"Yes, But..." - CONCEPT

Okay, I need to preface the following "giant block o' text" with this explanation. I wrote this up some time ago as an idea with possible generic "tack-on" inclusion in just about any RPG, but after finding Untold I realized it was an excellent pairing with this particular system. I keep meaning to rewrite it specifically FOR Untold, but I also keep forgetting about it and I've decided that if I wait until I have the time to get this formatted to completely mesh with the Untold system I'll probably never do it. So... I'm going to dump it here as-is, with this notice. Instead of "drawing" from these BUT cards, you as Untold GM can assign them if you wish - and obviously certain concepts described here would need modification to slot into the Untold system. Bane cards are an obvious consideration in several of the ideas, for instance. But I'll let you collectively decide what you want to do with these. Use, abuse, or ignore as you wish.

"Yes, But..." Cards

Useful for when you want players to succeed at a task for story, plot, setting, or realism reasons... but also want to apply some meaningful complication to their experience. As opposed to simply testing with basic success/failure options, this allows the GM to split the difference by granting success with strings attached - guards were alerted, the escape route changes, an important MacGuffin is lost, and so on. Whenever a test would be failed when that failure doesn't make too much sense or would derail something everyone's interested in pursuing further, the GM can instead draw from a stack of "But Cards" and announce that the test succeeded, BUT... the general complication on the card serves as a "twist" to the events that are currently happening. The GM (potentially with player suggestions) states how the complication takes effect, and play continues from there. As I've always liked the "say yes or roll the dice" concept of the Burning Wheel system, but feel that there should be some gray area to split the difference between success and failure. This allows for that, by providing success-with-complications.

VARIANT - Where player "bonus tokens/points" are used in the system, allow players to subject their own PCs to "But Cards" on successful tests to earn a token/point. Obviously this should only be done where the trade-off is about equal; if the tokens are more valuable than the consequences are painful or the repercussions hurt worse than the tokens could help, the system breaks down.

Suggested Cards
Tough Choice - The PCs' actions prompt a moral, personal, or tactical decision, the results of which will challenge them significantly no matter what is chosen. The choice should have lasting (even if only short term) consequences, at least temporarily shutting off the alternatives or making them extremely difficult to simultaneously achieve. Examples: Save the love interest or the innocents? Get additional treasure or an easy escape from peril? Chase down the genocidal lieutenant or his messenger heading to the BBEG with the MacGuffin?

Price to Pay - The PC loses something important (if only to the immediate larger goal at hand) in the process of succeeding at their task. This thing is lost until the PC spends meaningful effort in an attempt to reacquire it. Examples: While climbing a glacier, the PC loses his ice axe in a near-fall. The PC's decision to reveal her family's dark secret to win over the court makes her unwelcome at home. The PC's actions accidentally reveal his own true identity, but he still makes it out of the BBEG's lair with critical information.

Unwanted Attention - In the process of avoiding failure, the PC has attracted the notice of something that was better left unaware. This entity will make the PC's life more complicated in the future. Examples: The PC succeeds at climbing the castle walls, but accidentally alerts a patrol of soldiers. The PC's night-time escapade was seen by a passing individual who now wants something from him. The PC's behavior at the bar has caught the eye of the town guard, who are now keeping a close eye on her. Opening that sarcophagus has woken up a guardian spirit.

Burnt Bridges - The PC's activities shut off a known avenue of escape or area of refuge. It remains closed off from PC usage for a significant period or until the PC puts meaningful effort into reopening it. Examples: The PC avoids being crushed by the falling rock trap, but it seals off the tomb's main passage. The PC's deeds in court lead to him being declared "persona non grata" by his local lord, who doesn't want the trouble they'll bring to him. The PC escapes the prison, but is thus deemed an outlaw and given a bounty - the countryside inns are no longer necessarily safe to sleep in.

Too Much of a Good Thing - The PC succeeds at the desired task TOO well, causing lasting (at least in the short term) problems from the over-achievement. Examples: The PCs' "distraction" fire can't be put out by the guards, and now the whole fort is ablaze. The PC has succeeded at goading his rival into a duel, but has also goaded his whole family into a violent feud. The door that was broken down took the whole door-frame with it, as well as part of the wall... the load-bearing wall.

From the Jaws of Victory - The PCs' success accidentally grants an immediate tactical advantage to the opposition/obstacles in their path. Examples: The PC manages to leap the chasm, but winds up landing in a patch of painful briars. The PC translates the writing on the tomb wall... which contains a curse striking whoever reads it. The PC's spell causes the earth under the evil army to tremble and shake, then erupt upwards and give them the high ground.

Crunch Time - The attempt is successful, but required more time than it should have normally taken due to unforeseen circumstances and thus has created an immediate deadline pressure upon future events. Examples: The door kept being passed by guard patrols, interrupting attempts to pick it, and now that the PCs are outside their cell it's almost time for morning roll-call. The rebels massed under cover of darkness to await the signal from the mountaintop, but the rain slowed the ascent and now it's almost morning... when they'll be certainly spotted. The tomb door is now open, but the heavy stone was tough, sweaty work - work which has almost drained the PCs' canteens.

As Long As You're Here... - The PCs' actions have managed to create or reveal a new responsibility or obligation, heaped upon whatever they're already doing. The task comes with its own consequences, whether negative ones for failed/ignored problems or beneficial ones for success. Examples: The PC breaks into the evil lord's house... into the maid's chamber, who is being compelled into service because her young daughter is held captive elsewhere. The PC finds the BBEG's hidden plans - including plans to poison the legitimate heads of a distant-but-allied country. The tomb's curse isn't harmful as long as the PC obeys its dictates, but it requires him to hunt down those who plundered it years ago.

It's a Trap! - The action succeeds, but triggers or reveals a previously-hidden danger or threat. Examples: The PC was seen scaling the cliff, and an ambush waits for him at the top. Opening the door releases a burst of wind which extinguishes all lights. The river was crossed successfully, but this bank is a muddy bog... and there are enemy soldiers on the high ground.

Road Closed - The PCs discover (or accidentally cause) a change in what paths are available to them. They're forced off the course they were traveling and onto a less-known or more-dangerous road to their goal. This can be literal or metaphorical. Examples: The PC escapes pursuit, but the alarm is raised and now the main gate is swarming with patrols. The PC avoids court censure, but now the king's ministers have been antagonized and the only way to get the evidence to the king is to find a way to present it directly. The PC successfully navigates the wilderness, only to discover that the river bridge has been washed out in a flood.

Sudden Storm - The environment in which the PCs are operating shifts in a way that makes progress more difficult or hazardous, either as a result of their actions or simply "at random." Examples: The incinerator the PC jumped in is preparing to start its burn cycle. The monsoon hits. By collapsing that part of the mine, the rest of it has become unstable.

Better Than Nothing - The PCs' action only *somewhat* succeeds, leaving important parts of the task either incomplete or only temporarily complete. Examples: The guards ARE distracted by the noise, but instead of going to look at what it was they're arguing about who should go look. The trapped ceiling's gears are jammed, but it doesn't look like it'll hold for long. The PC only has enough time to sneak himself by - the rest of the party will have to find their own way.

Vengeance Will Be MINE! - The PCs have inadvertently antagonized something (or antagonized it worse than they had expected to). It is enraged and seeks revenge, either immediately or through subtle plots. Examples: The PC didn't just kill the guard, they killed *STEVE* (the hapless-but-lovable guard rookie/mascot) - and everyone else rallies in his memory. The PC's successful bargaining for a ridiculously low price is realized after their departure, leaving the merchant to seek revenge upon those who have defrauded him.

Not Again! - The PCs find a way to bypass or overcome the challenge, but their actions (or the situation) presents them with a similar challenge soon afterwards. Examples: The monsters are frightened off, but return with reinforcements to meet the threat. The trap is successfully avoided, but is not disarmed or sprung and thus must be faced again when leaving. The guards check out the suspicious noise, but soon realize it might be a distraction and come back to investigate their former positions for trespassers.

Someone's Beaten Us Here - The threat or obstacle is successfully defeated, but not specifically by the PCs. Some other force instead renders the challenge moot before the PCs can act upon it - and what that force is or does afterwards is up to the GM. Examples: The guards are violently taken out by a separate rebel splinter-group before the PC can bypass them. The locked door is burst open from the inside by a monster that caught the PCs' scent. The trap has already been deactivated, because another group with different motives is attempting to infiltrate the tomb as well.

Quid Pro Quo - Some spirit or being solves the PCs' problem for them... then demands a price for the aid. This is usually a "favor" down the line, though it could instead be an immediate call for something in the party's possession or a task they must perform. Refusal earns a new, if limited, immediate enemy. Examples: The corrupt city magistrate releases the PC, promising to "see you soon with the bill." A ghost in the tomb directs the PC out of the maze, to his remains - which he requests the PC give proper burial. The watchman is willing to look the other way for the right sum.

Dumb Luck - The PCs draw all the wrong conclusions, or have all the wrong conclusions drawn about them, but these mistaken impressions work in this single instance to solve the problem they're facing. This does *not* mean that the incorrect knowledge gained from that circumstance will apply anywhere else, however, and it may certainly hinder them in the future. Examples: The guard mistakes the PC for a nobleman, granting him admittance and scurrying off to inform the palace ministers of his arrival. The PC reads the inscription completely wrong, and gains an entirely incorrect understanding of how to open the tomb door... but having sounded out the inscription and thus spoken it aloud, the door is unlocked when she next tries it after performing the ludicrous "ritual."

What Are YOU Doing Here?! - Immediately after (or even during) the solving of the PCs' problem, someone from a past encounter/backstory reveals themselves to the group. They can be either directly related or incidental to the challenge at hand, and their actions can help, hinder, or directly challenge the party. Examples: The PC is fumbling around in the dark cave when a light slowly approaches... carried by the little village girl, who wants to try and assist her new friend. The PC successfully bluffs his way into the garrison, only to see that the new lieutenant is his old rival from back home! The recurring antagonist hops up from the crowd and challenges the PC to a duel in the middle of her speech to the villagers.

Gesundheit! - The PC successfully completes the action in question, but the process of doing so leaves the PC with a minor injury, illness, or other mundane concern that doesn't threaten lives but nonetheless presents a continuing preoccupation or annoyance. This condition persists for a decent length of time unless cured by specific effort taken by the party. Examples: The PC breaks down the door, but gets a splinter in her eye that burns and stings (and makes sight-specific actions more difficult). The PC escapes the rapids, but is soaked to the bone and shivering cold. The PC sings very well, even despite the rowdy crowd, but raising his volume to be heard over them has left him with a sore throat and wavering voice.