Pulp Alley perils/challenge question

[Rhelyk]

Played a few games of Pulp Alley the other night and we're enjoying it quite a lot, but had a question regarding the action cards. There's some challenges that require 2 or 3 successes to pass a check or else take 2/3 hits. If these are played on a character that can't possibly make it because they don't have enough dice in a relevent stat to begin with, do these challenges just automatically cause hits? I know plot points can be done as extended actions, but it seems like perils are treated differently

[d phipps]

There's some challenges that require 2 or 3 successes to pass a check or else take 2/3 hits. If these are played on a character that can't possibly make it because they don't have enough dice in a relevent stat to begin with, do these challenges just automatically cause hits? I know plot points can be done as extended actions, but it seems like perils are treated differently

You are correct. This is one area where plot point and peril challenges differ. A Plot Point may be completed as a long action over the course of several turns if needed. A Peril on the other hand must be resolved immediately.

It's not quite fair to say they automatically fail a peril if they don't have enough dice in a relevant skill for three reasons...

> First, there may be Fortune cards to help the character such as Uncanny or Focus.

> Second, you may always try to Dodge a peril. Although this does not count as "passing" the peril, you may avoid the hits.

> Lastly, there may be perks/abilities that help the character, such as Daredevil Adventurers and Danger Sense. Some of these abilities can even come from temporary sources like Contact and Gear bonuses.

Oh, and remember that the challenges that ask for ANY skill can even be passed by using a combat skill, like Brawl.


Otherwise, if a character does not pass or dodge a peril then they take the hits. Note, peril rolls are a reaction to an immediately dangerous situation and may never be resolved as a long action.




I hope that helps. THANKS for playing!

[Rhelyk]

Ah, I had read that as you could use your dodge skill in place of any listed on the challenge, but assumed you still needed enough successes to pass the check. So you only need a single dodge success and you avoid it, moving the character back? That makes a lot more sense and isn't nearly so harsh on allies and followers then. Thanks.

[d phipps]

Drats… it looks like my previous post led you astray. You actually had the peril/dodge thing right in the first place. 

So, although you always have the option to use Dodge versus a Peril, you’d still need to roll the required number of successes. 

Perils can definitely be dangerous to encounter. But how dangerous will have a lot to do with how the characters are designed and how they are used. In general, it’s not too unusual for an Ally/Follower to go through a game and never encounter a peril.




HAVE FUN

[mikedemana]

In general, it’s not too unusual for an Ally/Follower to go through a game and never encounter a

My players must like knocking out their rivals' lower-level characters. Those tend to be the ones slammed with them in our games....

Mike Demana

[Prof. Dinglebat. Phd.]

Drats… it looks like my previous post led you astray. You actually had the peril/dodge thing right in the first place.  

So, although you always have the option to use Dodge versus a Peril, you’d still need to roll the required number of successes.  

Perils can definitely be dangerous to encounter. But how dangerous will have a lot to do with how the characters are designed and how they are used. In general, it’s not too unusual for an Ally/Follower to go through a game and never encounter a peril.


"So, although you always have the option to use Dodge versus a Peril, you’d still need to roll the required number of successes.   "

I have a question. If you decide to dodge a peril and you still need to pass all success's, what's the difference between that and say, going ahead and confronting the peril, don't you still need to pass all success's ?   What's the benefit of doing either over the other?    

[gnomehome]

I have a question. If you decide to dodge a peril and you still need to pass all success's, what's the difference between that and say, going ahead and confronting the peril, don't you still need to pass all success's ?   What's the benefit of doing either over the other?    

You might have more/higher dice in dodge ?

[d phipps]

I have a question. If you decide to dodge a peril and you still need to pass all success's, what's the difference between that and say, going ahead and confronting the peril, don't you still need to pass all success's ?   What's the benefit of doing either over the other?    

Normally, the better option will be to use the appropriate skill to pass the peril -- so your character can continue their activation as normal.

Although Dodge may be used to avoid any peril, it also ends your character's activation.


For example -- if a character with 1d6 Might and 2d6 Dodge encounters a peril that requires 1 Might success, you could roll 1d6 and have a chance to continue your activation, or you can roll a 2d6 and end their activation -- even if they succeed.

Do you take a risk or play it safe? Pulp Alley is built around this kind of risk/reward situation. 



HAVE FUN
 

[Rhelyk]

I like THAT kind of risk/reward situation, but I'm not a fan of the impossible scenario in games. I think the guys I play with are more likely to use those challenges on people that can't possibly accomplish it with either the skill or the dodge if it's guaranteed 2 or 3 hits. It just makes sense, 2 or 3 hits on an ally/follower is a good chance of taking them out of the game.

I think I'm gonna house rule it that you can successfully dodge a challenge you can't possibly complete if all dodge dice you roll are successes, even if you don't match the minimum. Or at lease have dodge successes cancel hits from failing a challenge. The alternative is never using allies to get Plot Points, not with my gaming group

We'll see how it goes tonight, should hopefully be getting in a couple games.

[d phipps]

I like THAT kind of risk/reward situation, but I'm not a fan of the impossible scenario in games. I think the guys I play with are more likely to use those challenges on people that can't possibly accomplish it with either the skill or the dodge if it's guaranteed 2 or 3 hits. It just makes sense, 2 or 3 hits on an ally/follower is a good chance of taking them out of the game.

I think I'm gonna house rule it that you can successfully dodge a challenge you can't possibly complete if all dodge dice you roll are successes, even if you don't match the minimum. Or at lease have dodge successes cancel hits from failing a challenge. The alternative is never using allies to get Plot Points, not with my gaming group

We'll see how it goes tonight, should hopefully be getting in a couple games.

Cool, we definitely encourage folks to add in their own house rules account for their own personal preferences and style of play. I look forward to seeing how it goes. 

Rather than the "roll all successes" I’d actually suggest something that was said above -- "you only need a single dodge success and you avoid the peril, moving the character back". I believe the math makes more sense that way.



On the tactics of perils...

In my experience, a player normally won't have more than a couple cards that they want to play as Perils (even if they have 5 cards, half are probably x1 challenges). So if my opponent uses their x2 and x3 Perils on my Allies, then they probably won’t have a decent chance of stopping my Sidekick and Leader.

Honestly, I’m quite happy if they burn their big perils on my little characters. Soon, they will be out of cards and I'll have the plot points. 

People (including me) are always going to look for the impossible challenge to play on one of your characters, and it is not unusual for it to happen at least once per game. But even if they drop one of my Allies by playing a big peril, I still have a decent chance of popping them right back up during Recovery.

Pulp Alley isn’t a game of absolutes. And a player’s decisions are going to be swayed by the situation at hand as well as their scenario goals.

I can remember a game where I lined up 5 Followers to go for the same plot point.    The opponent burned every card in their hand and ko'd 2 Followers, but I still captured the plot point. From that point on, they never had more than one card in their hand, so the remaining three Followers moved on and took another plot point a couple turns later.

Maybe Followers and Allies will get hit with an impossible challenge once in awhile, but within the context of a scenario it probably isn't important.



...However, extreme perils are a completely different matter. But that will have to wait for another time. 



HAVE FUN

[The Hooded Claw]

Hey folks,

Having played quite a few games of PA, by now, I can really mirror Dave's thoughts on the tactics of Perils. If I may add a few more observations.

In many of the games I play with newer players, there is a tendency to over use perils. I think this comes from a lack of experience with the system which leads to a bit of analysis paralysis in how to use the cards otherwise. It is not uncommon for folks to miss the value of the upper part of the cards and what they can do for their league during play. They burn their cards, making the first few turns incredibly savage for their opponent but then end up with no cards left for themselves.

Once players get a few games under their belts, this tends to taper off, with hands getting larger and keeping more cards in them and peril being played more strategically. You soon learn that there are other ways to deal with low level minions and mooks than wasting your valuable cards.

-Eli