TSS
From Sagataflwiki
This article defines the Time Step Scale, an important core element in Sagatafl, that is used extensively.
Contents |
About the scale
The scale is simply a list of time increments, that one can move up or down, from a starting position, e.g. to perform an activity (or a Task cycle, or a spellcasting cycle) more slowly than usual in exchange for an RD bonus, or faster in exchange for an RD penalty.
The scale
| Step | TI | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| -4 | 1 ms | Each further downwards step is 1/10 of the previous, i.e. 1/10 ms, 1/100 ms. |
| -3 | 1/100 Second | |
| -2 | 1/10 Second | |
| -1 | 1 Second | |
| 0 | 1 Round | (6 Seconds, the duration of a combat Round) |
| 1 | 1 Minute | |
| 2 | 6 Minutes | |
| 3 | 1 Hour | |
| 4 | 4 Hours | |
| 5 | 24 Hours | For work purposes, 24 Hours is usually 1.75 to 4 days of work (2.5 days for medieval, 3 for modern), depending on how workaholic the character is. (Note that an undead or robotic chaacter may be able to non-stop). |
| 6 | 1 Week | 7 Days (168 Hours if working non-stop with no breaks and no sleep). |
| 7 | 1 Moon | 28 Days. |
| 8 | 6 Moons | 168 Days. |
| 9 | 3 Years | Almost exactly 39 Moons (6.5 times 6 Moons). The error is only around 0.3%. |
| 10 | 15 Years | |
| 11 | 75 Years | Very roughly a little more than a Human lifespan ("threescore and ten"). |
| 12 | 300 Years | |
| 13 | 1200 Years | |
| 14 | 6000 Years | |
| 15 | 25'000 Years | |
| 16 | 100'000 Years | Each higher step is x10 the previous, i.e. step 17 is 1 million Years. |
The Step column is simply there for ease of reference, i.e. if you are at 6 Minutes and need to do something 5 steps slower (which would be very drastic, game-mechanically), you simply look up the Step number for 6 Minutes, add 5, and reference that row, to see that the new Time Increment is 1 Week.
Understanding the scale
The scale is intended to function as usable activity length steps and duration steps that can be assigned by designers and GM, and is also intended to be moved up and down on, i.e. if the default length of an activity, or duration of an effect, is 3 Years, then doing it significantly faster is 1 step faster, thus 6 Moons.
Normally mundane effects should never move more than 2 steps up or down, e.g. if the default time per Lockpicking cycle is 1 Round, then doing it really fast is 2 steps faster at 1/10 second per cycle. That is game-mechancally legal, but carries a very harsh RD penalty, so only the very most skilled should even consider it.
Note that the scale is deliberately coarsegrained. In-between steps need to be improvised in some cases, for instance the RD penalty for doing something (an activity, or a cycle of a Task or spellcasting) 1 step faster is +2 RD, so there is need of an in-between level. That's twice as fast (note that all TSS steps are at least 4 times faster/slower than the previous) in exchange for a +1 RD penalty. Generally this can be used for minimal-size in-between movements from the default time: half a step faster or slower means twice as fast or twice as slow. Note, though, that his is not always legal, for instance it isn't legal in the magic rules, except where explicitly noted.
The scale becomes simple below TSS -4 and above TSS 16, which will rarely be used anyway, in anything resembling normal play.
Also note that the scale only very recently became firmly defined for TSS 15+. Up until recently (late 2010), the highest defined TSS was 14 at 6000 Years, and anything above may be inconsistent in old documents.
Also please note that the scale does not use uniform jumps. The smallest jump is a factor of 4, and the largest jump a fator if 10 (which is even used once near the "middle" of the scale), and also the factors of multiplication aren't always integers. Rather, the design purpose was to create easily memorized (eventually internalized) values, without having jumps that are ever too stark, e.g. jumping directly from 1 Hour to 24 Hours, as seen in a few unfortunately designed RPG systems.
For all purposes, it is safe to assume that 3 Years is the exact same as 6.5 intervals of 6 Moons, and as 39 Moons. Since 12 Moons is actually 364 Days (12x28=364) and a real terrestrial year is slightly more than 365.25 days, so the error is only around 0.3%.
Note, though, that the Lunar Cycle is specifically defined in Sagatafl as not being 28 Days. This is so that lunar phenomena, such as the Full Moon, won't always coincide with the same Christian week days, e.g. that Full Moon always falls 2 days before the Sunday. For more information, see the Lunar Cycle article.
What you need to memorize
Sagatafl's TSS scale can be daunting in its scope, but it is important to understand that for almost all campaigns, only a part of it will be used, usually only everything between 1 Second (or slightly more rarely 1/10s) and 6 Moons (or at most 3 Years). The rest is for extreme cases only, and so can be looked up on an as-needed basis.
- From 1 second to 1 Minute is 2 steps.
- From 1 Minute to 1 Hour is 2 more steps.
- From 1 Hour to 1 Day is 2 additional steps.
- From 1 Day to 1 Moon is 2 steps.
- Each combat Round is 6 Seconds.
