Situational Rules

MLP:SA was built to have a pulp-action, Daring Do feeling. In addition, because MLP:SA was also built on the flexible Savage Worlds foundation, you can take inspiration from other Savage Worlds settings for other situations that may come up in your MLP:SA game.

Patter

As taken from the Deadlands Noir Savage Worlds setting, available via Pinnacle, DriveThuRPG, Amazon, or your local game store. Also a great setting for a investigative game with a lot of sleuthing; includes rules for interrogations.

Sometimes you can't solve everything with a punch to the face (sad, I know). If you need to defuse a tense situation, wiggle your way out of a hoofdicuff fight, or convince somepony to step aside and give you access to Restricted Information, you can frame it as a Social Conflict (core Savage Worlds, Situational Rules) with a few modifications.

You want to talk the talk? Well pony up, partner.

Your character chooses what skill to use: Intimidation for tough talk, Persuasion for a softer or more reasoned approach, or Taunt if you're lookin' to talk in circles. Each round, you roleplay your speech and make your roll, which is opposed by your target's appropriate attribute: Spirit for Intimidation/Persuasion, Smarts for Taunt.

As usual for a Social Conflict, the GM can award bonuses/penalties for a particularly good point or shoddy line; Edges and Hindrances also count. Cooperative rolls are possible, with applying all relevant modifiers - these aren't also opposed rolls.

At the end of the third round, compare the number of successes you got with the Patter Results Table:

Since we're playing heroes, your regular pony (Extras) back down pretty easily to a hero that can snap a good punchline, although they'll stand up a bit if they've got a big name on their side (Wild Card). If you're trying to talk down Mr. Big Britches Himself, well that's gonna be a lot harder. Regardless of the outcome, if you do decide to punch 'em in the face, they'll still fight back.

Tailing

As inspired by the Deadlands Noir Savage Worlds setting, available via Pinnacle, DriveThuRPG, Amazon, or your local game store, as well as the Beasts & Barbarians: Jalizar, City of Thieves Savage Worlds setting, available via RPGnow, Amazon, or your local game store

Every so often, you may need to follow another character without being noticed.

In this case, you can frame it as a Chase, with some modifications. As usual, the GM decides how long it takes to tail the schmuck to their lair: Short (≤3 rounds), Standard (5 rounds), or Extended (10 rounds). The rounds can have any time increment, from a few minutes to an hour each, and represents an occasion to be spotted or spot the spotter!

Each round an opposed roll is made between the shadower's Stealth vs the victim's Notice. If the surveillance involves a vehicle, the shadower uses the lower of the appropriate Piloting skill (Flying, Land, Water, or even Nature if you're riding another animal) or Stealth opposed by Notice.

Modifiers: A target that suspects they're being followed gets a +2 to their Notice roll next round; one who knows they've got a tail gets +4! The target doesn't necessarily get this bonus for all subsequent rounds; it depends on how suspicious or lax the target is. In addition, if the target is moving faster than their tail they may also get a bonus (as with the Speed advantage in Chases).

Cooperative Rolls: multiple ponies tailing a target can make things a lot easier, but also riskier. The helpers roll their relevant Stealth/maneuvering skill trait; for each success and raise they give a +1 to the primary shadower. However, if any helper fails their roll, the leader's roll has -1 penalty; if the helper gets a critical failure, the helper exposes themselves - and now the target knows they're under some sort of surveillance (+4 to the next round's Notice roll)! Luckily the exposure doesn't reveal any of the other heroes who are participating, so duck down low!

Short Tails

For a Short Tail, all the shadower has to do is make sure they keep on their target's trail without getting caught. In this case, if the shadower wins the opposed roll that round and gets a success on their roll (TN=4), the shadower manages to tag along unnoticed this round. However, if the shadower wins the opposed roll but doesn't get a success on the roll (TN=4), he loses the target but at least doesn't get spotted.

If the shadower loses the opposed roll that round but at least got a success on their roll (TN=4), the victim starts to suspect they're being followed. However, if the shadower loses the opposed roll and didn't get a success on the roll either, he loses the target and the target gets a good look at their tail! Depending on the situation, the victim can flee (turning the scene into an actual Chase), set an ambush, or react in whatever way the GM feels is appropriate.

Standard and Extended Tails

If you're going to have to sneak after the target for some distance, there's going to be a bit of give and take, detective.

Give the shadower three Shadowing Tokens and the target none. For each success and raise with the opposed Stealth/Notice roll per round (again, Standard @ 5 rounds, and Extended @ 10 rounds), the winner takes a Token.

If at any point the shadower has no Shadowing Tokens, they've been spotted, and the target now knows they've got somepony on their trail! As before, depending on the situation, the victim can flee (turning the scene into an actual Chase), set an ambush, or react as GM's discretion.

If the shadower still has tokens by the end of the last round, he has managed to stealthily follow the victim to their destination.

Gambling: Poker

As taken from the Deadlands: Reloaded Savage Worlds setting, available from Pinnacle, DriveTruRPG, Amazon, or your local game store. Also has cool Dueling rules and a wickedly expansive world.

While the rules for gambling in core Savage Worlds work just fine for a brief session with lady luck, at some points you may wish to include a bit more verisimilitude to the gambling game. In which case, you can run the Gambling skill roll as a very mini-poker game, as detailed in Deadlands: Reloaded:

    1. Each participant puts in their bet or agrees in the stake
    2. Each participant at the table is dealt two cards
    3. Each player makes a Gambling roll (modified if they cheat as usual)
      • For each success and Raise, the player is dealt an extra cards
    4. The table deals three more cards in the center.
    5. Everyone looks at their hand: from their two initial cards, any extra cards they got from their Gambling roll, and the three cards open at the table, and tries to make the best poker hand possible, combining at least two cards from their hand with those revealed at the table. Otherwise they fold (and lose the stake).
    6. The winning hand gets the amount of $ equal to the stake, multiplied by the hand's value. Everyone with a losing hand pays that amount to the winner, split equally among the losers.

For example, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle are playing a game of Appleloosa Hold 'Em, with a stake of 10 bits ($10). Applejack wins with a Straight (6 points), while Rainbow Dash had three 10s, and Twilight two Queens and two Fours. Applejack wins $60 (10 x 6), and Rainbow Dash and Twilight lose $30 each (60 / 2).