measure of your opponent using such tactics. With Plain Fighting, or an All Out Attack, you have a much better opportunity to judge your opponents style, pacmg, strengths, and deficits. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You may describe a Full Defense as ... ¢ Giving ground, All out defense, Parry, Block, Trickery or Dodge. When engaging in Trickery, you're hoping to some how unbalance your opponent into either giving you an opening for an attack, or allowing you to escape. Trickery is the use of the unorthodox, such as sleight of hand, sand in the face, baiting an attack with a false opening, etc. Trickery is always dangerous, because if it fails, you'll often find that you're the one who has been unbalanced. You may describe Trickery as ... ¢ Feint, Hand switch, Throw sand in the eyes, DAMAGE Sleight of hand, Hidden weapon, Bluffing, or Playing Dead. One of the most difficult subjects to tackle in a free form style game like Theatrix is how to handle damage. How do you tell when someone has been incapacitated, knocked unconscious, or killed? How long do the effects of damage last? What kinds of weapons do what kinds of damage? Our solution is just to tell your story. Damage is the premier Plot Device. Of course we're going to give you a framework to build your descriptions of damage around, which is why we're now introducing the concept of Wound Levels. Theatrlx - The Core Rules 91
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()eslan: David Berkman, Trav1s Eneb
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1J [Bll f)f tf)J[1J§ c INTRODUCTIO
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Downtime Pregaming APPLAUSE JELLYBE
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8 Theatrix - The Core Rules
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10 Tlleatr1x - The Core Rules
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Chapter V- Lights ... Camera ... Ac
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14 fheatr1x - The Core Rules
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pretend to be this other person tha
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¢ A league of super-powered heroes
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20 Theatrix - The Core Rules
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c;> her tormenting her employees wi
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edge to their characters (which mea
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Sequence that they're dreammg. The
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edge represented by that number may
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Books If you're creating your own g
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Coordmation is Important in fightin
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¢ A character who can ignite herse
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Example Skills The following page c
Page 40 and 41: Personality Trait Activation In add
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Page 46 and 47: CONCEPTION The concept for your cha
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Page 58 and 59: The final Difficulty of such action
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Page 64 and 65: many times, and is 'getting ready'
Page 66 and 67: RANDOMNESS If there are times when
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Page 70 and 71: ecome their own screenwriters. The
Page 72 and 73: The Plot Pomts earned 1n th1s way s
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Page 76 and 77: However strange this turn of events
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Page 92 and 93: WOUND LEVELS We suggest the followi
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Page 102 and 103: [More Organ Music] Brought to You B
Page 104 and 105: Abe - It couldn't be h1m. That's no
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Page 116 and 117: Research A quick note on research.
Page 118 and 119: UPDATING THE CORE RULES The Theatri
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Page 126 and 127: q character q action q direction Q
Page 128 and 129: What mood will it evoke? What 1s y
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Midpoint Scene tV Pinch II Plot Tur
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ATTRIBUTES (3.5) Sltength (4 OJ Sta
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Theatix 12efeence Sheet A Skill Ran
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I Plain Fighting Theatr-ix l2efer-e
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