Game Theory & Sample Scene

The 21 System is what is known as a "narrativist" role playing game. The rules exist to provide a framework for collaborative storytelling.

The various action mechanics (Feats, Letter of Intent Stunts, and Letter of Credit Favors)— along with the cashing in of the various Chips awarded through these actions— are all meant to help players codify the extraordinary things which they can imagine their characters doing. The cardinal rule of the 21 System is it all comes down to how the story is being told— and what suspension of disbelief is required of the other players at the table— to determine what actions are plausible... and, when in doubt, Plot Points (Blue Chips) can always be spent to blatantly Bend the Rules!

When performing an action, a player should frame their scene in three steps, according to "The 3 P's": Premise, Perform, and Payoff.

1. Premise: The player sketches out in broad brush strokes what their character is doing and what they hope to accomplish. Don't be too specific or colorful with your description at this point, and don't describe the end result... that will happen in the next steps.

In this sample scene, Domino (a PC) been hired to apprehend the notorious hacker and industrial saboteur Ghost (an NPC controlled by the GM); she's tracked him down and is about to confront him in his warehouse lair. On her turn, she's going to make a Feat check to cut the cables on Ghost's computer servers, and use them to tie him up. She then plans to follow up that standard action with some additional bonus ones by playing a face card from her hand as a Letter of Intent, and spending at least some of the Chips she earns.

2. Perform: The player carries out the nuts and bolts of the game mechanics in order to simulate the action their character is performing.

If they are performing a Feat, a Stunt, or are calling in a Favor, the action will have a unique formula to determine their Success Total: some permutation of adding up an Attribute Rating, a Tool bonus, and a card which they can play from their hand and one drawn for a Trait.

If the player is describing a Feat Check against another PC or NPC (but not a Mook) which that character could feasibly resist, that character's player will get to subtract one of their stats (either an Attribute, Trait or Tool) from the attacker's Total, reducing their degree of success. [see PvP Checks] Stunts and Favors cannot be resisted in this manner.

At each step of this equation, the players involved should provide plausible story reasons for why each rules stat they are invoking is applicable and appropriate to the Premise of their action.

Once the players have done the math for the action they are performing, they will have determined the final Success Total for their action. This result will tell them how many Chips the action has yielded and who gets narration rights for describing the result of the action and it's immediate aftermath (see Payoff, below).

The Chips which are earned by performing Feats, Stunts, and Favors are spent during the game in order to peform various offensive, defensive, or plot-altering actions. When cashing in Chips, players should provide narration to describe what their character is doing and what is happening on screen: what kind of attack the Red Chips represent, how they're using White Chips to restore damage, etc.

More so than narrating the results of actions performed with Feats and Letters, it is the Chips which provide the mechanical heft to the story the players are creating. Even if you describe the result of your successful Feat action as "a mighty blow which knocks the villain unconscious," unless you also back that narration up by spending enough Red Chips to reduce all of the villain's Attributes to 0, they're only going be staggered by that punch! They'll still be able to take action on their next turn.

Example: First, Domino performs a Physical Feat to cut the power and networking cables on Ghost's servers: ♣ Physical 4, plus with 'Hardened Mercenary' Trait (which she describes as "Domino is a real artiste with a samurai sword!") she draws 3♥ from the top of the deck; wrong suit, so it only adds 1 point. To this she adds her 'Arsenal' Tool +3, and plays the 10♣ from her hand. Since she is not acting directly against Ghost, he can not defend.

4+1+3+10=18: an Exceptional Success that earns Domino three Chips (she takes 2 Reds and a Blue) and storytelling rights to describe the result. "With a couple of swift katana strokes, I sever through the Gordian Knot of cables tethering Ghost's computers. Grabbing a still-sparking power cord, I charge at him..."

Next, Domino plays the Q♦ as a Letter of Intent Stunt linked to her 'Checkered Past' Trait: this isn't the first time she's crossed swords with Ghost, and she's familiar with what his technology can do. She wants to use the live wire in her hand to short out the GhostTech circuitry of his suit, hopefully preventing him from phasing away and escaping.

Starting with the Letter's Rating of 6, she then draws 4♠ for the linked Trait; since this is less than her ♠ Wild Card Attribute 'Probability Manipulation' of 8, the Trait card adds 4 points. Since this is a Stunt, she knows Ghost can't defend against it, but she also really wants to boost her Total beyond 10 and make it a huge success. Domino plays the Joker she's been saving in her hand, adding 20 points: 6+4+20=30! An Astounding Success worth 5 chips. She claims all of them as Reds.

Domino now has seven Red Chips and one Blue in her hand. She goes all in and spends them all. "I'm going to use the Blue to 'Call the Shot' and target your 'Ghost Suit' for 7 damage."

Ghost doesn't have any White Chips in his hand, so is unable to deflect any of the incoming Red Chips and will have to take all of the damage. His suit is rated as a +2 Tool, so it is reduced to 0 and Domino has 5 points remaining in the attack that'll spill over to other stats of her choice.

She tells Ghost to apply the remainder to his Physical Attribute since she said she's going to try and tie him up with the cables. This is only rated 3, so she still has 2 points left! Domino decides to throw in a snide remark in order to humiliate him, so tells Ghost to take the last 2 in Social.

Oh the ignominy, Social is not Ghost's strong suit (it is only rated 2), so it too is also reduced to 0! Domino's attack has really brought him low: his Physical, Social, and 'Ghost Suit' Tool are now all 0. Since Ghost is an NPC, he does not have the luxury of Complications, so he will be unable to perform Feats, Favors, or Stunts in ♣ and ♥. On his turn, Ghost will only be able to perform a Mental Feat— and, if he has the face cards in his hand, Stunts or Favors in ♦ and ♠. He will want to earn some White Chips in order to fix some of that damage and get back up to fighting strength....

3. Payoff: Once the numbers are crunched and Success is determined, the player who won storytelling rights gets to narrate the outcome of the scene that was just performed. As noted above, there are certain mechanical limitations to the extent of what a player can describe; if what the player is describing is not also backed up by spending Chips, their narration does not carry as much storytelling rules-weight.

Example: Once the dust has settled from the arithmetic of the performance portion of her turn, Domino can narrate the aftermath. "Ghost attempts to phase as I charge forward and thrust the live wire into his GhostTech suit. The suit begins sparking and smoking as the circuits overload. With a cry of frustration, Ghost rematerializes as a smoldering wreck. 'Peekaboo! I see you, you hippy loser.' With a wry smile, Domino wraps the cables around Ghost and hog ties him."

It is now Ghost's turn. He's down, but he's not entirely out. With some good cards and lucky draws he may just be able to perform a Mental Feat or a Stunt of some sort in order to earn some Chips and think of a way out of this predicament...