Consequences

In Saga Machine, actions are just half the equation. The other half is consequences: mechanical effects caused by actions. Consequences can represent many things, from experiencing fear or being on fire, to lusting after another character or being the life of the party. They are as many and as varied as the actions characters can take.

Effects of Consequences

Consequences can have a variety of effects, from imposing weakness traits to ongoing damage. When in doubt, however, consequences should apply a ⊕ or a ⊖ to relevant tests.

Duration of Consequences

Most consequences don’t last forever. Many go away on their own, while others require some action to remove. When adjudicating consequences on the fly, the GM should use common sense. Being on fire might be removed by jumping into a lake. Bad rumors might be dispelled with good press. A mild case of lust might be removed with a cold shower. The consequences found in the appendix specify explicit removal conditions (see page XXX).

Stacking Consequences

Unless specified otherwise, a character may gain the same consequence multiple times. This represents a more severe or enduring effect. However, ⊕’s and ⊖’s from multiple instances of the same consequence are not additive. That is, for example, if you have two Hindered consequences, you only suffer ⊖ from being hindered; you do not suffer ⊖⊖. Other effects, such as ongoing damage, are additive.

Each instance of a consequence is removed separately. For example, a character with two Dazed consequences will have to Focus twice to remove them both (see page XXX).

The Rule of Three

As a general rule of thumb, when a character builds up three or more instances of the same consequence, something more severe should occur. For example, perhaps instead of being Hindered, the character is fully restrained, or perhaps instead of suffering a ⊖ she instead suffers ⊖⊖. The effect is left to the discretion of the GM.

Consequence Examples

A number of example situations and their resulting consequences are given below. Note that in all of these cases, there is some clear benefit or hindrance—some exploitable by either party!

A list of consequences used by the various systems in Saga Machine can be found in an appendix, starting on page XXX.

Argyro is attacked by a group of hired thugs. She takes an action to dive for cover behind a passing groundcar, then attempts to hide. This grants her the Hidden consequence, which prevents the thugs from targeting her so long as she remains still and undetected.

Milos is attending a fancy party of Luna’s most elite. Also in attendance is Mikko, a shipping magnate who tried to have him assassinated. He takes an action to gossip with the attending dilettantes, undercutting Mikko’s credibility in social circles. This gives Mikko the Humiliated consequence, imposing a ⊖ on her social actions.

World Consequences

The GM may want some scenes to begin with consequences already in play. Clever players can use these initial consequences to their benefit. This can be a useful tool for the GM to promote certain behaviors. For example, the GM might want to promote caution in a scene by giving it a Hidden Danger consequence that makes ambushes or fear particularly easy. Or the scene might have a Noisy consequence, providing ⊕ to Stealth.