GM Guide

Missions are the primary activity in Asynchronous RPG. They are meant to be a flexible way to get enjoyable chunks of gaming in without signing up for non-stop play. Some key aspects about missions:

Less than a week in length
Players opt-in to play that week based on their availability
The team roster will change mission by mission, offering the opportunity to play with different people and work out new tactics
Take place over three phases: planning, execution, and debrief
They take place over a number of "scenes" rather than one rolling narration
Each player turn is meant to be meaningful

Planning

The first phase of an Asynchronous RPG mission is planning. This is where the GM sets the stage for players in terms of their objectives and what they are up against. Players will have an opportunity to improve their chances of success by making meaningful decisions before making contact with the enemy.

Briefing

A mission should kick off with a briefing from a leader or agent-in-charge of the mission. The briefing should give an overview of the mission, including objectives and what happens if it fails. Offer players some initial decisions to make that will affect how the mission plays out. This can come in the form of preparation activities and deciding the infiltration (INFIL) method for the mission.

Preparation

The mission briefing may offer the players several opportunities to better prepare for their mission. Preparation could include gathering intelligence, preparing supplies, or lining up extra help. It should take place in a brief vignette, offer the potential to role-play, and provide some sort of benefit in the mission.

Some options:

Advice on how to best fight a specific enemy or type of enemy (accuracy, damage bonus)
Knowledge of what the party is likely to encounter and the opportunity to mitigate potential problems (environment, enemy conditions, etc.)
A special action in the form of gear or an advanced tactic
Unlock special actions for the mission
Add an ally NPC to the mission

Players can also be offered the option for their characters to rest up and get ready for the mission to come. This will grant the character the Rested buff.

Rested: Deal +1 damage on your first four attacks of the mission.

INFIL

Armored Column

Sometimes it's best to go in force. An armored column is the way to go if you need backup, and a lot of it.

PRO:

The Assault Team and Barrage party special actions are available
Assault Team: Deal 2 damage to up to 4 different targets. No roll is necessary. Requires an action. Limited uses, may refresh.
Barrage: Deal up to 15 damage split among any number of targets. Requires an action. One use total. Cannot be used until the primary objective is achieved.

CON:

The column is going to attract a lot of attention and tell all your enemies where you're coming from and when you'll be there.
Very high chance of additional encounters and/or more enemies per encounter.

Condor Flight

Condors are birds of prey dramatically upsized by miasma. They are tamed and piloted by elite miasma-powered operatives called Avinauts. Condor flights are used to INFIL and EXFIL into areas heavily contaminated by miasma where normal equipment and personnel would be at significant risk. The flights are known to be harrowing.

PRO:

Condors are fast and resilient. They can get almost anywhere.
Skilled operatives can take advantage of the Condor's breakneck speed of engagement with the Vault buff.
Vault: Make a successful Motion or Vigor check (roll difficulty can be increased by the GM as desired) and deal +2 damage your first round of combat.

CON:

Tempting Target: A giant bird-of-prey won't go unnoticed for long. There’s a chance the party will face an extra combat encounter (likelihood up to the GM).

HALO JUMP

f you’ve got a working airplane a high-altitude-low-opening parachute jump remains one of the more effective ways of getting just about anywhere quietly.

PRO:

A very stealthy option that offers flexibility in where to land. The team gets to choose their landing zone (LZ) from among several options provided by the GM. Each character also gets the Stealth Strike special action.
Stealth Strike: Get a single action before the first round of combat with a successful Stealth check.

CON:

Sticking the landing is the trick.
Aerial Maneuvers: the jump lead must make a Motion check to guide the team to their chosen LZ. The more strategically beneficial the LZ the more difficult the check should be (must roll a 5 or 6 or -1 die for example).

Helicopter

You fly in and fast rope down. Gravity does some of the work.

PRO:

Helicopters have guns as well as highly-trained personnel with more guns. The party gets the Assault Team special action.
Assault Team: Deal 2 damage to up to 4 different targets. No roll is necessary. Requires an action. One use total.

CON:

There's no element of surprise with a helicopter, you're something of a sitting duck while fast roping, and your enemies may be ready for you.
Each player rolls 1d6:
- 1: 2 damage
- 2-3: 1 damage
- 4-6: no damage

HUMVEE

It's not particularly exciting, but a HUMVEE will get you a lot of places without much risk.

PRO:

Your ride comes with a handy gun turret and a soldier trained to use it. You get two uses of the Gunner party special action.
Gunner: Direct turret gunner to shoot a single target. Deals 4 damage and requires an action. Two uses total.

CON:

Slower than any of the airborne options.

Javelin Drop

A Javelin is a high-tech method of inserting personnel into combat situations. Drop pods are launched in a parabolic arc from a safe distance.

PRO:

There is no way to detect an incoming Javelin pod.
Each member of the party gets the Seize the Initiative buff.
Seize the Initiative: Deal +5 damage on a single attack in your first round of combat

CON:

A Javelin pod crashing into the ground at terminal velocity is not quiet. Also, there’s Javelin Sickness.
Javelin Sickness: 33% chance you lose 1 action in your first round of combat

Execution

The next phase is execution and it tends to start by playing out the INFIL. It is broken up into a series of scenes to best focus on what really matters in the mission story. A scene can focus on combat, the party making a decision, a combination of the two, or something else.

Decision Scenes

A decision scene is anytime the party must make a meaningful choice. Do they want to attack an enemy head on or attempt to sneak in and attempt to take them by surprise? Do they want to meet a potentially hostile group face-to-face, seek cover and watch what happens, or take a longer route to avoid them altogether?

The key to a decision scene is for the player's turns to be meaningful and the choice to matter in how the mission plays out. If they choose stealth over a direct attack they may have to overcome a challenge they otherwise would not have, but if they are successful they get a buff or unlock a special action.

It is also key to avoid letting the game get bogged down on a decision point with a lot of back and forth, which requires a lot of time in an asynchronous game. Narrate clear options players can choose while leaving the door open for brainstorming and collaboration if the party prefers. Move on when a consensus is clear, not every player needs to weigh in during a decision scene.

Combat Scenes

Combat scenes are broken down into rounds. The GM kicks off the first round with an explanation of the scene, enemies, and anything else of significance and then each round follows the same combat structure. The players go first and then you take the GM turn which consists of resolving player consequences from their actions, having enemies that survive the players turn take an action, introducing a change to the battle, and then resolving drops from defeated enemies.

Introducing a change is key to a combat scene. Each round should bring an interesting twist to the combat encounter. It could be the arrival of new enemies, a change in the environment, or the introduction of a new sense of urgency. If there isn’t a change that makes sense given the context, consider wrapping up the combat and moving on to a new scene. The goal is for each round and each turn to be interesting and meaningful. Checking in to Discord to rinse-and-repeat your last action is much less fun than finding something new to tackle.

Consequences

When players make weapon attacks they will roll to determine the outcome of that attack. If they don't roll a 6 within their dice pool, there is a consequence to that action. Consequences are an opportunity to make player turns more meaningful by having something different happen if they don't get that 6 on a die.

General guidelines:

You can choose to make consequences resulting from a hit less severe than those of a miss.
Consider limiting some enemies to only being able to react to a consequence or take an action on the GM turn.
Consequences occur simultaneously with player turns. As such an enemy that is defeated that round can still react to a consequence.

Example Consequences:

The player takes damage (from an enemy, the environment, or self-inflicted)
A new threat appears
An enemy escapes
An enemy gains a buff that is used during the GM turn
There is an environmental change that affects play
There is a time penalty (if there is a time requirement at play)

Conditions

Asynchronous RPG does not track character and enemy positions or have rules for movement. This is to avoid the need to track and continually update where things are in relation to each other or have to read a bunch of posts to know what you can attack. In order to maintain some of the tactical challenge position and movement bring to other RPGs we use enemy conditions.

Conditions add a wrinkle to attacking an enemy. It can simulate distance, for example. An enemy with the Elevated condition requires an extra action to attack with a melee weapon. As well as position, an enemy with Guarded cannot be attacked until whatever is guarding them is defeated.

A GM should feel free to experiment with and use conditions to make combat encounters interesting and introduce some tactical decision making. A good rule of thumb is to ask “what does this add to the encounter?” And “does it make things harder to track for the player or GM?”

Conditions List

Enemies

Populating combat scenes with tactically interesting enemies that provide the party a fun challenge is important. When creating enemies there are a few things to think about:

How do the enemies in the scene interact to create a challenge? What are the big threats? What might throw a wrench in the player's plans?
What will change on each GM turn? New enemies join the fight? A big threat reveals itself and pulls the party's attention? A bad guy flees jeopardizing a mission objective? Something changes in the environment?
What decisions might be necessary that change how the rest of the mission will play out? Is there an NPC or item that needs to be protected? Do things change if stealth and silent attacks are employed?

Here are some examples of enemies.

Special Actions

You can spice up missions and specific scenes by giving players more options for actions. The planning phase is a great way to work these in through preparation and INFIL selection. Special actions can also come in the form of skills.

Most traditional RPG skills can be translated into a Vigor, Motion, or Focus check. Since Asynchronous RPG players aren’t online at the same time collaborating while taking their turns, it can be helpful to be clear what is possible within the confines of the current mission. Specifying certain skills available through special actions is a helpful cue on what is possible, particularly if you've designed the scene to work better with them included.

Special Actions List

Athletics (Vigor or Motion): attempt a difficult physical feat
Demolitions (Vigor): create or handle explosives
Hacking (Focus): gain access to or control of a computer system
Research (Focus): learn new information about a specific topic
Stealth (Motion): avoid detection by enemies or surveillance devices
Sway (Vigor): attempting to manipulate somebody through intimidation or persuasion

Special Actions List

Debrief

The debrief serves as a wrap-up for the mission, a final opportunity for role-play, and giving out mission rewards.

Rewards

The primary reward for mission success is progression points, Asynchronous RPG’s replacement for experience points and levels. Tender, the game’s currency, is a common reward as well.

A standard mission should reward 2 PP and around 500 tender
Shorter missions should reward 1 PP or 500 to 1,000 tender
Weapons and tender can also be rewards for side quests