What is a good mechanic for a test of will power?

Question

I like rules-light larps and I like larps where abilities can be resolved in real time without needing an artificial mechanic like paper-scissor-rock or some kind of card system.

Combat is reasonably simple to physically represent in larp because we can all take out our latex swords and if you get hit, you're wounded. The game can be played in real time, without needing time-stops or special cards. The mechanic is simple: if you hit someone, they are wounded. If they dodge, or parry, they are not hurt.

I'm looking for a mechanic that can be used for magic and 'contest of will' type situations that can flow as well as combat does. I'd like magic to have the same flow as combat with some kind of 'attack' and 'defence' that the players can act out.

I know there are systems where people compare scores ("I have 5 will power, I cast charm" --> "I have 6 will power, I resist") but I'm not interested in that kind of system. The system doesn't need to cater to a variation of skill levels. It can be like simple larp combat where the skill (or will power) of the player is what matters.

I thought of using something like a staring contest (first one to blink loses) but I thought I'd also see if existing systems already had a mechanic.

Thanks in anticipation!

Answer 1

White and Black balls.

Your willpower is represented by white balls: one ball per willpower point. The skill of the attacker is represented by black balls: one ball per skill point. Mix both in one bag, the defender takes a single ball from the bag but does not show it to the attacker. If it is a black ball, the test has failed. If it is a white ball, the test has succeeded. The defender then puts the ball back into the bag, the black balls are removed and returned to the attacker, and the action resumes.

To speed things up (so it flows better), you could have a certain number of black and white balls in your bag already and make one or more selections depending on the skill level of the attacker: any black, you lose.

Bonus points: Determining the change of success is a trivial statistical exercise left as an exercise to the reader.

Answer 2

Any contests of will for the purposes of intimidation, seduction and other kinds of charisma are easily done just by allowing players to talk to each other. Yes, this unfairly benefits naturally charismatic players but it does give those who struggle a place to learn a life skill in a safe place.

When it comes to magic, the easy way to do it is to ignore combat magic and make magic more theatrical.

A trend in UK LARPs has been to minimise the amount of effects that could be used in combat to a small number (increased damage, ignoring armour, knockdown, ignore damage and so on) but allowing many ways to get those effects with different costs. These include downtime crafting (regular and magic varieties), the blessings of the Gods, active spells, character skill and so on. Profound Decisions Maelstrom game was a prime example of this. The Odyssey rules are very similar but I have no direct experience of them.

These systems often have a looser way of using magic in game - ritual magic. A group would go to a ref and give them an out of character description of the effect they were trying to achieve then play through the ritual. In many cases this requires access to a particular site and/or a significant number of players. The refs would judge the quality of the performed ritual and decide the result. Interesting rituals made for better results.

Answer 3

If you want the system to be entirely prop-less and able to be done while in physical combat, consider word or math games. For instance, the caster could state the spell and a command word for a single target will attack and then start counting. The person opposing now has to say a word that follows some predefined rule structure before the attacker gets to a target number or else they are hit.

This could be done as

• a quick one time attack/defense (defender succeeds or fails) "'Flame'! Continue in 3! one one-thousand, two-" "Engulf!" "Drat!"
• a one time attack/defense with magnitude (you got 3 right answers, you needed 4 to avoid being affected, you are affected with strength 1) "Sleep! Five Multiples of 24!" "uh... 2, 4, 6, 12 aaand-" "Time! you forgot 8 and 3. You're affected for x amount of time"
• a back and forth until one person fails the challenge (could be used for a situation where the loser is the one affected, regardless of source) "Foods starting with A!" "Apple!" "Avocado!" "Alfredo!" "A... crap, I'm wounded"

Caster strength could be represented by lessening of time to respond or more required answers. Defender strength could probably be used to either add time or to add "auto-successes" in the second or third example.

All of this has the benefit of being fully doable within combat. A mage could be fighting someone else and start casting at another combatant, but both involved now are distracted and must deal with both assaults at once. Of course the defender could ignore the contest of will and try to kill the mage before the end of the spell...