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--- card_draw_system [2022/01/26 13:54]
conan created - WIP
+++ card_draw_system [2022/02/10 14:34] (current)
conan
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 ===== The Basics =====
-Although the outcomes and effects of each type of Card Draw action will be different, the process is essentially the same for all of them.
+Although the outcomes and effects of each type of Card Draw action will be different, the process is essentially the same for all of them. Any Card Draw action is broken into 3 phases;
-Surgery is one of the uses of the [[professional skills#Physician]] skill, and provides opportunities for tense medical roleplay.
+  * The [[#Start Phase]], where everyone gets organised and works out the details of the action - who is involved, the difficulty, etc.
+  * The [[#Active Phase]], where the lead character draws cards and determines when to stop.
+  * The [[#Finishing Phase]], where the details are worked out and roleplay is completed.
-Physicians can perform surgery to treat some [[Conditions]] - broken bones, some infections, infestation by horrible alien parasites, etc. Surgery does carry some risk, however, and may fail or even have negative consequences. The Condition lammie or sheet will indicate the type of surgery required, and whether any additional resources like [[Medicaments]] or other requirements are needed.
+The core of the Card Draw Action is to draw cards from a deck specially constructed for that action - the deck may be a deck of physical cards held be a referee, or a digital equivalent on a phone app or purpose-built device. There are 4 colours of cards:
-Having more ranks in Physician makes a surgery more likely to succeed, as does working with a team of other Physicians or on a patient with the [[combat skills#Steel Viscera]] skill. Some Conditions might be more challenging or risky to try and remove, particularly complex or life-threatening ones. As a surgery progresses, unless the Condition is repaired quickly, the risks increase more and more, and an unlucky surgeon must eventually choose to stop working or continue and potentially risk a patient's life.
+  * [[#Green Cards]], which represent successes.
+  * [[#Yellow Cards]], which represent minor complications that can prolong the action.
+  * [[#Red Cards]], which represent major complications.
+  * [[#Black Cards]], which represent catastrophic complications.
-===== Performing Surgery =====
+The card deck is constructed to take account of player skills, the number of helpers, and how difficult the task is. In general, the more ranks of the relevant skill the character leading the action has, the more green cards they get, and more difficult tasks will mean the deck starts out with more yellow, red or black cards. Succeeding with some tasks might also require expending certain resources, like [[Medicaments]], [[Exotic Substances]], charges, or other things - which will be indicated where they are needed.
-To perform Surgery, a Physician spends time (at least 6 minutes) roleplaying surgical actions - they must use appropriate physrepped tools to do so. They can begin immediately, but require the presence of a Referee in order to get any results.
+As the action goes on, the risks increase - more yellow, red and eventually black cards are added to the deck with each draw. The lead character can opt to stop the action at any time, if the risks become too great. If the lead character gives up on a task before succeeding, they can't try again at the same task for the rest of the day (although they can help out other characters trying).
-A Physician character can only try to cure a specific Condition on a given patient as the Lead Physician once per day. This means that if they choose to stop treatment (usually because of repeated failures increasing the risk of the surgery), they cannot try to treat that Condition again as the Lead Physician (they have exhausted their personal knowledge or techniques trying to cure it). They can, however, assist another character to treat that Condition as Lead Physician later on in the same day.
+===== Phases =====
-==== Phases ====
+All Card Draw Actions are divided into three phases - **Start**, **Active**, and **Finishing**. This is to make the roleplay make sense, reduce the time that the Action requires a dedicated Referee, and provide a good tension curve.
-Any given session of surgery is divided into three phases - **Starting**, **Treatment**, and **Finishing**. This is to make the roleplay make sense, reduce the time that the surgery requires a dedicated Referee, and provide a good tension curve.
+Throughout all Phases of a Card Draw Action all participating characters should be performing appropriate roleplay - tinkering with a device with engineering tools, performing surgery, using their scientific equipment and discussing their theories, etc.
-=== Start Phase ===
+==== Start Phase ====
-During the Start Phase, the Physician gathers their team and begins the surgery. Any character with one or more ranks of the Physician skill may join during the Start Phase, and decide on a Lead Physician. You do not need a Referee to __begin__ surgery, but you do need one to continue past the Start Phase. The Start Phase takes at least 3 minutes of roleplay - this time is a good time to send or radio for a Referee. Once at least 3 minutes have passed and the Referee is present, the surgery proceeds to the Treatment Phase. The Lead Physician should identify themselves to the Referee and provide the following information:
+  * Start your roleplay.
+  * Figure out who is the Lead Character and who is assisting.
+  * Locate a Referee if required.
+  * Work out any bonuses and penalties you have.
-  * How many ranks of Physician they have
+During the Start Phase, the Lead Character gathers their team and begins their roleplay. Any character with one or more ranks of the relevant skill may join during the Start Phase, and decide on a Lead Character. Most Card Draw Actions require a Referee to be present - if so then this is the time to get one. If your action requires a Referee to be present, then they must be present before you move on to the Active Phase. The Start Phase takes as long as it requires to get a Referee, work out the details of all the participants, and perform appropriate roleplay to move on to the Active Phase. Once everyone is ready, then the action moves on to the Active Phase. The Lead Character should identify themselves to the Referee and provide the following information:
-  * How many other Physicians are participating
-  * What are the Conditions they are treating
-  * Anything else that is relevant
-=== Treatment Phase ===
+  * How many ranks of the relevant skill the Lead Character has
+  * How many other characters with the relevant skill are participating
+  * What the characters are intending to do (fix a specific Condition, repair or damage a machine, examine or sample an object, etc)
+    * Any difficulty requirements of what they are trying to do (may be indicated on the Condition or device card, or sticker)
+  * Anything else that is relevant (Medicaments, Exotic Substances, etc).
-During the Treatment Phase, the Physician or team of Physicians does the surgery needed to remove the Condition, but this can be a risky process. The risk in this case is represented by drawing a card from the Treatment Deck held by the Referee. At the beginning of the Treatment Phase, and every minute thereafter, the Lead Physician must draw a card from a prepared Treatment Deck.
+The Referee will then build the Card Draw deck for the action and get ready for the Lead Character to move on to the Active Phase by drawing their first card. Using digital devices or apps for the Card Draw Action process can reduce the need for a Referee, allowing the characters to submit the relevant information themselves.
-  * If they draw a Green, they succeed in treating one Condition (assuming it only requires a single success).
+==== Active Phase ====
-  * If they draw a Yellow, they suffer a setback, and can continue the treatment, but at increased risk.
-  * If they draw a Red, the patient deteriorates, and may suffer a LETHAL wound or some other negative consequence.
-  * If they draw a Black, the patient suffers a severe negative consequence and may die.
-After drawing a card, the Lead Physician may choose to keep going, roleplaying another minute of surgery and drawing a card, or stop and proceed to the Finishing Phase. The cards drawn are returned to the Treatment Deck after each draw. The assisting Physicians must continue to be involved, or the benefits of their help (increasing the odds of success) will be removed for the next card draw.
+  * Continue roleplaying the activity.
+  * The Lead Character (or Referee on their behalf) draws a card and reacts to the result.
+  * Any instant results are applied by the Referee.
+  * The deck is adjusted and reshuffled between draws.
+  * The Lead Character may choose to stop before or after any draws.
-The Lead Physician may ask how many of each card are in the Treatment Deck prior to drawing a card, and may choose to stop and proceed to the Finishing Phase before drawing. If they draw a card, then they must accept the result of that card.
+During the Active Phase, the Lead Character draws cards to try and succeed at their action (or allows the Referee or a device to do so), and performs the roleplay for the action itself. This is the risky part of Card Draw Actions - if a card is drawn, then the characters must accept the result of the draw, although they can stop at any time between draws.
-=== Finishing Phase ===
+The Active Phase starts by the Lead Character drawing the first card from the prepared deck. They must draw another card every 30-60 seconds or elect to stop. The card deck is adjusted and shuffled after every draw. Characters must accept the result of a card draw. Characters should continue their roleplay (surgery, engineering work, science scanning, etc) while this process occurs, and are encouraged to incorporate the results of each draw into their roleplay. If the players prefer, the Referee adjudicating the Card Draw Action can draw for the player, and quietly show the drawn card to the Lead Character while they continue their roleplay - in this case, the Referee (or digital device/app) will usually give the Lead Character a 5-second warning before they draw, so that they can opt to stop.
-The Finishing Phase represents the time taken to tie up the loose ends (or organs) and close up the wound. During the Finishing Phase, the risky part of the surgery is over, and the participating Physicians can relax a bit. At least one Physician who was participating must spend an additional 3 minutes of roleplay to complete the surgery - at the end of this time, the patient regains 1 lost hit to each of their locations (or 3 Global body hits). Failing to complete the Finishing Phase may also result in the patient acquiring an Infection Condition.
+The Lead Character can ask to know the makeup of the deck (and therefore the current risks) before every draw. If any of the assisting characters leave between Card Draws, then any additional green cards they provided to the deck should be removed for the next draw.
-==== Treatment Deck ====
+If the Lead Character opts to stop, or has acquired all the successes they need, then the action moves into the Finishing Phase.
-When the Referee arrives at the surgery, they will gather some basic information from the players present and build a Treatment Deck. The basic Treatment Deck consists of 2 Green, 2 Yellow & 1 Red card. Other factors will affect what cards go into the initial Treatment Deck;
+==== Finishing Phase ====
-  * Every Rank of the [[professional skills#Physician]] skill that the Lead Physician has adds another Green card.
+  * Finish up your appropriate roleplay for at least 1 minute.
-  * Every additional Physician assisting adds another Green card, up to the number of ranks of the Physician skill possessed by the Lead Physician.
-  * Every rank of the [[combat skills#Steel Viscera]] skill that the Patient has adds another Green card.
-  * The Condition being treated may add more cards of any of the 4 types based on how easy or difficult it is to treat.
-After every card draw, the Referee may add or remove cards from the Treatment Deck to denote the increasing risk of prolonged surgery.
+The Finishing Phase represents the time taken to tie up the loose ends - closing the incisions of a surgery, collating the scanner results, reattaching hatches and service plates in engineering work. During the Finishing Phase, the risky part of the action is over, and the participating characters can relax a bit. At least one character who was participating must spend some additional time roleplaying to complete the action - at least 1 minute. Failing to complete the Finishing Phase may result in negative consequences - infections, spoiled samples, device malfunctions, etc. This is at the discretion of the Referee.
-=== Green Cards ===
+===== Card Draw Deck =====
-If a Green card is drawn, that indicates a success. The surgeon may continue the surgery to attempt to remove another Condition affecting the patient - if that other Condition has additional cards that need to be added to the deck, then those will be added for the next Card Draw.
+To perform a Card Draw Action, you or the Referee needs some basic information from the players present to build the Deck. The default Card Draw Deck consists of 2 Green, 2 Yellow & 1 Red card. Other factors will affect what cards go into the initial Card Draw Deck;
-=== Yellow Cards ===
+  * Every Rank of the relevant skill that the Lead Character has adds another Green card.
+  * Every additional character with the relevant skill that is assisting adds another Green card, up to the number of ranks of the relevant skill possessed by the Lead Character (so you can double your own skill with assistants).
+  * Any other modifiers and bonuses (for example the [[combat skills#Steel Viscera]] skill adds +1 Green Card if the character with it is a patient).
+  * The Action being performed may add more cards of any of the 4 types based on how easy or difficult it is to perform.
-If a Yellow Card is drawn, that indicates a setback. There is no direct negative consequence to the patient, but the risk of the surgery failing increases. If a Yellow card is drawn, then the Referee adds another Yellow card to the Treatment Deck.
+After every card draw, the Referee may add or remove cards from the Deck to denote the increasing risk.
-=== Red Cards ===
+==== Green Cards ====
-If a Red card is drawn, that indicates that something has gone wrong in the surgery - one of the Physicians may have clipped a blood vessel, the Condition may have worsened, or similar. The negative consequence might be another Condition given to the patient, or the Referee may afflict the patient with a LETHAL wound, beginning their Death Count (note that Physicians who are workign to stop someone's Death Count do not contribute their Green card to the surgery while they are doing so). If a Red card is drawn, the Referee also adds another Yellow card to the Treatment Deck.
+If a Green card is drawn, that indicates a success. In most cases, only one success is needed, but some actions might require, or benefit from multiple successes. When a Green Card is drawn, it is removed from the deck and placed aside as a Success.
-=== Black Cards ===
+If enough successes have been acquired to complete one action, the Lead Character may decide to continue to, for example, repair other Conditions in a surgery, or move from Examining a Phenomenon to Sampling it. This effectively counts as a separate Card Draw Action, but you can skip the Finishing Phase of the first action and move straight to the Active Phase of the next action as soon as the new action's Deck has been prepared.
-If a Black card is drawn, that indicates that something has gone very wrong. Either the patient will die during the surgery, or has acquired a severe, long lasting and possibly incurable Condition. The Referee may confer briefly with the patient's player, and will decide on the most dramatically appropriate and fitting course of action - the Referee's decision is final. No additional cards are added to the Treatment Deck.
+==== Yellow Cards ====
-=== Escalating Consequences ===
+If a Yellow Card is drawn, that indicates a setback or failure to progress. There is no direct negative consequence for a yellow card draw, but the risk of the action failing increases. If a Yellow card is drawn, then another Yellow card is added to the Deck. If there are 4 Yellow Cards in the Deck, then 3 are removed and replaced with a Red Card.
-The longer the surgery goes on without success, the more likely it becomes that a negative consequence will occur. If at any point the Treatment Deck has 4 Yellow or Red cards, some of them are swapped for a card of the next level of severity.
+==== Red Cards ====
-  * If there are 4 Yellow cards in the Treatment deck, three of them will be removed and replaced with another Red card.
+If a Red card is drawn, that indicates a negative complication - a nicked blood vessel in Surgery, a particle destabilisation while scanning, or an electrical discharge while repairing. The exact nature of the negative consequence depends on the action being performed, and the consequences may not become obvious until after the action is finished. If a Referee is present, then they will usually assign the negative consequences quickly, but may wait until after the procedure is complete. Sample negative consequences from Red Cards include:
-  * If there are 4 Red cards in the Treatment deck, three of them will be removed and replaced with another Black card.
+  * A patient in surgery receiving a LETHAL wound (note that any physician treating the wound no longer contributes their Green Card to the surgery).
+  * An engineer working on a device receiving a dose of mild radiation, or being badly burned - acquiring an appropriate [[Conditions|Condition]].
+  * A cluster of Exotic Particles destabilising and fading away.
+  * The scientist's scanner becomes Broken.
+If a Red card is drawn, the Referee also adds another Yellow card to the Deck. If there are 4 Red Cards in the Deck, then 3 are removed and replaced with a Black Card.
+==== Black Cards ====
+If a Black card is drawn, that indicates that something has gone very wrong - severe consequences can be expected, either immediately or shortly after the procedure. In most cases, drawing a Black Card will end the Card Draw Action catastrophically. If a Referee is not present, then the Action ends immediately in failure - successes acquired up to that point may also be invalidated. If a Referee is present, then they may choose to allow the Action to continue - **the Referee's decision is final**. Some example consequences for different types of Action include:
+  * The Patient in a surgery dies on the table, or will acquire a permanent, long lasting and possibly incurable [[Conditions|Condition]] (usually the Referee will confer with the patient's player and come up with a dramatically appropriate decision).
+  * A device being worked on explodes, and is destroyed as well as injuring any characters nearby.
+  * A sample breaks containment and infects the Scientist taking it with a nasty [[Conditions|Condition]].
+If a Black Card is drawn, no additional cards are added to the Deck. If the action is allowed to continue, then the Black Card that was drawn is not returned to the Deck.\\
+In devices or app-based mechanisms, Purple may be used to represent Black cards.
 {{tag>rules}}

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