Successive Attempts

From Edge of Darkness Wiki

If your character fails an action in a turn, he can try again in the next turn if time and circumstances permit. He can throw darts for fun over and over again until he hits a bull's eye. Other situations don't allow for repeated efforts. Your character might have a limited opportunity to break down a door to get out of an inferno before he's burned alive. When time is a complete luxury and your character is under absolutely no pressure, the Storyteller may allow you to make successive attempts with a full dice pool. No penalties are imposed.

If, however, time is short and/or the circumstances are tense, a repeated effort can be attempted in each subsequent turn, and the Storyteller can choose to levy penalties on successive attempts. Generally, a -1 penalty accumulates with each attempt after the first: -1 for the second try, -2 for the third, and so on. The Storyteller is free to make the penalty more severe if the stress is particularly high. The Storyteller allows successive attempts to break down the aforementioned door, for example, but each roll after the first might be at a -2 penalty.

The nature of the action determines whether second chances are possible. They might be if your character attempts to persuade someone of something, parallel park or wriggle free from ropes that bind her. It does not apply if your character fails an attempt to shoot someone, detect an ambush, catch a baseball, notice a clue or to do anything else at which she has only one chance to succeed.

Example: Z struggles to remember the punch-code to the laboratory door as the security guard's footsteps grow closer. The Intelligence + Composure roll made for her comes up with no successes. Monica's player asks the Storyteller if she can try again. The Storyteller allows one more attempt before the security guard appears, but at a -1 penalty because it's a successive attempt. Monica's Intelligence + Composure total is normally five, which is reduced to four due to the -1 penalty.

Extended Actions

Note that successive attempts cannot usually be made in the stages of an extended action. If one roll in an extended action nets no successes, you can't re-roll it in a successive attempt. No progress is made at that stage of the project, the time is wasted, and the next normal roll in the effort is made. If, however, a whole extended action fails (the total successes required is not met), the Storyteller may allow another attempt to be made at it. All the rolls in the new attempt may be subject to a penalty. See [[Extended#Roll_Limitations|Extended Actions Roll Limitations]]" for more information.