Talk A Blue Streak

Over the past few months I've had the opportunity to run the Smurfs a number of times and I have some thoughts.

In order to understand some of the ideas my friends and I have for [possibly] improving play, allow me to go over some of the game's rule mechanics. The objective here is to provide a point of reference for rules discussions and not to give you all the RPG's particulars. We're just going for a 'working knowledge'. 

Effort, Smurfberries, Smurf Power, and Thorns

The game has a number of different in-game currencies.

First and perhaps foremost is Effort, with one pool of Effort points for each of your stats - Brawn, Heart, Mind, and Quick. By spending a point of Effort, a Smurf PC can reduce the Difficulty Level of an Action Roll related to the connected Stat by -1D6. If you are desperate to lift a large tree branch off your friend and the Storyteller says its Difficulty Level 3, you would normally roll 3D6 and try to get under your Brawn. However, you could spend 1 point of Brawn Effort and reduce the Difficulty to 2D6.

Smurfberries are next - PCs starting out with 1 Smurfberry and gaining one more when they use Smurf Power. They can also be awarded by the Gamemaster for particularly clever moves or great role play. My players have likened them to Bennies from Savage Worlds.

By spending a Smurfberry the player can add a one-time +1 to one of their Stats for the purpose of an Action Roll. An expenditure of three Smurfberries will return a spent point of Effort to its active pool. The Effort point can be restored to ones self or you can restore one to a fellow PC. 

This got us wondering about other possible uses for Smurfberries. We'll get back to this later.

Smurf Power is one of the most awesome and interesting elements of this system but also the one that led me to wonder if the rules regarding it need some kind of modification. 

Smurf Power begins Active at the onset of every session and becomes Inactive once used. It remains Inactive until either the Smurf PC's Player rolls all 6s - even if rolling just a single d6 (Hmm...OK) - or the session ends and the another session starts. As noted, Smurf Power always starts out as Active at the beginning of a session.

When you use your PC's Smurf Power you switch out one of the action's Difficulty Dice for a special Smurf Power Die. The number on the die doesn't matter and I am honestly not sure if you roll it or not. In the custom dice set there is a larger die with white and red Smurf symbols so I am thinking you do roll it. The important thing is that if the total roll succeeds it Critically Succeeds and if it fails it Critically Fails. 

When a player uses their PC's Smurf Power the Gamemaster gets the last of our currencies, Thorns.

Thorns are points that are given to the GM when a player/PC initiates their Smurf Power that has a few different uses. Most notably, your Storyteller can add 1D6 to the Difficulty Level of a situation, obstacle, or opponent. Another, and my favorite by far, is to activate the Advantage of a foe. Like Smurfs, enemies have a special Advantage but they require a Thorn to be spent to use them (remeber this - it's key). Finally, a Thorn can be spent to remove a piece of Equipment from play, though only if the PC fails or partially succeeds on an Action Roll using that item. The Equipment need not be destroyed permenantly but rather temporarily lost (swept down river, dropped into a ravine, snatched by a raven, etc.). 

Now for some questions, opinions, and potential houserules my friends and I thought up. Here goes...

Smurfberries and Thorns

One Smurfberry gives the PC a +1 to a Stat for the purpose of a single Action Roll. Three Smurfberries can return a point of spent Effort to themselves or to another.

What if you could spend two to give your ally a +1 and/or it costs three to regain an Effort point for yourself but only two to aid someone else? Now, in each case, imagine that when performing these actions you give the GM a Thorn.

Why? Well that partially goes into my issues with Thorns.

The Gamemaster just doesn't get enough of them. The Storyteller only receives a Thorn when a PC uses Smurf Power but what if you're playing with only two or three players/PCs for a four hour game. In that case, as I have experienced now a few times, I rarely get more than one Thorn per session. Considering the fact that Thorns are needed to activate a foe's special Advantage, well, the table doesn't see that happen much. In fact, if there are only two PCs, two Thorns is the most I could possibly have in four hours. 

Smurf Power Alternative

Smurf Power is such a cool idea; the PC gets to decide on a gamble that might earn them a Critical Success or inflict upon them a Critical Failure. I love that. The thing is, you're already expending the ability and giving the GM a Thorn. Why then do you roll it to see if you actually get the effect or not? Based on standard odds, you have a 2 in 6 chance of the Smurf Power Die coming up with a Crit (a 1 or a 6 let's say). 

Instead, my group and I have been using an alternate method:

Once a player expends their Smurf Power (going from Active to Inactive), they roll the total number of Difficulty Dice - no die switched out and no special die included - and if it succeeds it Critically Succeeds and if it fails it Critically Fails. Nice and simple, more direct, and to the point. Basically, once you use your Smurf Power it is in effect for the next roll and that's that. It seems much Smurfier this way. 

So what will I do with the special Smurf Power Crit Die when it arrives? Not sure. I am considering an option where the player can choose to include it in addition to his Difficulty Dice and count a White or Red Smurf Emblem as a Super Smurfy Crit! There's a catch though...the Storyteller gets two Thorns! *Gargamel laugh*

As far as gaining your Smurf Power back...I would say rolling all 6s makes sense but not on a 1D6 roll. For one thing, while there are certainly occasions where the player might roll a single D6 Difficulty, it's rare that I would require one. If your Smurf can reduce the Difficulty down to 1D6 they really shouldn't need to roll. The exception would be if your Smurf is especially bad at the Action in question and has a Stat of only 2 or 3.

Another reason is that there are very few things in the game that are Difficulty Level 1. Again, not none but its really uncommon and it seems odd that you'd regain something as great as Smurf Power just by performing an especially simple and easy task. 

There you have it. The focus is mainly on simplifying things and finding a way to give the GM more Thorns to work with. 

I do have one more Smurf post on my mind but not sure beyond that.

Smurf you soon!

AD

Barking Alien