Cool in Paradox

Paradox is the latest attempt to create a viable system for Karbon.

Cool is the singular currency of Paradox. You spend Cool to make your Agent act with awesome ability, and you earn Cool by both rolling well and playing your Agent with gusto.

The limitation of Cool is that is can't be kept. Cool lasts only for a short time, one instance in the rules. Once the action dies down and the dice stop rolling, You have to use Cool or lose it.

There are two ways around this limitation. First, you can Press to continue the action and carry over Cool (-1) to the next instance in the rules. Second, if you have five Cool, you can buy 1 Awesome.

Awesome is outside the rules almost entirely. The only function of Awesome is to allow you to buy Cool when needed. You can burn one Awesome for 4 cool all at once, or tap it for less. When you tap Awesome for less, its worth 3 the first time then 2 the second and 1 the third. Once you've tapped it, you can't burn it every again. You can note tapped Awesome by placing a -1 and -2 next to it, meaning you will get 3 - 1 = 2, or 3 - 2 = 1 Cool the next time you tap it. Once you have tapped it three times, its used up.

In order to Press the action forward and carry your Cool over with a -1 cost, your Agent must either: Escalate the current conflict, or Advance to the next logic conflict in the fiction. You need to consider the term conflict here as a broadly scoped thing. A conflict might be: Agent Smith wants to destroy Mr. Anderson. Which means all kinds of smaller contests can fall under it. You should note that either method may not occur immediately following the current actions in the fiction, but must logically follow the current actions.

Your Agent Escalates by taking action that raises the stakes of the current conflict. When your Agent fails to persuade the criminal to come quietly, and you pull your gun, that is escalating. When your Agent tries to find out more about a suspect by surveillance but fails, and breaks into their home to access their computer, that is escalating.

Your Agent Advances by taking action that moves to the next step in a conflict. This can overlap with Escalation, but that doesn't matter. When Agent Smith works the wire to discover Mr. Anderson's location and succeeds, he may next confront him (since the arching conflict is to destroy him), this is advancing. If your Agent gains access to the corporate files and discovers they are encrypted, if their next action is to decrypt them to access their data, that is advancing.