Sisu - A new Fudge Attribute
Introduction
This is the fourth and final article I had planned for the Fudge Compendium. I actually wrote it to be a Fudge conversion of the Nature attribute in the Mouse Guard RPG. Here I present it as a generic system that can be used as a replacement of using a fudge point to take a +4 on dice for an unopposed roll.
Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience,[1][2] and hardiness[3][4] and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character. It is generally considered not to have a literal equivalent in English.
—“Sisu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” May. 1st 2020 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
Sisu is a bit different from the other regular attributes. It measures how well the character can overcome obstacles and persevere in the face of hardship. It also measures how well the character can handle mental strain and recovery of said strain. The less Sisu he has the more meek he becomes and will be more likely to crumble beneath the strain that is life.
Sisu behaves like a regular attribute, but has some new rules. For one thing if it is increased above Superb the character will become a single-minded being doing whatever it takes to accomplish the last thing he was trying. Never yielding never wavering, never doing anything else. In essence the character becomes unplayable. Should the attribute ever sinks below Poor the character goes a little crazy from breaking his Sisu. He will no longer be quite right. He will become meek and unwilling to face the cruel world, usually with lethal consequences – a being who has lost his will to live, and can no longer be fully trusted to do the right thing, instead, he will slowly wither away.
A starting character starts with a Good (+1) Sisu. Sisu can be raised and lowered as per normal attribute rules.
It should be noted that if you use Sisu, then these rules should replace the "Get an automatic +4 result for a fudge point" rule, probably also "get a +1 with spending a Fudge Point".
Using Sisu
This section explains how you use Sisu as an attribute, and as a skill.
Sisu the Attribute
Sisu can be used to overcome the feeling of despair when a character is faced with an insurmountable obstacle and/or repeated failures, and it is key to resisting stress and mental fatigue.
Sisu is primarily used to boost the character temporarily, in a specific situation. It allows him to tap his inner mental and emotional reserves to overcome an insurmountable challenge. To activate Sisu, the player spends a Fudge point; the next roll gets a +1 bonus for each Sisu level that the player decides to spend. [Sisu can never go lower than Terrible (-3).] This use is called “tapping Sisu.” It’s important to note whether the character is attempting to overcome a real obstacle that has significant meaning. In this case, the attempt is with Sisu; otherwise it’s against Sisu.
To use Sisu the player first declares how many levels of Sisu he wants to invest in the skill roll. Each level gives, as stated above, a +1 bonus to the roll. Since you dramatically increase your chances of success by the number of points you spend (+2 is significantly more than 2*+1) it is recommended to invest more Sisu, rather than less. Also it is in the spirit of Sisu to "go large or go home".
If the attempt was a success and it was with Sisu, then there are no further penalties. However if it was against Sisu then the Character loses one level of Sisu. If the attempt failed, the Sisu attribute is lowered by the number of levels by which the character missed, up to the number of attribute levels that were used. For instance, if the Rolled Degree is Good but you needed a Superb (2 levels of difference), then the Sisu goes down by 2.
If Sisu dips below Poor (-2), then the character must immediately pick up a fault, like Pig headed, Stubborn, Unyielding, etc. It should be some fault that relates to the failed action, or otherwise something related to the character. Sisu is then raised to Mediocre (-1), to balance the fault. This prevents the character from becoming unplayable, as described above. Sometimes a player might decide that the story will be better if he lets his character succumb and be devastated by the emotional weight of the task. The GM should reward the player with at least one Fudge point to use on his new character, and any unspent experience is also transferred to the new character.
It is possible to recover lost Sisu by character advancement, just as with any other attribute.
For example, Aaron received a mysterious necklace when he was still a child. His goal in life is to find out what the necklace is and what it means for him. Aaron can tap his Sisu to find the one clue on one page in one book in a huge library. This is a daunting task, and most people would not even begin it, but by tapping Sisu Aaron can persevere until he accomplishes the goal. Samuel, in contrast, is just looking something up for someone else in the same huge library. If finding the information isn’t a critical goal for Samuel, he’d be tapping against Sisu, if he chose to use it at all.
In another adventure, Aaron has discovered that his necklace fact magical. He’s facing down an evil warlock who wants to conquer the world. Aaron has Great Sisu, and he decides to bet all of it to gain a +4 modifier to attacking. He rolls average [+][-][ ][ ] and has a Great skill in magical combat for a grand total of Legendary+2 (+6). The warlock rolls [+][ ][ ][ ]; even adding that to his Great magical combat skill, his skill is still lower than Aaron’s, who transforms the warlock into a frog (with a Rolled Degree of +2). Since Aaron’s attack was “against Sisu,” his Sisu Attribute goes down by 1. Aaron has now only a Good amount of Sisu left.
Sisu as a skill
Sisu can also be used to cover some common skills, that all characters have. Here are a few examples.
Marching
Marching or hiking is a skill that all beings possess, the skill of long journeys on foot. A trained hiker can march 50km or more per day.
Resist
Resist is a mental and physical skill that covers resisting temptation, pain, and interrogation. Resist can also be used to resist magical spells.
Endurance
Endurance is a skill that allows the character to operate when others can’t. A successful test can allow the character to ignore the effects of wounds and exhaustion. A Good roll is needed to ignore a Hurt Would, While a Great roll is needed to ignore a Very Hurt wound, and a Superb allows the character to operate even when incapacitated. A roll needs to be made every round to ignore the wounds. A Fair roll allows the character to operate for an extra 24 hours. The difficulty should go up every 48 hours by one level.
Other Uses
The same mechanics as for Sisu can be used for other things. For instance Nature in Mouse Guard. This is what I originally wrote this mechanics for. See http://wolf.bergenheim.net/rpg/fudge/fudged-mouse-guard for more of that conversion.
For a horror or monster game the Sisu mechanic could be used for an the Humanity attribute which would measure how monstrous a character has become (low humanity) or a meek human (too high Humanity). Here one would bet their Humanity to do things, if the action is cruel, evil, sadistic or otherwise inhumane, such as killing or hurting people then it would be against humanity, but if it would be for helping, healing, protecting it would be with humanity. Other uses would need to be determined by the GM on a case by case basis.
A third alternative could be Luck. A Character would bet their Luck, and when they run out of Luck they would take faults like Unlucky, or 7 years of Bad Luck, etc. An overly lucky Character would become a veritable Gladstone Gander, and would never need to make an effort in their life. Certainly would not adventure.
As you can see there are many flavors of this same mechanic, pick your own and go with it! I hope to hear of other uses of this mechanic.
Source on gitlab