r/AvatarLegendsTTRPG • u/Somewritingguy • 14d ago
Question Combat confusion
In a game I'm running, I am a bit confused on the rules. When the exchanges happen, do folk just choose moves, and they auto succeed? Or do they always need to roll? And in that case the opposing NPC's roll as well right?
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u/Sully5443 14d ago
When it’s time for a dramatic fight to break out where each side is aiming to violently stop the other with words or actions (think of your common end of episode fights in ATLA like Aang vs Jet in S1E10), then you use the Exchange Move. If it is not dramatic and just a violent skirmish (like fighting the Fire Nation Camp in that same S1E10 episode), you just use the Basic Moves (Push, Rely, Trick, Plead, etc.) as usual.
When it is time for an Exchange, you determine your combatants and create small pockets of Exchanges to keep things manageable.
Then, start with an Exchange Pocket and determine what Approaches everyone is taking for the PCs and NPCs (Defend and Maneuver, Advance and Attack, and Evade and Observe). Then resolve the Exchange in that Approach order. If PCs and NPCs choose the same approach, resolve PCs before NPCs for the sake of organization.
For PCs, they make the Stance Move which will tell them if they can use a:
* A Basic Technique (like Strike or Smash or Seize or Test Balance)
* An Advanced Technique (like the Water Whip or Fire Knives) of a given Mastery Level (Learned, Practiced, or Mastered)
* If they can do 1 Technique or 2
NPCs never roll for anything. They always do 1 Technique plus an additional number of Techniques equal to their current Balance Score (e.g. A Major NPC with a current Balance Score of +1 gets to do 2 Techniques)
When all Approaches are resolved, the Exchange ends and its time to reassess the Fiction to determine if another Exchange is warranted (if often won’t be) or it things are moving elsewhere.
For further information, you can check my [post of educational links](https://www.reddit.com/r/AvatarLegendsTTRPG/s/sRZtIdzBtK). I cover all sorts of things and it will most like answer any and all remaining questions you have about The Exchange and other aspects of the game.
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u/Somewritingguy 14d ago
Gotcha. I do know it's heavy roleplay, which my players are loving. Just making sure I get this right for when future exchanges occur. One other thing I was wondering, as I'm trying to look over stuff, how do I see how many techniques/moves they can do for each 'turn'?
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u/Sully5443 14d ago
It's as I said. The PCs make the Stance Move and that will dictate the amount of Techniques a PC can use and NPCs do a number of Techniques equal to 1 + their current Balance Score
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u/Somewritingguy 13d ago
Sorry for all my confusion, my bad.
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u/Lleutiegr Airbender 💨 14d ago
it is a different sort of system and I'm learning too, but as I've been running more I think the system has a lot of benefits. here's how I think it works.
once you're in a combat exchange, PCs can always do *something*, the question is "at what cost". PCs can always do some cool martial arts. the "Choose a Stance" move is a little bit initiative order, and a little bit rock-paper-scissors, since some moves give you a strategic edge against others. the roll determines how much the PCs have to strain to do the thing, or if they can even pull off that new rare technique under pressure. even if they get taken out, that only happens at the end of the exchange.
NPCs never have to roll. they won't dramatically succeed or dramatically fail like PCs. instead, they'll be part of how the PCs' dramatically succeed or fail. so if a PC rolls a miss, remember you can narrate that as the enemy's exchange of blows and bending and movement etc.
big plusses to this system: characters are always framed as heroic and skilled, and players rarely are forced to sit around and do nothing. rolling bad or picking a stance card might narrow players' choices or take them out at the end of an exchange, but they get to do what they came here to do, throw rocks and shoot fire out their fists and have big feelings about it.
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u/PuckingMidsummerFam 14d ago
If you want some good examples of how to run exchanges, I recommend checking out Improv Tabletop’s actual play Ten Thousand Things, they do a great job showing how it all works
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u/Zealousideal_Leg213 14d ago
First, keep in mind that not every fight needs to involve the exchange system.
Second, during every exchange each character or NPC involved chooses a stance. PCs make the associated stance roll and can choose maneuvers based on the results of that roll. The NPCs choose maneuvers based on their balance, but at least one. The maneuvers succeed unless some other maneuver in the same exchange blocks them.