Assist Action

You can carefully help someone else take an action with little risk of interference. However, the amount of help you can actually provide without taking a chance of getting in the way is very limited. Examples:

• A master smith provides guidance to an apprentice. The master must roll at least 1 Success to help, which will be easy.
• Three senior apprentices assist their master in a laboratory experiment. Each must roll at least 3 Successes to help.

One character is taking the action, and the others are assistants. Each assistant can contribute at most 1 Success. In order to do that an assistant needs to roll Successes at least equal to the number of assistants who are part of the action. Thus, it is impractical to have a large number of assistants unless they are highly trained.

An assistant who Fumbles removes 1 Success from the character taking the action (which might make him fail or even Fumble.)

If the action incurs some sort of cost (e.g. Drain for a spell) then the assistant only incurs that cost if he Fumbles.

Collaborate Action

Multiple characters can work together to accomplish something bigger than they could do on their own. Each character is on equal footing and plays an integral role in the combined effort. The failure of any one member will most likely cause the combined effort to fail. Examples:

• Two adventurers work together to open a two-key lock where both locks must be opened simultaneously.
• Three wizards combine their energy in a magic ritual.
• A sniper and spotter work together as a team to find and shoot enemies.

Each character rolls independently and then subtracts 1 Success for each person he is collaborating with. For example, three wizards working on a shared ritual spell would each subtract two successes. The characters then combine their remaining successes for a single, more powerful result.

Since each character is rolling, each has a chance to independently succeed, fail, or even fumble. Similar to the Assist Action, a character who fumbles removes 1 Success from each of the other actions (which might cause other characters to fail or even fumble.)

If the action incurs some sort of cost (e.g. Drain for a spell) then each character incurs that cost separately. If the collaborative action fails and has bad consequences then each character suffers those consequences. For example, casting a spell will cause Drain for each of the characters. The same is true of any long-term ongoing effects, such as Drain from Maintaining Magic Arts.

Mob Action

A sizable group of similar characters (e.g. guards, peasants, or goblyns) can work together as a mob to combine their efforts. Typically this is a tool for the GM, but players might find this useful if they hire mercenaries.

A mob has a single pool of dice, so this is almost like having a single character. The GM determines the size of the mob's dice pool (see below.)

The number of members in a mob can vary considerably. A rat swarm might have hundreds of vermin, or a military unit might have only a half-dozen.

For a smaller mob, the total number of dice should be between 1/4-1/3 the total dice of the individuals. For example, if you have a group of mercenaries who normally roll about six dice each, their pool should be in the 12-18 die range. For a larger mob, such as a rat swarm or army, use 2-3 times the dice of an individual instead of considering the total. For example, a rat swarm of a thousand 2-die rats should have 4-6 dice. The GM should use the lower end of these scales if the mob is disorganized or cannot use it's numbers to their full advantage.

When fighting against a mob it is vital to think strategically to prevent the mob from bringing it's full strength into play. For example, characters fighting a mob would be better off using a hallway as a choke-point than charging into the mass of foes. Using a doorway would be even better, as it might even force the mob to split up and fight as individuals.