OHSW Task system, thoughts?

[JozisTinMan]

Here are some thoughts from my blog on a task system for One Hour Skirmish Wargames.  What do you think?

This quick resolution system is designed for figures performing any non-combat task or covering anything that crops up during a game that is not defined in the scenario.  Resolving a task uses action points just like other actions and ends a figure’s turn just like firing.  Skill levels, task difficulty, and consequences may be defined as part of the scenario.

The most important rule is be a good sport and if you are not having fun, you are doing it wrong!

To resolve any non-combat task, agree with your opponent:

How difficult is the task? (Easy, Medium, Hard)
Unless the figure is specified by the scenario to have this skill, how competent is the figure at the task? (Novice, Ok, Expert)
What is the consequence if the task fails? (None, Down, Instantly Killed, Something else…)

Now draw to resolve the action.  The player performing the action draws the number of cards indicated below based on their skill:

Skill Level
Cards Drawn
Low
1
Medium
2
Expert
3

The opposing player draws the number of cards indicated below based on the task difficulty.

Difficulty
Cards Drawn
Easy
1
Moderate
2
Hard
3

Compare the highest card for each:

If the active player performing the task beats the opposing player, the task succeeds
Otherwise the task fails and the figure immediately sufferers the agreed upon consequence
If either player draws a Joker, the task is not attempted and the turn ends as usual.
Examples:
Diffuse a bomb
Ralph and Bob are trying to rescue some hostages from the bad guys / freedom fighters, but there is a bomb that must be defused first.

In the scenario, the following has been defined:

Bob is an EOD expert
The bomb has been rated a medium difficulty.
If the task succeeds the bomb is defused.
If the task fails, look at the highest card drawn for the attempt for the active player.  If Red, then the bomb explodes as a grenade from the rules.  If black then the bomb does not explode and it can be attempted again.

Bob attempts to diffuse the bomb. As he is an expert he draws 3 cards: 3♥ , 7♦, K♠.

His opponent draws 2 cards for the medium difficulty bomb: J♣ , 6♠

As Bob’s K♠ beats the opponent’s J♣, the bomb is diffused!

Now if Ralph tried to diffuse the bomb, he would only draw a single card, as he does not have any EOD skill.  Ralph draws a 3♥

His opponent draws 2 cards for the medium difficulty bomb: J♣ , 6♠

As Ralph does not beat his opponent’s high card, he fails.  As his own card is Red, the bomb explodes!

Batter down a door
Olaf is pillaging a Saxon village with his Viking buddies.  He wants to batter down the door of a cottage in order to plunder it and capture the farmers cowering inside.  There is nothing in the scenario specifying how to batter a door down, so the two players quickly decide:

The door is pretty stout, so it is a moderate difficulty.
Olaf is a healthy viking, but not larger than average, and has a sword and not an axe, so he is rated as having medium skill. (If he had a two handed axe, you might rate him expert)
There is no consequence if he fails, other than standing there using up action points.  He may try again at any time.
Olaf draws: J♣ , 6♠

His opponent draws: 7♦, K♠

Olaf may try again using more AP this turn or wait until the next one.

http://jozistinman.blogspot.com/

[JozisTinMan]

Formatting did not come out well when I pasted it,but it is more readable on my blog at the link above.

http://jozistinman.blogspot.com/

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