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24-System Test Plan

This folder defines a structured playtest plan for the 24-System.

The goal is not to prove that every rule is perfect. The goal is to test whether each subsystem creates the intended decisions at the table:

  • Competent characters under pressure
  • Fast fictional adjudication
  • Body commitment through RHLF
  • Survival choices instead of action optimization
  • Consequences that are legible before they happen
  • Horror pressure without removing player agency

Testing Method

Test the system in layers.

  1. Unit Tests: one rule or subsystem in isolation.
  2. Interaction Tests: two or three subsystems combined.
  3. Scene Tests: complete scenes with a clear objective.
  4. Session Tests: linked scenes with resource attrition and consequences.
  5. Campaign Tests: advancement, repairs, economy, scars, and long-term survival.

Each test should record:

  • Rule area tested
  • Starting situation
  • Characters and opposition
  • Expected pressure points
  • Actual table confusion
  • Time to resolve
  • Whether players felt they had meaningful choices
  • Any rule that had to be invented mid-test

Pass / Fail Criteria

A rule passes when:

  • Players understand what choices are available.
  • The Guide can set DC, Pressure, and consequences quickly.
  • The rule creates the intended tension.
  • The result changes the fiction in a useful way.
  • The rule does not require repeated lookup after first use.

A rule needs revision when:

  • Players cannot predict the risk well enough to choose.
  • The Guide must invent too much procedure.
  • The rule causes repeated argument or re-reading.
  • The optimal choice is obvious every time.
  • The rule removes agency when it should only apply pressure.
  • The rule adds bookkeeping without changing decisions.

Test Matrix

Area Primary Files Test Type Priority
Core Resolution core.md, skills.md Unit High
Leverage / Pressure core.md Unit / Interaction High
Push Your Luck core.md, playtest-packet.md Unit High
RHLF Anchors RLHF.md, combat.md, movement.md Interaction High
Initiative / Delay initiative.md Unit / Combat Medium
Movement movement.md, skills.md Scene High
Guard / Advance combat.md, weapons.md Scene High
Attacks / Hit Locations combat.md, wounds.md Scene High
Defense defense.md, combat.md Scene High
Armor armor.md, wounds.md, Alhazred/armor.md Interaction High
Wounds / Stamina wounds.md, core.md Scene / Session High
Fear fear-and-madness.md, status-effects.md Scene / Session High
Narrative Perception perception.md, skills.md Scene High
Stealth skills.md, perception.md, light-levels.md Scene High
Status Effects status-effects.md Unit / Interaction High
Fire / Wet / Cold damage-types.md, status-effects.md Interaction High
Equipment / Containers equipment.md, combat.md Interaction Medium
Alhazred Economy Alhazred/economics.md, Alhazred/equipment.md Session Medium
Rituals / Silver Wards Alhazred/rituals.md Scene / Session Medium
Monsters monsters/*.md Scene High
Advancement advancement.md, charactercreation.md Campaign Medium

Unit Test List

Core Resolution

Questions:

  • Can players understand “roll skill dice, keep two highest, add flat bonus” after one explanation?
  • Are DCs 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 producing the expected feel?
  • Does a Partial Critical feel useful even when the total is not high?
  • Does Legendary success happen often enough to be exciting but not routine?

Tests:

  • Roll 20 basic checks at DC 10 with untrained dice.
  • Roll 20 competent checks at DC 12.
  • Roll 20 strong/specialty checks at DC 14.
  • Record success, miss, Partial Critical, and Legendary rates.

Leverage and Pressure

Questions:

  • Does Leverage feel like opportunity instead of raw power?
  • Does Pressure make danger clearer without making players feel helpless?
  • Are players able to name why they have Leverage or Pressure?

Tests:

  • Same action with no modifier, then +1 Leverage, then +2 Pressure, then both.
  • Ask players which situation felt better and why.

Push Your Luck

Questions:

  • Do players understand the cost before pushing?
  • Does pushing feel tempting?
  • Do complications move the scene forward?

Tests:

  • Run five failed checks where pushing is available.
  • Record how often players push and whether the complication changed their next choice.

Interaction Test List

RHLF Commitment

Scenario:

A survivor must cross a room, draw a weapon, open a door, and avoid a lunging attacker.

Test:

  • Track which anchors are committed.
  • Confirm players understand why Dodge, Guard, or manipulation is unavailable.
  • Watch for anchor confusion, especially H.

Pass if:

  • The player can explain what body part is overloaded.
  • The rule creates a choice instead of a lookup pause.

Movement, Guard, and Advance

Scenario:

One survivor with a spear holds a doorway while two enemies try to get through.

Test:

  • Separated -> Melee Advance
  • Guard contest
  • Multiple attackers
  • Reach interaction
  • Moving past a guarded opponent

Pass if:

  • The doorway feels tactically important.
  • The spear user feels controlling without being invincible.
  • The second attacker changes the decision space.

Armor, Stamina, and Wounds

Scenario:

Run the same attack sequence against no armor, light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor.

Test:

  • Wound conversion
  • Stamina loss
  • Negative stamina pressure
  • Armor integrity loss

Pass if:

  • Armor buys survival without making hits meaningless.
  • Negative stamina changes choices.
  • Players understand why they are not “fine” after armor absorbs a hit.

Fire, Wet, and Cold

Scenario:

A survivor in wet clothes crosses a freezing street while carrying a lit weapon and a pack containing lamp oil.

Test:

  • Wet cancels Flammable.
  • Wet worsens effective cold exposure.
  • Lit weapon reveals position and threatens Fear.
  • Fire can end Wet but may cause burn effects.
  • Pack / Gear hit can affect containers.

Pass if:

  • Players understand the tradeoff between warmth, fire, stealth, and gear risk.

Containers and Pack Hits

Scenario:

A survivor with a medium pack is hit by shrapnel or a Molotov.

Test:

  • Random hit location produces Pack / Gear.
  • Pack hit die selects pocket / attachment.
  • Empty slot absorbs the hit.
  • Sack spills contents but does not protect fragile contents.
  • Careful Storage case protects fragile contents.
  • Seal protects against Wet until breached.

Pass if:

  • The procedure is fast enough to use during combat.
  • Gear damage feels dramatic rather than punitive bookkeeping.

Scene Test List

Stealth Scene

Setup:

Survivors sneak through a warehouse occupied by one patrolling creature.

Include:

  • Relaxed -> Alert -> Suspicious -> Aware ladder
  • Dim light
  • Noise distraction
  • Hiding behind clutter
  • Misdirection after Aware

Questions:

  • Does one stealth check covering a scene feel good?
  • Does awareness escalation create tension?
  • Does “Aware requires misdirection” make sense?

Narrative Perception Scene

Setup:

A trapped room contains a hidden panel, a smell clue, a sound clue, and one misleading but fair detail.

Include:

  • Player prompt: “What clues do we have here?”
  • No passive Perception roll.
  • Specific method descriptions.
  • Hidden danger with fair foreshadowing.

Questions:

  • Do players feel tricked or fairly warned?
  • Does the Guide know what clue to give?
  • Does expertise matter without replacing player curiosity?

Combat Tactics Scene

Setup:

A fight in a ruined kitchen with a door, slick floor, table cover, fire, and a pack hit risk.

Include:

  • Door holding
  • Slippery terrain
  • Hazardous zone
  • Cover
  • Fire exposure
  • Pack / Gear result

Questions:

  • Does terrain change choices every round?
  • Do hazards create positioning goals?
  • Does the table remember ongoing start-of-turn effects?

Cold Survival Scene

Setup:

Survivors must cross an exposed field during severe cold, one character becomes Wet.

Include:

  • Effective temperature
  • Onset interval
  • Warm quality
  • Exposed flesh adjustment
  • False Warmth
  • Frostbitten legs
  • Frozen near-death consequence

Questions:

  • Does cold feel like a timer?
  • Does Wet feel dangerous but understandable?
  • Does False Warmth preserve enough agency?

Session Test List

One-Night Survival

Premise:

The survivors must find shelter before night, decide whether to spend silver on a Latch-Star ward, and survive one hostile encounter.

Test areas:

  • Economy
  • Silver wards
  • Fire
  • Cold
  • Food / water
  • Pack access
  • Fear
  • Rest

Pass if:

  • Spending a dime, quarter, or dollar on protection feels like a real tradeoff.
  • Gear choices matter.
  • The night has escalating tension without constant combat.

Expedition Loop

Premise:

A three-scene expedition: travel, breach, escape.

Test areas:

  • Encumbrance
  • Packs
  • Armor
  • Ammunition
  • Medical supplies
  • Wounds carrying forward
  • Fear recovery
  • Salvage and barter

Pass if:

  • Players care about what they packed.
  • Retreat and salvage feel like valid success.
  • Resource loss changes later decisions.

Campaign Test List

Advancement

Run three short sessions with the same characters.

Track:

  • Skill growth
  • Trait usefulness
  • Injury recovery
  • Fear scars / madness
  • Gear repair
  • Economic progression

Questions:

  • Does advancement feel meaningful without levels?
  • Do scars and gear history matter?
  • Does the system support survivors who become more experienced but not invulnerable?

Test Report Template

Use this template after each test.

# Test Report

## Test Name

## Date / Players

## Rules Tested

## Scenario Summary

## What Worked

## What Broke

## Confusing Rules

## Slow Moments

## Strong Player Choices

## Weak or Obvious Choices

## Rules Invented at Table

## Recommended Changes

## Retest Needed
Yes / No

Suggested First Tests

Start with these five tests before attempting a full session:

  1. Core Resolution probability feel.
  2. RHLF commitment room test.
  3. Guard doorway test.
  4. Armor / stamina / wound comparison.
  5. Stealth and narrative perception warehouse scene.

These cover the core identity of the system: dice feel, body commitment, space control, survivability, and fair horror information.

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