Whenever two or more heroes attempt to overcome a single, simple task together that calls for them to make the same test, the Director can call for a group test. For example, if several heroes are all attempting to climb the outside of a tower at the same time, giving each other assistance and advice, they could be asked to make a Might group test. If a group of heroes attempt to sneak by a sleeping ogre, they might make an Agility group test.
Group Test Difficulty
The Director determines the difficulty of a group test the same way they do for individual tests. Group tests can be easy, medium, or hard.
Making a Group Test
Each hero participating in the group test makes the test individually as usual, but the Director waits until all the tests have been made to interpret the outcome. A hero who is participating in the group test can’t assist another hero participating in the test.
Group Test Outcome
When interpreting the outcome of a group test, the Director first determines if the task succeeded or not before figuring out rewards and consequences. If half or more of the heroes making the group test succeed, then the group test succeeds. Otherwise, the group test fails.
If the heroes succeeded and half or more of them obtained a reward from the test, the Director gives the group a collective reward and ignores any consequences incurred in the test. This collective reward should be equivalent to earning two individual rewards. In fact, it could be two consumable items, juicy pieces of information, or hero tokens. However, it could also be something more tailored to the task. For instance, if the heroes earn a collective reward while sneaking through the camp of an enemy army, the Director might allow them to sabotage a bunch of war engines or steal a few horses on their way out.
If the heroes failed the group test and more than half of them incurred a consequence as a result, the Director gives the group a collective consequence and ignores any earned rewards. This collective consequence should affect everyone. An easy option is for the stress of failing the test to cause each hero to take a bane on their next power roll, or for the Director to gain 2 Malice per hero at the start of the next combat encounter. But the consequence could also be tailored to the task. For instance, if the heroes fail in their attempt to sneak through the camp of an enemy army, they’re spotted and the camp immediately goes on alert as waves of enemies attack them.
If fewer than half the heroes incur a consequence or earn a reward on their individual tests, then the group test simply succeeds or fails.