I talk about the new 'story dice' on the rules page. Here are some examples of how I envision them working, taken from actual examples from our transcripts. The new hypothetical bits are in italics.
GM says, "You bob back to the surface. You didn't get much of a look at the swords, but there is definitely some spare ornamentation near the hilt."
GM says, "either that or mold has set in already."
Venzi sighs, and looks around for a handhold or something to help him dive down
GM says, "No handholds, but there are large cobblestones."
Venzi says, "good enough"
Venzi grabs one and tries to repeat his dive.
[7thsea] Venzi rolls 3k2: 4 1 4 | 8
[vodacce] Venzi says, "good lord"
[vodacce] Venzi says, "ok, whatever, I'm using some dice"
[vodacce] Venzi spends a story die.
Venzi, cobblestone in hand, dives back into the canal, letting its weight carry him to just next to the swords. There's a shiny hilt right next to him-- is that an MA?[vodacce] GM says, "Yup."
Venzi . o O ( thank goodness )
Venzi drops the rock and shoots gratefully to the surface.
In that example, we see a standard use of a story die. Venzi wants to dive down and look at the swords, he tried once vs. a TN 20 and failed miserably, and knows it's important. One story die and he's accomplished the task. Note that he left the identity of the markings up to the GM (in the story, he already knew there were missing swords with an MA on the hilt). As an important plot point, he left this detail to the GM's discretion.
[7thsea] GameMaster says, "ok, six of the archers hit"
[7thsea] GameMaster says, "era, era, cadiz, cadiz, cadiz, eolo"
[7thsea] BastardJack says, "Can I throw myself in front of Era? (My footwork as defense for her?)"
[7thsea] GameMaster says (to Jack), "yes, you can"
[7thsea] BastardJack says, "I have Altruistic as a Virtue--I'm spending a drama die as a story die."
[7thsea] GameMaster says, "Sure. With Altruism, you're going to get hit instead; if you spend a normal story die you might be able to avoid the two arrows entirely. Either way, spend two actions to interrupt."
[7thsea] BastardJack says, "I think I'll keep my story die for later."
[7thsea] GameMaster nods.
BastardJack dives in front of Era just as two arrows arrive, striking him in the shoulder and thigh. Giving her a roguish wink as he dives past, he rolls on the ground and springs up again, shrugging off the pain.
[7thsea] GameMaster says, "Heh. Very nice. OK, I'm going to rule that that means -1k0 from each arrow, and rolling it all at once, so you only have to do one Brawn check...
Bastard Jack didn't actually have the 'Altruistic' virtue, but the above example presumes what could have happened if he did. As the 'GameMaster' noted, he could have used a normal story die instead, possibly knocking Era and he to the ground as the arrows whizzed by overhead. In the original transcript, Jack ended up spending a drama die anyway to get his footwork high enough to get in the way, and only blocked one arrow.
Wilson waits for Nic and Amber, then.
[vodacce] Wilson says, "If the GM wishes to activate my hubris, I will follow, but for now I'll just shake my head at Gian ;-)"
[vodacce] GM asks, "So only Wilson and Venzi are still down the corridor?"
[vodacce] Wilson says, "Heh. Right."
[vodacce] GM says, "Gosh, if the four of them can do it, surely you can, too."
(from GM) Wilson trots down the corridor to catch up with the others. As he does, his toe catches a loose stone, sending it skittering down the hall. The voices in the room immediately stop.
[vodacce] Chiara exclaims, "Grah!"
Here, we see an example of a slightly-modified hubris activation. In the original, Wilson (me) got to roleplay walking down the corridor myself, and I rolled a stealth check that was fairly likely to succeed. But a hubris is *supposed* to get you in trouble, in here it does. Of course, I could have countered by spending a story die on my own:
Wilson freezes, holding his breath in the hallway, as the rest of the party sink back into the shadows. At that moment, a rat emerges from a hole in the wall, and meanders around the corner to the doorway. "Stupid rats," comes a voice from the door, and a well-placed kick sends the rat scurrying away down the hall. Everyone breathes a silent sigh of relief and glares at Wilson as the voices resume their conversation.
Of course, I *did* fail my stealth roll in the original. But the point here is that it would have been automatic.