Please help. How TENSION system should be used???

[Bragnak]

I have read the rule and I think I get it, but then my friend asked me about it and now I have no idea how I should use it...

we did some practical examples and we are really not sure if we got it right...

 

Can someone please send a example of how you use it in your games?

 

Thanks a lot

Bragnak

[GrendelPrime]

In a nutshell

1. The TD affects extras damage and how easy it is to take them out.
2. The TD affects healing.
3. The TD affects extra damage from autofire and bursts
4. The TD can be used to randomly generate a DC for a task

Less mechanically it also represents how serious the stakes are.  a d6 TD means that if the PCs are dropped they're likely to be captured.  a d10 or d12 TD means they're likely dead.

I know there's things I'm missing but my book is at home and I'm not

 

[Bragnak]

Well I get it that it affect the difficulty, but the practical use is how. I need example:
Bob roll this
DM do that
Then Janet did that

My understanding of this rule:
I have a certain number and a certain die. For example 12 and D8 (average mission) and evertime they do something stupid or engage enemy I roll the die. When I reach the 12, enemies will rush them in great numbers. They now have to dial home or be overwhealmed with hordes of enemies...

If they reach the number missions on this planet will get harder (D10).

This is how I understood the rule, I do not remember reading anything about dmg...

So basicly thanks for your help but I am more confused then before.

[GrendelPrime]

31 minutes ago, Bragnak said:

Well I get it that it affect the difficulty, but the practical use is how. I need example:
Bob roll this
DM do that
Then Janet did that

My understanding of this rule:
I have a certain number and a certain die. For example 12 and D8 (average mission) and evertime they do something stupid or engage enemy I roll the die. When I reach the 12, enemies will rush them in great numbers. They now have to dial home or be overwhealmed with hordes of enemies...

If they reach the number missions on this planet will get harder (D10).

This is how I understood the rule, I do not remember reading anything about dmg...

So basicly thanks for your help but I am more confused then before.

That doesn't sound at all like how the Tension Die works.  I mean you can do it that way, but that's a house rule.

It's for certain things, for example firing a three round burst adds +TD to the weapon damage.  The Enduring Inspirations Feat means any character with who is Inspired gets TD hit points.  Hyper Focus lets a character spent Eureka to add the TD to an Intelligence or Wisdom check.  Aerial Combat relies heavily on the TD as well.  I could have sworn I read something about randomly generating a DC something like 10+TD but can't find that so it's maybe a house rule of mine.

I highly recommend re-reading the rules on Tension Dice as they affect a bunch of things.

[Bragnak]

Will do thanks

[spamandtuna]

The TD doesn’t generally change during an episode.  If you start with a d6 — the default — then you just roll that d6 whenever the rules indicate.

Grendel mentioned Hyper Focus as one example.  If a character in this episode wants to use that feat, they would roll +TD (1d6) and add it to their ability check.  In a more comedic episode with a d4 TD, it means they’re mathematically less likely to sway the results, but there’s also generally less at stake.

As another example, a Goa’uld heals 1TD at the start of its turn.  An episode with the default d6 TD is going to be much less of a threat than an episode with a d12 TD.  Players should expect a harder fight when the stakes are high.

In short, it’s a tool to help reinforce the chosen tone/difficulty for an episode — not to dictate it.

Edited March 29, 2022 by spamandtuna

[SteveR]

The TD can also be beneficial - you might do normal damage +1TD.  But Spam's absolutely right: it's intended as a guide and tension-builder (get it?!) rather than a diktat.