Crimson
A World of Darkness
Vampire Chronicle
Mob Challenges
It’s a fact of life that sooner or later a large group of characters will decide to mix it up. Group challenges can seem intimidating even to experienced Narrators and Storytellers; these rules are meant to streamline the process and make such situations easier to resolve, rather than devolving into endless matches of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
First of all, find who is challenging whom. The easiest way is to count to three
and have everyone point to the person they wish to target that turn. If no one is being challenged by more than one person, then challenges are carried out normally.
If one character is challenged by several targets, or tries to challenge multiple
opponents at once, resolve it in the following manner. First deal with groups in
the order of largest to smallest, just for ease of play. Each attacker must bid an
appropriate Trait as normal for the challenge required; logistics put a limit of
up to five characters attacking another character at once.
Next, the defender character must bid enough Traits to counter every opponent in the group; if he does not have enough Traits, he must relent to the rest of his opponents (although he may choose which ones he relents to). Resolve such relented challenges first — it is very possible the defender may fall before the rest of the group can act!
Finally, the defender and any remaining attackers engage in one simultaneous test. The defender then compares his sign to each of the attacker’s signs, applying the appropriate results. Thus, if the defending character throws Scissors and his attackers throw Rock, Scissors, Paper and Paper, the defender is considered to have lost to the first challenger, tied the second (resolved like any other tie) and beaten the last two. The defenders and attackers lose Traits bid in any given loss. If the defender in the previous example had bid one Trait against every attacker, he would have lost one Trait to the first attacker, and an additional Trait if he had lost the tie as well.
Once the tests have been made, they are resolved in the standard order of actions and initiative. It is possible for a defender to lose Traits to the first attackers and then lose a tie to an attacker later in the same mob challenge. That’s OK — the first attackers “softened up” the defender. However, unless the defender has a special power which allows him to take multiple actions, he may only attempt
to injure one of his attackers, and it must be one who lost a challenge. If none of the attackers lose, the defender simply suffers the results of their actions.
When the defender in a mob challenge uses Abilities or other powers to gain retests, each attacker’s challenge is treated as a separate test. Thus, a defender would need five Melee Traits in order to retest against five attackers in a melee combat.
Time in Mind’s Eye Theatre works as it does in real life. It moves forward inexorably, relentlessly. For the most part, everything is played out in real time, and players are expected to stay in character unless they have a rules question. It is assumed that a player is always “in character” during the course of a story. A player should never drop character when interacting with other players.
Doing so ruins the atmosphere for everyone involved. Challenges may be talked through, but a player is always considered to be active in the game. If a player needs to take a break, he should inform a Narrator. That player shouldnot interact with any of the other players while out of character.
The only other exception to the “in-character rule” is when a Narrator calls for a “timeout.” This call may be necessary to resolve a dispute or to change the scene if the story calls for it. When “Timeout!” is called, all players within hearing distance must stop whatever they are doing until the Narrator calls out, “Resume” or “Lay on!” Timeouts should be kept to a minimum, since they interrupt the flow of the story.