The Challenge Phase

The

hallenge Phase

“Our pockets were full of deng, so there was no real need from the point of view of crasting any more pretty polly to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him swim in his blood while we counted the takings and divided by four, nor to do the ultra-violent on some shivering starry grey-haired ptitsa in a shop and go smecking off with the till's guts.

But, as they say, money isn't everything.”

– A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

T he Crypt Titan was the former dungeon lord of the Ossuary and the first dungeon lord to fall to the crusades. An army flooded the bone-lined halls, and the skeletal giant devoured wave after wave as it crawled down the passages. Here, war was waged in its most antique form. Underfoot, bodies and parts of bodies were trampled until the ground was slick and there was a terrible stink from the wet innards.

The Ossuary became so littered with internalments that the huge form of the Crypt Titan was entangled and slowed. Passages behind the thing were choked with bodies and passages in front of it bristled with resistance. Shoulder to shoulder, the crusaders beat and bashed the Crypt Titan’s arms from its body, and with a cry, crushed its skull to nothingness. It stopped moving. By the end of the battle, ten-score crusaders had been felled.

Of the two-hundred to die in the battle, fifty rose again from (seemingly) deadly wounds. All were amazed, and it was declared a miracle. And yet, the other fallen were no less restless. Those dead who were utterly desiccated by the Titan’s jaws became howling specters. Those who were merely crushed by the Titan’s bulk struggled up as zombies. And thus was the Crusade of the Ossuary declared victorious.

The Flow of the Challenge Phase

During the Crawl Phase, players and GMs exchange questions and answers. During Challenges, things become much more bounded. A Challenge narrows the lens of the adventure into every blow, every maneuver, every stunt that the players attempt.

In this phase, everybody at the table draws cards that represent their opportunities during combat. The players play these cards to choose specific actions—attacks, movement, pulling something from their pack, etc. The GM controls the hostile characters, be they monsters or mortals. Both sides pursue their goals while exchanging blows. When one side retreats, surrenders, or lies defeated, the Challenge Phase transitions back to the Crawl.

The Challenge Phase uses the following procedure. Play cycles through steps 1-5 until the Challenge is resolved. The rules for players and GMs differ slightly; GM-specific rules start on page 121.

0. Set the scene

As the Challenge begins, the GM frames the scene. They describe the different zones, note the combatants and their positions, and articulate if any scenery and hazards have special rules.

1. Draw Challenge cards

Challenges are split up into rounds. At the beginning of each round, each player draws four Challenge cards from the minor arcana deck. The GM draws a certain number of major arcana cards based on what enemies are being fought, see page 121.

2. Play Initiative

Players choose one of their Challenge cards as their Initiative for the round. They place it facedown in front of them. The GM plays an Initiative card for every significant character or group of characters they control.

3. Take turns

The GM counts up from lowest card (I) through the highest card (king). When the GM announces the Initiative of a GM character or adventurer, that character takes their turn.

4. Minor actions

After a turn is resolved, the GM asks: “Any minor actions?” Anybody who wants to take a minor action declares their action. Minor actions are resolved simultaneously.

After all actions of a particular Initiative number are resolved, the GM continues the count upwards. Steps 3 and 4 repeat until everybody has had their turn.

5. End the round

Once everybody has had their turn and the subsequent minor actions have been resolved, the round ends. Everybody discards any unused Challenge cards in their hand. Everybody discards their current Initiative card. Facedown cards remain in play. If the Fool was drawn during this past round, both minor and major arcana decks are shuffled. A new round begins.

Learning the (sidebar)

Challenge Phase (sidebar)

The Challenge Phase rules are designed to be fun—players make tons of small decisions: which cards to use, how to collaborate to get the maximum effect, how to take damage. The rules are also designed to be deadly—things can quickly go from bad to worse as characters Notch armor, Wound talents, and realize they’ve gotten in over their heads.

Getting used to card-based combat sequences can be daunting or slow going at first, but once your table falls into the swing of it, the Challenge system ensures that nobody is sitting around waiting for their turn.

To learn any game, take it slow and go through each step slowly. After two or three Challenges, you’ll get the sense of the flow and find there’s a lot of interesting tactics embedded in the rules. Do you use a low Initiative to go first so you can see what the GM’s monsters Initiative is for the rest of the round? Do you bluff with a low Riposte? Do you put down a Riposte first, then draw your sword to make your counterattack more deadly?

Players who put in the due diligence to learn the tactics underlying the Challenge Phase will have a lot of fun.