Cinematic Challenges

A Cinematic Challenge is not a traditional combat or dice check. A challenge is more akin to a test of wills in ever-changing circumstances using a variety of tactics. These challenges emphasize roleplay and risk-taking. Every cinematic challenge should be used to answer an exciting narrative question. Question Example: Can our starship make the Kessel Run safely?

Cinematic challenges can evoke the dynamic push-and-pull of anything from lightsaber duels, big battles, chase scenes, political debates, courtroom trials, murder investigations, high-stakes gambling, and tense negotiations. When running a challenge, all allied characters share a Challenge Dice Pool.

Running a Challenge

Cinematic challenges encourage players' creative storytelling during epic moments. PCs involved directly in the challenge act in order of Initiative and make a Cinematic check on their turn, which can be any Attribute check that makes sense for the story. However, a character cannot use the same Attribute or Skill on two consecutive rounds.

Example: If a character makes a DEX + Blasters check to shoot a control panel and close a blast door during Round One, they cannot make a DEX + Agility check to dodge the blaster fire from nearby guards during Round Two.

Challenge Levels and NPCs. The Challenge Level determines the TN for Cinematic checks, represented by a range. The GM informs players of the TN of a Cinematic check before they roll, raising or lowering it within the Challenge Level range situationally at their discretion. Help from significant allied NPCs may lower a check's TN, while opposition from significant enemy NPCs may increase its TN.

NPCs can become threatened, injured, or even killed as a consequence of Cinematic Checks at the GM's discretion. Do not track damage to Resolve during Cinematic Challenges—the outcomes will play out narratively during the challenge, with the final outcome determined at the end of the challenge.

Each time a character succeeds on a Cinematic check, the TN increases by 3 (up to maximum.) Each time a character fails on a check, the TN decreases by 3 (down to the minimum.)

• Average: TN Range 8-14
  
• Tricky: TN Range 11-17
• Challenging: TN Range 14-20
• Expert: TN Range 17-23
• Deadly: TN Range 20-26
• Suicide Mission: TN Range 23-29

The Turn

On a character's turn:

• They describe what they are doing and then make a Cinematic check that fits that moment in the story. They compare their check to the TN.
• If the character succeeds, they add one die to their group's Challenge Dice Pool. If they fail, the Opposing Force adds two dice to their Challenge Dice Pool. This represents narrative swings of momentum in the story.
• The GM and players narrate the outcome, the turn ends, and the next character in Initiative order begins their turn.

Example of an Average Turn. During a chase scene (Challenging: TN Range 14-20), three Imperial spies hop onto speeder bikes and fly off in opposite directions with download schematics of your base. You attempt to search the skies of Coruscant for the means to catch up with them and make a PER + Search check. Your check results in a 12 (failure.) It takes you time to find and hail a taxi, and the Opposing Force adds two dice to their Challenge Dice Pool.

Example of a Complex Turn. During a courtroom trial (Tricky: TN Range 11-17), the Counsellor—a long-time rival to your group—presented false evidence against you. The Counsellor adds 6 to the TN, but an allied NPC stands up to accuse the Counsellor of being a secret Imperial spy, reducing the TN by 3.

The GM sets the TN to 14. You attempt to defend yourself by using the laws of space physics to prove their timeline is impossible and make a MEC + Astrogation check. Your check results in a 15 (success) and you add one die to your group's Challenge Dice Pool.

Ending the Challenge

Think of a challenge as a cinematic dance between two characters or groups opposed to one another, working together to tell a story that will—by design—have an exciting and impactful conclusion regardless of who wins.

At any time after the start of the fourth round, the GM can announce that it's time to End the Challenge. The characters narrate their final, decisive actions, then roll their Challenge Dice Pool. The GM does the same for the Opposing Force, rolling their Challenge Dice Pool. The higher roll wins the challenge—ties favor the PCs. You cannot use Force Points or Knowledge Points to alter this final roll. 

Alternatively, after the start of the fourth round, the characters' group may concede the challenge on their turn and potentially negotiate a less devastating outcome with their opponent or the GM.

The challenge's winner decides the outcome and consequences. For example, in a lightsaber duel, the winning character might decide to wound their opponent, disarm them, capture them, or slay them outright. In other types of cinematic challenges, characters might decide to steal an object from a safehouse without being caught, turn a council of politicians against a rival, defend themselves successfully during a public trial, or negotiate a better trade deal with a cutthroat criminal organization.