Stormbringer and (Dis)Associated Mechanics

Once again, Ben over at Questing Beast has a corker of a video on his YouTube channel, this time on associated vs dissociated mechanics in roleplaying games.

(His video is HERE)

Basically, Ben differentiates between abilities that exist INSIDE the gameworld and those that exist OUTSIDE it.

Inside abilities, which Ben notes are called ASSOCIATED abilities due to their gameworld or genre connection, include things like spells. Outside or DISASSOCIATED mechanics are Luck points or bennies as in Savage Worlds, and have no connection whatsoever to the genre, gameworld, or what we would call reality. Ben states his preference for associated mechanics as disassociated mechanics take away from immersion, in his opinion. I have to agree to a point, as I found Savage World's bennies distracting, but players around me simply loved them and the game of chance element they added to the session. Since I bang on about the evocative aspects of old Stormbringer, I am all for improving associative mechanics, without ruling out appropriate or entertaining dissociative mechanics.

Ben also notes that some make the distinction between the roles these mechanics allow players to take, whether as ACTORS, AUTHORS, or DIRECTORS of their character's fate. This shows that the question of associated vs disassociated exists not on a binary of extremes, but instead a spectrum of gradual movement from gameworld-limited or connected autonomy to autonomy that supersedes the reality of the gameworld. This resonates well with Stormbringer, both fiction and game, as non-noble mooks are relegated to actors, while Agents / Champions have more power to become authors of their fate, and may even be offered to become directors in exchange for serving Lords of the Higher Worlds.

All fascinating stuff for discussion. How does Stormbringer fare in this regard? I'll be taking a look at the Elan system and Luck to see how it handles associated AND disassociated mechanics.

The Elan System

Stormbringer's Elan system, which I thankfully reviewed a few weeks back, has several functions.

1) It is a form of XP, but with access limited to Priests and Agents. It is accumulated by serving the patron deity of the character, so very associated in terms of emulating the gameworld.

2) It unlocks certain static powers (ie double HP for Lawful agents and lowered Summoning rolls for Chaotics), which is traded off by several flavorful limits to behaviour. This makes a character more than just an Actor, but upgrades them to Author of their own destiny.

(Just my opinion, but I always preferred the Elan system to D&D's blood and treasure XP. Accumulating Elan just seemed to fit thematically better than D&D's one size fits all XP system, where Fighters who wade into combat and others who avoid it are equally judged on their ability to take down foes. Considering older versions of AD&D had optional classes like the Healer, I always found this unsatisfying. Add to that only Agents & Priests involved in the saga of the Young Kingdoms get XP, whereas more pulp characters living day to day don't count in the cosmic struggle, then I find this very evocative)

3) Elan can increase POW, useful for sorcery, a staple of the game. With greater POW a Sorceror can summon and bind entities with greater ease, and also resist supernatural attacks.

The increase of POW also brings us to another staple of BRP games, the Luck roll, which seems fairly disassociated or what Ben calls 'meta' at first glance. As we shall see, it inadvertently connects to the gameworld in interesting ways.

The Luck Roll

As far as I can tell, the Luck roll is not in original Stormbringer games and first appears in Elric! Notwithstanding, there are arbitrary DEX x 3% or CHA x 4% rolls all over old Stormbringer, so there may be a nascent Luck roll in there somewhere.

Luck roll from Elric!

The Luck roll is given as POW x 5% to have a lucky occurrence, although there is no details as to how often it can be used, or under what other conditions. The description of "being in the right place at the right time" or "escaping the consequences of being wrong" seems ripe for abuse. It has become a staple of BRP games, appearing in the Big Gold Book, and I suspect it first appeared in Call of Cthulhu.

Luck roll from the Big Gold Book

In my experience, there are several ways to use The Luck Roll.

1) Luck as Divination. As a GM, I ask for Luck rolls all the time and use them for NPCs to determine things. Does the downed guardsman have the keys to their cell? Luck roll!

2) Luck as Saving Roll. BRP suffers from the old school tendency for a string of unlucky rolls derailing a game, leading to no fun. In such a case, as GM I sometimes allow a Luck roll for a narrative solution to the problem.  Get shoved off a cliff and hope a bush breaks your fall? Luck roll!

3) Luck as Bennie for Characters. This is the use described in the BGB, and is closest to players' hearts, as it can directly benefit them. Unfortunately, the rules descriptions are rather vague, and although older players mostly use this rule fairly, I find younger players raised on newer D&D try to game as much as they can out of a constant demand for Luck rolls. Luck roll every five minutes!

At a glance, the Luck roll seems quite meta or disassociated. If we remember that Sorcerers and Agents can increase their POW through the accumulation of Elan, we also realize that they are luckier than non-magic characters. Since Elric's foe Thelab Karna often escapes through luck, and as this is a staple of pulp fiction that inspired Moorcock's tales,  the Stormbringer designers inadvertently made Luck rolls a lot more associative.

However, the Luck roll does have its problems, which I turn to next.

Flaws & Fixes for the Luck Roll

As noted, the Luck roll is unpredictable and prone to being abused. To remedy this, I institute the two following rules.

1) Pushing Your Luck - I agree with Ben that an arbitrary limit of once a day on these powers takes away from immersion. Instead, I reduce the modifier for Luck rolls by 1 everytime they are used in a session. For example, the first Luck roll for a character in a session is POW x 5%, but the next x 4%. then 3% and so on to x0%, or "Your luck has run out!". This makes players more wary of pushing their luck and feels every more triumphant when they succeed despite the odds. The modifier reverts to x5% the next session.

2) Degrees of Luck - To further add to the feel and effect of Luck rolls, you could implement Criticals and Fumbles. If we take the rulebook examples of remembering to bring rope, being helped by a stranger, or having a monster attack hit your mount instead of you, we could get something like this.

Critical (1/10 of Luck) - Lucky enough to turn the tide! You not only brought rope but also a hook; the stranger is wealthy and takes a liking to you; the horse instinctively kicks and gets a free attack on the monster.
Success - A lucky chance, though not supernatural. You did bring rope; the stranger gives you directions; the monster bit your horse instead.
Failure - Nothing happens, player must face consequences of actions.
Fumble - In addition to not being lucky, a complication arises. Not only did you forget the rope, a hole in your bag has lost your half your rations; the stranger is a follower of an enemy cult; the monster strikes you and the impact forces you to make a Ride roll to stay in your saddle!

Of course, the GM should keep in mind the concept of falling forward and, where applicable, look for ways to turn these failures into opportunities of some sort. The ripped bag could incite NPC kindness; the monster could lead you to its lair where some treasure has accumulated; besting the enemy cultist could give you a lead on how to progress the scenario. 

3) Luck Rolls or Pools? - Although Ben largely dismisses Story game systems, they have made some innovations that are worth stealing in OSR games. Case in point, the Gumshoe system, which is used for CoC a la Trail of Cthulhu and Stormbringer a la Swords of the Serpentine, allows Players to use pools to buy special effects instead the unpredictability of Luck rolls. The same thing could easily be implemented in Stormbringer and take the whiff factor out of Luck rolls.

I posted about this a long time ago HERE, but may rejigger this at some point.

Conclusion

The Elan system is a great associated mechanic, and one that even inadvertently makes the meta mechanic of Luck rolls more in line with the genre trope of lucky sorcerers. If you're looking to bring disassociated mechanics more in line with your game, once again old Stormbringer shows the way.