Radio Free Covenant – A Podcast about the Science-Fiction Roleplaying Game "Covenant" and Urban Fantasy Novel "Crossing the Line"

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Last week, we promised that we’d talk about how Covenant handles tactical movement during scenes. Let’s do that now.

Before we start, though, let’s narrow down our subject. When I say “tactical movement”, I mean the kind of character movement that needs a map or battle mat, including fights or any other scene where you need to know where your character is with some precision. Covenant handles this kind of movement with areas.

Areas are somewhat abstract, in terms of game mechanics. They occupy a space somewhere between theater-of-the-mind and map-based combat.

In Covenant, areas are generally 10 meters square, but they can be smaller or larger. In fact, during spaceship fights, the areas can measure thousands and even millions of kilometers on a side.

There are two types of areas, which can exist side-by-side on the same scene map:

• Areas that are walled off and accessible to each other only by doors or windows (e.g., the rooms in a building or spaceship, etc.)
• Arbitrary sections of a larger space (e.g., a long corridor, a hangar, an outside field, etc.)

Areas are important, not just to show where characters are in relation to each other, but who they can attack and who can in turn attack them. Characters can make three kinds of attacks in Covenant:

• Close Attacks: Characters can generally make close attacks (e.g., attacks with fists, swords, spears, etc.) against any other character in the same area. This is because characters are assumed to be constantly maneuvering and jockeying for position during a fight.
• Ranged Attacks: Character can make ranged attacks (e.g., with bows, guns, throw weapons, etc.) against characters in other areas. The number of areas separating attacker and defender during a ranged attack is the attack’s range.
• Area Attacks: Characters can make area attacks (e.g., with grenades, machine guns, etc.) against every character in 1 area. These type of attacks can potentially damage every character in 1 area, be they friend or foe. Generally speaking, characters can make area attacks into any area where they can make ranged attacks. However, specific area attacks may break this guideline; the attack will specify if it does and when in its description.

Read on for two examples of how areas are used in Covenant.

Continue reading “Covenant Game Design: Areas and Tactical Movement”

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Covenant is filled with sapient species of wildly different sizes, from tiny acoes to hulking valka Matriarchs. We handle that by assigning everything – people, creatures, even gear and vehicles – a numerical size based on their longest dimension. See the following table (one of the few tables you’ll see in Covenant’s rules, I’m proud to say):

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These sizes can be adjusted, by the way. Something thin like a snake might have its size reduced by 1, while something massive like an elephant might have its size increased by one.

This system allows both players and the FM to compare relative sizes during opposed bids, especially attack and stealth bids.

• For every 1 size the attacker is smaller than the defender:
  • Add 1 advantage to attack and stealth bids
  • Subtract 5 from weapon damage
• For every 1 size the attacker is larger than the defender:
  • Add 1 disadvantage to attack and stealth bids
  • Add 5 to weapon damage

Let’s look at some examples:

• A human (size 5) is fighting a valka male (size 4). The human:
  • Adds 1 disadvantage to attack and stealth bids
  • Add 5 from weapon damage
• A human (size 5) is fighting an aco (size 3). The human:
  • Adds 2 disadvantage to attack and stealth bids
  • Adds 10 from weapon damage
• A human (size 5) is fighting a valka Matriarch (size 6). The human:
  • Adds 1 advantage to attack and stealth bids
  • Subtracts 5 from weapon damage

Sizes can also be adjusted by the target’s cover and stance. Both effectively reduce the target’s size. For cover (which also includes shields), it depends on how much of the target is covered:

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For stance, it depends on how upright the target is:

• Standing Stance:
  • Add 0 advantages to ranged attack bids
  • Add 0 advantages to defense bids vs. ranged attacks
  • Add 0 disadvantages to defense bids vs. close quarter attacks
• Kneeling Stance:
  • Add 1 advantage to ranged attack bids
  • Add 1 advantage to defense bids vs. ranged attacks
  • Add 1 disadvantage to defense bids vs. close quarter attacks
• Prone Stance:
  • Add 2 advantages to ranged attack bids
  • Add 2 advantages to defense bids vs. ranged attacks
  • Add 2 disadvantages to defense bids vs. close quarter attacks

Characters can also make called shots against parts of a target’s body. Called shots adjust attack bids based on which part of the target’s body is being attacked:

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Well, that’s a long post, and it’s late. Tune in next time for when we talk about how Covenant handles tactical movement during scenes.

(Don’t forget to tune in to the latest episode of the Radio Free Covenant podcast!)

Last week, we talked about how a character can fail forward in Covenant – that is, how they can succeed with consequences or fail with benefits. Failing forward is one kind of story control in Covenant, but not the only kind . Here are the others:

• Characterizing: Players can characterize their bids – that is, they can describe their actions in particularly vivid ways. Doing so gives them 1 advantage to that bid. To save time, these descriptions should be no longer than three sentences and take no longer than 15 seconds to say. Players should also decide on how to describe their actions before making their bids.
• Sacrificing: A player who wins a bid can choose to fail it in order to gain a benefit. This is called sacrificing a bid. A player who sacrifices a bid can either:
  • Recharge a trait, ability, or piece of gear
  • Automatically turn their next bid into a half-cost bid (i.e., more advantages than disadvantages)
• Stunting: A character with a half-cost bid can choose to convert it into a double-cost bid in order to gain an immediate benefit. This is called stunting. A character who stunts their bid gains one of the following benefits immediately:
  • Gains a free use of a trait, ability, or piece of gear for the bid (i.e., immediately recharges it after using it)
  • Gains additional benefits if they win the bid (e.g., does double damage, pulls off his task in a spectacular way, etc.)
  • Automatically turning their next bid into a half-cost bid
• Flashbacking: Players who lose bids can occasionally reverse their fortunes by using something relevant that they learned in their lives. This is called flashbacking. To flashback, a player relates an episode from their character’s life that is relevant to the bid. For instance, a character who is about to be hit by an attack may remember a defensive trick that their drill sergeant or master taught them. When the player does this, their character automatically wins the bid. A player can flashback once per chapter.
• Complications: Some species and gear have complications. Each complication has its own effects and duration, typically one bid or the end of the current scene. Other characters can tap a complication and trigger its effects when its requirements are met, but only if they know it exists. Discovering a complication usually requires winning:
  • A fixed knowledge bid (e.g., knowing the limitations of a species or piece of gear, etc.)
  • A fixed social bid (e.g., bribing someone or piecing together rumors, etc.)
  • An opposed perception bid against the target’s stealth bid
• Banking: If a character accomplishes one task easily, then they can devote more time and resources to other tasks. This is simulated by banking advantages. A character can bank 1 advantage per half-cost bid. Banked advantages last until the start of the character’s next turn (during scenes) or the start of the next scene (during interstitials and intermissions). Characters can:
  • Use banked advantages on bids
  • Impose 1 disadvantage on an opponent per banked advantage
  • Spend all their banked advantages to avoid being affected by someone else’s abilities (i.e., disarming, tripping, etc.)
• Desperation: Characters may be faced with hopeless situations that require them to do something desperate, crazy, and/or stupid. When this happens, the FM should allow it once. After that, identical or similar actions should either automatically fail or automatically be at double-cost.

That’s it for now. Come back tomorrow to see how Covenant handles character size.

(Don’t forget to tune in to the latest episode of the Radio Free Covenant podcast!)

Bids aren’t simple pass/fail affairs in Covenant. Instead, it follows the recent roleplaying trend of allowing characters to fail forward – that is, to let them succeed even if they’re incapable of doing so, but with consequences. Characters can usually only fail forward with fixed bids, but the winner of an opposed bid can choose to let the loser of the bid fail forward, too.

There are six ways to fail forward:

• Setback: The character’s actions cause a problem with which the character must deal. Examples include:
  • The character sneaks into an office and finds secret documents, but alerts the guards.
  • The character evades a missile in their starship, but strains their ship’s systems and burns out a critical system.
• Silver Lining: The character fails at their task. However, they gains something unexpected or succeeds at a related task. Examples include:
  • The character is captured while sneaking into an enemy camp, but overhears their guards talking about an upcoming attack.
  • The character fails to find a cure for a disease, but discovers a technique that gives halves the cost of their next crafting bid.
• Improvement: The character fails this time, but gains 1 advantage the next time they attempt this task against the same target. Examples include:
  • The character misses when shooting a machine gun, but then “walks” her shots into the target.
  • The character fails to crack a safe but figures out part of the combination that they need.
• Opening: The winner of an opposed bid can allow the loser of the bid to succeed in exchange for a tactical advantage. This is usually represented by the winner gaining 1 advantage on their next bid against the loser or by a free use of one of the winner’s abilities. Examples include:
  • The character manages to hit their opponent but overextends theirself and is tripped.
  • The character is so busy chasing a starship that they don’t see its wingman slide onto their six.
• Ablative Gear: The character succeeds, but loses a piece of gear selected by the FM. Examples include:
  • The character jumps over and barely manages to clear a space between two buildings but drops their backpack into the alley between them.
  • The character’s starship fails to dodge a missile. They eject a module from their ship, which takes the hit.
• Condition: The character succeeds, but the FM places a condition on them that lasts until the end of the scene. Examples include:
  • The character climbs over a wall but strains their back, doubling the cost of physical bids.
  • The character sneaks past the guards but makes too much noise doing so, doubling the cost of bids to sneak past or fast-talk opponents.
• Drain: The character succeeds, but the FM places a drain on them that does ongoing damage to their Discipline. Examples include:
  • The player climbs over a fence but rips their arm open on a piece of exposed metal, leaving their bleeding.
  • The character manages to concoct a cure for a poison, but their chemicals react unexpectedly and explode, setting their clothes on fire.

Characters have other ways to control the results of their bids and the story, as well. We’ll talk about those next time, though.

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So, characters in Covenant spend Discipline to make bids and accomplish things. This Discipline represents a raft of things: their money, their mental and physical health, their social standing, and more.

This begs the question, though: From where does a character’s Discipline come?

The answer is it comes from the character’s ties. Each PC gets three ties at character creation and can gain more during the game. These can be almost anything – family, a job, a belief, a goal, even a prized possession – but they all have two requirements:

• They must be something that your character values and is a source of mental if not physical support.
• They must be something that your character can lose.

That second requirement is important. Losing a tie means permanently losing the Discipline that it gives to your character. As a result, losing all of your character’s ties means losing all of your character’s Discipline, which will eliminate them from the game.

Ties are vulnerable, too. They can be injured, kidnapped, and even killed. That gives your character an incentive to protect them.

Remember, though, that your character’s ties aren’t just sources of Discipline. They’re people and things that need care and upkeep. If you refuse to maintain your character’s ties, they might remove themselves from your life. Family members may refuse to talk to you. You might get fired from your job. You might lose faith in a belief. A prized possession may break and fall apart.

Your ties also have ways to control your behavior. They can temporarily cut off your character, halving the amount of Discipline that you get from those ties until you pay more attention to them or do what they want.

You can also try to find other ties, too, but this might wind up losing you the ties that you already have.

Your character isn’t just a murderhobo, and their ties aren’t just NPCs or supporting cast in Covenant. They’re people. You should treat them like that.