Table of content
Running a game of Haze
Every game system is a set of rules with a certain playstyle in mind. It is not a crime to play a game however you want (I personally encourage it), but RPGs are created with a certain experience in mind. When it comes to Haze: the Crystal Mist Adventure, the main principles are included in the title. There are a lot of crystals; in the cities, machines and in the wild, mist often arrives, bringing its dangers and you experience everything while bravely adventuring throughout the world. We intended for players to travel, explore and look for lost and forgotten ruins. It doesn’t mean that local intrigues and regional struggles should not be the main elements of your stories. We aimed for the sessions to be filled with exploration and wonder if you wish for the game to revolve around one region so there are plenty of adventure hooks to start from.
Dice and GM
Why do we need dice if we decide what happens? Well, I generally divide GMs into two categories: those who consult the dice to determine the next events and those who narrate what occurs and wait for dice to agree. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and like with most things, the middle ground is probably the most balanced.
Consider this: We’ve meticulously planned a game, and our mighty champion, strong and powerful, keeps rolling low every time. They can’t suddenly become a weakling, as that would shatter immersion, and our villain would become a laughingstock. Sometimes, for the sake of the story, it’s better to slightly alter the test’s outcome. Likewise, a random thug shouldn’t be able to defeat our mighty hero with just three lucky rolls. It’s theoretically possible, but should we allow it? That’s why we shouldn’t always unquestioningly accept the dice rolls. It is really up to you if you want to tell the story or play the game more.
On the other hand, there are moments when we crave genuine suspense and randomness. That’s when dice become our best friends. A significant part of the fun for GMs is watching their carefully laid plans unfold and then witnessing them dramatically change with a single roll. Adapting to these changes is what makes running TTRPGs so enjoyable and truly unique.
Checks
When determining the difficulty of check in the game, it’s crucial to consider how achievable it is. By examining the statistics of players and common creatures, you can establish a better understanding of the value range. For instance, an average human might have a value of 1 in everything, with a 1 in Body and 0 in Athletics. This character would have a comfortable 70% chance of success on tests with a difficulty of 5. By rolling a D10 and adding Body results range in values from 2 to 11, so only by rolling 1,2 and 3 we fail the check.
As characters become more adapted to specific activities, their chances of success increase. A character with at least 2 in Body and 1 in Athletics would have only a 10% chance of failing a difficulty 5 check since they need to roll a 1 to fail. However, as the difficulty level rises, success becomes less certain. For example, a difficulty of 10 would result in a 60% failure rate for this stronger character.
To gauge a character’s experience level, you can consider their total bonuses to a roll (including attribute and skill bonuses). An individual with +2 or less is considered a novice, around +5 is an intermediate, and anything above +7 is experienced.
Determining the difficulty of a task should align with how much experience would be required for success without significant problems. For instance, quickly climbing an old ladder could be rated as difficulty 5, while scaling a rock wall might be a 10, a castle wall could be around 15, and scaling a flat rock surface might be as high as 20. However, these values aren’t rigid, and you can use variations within these ranges.
Keep in mind that values above 10 can be nearly impossible for many characters. Usually if a check is automatically impossible to achieve, players fail without a roll. While you can allow them to roll, it’s important to remember that if you enforce a rule of automatic success on 10, the chance of succeeding in the previously impossible task goes up to 10%. You can also indicate that succeeding such an impossible check will not provide a full benefit as this task is beyond their skill.
When characters fail actions they are determined to perform successfully, embed those failures into the narrative. If a player rolls a 7 and needs an 8 to hit an enemy, describe how they barely missed or struck the enemy’s armor. With ranged weapons, consider adding narrative elements like tearing clothing, ricochets, noise, or other effects to enhance the storytelling.
The level of detail you provide to players regarding the difficulty of a check is your choice. While some information can be revealed to allow players to assess their chances and take risks, other information, such as enemy Evasion values, outcomes from tables, or potion formulas, can be kept secret. You can even turn secrecy into an element of the game, especially for intoxicated characters or those under a spell.
Controlling the time players have to make decisions in Haze is important as players have swimmingly limitless time to take their actions. By limiting their decision-making time, you can force them into actions that may not be optimal, making the game more interesting and allowing you to control the pacing. You can use various tools, such as hourglasses, stopwatches, or even your fingers, to indicate the time players have to make decisions. Keep your hurries simple and provide enough time, as 2 seconds might not be enough.
Combat
This part of the game is crucial as it puts the lives of player characters on the line. It’s also the easiest and the most popular outcome of a confrontation. Players and by extension NPCs can choose this way of resolving a problem. When the turn order is established, all the parties involved in the conflict will declare some actions. When it comes to players, they do it for themselves, while you will be making choices for every enemy of theirs. At that moment, you will be deciding on the modifiers that everyone will receive. You have to remember that players mostly say what they want to do, and then you decide on the modifiers. Be fair and assign them in accordance with the situation. In the Combat section of Game mechanics you can find a table of modifiers in melee and ranged combat.
Players in the heat of battle are allowed to perform various actions ranging from simple to advanced, as long as they don’t provoke attacks from their adversaries and can perform these actions within a reasonable timeframe. In those cases, we should assess the situation and declare the difficulty accordingly, taking into account the limited time and presence of combat.
Let’s say that our players are in an old ruined automaton workshop with a hole in the roof and a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. They entered the building, enemies were surprised, and with that, they had to roll for the initiative. Players are first. One of the players has a bright idea to grab the chandelier rope, cut it, and be catapulted onto the ceiling beams to shoot enemies from there. In that situation, we have to decide how difficult it would be to do something like this and if it is possible at all. According to the rule of cool, they can do it or at least try. It will be an Athletics check, but on what difficulty? If it was 5, then anyone could do it. 10 is probably still too little, but 15 is way too much. I would say 11. It can be easier or more difficult depending on your game style and how heroic or serious you want it to be. Regardless of your choice, don’t say no to the whole idea. Cutting the wings of our catapult angel is an easy way to make the game despotic.
The same thing would happen if we killed our characters too quickly. I generally think that the lives of our characters are something that we should respect, but there would be no fun if they were immortal. Make them feel danger, and when the right time comes, let the dice decide about their lives. The game mechanically makes dying of a single player difficult, if you really want to force it make it reasonable. In my experience the case of losing singular players is a case of not being able to retrieve them from combat or leaving them behind. In most other cases with the end of the combat all characters regain consciousness, albeit beaten. There is nothing more epic than a heroic battle with a gigantic monster where the price to defeat it was to lose someone. That makes those moments meaningful.
Here are some suggestions to make combat interesting:
– 1. Describe the location in greater detail at the beginning of the fight. Mention covers, objects, structures, obstacles, or whatever is present in the environment. Players can use these elements to their advantage.
2. Don’t make all fights just a slugfest where the only goal is to defeat all the enemies. Add variety by making it a survival situation with a certain number of turns players have to survive or force them to act quickly to defeat a specific target, like a champion enemy before they do something troubling (ring a bell, use a device, slay an ally).
3. Play with the fight environment. Introduce factors like fog, which in general makes combat more challenging, remove magic from the fight, or make the terrain difficult. After every attack, force them to roll not to fall over or suffer other consequences like hazy roses ($) around them or bridges breaking down.
4. Change the dynamic of a fight by placing players on vehicles or on the run, making them interact with their environment. Have combat take place on horseback, ships, wagons, or while chasing enemies through alleyways. There is a plethora of obstacles happening while chasing.
5. Alter the conditions of defeat by making the enemy have only a small weak spot (without an armour or of an insta kill) or forcing players to not kill them at all, but capture them or throw enemies out of the boulding.
6. Use smaller or bigger dice for the rolls of enemies. I have this little trick that when players fight some unimportant nobodies, I use smaller dice for damage (D8 or D6).
7. Similarly, when you know how many life points players have, you can choose the liveliest player to be attacked by the monsters first. You can also do the opposite or target players at random.
8. Instead of rolling for a Consciousness check for some unimportant minions, we can just let them die/fall unconscious and save those rolls for bosses and champions. It is much more interesting when the boss doesn’t want to die, and definitely annoying if that one guard refuses to.
9. The lives of heroes are as valuable to them as the lives of their enemies to the enemies. Not everyone fights to their death. Remember that enemies can simply surrender and ask for forgiveness or attempt to run away.
10. Remember that everything characters do can make them tired. If you want, you can spice the game up with some checks to prevent Fatigue points. You can make players roll after a long escapade without any rest or after an exhausting combat.
Delayed action
When players have more control over combat with less power on their side, they feel safe. The main thing that gives them leverage over foes is the delayed action, whether it is obtained from the development trees, the breakthrough, or via the action that they delayed for their turn. It is a false sense of control, but they have it as they can interrupt enemies, being the masters of time while the average enemy can’t. Let’s talk about those who stir the pot. When an enemy does something in the player’s turn, all of a sudden they hold that control. Now our players have to consider that possibility, making the whole combat more intense. This tool allows us to easily add some more tension to the combat. It can make combat tense on the player’s part and more fun for the GMs.
Dodging a bullet
Players are allowed to perform a dodge as an action. However, not all dodges are equally easy to perform. It is much easier to get out of the way of a sword than a bullet. As a rule, the difficulty of a Dodge check is equal to the rolled hit value of the attack. If the attack was made with a melee weapon or with a thrown ranged weapon, then the difficulty is equal to the attack check. If the attack was done with a ranged weapon such as a bow or a sling, then the difficulty is raised by 3, and if with a firearm, it is raised by 5. You can adjust these values as you see fit, but including them is a good choice. Dodging an arrow that you see from afar would be much easier than dodging a point-blank shot.
Spells, miracles and tales
As the names suggest, magic should be magical, and fate should enlighten people. This part of the game is the most abstract, and because of that, we should keep it shrouded in mystery. Not every spell and miracle is written, and not only what already exists is possible. You can choose to expand this magic system as much as you want or to implement changes. What is provided is a framework. The general vagueness of magic and its limitations should be used to your advantage, as well as the players’. However, the damage and effects have to be controlled by you alone. There is no reason for a boulder that can crush someone to deal D6 damage, and a pebble to do D10. Similarly, effects that stay for longer, like Fatigue, Vigor, bonus Evasion, or Toughness, can be extremely overpowered. When allowing players to create their own spells, think of those elements and balance them with the price of the spell.
With Miracles and Tales, the case is simpler as you are the one who designed them. Players can obtain Tales from other NPCs or be gifted with Miracles by the Gods. Miracles given by Gods should mirror their character. Some Spells and Miracles are so evil and unethical that using them is forbidden by the magical society and by law in general. Moving someone’s blood in their veins or changing the fabric of the universe, whatever it is, such practices are forbidden for a reason. Some of them are simply banned to keep them out of the hands of the general population, while others are genuinely evil. Often, players can come up with interesting ways to use magic, and our job is to think about what impact they have. Generally, anything that impacts sentient beings in a morally questionable way or causes unnecessary pain and suffering can be considered a forbidden spell. Similarly, Miracles and Tales given to players by evil creatures can be counted as such.
Breakthrough
As characters progress through the game, they will evolve and change, becoming unique individuals. In this uniqueness, you can find inspiration for something that can make them even more exceptional. When characters reach a breakthrough moment, they gain an additional ability and another action during their turn. This new ability should align with their role in the team and be genuinely useful to them. In this case, it’s often better for the ability to be a bit too strong rather than useless. This moment is pivotal in a player’s commitment to their character. They’ve invested many hours in developing this character, and you should reward them with an ability that makes their character even more outstanding than they already are.
For example, if one player frequently takes on the role of cooking for the group, you could give them an ability that allows their food to remove Fatigue points. If your healer constantly throws themselves onto the front line, consider giving them a free dodge action when they heal. If you have a sharpshooter who often takes delayed shots, grant them the ability to aim for two targets. If someone is always providing help actions, let them do it for free. These new abilities should not only make characters more powerful but, when combined with their equipment and skills, establish them as true heroes in the game.