J Is for Judging Difficulty
One of the foundational premises of The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) is that just about anyone can attempt just about anything. Since the game system’s resolution mechanic for any action starts and ends with narration by a player, the limits of the systems are the limits of the players’ imaginations, descriptive abilities, and powers of persuasion. BKotRT is not a game that tries to define the minutiae of what characters can do. With this system, it just doesn’t make sense to look for ways to exploit combinations of skills, feats, spells, and items.
As previously explained, BKotRT has three types of actions: unopposed, simple, and extended. Just about anything a hero attempts can be any one of these three action types. The exact same activity could be a different action type depending on the situation and what makes the story being played more entertaining. When a hero attempts an action, the first question to ask is, “Is anyone or anything opposing the hero?” If the answer is “Yes” (or if you, the GM, think it’d be more fun if the answer is “Yes”), then use simple or extended action rules. Describe the situation and let the dice fly. If the answer is “No”, then decide on a difficulty number (DN).
Remember that the DN for a task depends on who is attempting it. An action that is DN 10 for one hero might be DN 6 for another. It all depends on qualities. What might be easy for a Hard-Bitten Detective might be challenging for a Preppy Accountant (and vice versa). For an unopposed action, an appropriate quality should usually face a DN between 6 to 10. A moderately inappropriate quality would probably face a DN of 12 or 14. For greater degrees of inappropriateness, increase the DN by +5, +10, or more.
With simple or extended actions, an inappropriate quality results in the hero’s dice total being halved (round up). This helps ensure that a Poetic Records Clerk d10 isn’t on par with a Stone-Fisted Pugilist d10 in a street brawl. Of course, if all contestants in a simple or extended action are equally inappropriate, feel free to ignore the extra math.
Perhaps above all, keep the action moving. There’s no point in trying to figure out the perfect DN or most accurate degree of inappropriateness for a system as loosey-goosey as BKotRT. Make a decision and move on. Failure in BKotRT seldom has to be fatal or otherwise permanent.
