Playing Clattr

What is Clattr?
Clattr is a social storytelling game involving a Storyteller and one or more players. The players are responsible for designing their characters, who will act as the protagonists of the story. Players will decide their characters’ personality, play style, and motivations. The Storyteller acts as non-player characters (NPCs), creatures, and the world as a whole.

It is up to the players to make decisions for their characters’ actions, but those hopeful decisions do not always pan out. Oftentimes, the player will have to roll dice in order for their will to be carried out. Simple actions, such as opening a door, high fiving an ally, or walking up steps do not require the player to roll dice. Those tasks are easy enough that you can expect to be successful. Other tasks, like breaking down a door, stealing a coin pouch, or ascending a cliff face are far more difficult and will most likely require players to roll dice in order to succeed.

For these rules, we will be assuming your table is using at the very least the Attributes and Stats blocks. Although for most games we recommend also using the Character and Traits Blocks

Rolling dice
In attempting to interact with the world around them, players will roll dice to see if they are successful or fail at the task. This is determined by how high they roll on the dice.

There are six dice in a standard dice set that are used in Clattr - d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. Many sets have seven unique dice, including an alternative form of the d10.

Generally, players will roll at least two dice for any action. They will use the highest number rolled. and determine success based on the following chart.

A Success ensures the player carries out their intended action. A Double Success means that not only does the player have the intended outcome but it goes better than they anticipated. For 3 numbers higher than 12 the player gets, the more outstanding their success is. There is logical limit to how incredible a success can be, meaning that at some point determined by the storyteller a higher number does not increase success.

A failure means the player does not succeed at their intended action. However in most situations they can try again. A Double failure usually means that the player was so unsuccessful that they are no longer able to attempt that action, and may even make it impossible for other to succeed.

Taking highest
Players roll a lot of dice during Clattr. Though they may be rolling two or more dice to determine an action, only the highest result will be counted.

For example, a player is asked to make a perception check. The player has a d10 in perception. She rolls two D10s, the result is a 3 and a 7. The player uses the highest number, in this case the 7, as her perception roll.

The exception to this rule is the case of Explosions.

Explosions
Explosions are when the max result is rolled on a die - a 4 on a d4, a 6 on a d6, etc. When you max out the die, the next highest roll is added on, and the sum of those numbers becomes the result. Explosions stack until a number less than the max of a die is used.

For example, a player rolls two d8s, getting a 6 and an 8. The player takes the 8 and adds the next highest number, the 6, to her total. Her final result is a 12.

In another example a player rolls two d4s, getting a 4 and another 4. The player would grab a third d4 and roll it as well, continuing to total the die until the player no longer rolls an explosion.

Initiative
To decide what order in which players and NPCs get to take action; all combatants will roll Initiative score to determine initiative order. Turns are taken highest to lowest. If two combatants have the same roll, the players decide who goes first.

At any point during an encounter, a player can decide to hold their turn. They can then jump into the order later. This will become their new place in the initiative order for the rest of the encounter.

Combat Encounters
Movement actions-

Conflict actions-

Free actions-

Actions
During a players combat turn, they can perform 3 actions. The type of actions they can perform are as follows

Conflict Action
The most common action a character will take is an attempt to resolve a conflict. Unlocking a door, attacking an enemy, or trying to convince a local to divulge secrets are examples of conflict actions.

For each conflict action a player takes on their turn they take a stacking disadvantage on further conflict actions. They would roll normally on their first roll, take disadvantage on their second roll, and double disadvantage on their third roll. This decreases to a minimum of one dice. (See Advantage and Disadvantage for more details.)

Free Action
Free actions are simple actions that do not require any response or rolls. Actions like a character asking a quick question during combat, drawing a weapon, or yelling a war cry would qualify as Free Actions. Free action do not not count against the actions a player can perform in a round.

Interactions
Interaction happen when a player wants to perform an action that is not challenging but does take time. Interactions are similar to free actions but do use one of the 3 actions a player is able to perform. Oftentimes players will make an ability roll when performing an interaction only to see if they take damage while near combat.

Movement Action
A movement action allows the character to navigate around Scenes. This can either be taking a new position to engage with another character, or an interaction with an object, like picking up an item from a table or retrieving a stashed item from their person.

Movement and Range
Many other collaborative storytelling games have explicit and detailed rules regarding how movement is handled in combat, how close players can be to attack, the distance they can move in a round, variations based on their race, etc. Clattr keeps it simple.

Distance, in the forms of both movement and range, are handled by Scenes. A Scene is an area of play dictated by the Storyteller, and is usually a large area, room, or collection of smaller rooms. On their turns, players can move freely within a Scene and interact with anyone else in the Scene, including attacking an enemy, from melee or range distance.

The exception to this is if the GM has placed some kind of obstacle that keeps players from moving freely inside of a Scene.

The players and NPCs would need to exhaust a action in order for them to move into another Scene.

''A scene is not always a room. As the Storyteller, you may allocate a collection of rooms in your story, whether they be in a small cabin, a clinic, or a small space ship. You may feel that taking a round to move between individual areas slows the rate of play up too much. In this situation I encourage you to combine smaller areas or rooms into a larger scene for the action and excitement to take place.''

Attacking and Taking Damage
Attacks are made by rolling attack Attributes - Strength for heavy weapons, Perception for ranged weapons, and Agility for light weapons. When a character rolls a success they deal 1 damage to their opponent. Players deal an additional point of damage for every success beyond the first. A double success is 2 damage, and a quadruple success is 4 damage.

When a player fails their roll, they take 1 damage, and if they get a double failure, they take 2 damage.

For more information on out attributes work and when to combine various Aspects and Characteristics, check out the Attributes Block.

Cleaving
Cleaving is a reward for rolling high as an attacker. It is used to attack multiple foes with a powerful attack. When you have more successes on an attack roll, you can you can use the successes as a pool to attack other characters. This pool can not be used for anything else, nor can it be saved for a later round or action. ""

Advantage and Disadvantage
Advantage grants an extra die to the player If a character does something to help them meet a challenge, such as hide behind cover from an attack or deal a blow to an enemy while undetected, they will roll with an extra die to bolster their action's chance of success. (See Conditions for more information)

On some occasions, these become disadvantages. For example, if one party member fails to escape a trap, that player will roll one less die for any movement based rolls while grappled. Disadvantage can not reduce a roll to less than 1 die.

Resting and Health Restoration
Adventuring can take a toll on a character and leave them with a desire to heal the damage they have taken. This can be done in two forms. A Complete Rest, First Aid, Magic, and Alchemy or Technology.

A Complete Rest is a period of time where the character does not do anything strenuous, its length is determined by the Storyteller. It can range from an average nights rest to a week. When a character takes a Complete Rest they remove damage equal to a Fortitude roll, Wounds still apply to this roll.

First Aid requires appropriate materials to perform first aid. (Medical equipment. bandages, even some sticks and rope for a splint can work Storyteller permitting.) This is a Cunning roll.

Magical spells and items are another way to heal from damage. Learn more about Spells in the Spellcasting Block. Alchemical items or technology are specific to the Campaign the story teller is trying to run and may be more or less available depending on the story.

Difficulty
Setting a fair challenge for players can be difficult. When players are hoping to overcome a challenge it is important for the Storyteller to set an appropriate difficulty for players to beat. Below is a chart for recommended challenge rating for players to try and surpass.