Hazards
Hazards represent anything that threatens a character but does not have an obvious mechanic (such as combat). This can range from the poison of Jormungandr, the infamous gaze of Medusa, an endless maze of lethal hedges, or a raging wildfire. Whenever the band needs to overcome a hazard, the storyteller determines if this is a group hazard everyone has to overcome, or if this is an individual hazard that one person has to overcome. The storyteller determines what (Attribute + Ability) would be best to overcome the hazard, but they should be open to players suggesting different rolls as they come up with creative solutions to the hazard.Difficulty represents how many successes are necessary to suffer no consequence and successfully overcome the hazard. However, many storytellers may require you to overcome the difficulty twice or even three times for particularly legendary hazards.Damage represents how much damage you take after you fail to overcome the difficulty on a hazard roll. This damage can normally be soaked with your Soak DV, but not every hazard is physical in nature. The storyteller decides if this damage is bashing, lethal, or aggravated.
Penalty represents the penalty to automatic successes you take after you fail to overcome the difficulty on a hazard roll. This may represent hallucination, agonizing pain beyond your supernatural endurance, or any situation where failure makes the hazard more dangerous.
Cumulative represents whether damage and penalties stack. For example, if you fail to resist the poison of Jormungandr you take 8 aggravated and 8 penalty. If you fail a second time you take 16 aggravated and the penalty increases to 16. If you fail a third time you take 24 aggravated and the penalty increases to 24.
Special represents a special rule or dramatic consequence associated with a hazard. This consequence usually happens after a certain number failures. If you fail to resist the gaze of the Medusa three times, then you are transformed into stone and effectively dead. The storyteller is encouraged to be very creative when it comes to special rules.
Jormungandr’s Poison
Medusa’s Gaze
Maze of Thorns
Raging Wildfire
Goals
Sometimes a hazard also has an overall difficulty that has to be beaten, in addition to a minimum number of successes just to avoid personal harm. The storyteller determines what the goal needs to be, then adds the success of every character together to determine if their combined efforts will triumph. Some Goals require the band to succeed at multiple checkpoints in order finally defeat the Hazard entirely… or suffer a dramatic consequence.