Reviewing my back of GM tricks while pondering VDS, I keep seeing a more approachable version of Apocalypse Worlds, Blades in the Dark, Burning Wheel, and other narrative dice pool systems.
One mechanic in particular keeps catching my attention: Clocks. I will not go into position, effect, or other BitD mechanics here. Below is a proposed implementation of only Clocks in VDS.
Clocks may be useful in broad, abstract situations like leading a group, investigating a ruin, or simulating a chase. They are an additional tool and do not displace any other mechanics.
I am not in love with this quite yet, and it may be that Clocks here really serve no critical purpose. Maybe someone can come up with a more efficient solution or improve on my muddled mechanics.
CLOCK
TEST against a target decided by GM. A Simple clock is 4 a more complex one will be 6 or 8 ticks.
On a Failure, suffer the narrative/mechanical consequences of failure
On a Success, the Clock advances 1 tick.
On a Critical, the Clock advances 3 ticks.
SKILLs are better at advancing Clocks. Pick one applicable SKILL. The group determines if a SKILL is applicable.
On a Failure, suffer the narrative/mechanical consequences of failure
On a Success, the Clock advances 3 ticks.
PUSH adds additional ticks based on applicability. Pushing a sword to help pilot a ship is unlikely to add any additional effect, but pushing a sword to help pry a door open does help (+1 tick