Fudge Tasks
While this is not officially one of the articles that was sent for the Fudge Compendium it is the core rules of one of the mechanics for my next post. Meanwhile enjoy this generic system for dealing with lengthy actions.
Introduction - Anatomy of a Task
A task is a skill resolution that takes more than one turn. Some examples are creating artwork, casting a spell, research, picking locks and more. The GM assigns a Task Value and a Task Turn along with a Task Difficulty to the task, and the character will try to gain enough Task Points to complete the task. Every Task Turn the character can gain more Task Points.
Task Value
The Task Value is a measurement of both the effort of the task and the amount of energy and resources that goes in to the task. That is building, and tearing down the same wall will have the same Task Value, but the Task Turn and and Task Difficulty will be different. The Task Value is assigned by the GM.
Task Points
The character gains Task Points by making a series of skill checks (once per Task Turn). Resolve these using the Unopposed Action. Compare the Rolled Degree to the Task Difficulty, and add the Relative Degree is the number of Task Points gained. Since this relative degree can be negative (if the skill check fails) it is possible that the Task Points are indeed decreased. Sometimes a failed skill check simply means that you have to start over.
A Critical Success allows for an immediate second skill check, and if this is successful the Relative Degree of both are added to the Task Points. If it fails it has no effect on the Task Points gained. Some skills may result in special events with a critical success.
A Critical Failure will at the least decrease the Task Points like in a normal failure. Depending on the skill and circumstances, some other penalties may also result.
When the collected Task Points are equal to or greater than the Task Value, the task has been completed successfully. On the other hand if the task points go below zero (0), the task has failed and must be started over. This usually also means that the materials etc. need to be re-collected.
In most cases modifiers are made to the rolled degree of the skill check rather than the skill check. This is because at least some skill is required to perform the task. Not even the finest tools can make a layman perform surgery, but fine tools will make the job so much easier for a skilled surgeon.
Task Turn
The Task Turn is determined by the GM. It reflects how long one will have to work before progress is evident (gain more Task Points). This is the main criteria on what the Task Turn should be. It is generally assumed that a Task Turn of 8 hours equal a Task Turn of one day. Likewise Task Turn of 30 days is equal to a Task Turn of 1 month, and Task Turn of 12 months equals a Task Turn of 1 year. Feel free to modify these if your world uses a different calendar.
Together with the Task Value, the Task Turn will set the overall difficulty of the task. A task requiring great care will have a long Task Turn, but a low Task Value. One requiring much work, but little care would in stead have a short Task Turn, but a high Task Value.
| Task | Task Value | Task Difficulty | Task Turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picking a lock | (Lock quality + 3) * 5 | Lock quality (Poor - Superb) | 1 minute |
| Creating an art piece | Depends on the complexity of the art piece (1-100) | Depends on the material (Poor - Superb) | 1 hour |
| Performing art | Depends on the length of the performance (1-100) | Depends on how hard the moves are Mediocre - Superb | 1 minute |
| Constructing a building | 10 - 5000 | Fair | 1 day |
| Tearing down a building | 10 - 5000 | Fair | 1 hour |
Banking (Optional rule)
With this optional rule the player can for some tasks “bank” his current progress.
After a player has pooled some Task Points he can spend one Task Turn to "bank" his Task Points. Basically he empties the pool that he has been building up until now and the sets the gathered points aside. During this time the character, who is actually doing the task, reviews his efforts, refines his plans and makes notes and stuff. The character is basically making sure that he is doing a good job, and then he looks for the best ways to ensure that he will continue to do a good job. During the banking turn a skill check is made and if it fails only half of the Task Points collected so fare are “banked”. A Critical Failure at this point will result in a failed task (while stopping to reflect the character makes a blunder and somehow destroys all the effort made so far, or notices he has made a critical error in the beginning and must start over). A Critical Success means that the banking turn only took half of the normal Task Turn.
To retrieve the points from the “bank” a character has to spend one task turn, and make a skill check. If this fails only half of the points that were “banked” are retrieved. Each “banking” stores the points in a unique deposit. A failed retrieval check only restores half of the banked points. The remaining points can be retrieved with an additional roll.
Example
Beowulf is writing a book about sword fighting. It is a task worth 20 Task Points, and so far he has collected 10. He decides to review his progress and think of how to continue from here. In essence he tries to “bank” his progress, and succeeds. Now, if this skill check would have failed, only 5 points would have been “banked”
During his writing Beowulf collects another 4 points (which he banks to another deposit) and finally 6 points. Beowulf has now enough to complete his task, so he chooses to “withdraw” his points from the “bank”. Since he has 3 deposits he must spend 3 Task turns “withdrawing”, with any failures resulting in only half of the “banked” points are collected. If all three skill checks succeed then Beowulf has finished his book! If he fails, he might realize that writing while drunk results in unreadable gibberish.
Source on gitlab