Perseverance is a world of high-stakes confrontations, brutal survival, tense negotiations, and daring heists. Characters carve their own path through lawless settlements, frozen wastelands, corporate power struggles, and shifting alliances.

This post explores two gameplay examples showcasing different types of conflicts in QuestWorlds, all set in the Perseverance world. These contests use the rules from the QuestWorlds Core Rulebook, with stakes, rolls, and narrative outcomes demonstrating how the system drives cinematic, genre-appropriate storytelling.

Since Perseverance is a Space Western, conflicts often boil down to who has the skill, the grit, or the luck to survive – whether it’s a duel at high noon or outrunning a deadly storm.

Example 1: High Noon Showdown

Framing the Contest

The settlement of Grim Gulch is silent. Dust swirls through the empty street as townsfolk watch from wooden porches and second-story windows.

At the heart of it all stands Lucia Vex, warlord of these lands, wearing nothing but the weight of her reputation, an old Commonwealth Ranger duster, and a weathered hat that’s seen more gunfights than most men. Her hand rests loose on her belt, just inches from her iron.

Opposite her stands Jared Holt, a hungry-eyed upstart with something to prove.

Old Man Goren, Grim Gulch’s weapon-smith and the closest thing to an elder the town respects, sighs as he steps between them. He rubs at the grime in his beard and shakes his head.

"Damn fool way to settle things, but I reckon neither of you cares. One shot. One victor. No second chances."

Lucia tilts her head, watching Holt’s stance. He’s young, fast, but speed ain’t everything.

The sun hangs high overhead, a perfect noontime shadow stretching behind them both.

A single bead of sweat slides down Holt’s temple.

"On my mark…"

The Stakes

• Victory: Lucia cements her rule over Grim Gulch, Holt is humiliated, and order is restored – for now.
• Zero-Degree Victory (Victory at a Price): Lucia wins, but Holt's shot clips her, drawing first blood. She keeps her rule, but folks start whispering that she's not as untouchable as she used to be.
• Zero-Degree Defeat (Defeat with a Boon): Holt wins, but shows mercy – maybe he respects her too much to finish it, or someone intervenes before the final shot. Lucia loses her power but keeps her life, leaving the door open for revenge or redemption.
• Defeat: Holt kills Lucia, taking her throne. The town changes hands.

The Roll

Lucia chooses Gunslinger (5M2) as her ability.
The GM sets the resistance at 10M, reflecting Holt’s ambition, raw talent, and the deadly nature of this duel.

Lucia Vex vs. Jared Holt

Narrating the Outcome

The moment stretches. The world holds its breath.

Then – two blaster shots ring out.

Holt’s iron clears leather first. His shot sears the air, missing by less than a hair – but Lucia’s hand never hesitates.

Her blaster roars, and Holt staggers back, his weapon clattering into the dust. His sleeve smokes, his arm twitching uselessly. She didn’t kill him – didn’t need to.

A slow murmur spreads through the watching crowd.

Lucia holsters her weapon, taking her time, like she was never worried. She steps forward until Holt is looking up at her from his knees.

"You’re fast, kid. But not fast enough."

Holt’s chest rises and falls rapidly, rage flickering in his eyes. For a moment, it looks like he might reach for his blade – but he glances at the crowd. The town is watching.

His jaw tightens. His moment is gone.

"Y-you got me." His voice is raw. He spits into the dust, then turns on his heel and walks away.

Lucia lets the silence settle over the street.

She tips her hat, then strides back toward the saloon. Her reign continues – but she knows someone else will come for her, sooner or later.

Example 2: Running the Ice Roads

Framing the Contest

The frozen wastes stretched for miles in every direction, an unbroken expanse of cracking ice and howling wind.

Liv Oksanen tapped the dashboard, glaring at the flickering temperature gauge on her old, battered tracked vehicle, Rimecrawler. The engine whined like a wounded beast, a steady knocking sound beneath the hum of the treads.

She knew the machine well enough to recognize the warning signs – a breakdown wasn’t a question of if, but when.

Jari, her occasional partner and sometime rival, leaned against a makeshift ice shelter, arms crossed, watching the sky.

"That blizzard’s coming fast, Liv. You sure about this?"

Liv twisted the throttle, listening to the engine sputter before catching.

"Storm or no storm, I run the ice."

Jari just sighed, shaking his head.

"Hope your rust bucket agrees with you."

She ignored him. She had a delivery to make – and stopping wasn’t an option.

The wind howled as she gunned the engine, sending Rimecrawler roaring into the white void of the storm.

The Stakes

• Victory: Liv navigates the storm, reaches shelter before the worst of it, and proves Rimecrawler still has life in it.
• Zero-Degree Victory (Victory at a Price): She makes it through, but something critical breaks – maybe a damaged tread, a cracked coolant pipe, or engine failure looming.
• Zero-Degree Defeat (Defeat with a Boon): Liv is forced to hunker down, but she finds something unexpected – maybe an abandoned outpost, a wrecked vehicle to salvage, or a lucky break in the storm.
• Defeat: Rimecrawler breaks down completely, leaving her stranded in the ice, forced to survive with what little gear she has.

The Roll

Liv chooses Frozen Terrain Navigation (10M) as her ability.
The GM sets the resistance at 5M, since the storm is building, but not yet at full strength.

Liv Oksanen vs. The Blizzard

Narrating the Outcome

The storm closed in fast, turning the world into a swirling white hell.

Liv hunched over the controls, squinting at the dim headlights cutting through the snow. Rimecrawler shuddered beneath her, fighting the terrain, its old treads crunching over uneven ice.

She could barely see the route markers – the ice was shifting beneath the storm, making every choice a gamble.

Then – a sudden lurch.

The vehicle dipped, the left tread grinding uselessly for half a second before catching again.

Liv’s hands tightened on the controls, pulse quickening. That was not a good sound.

She glanced at the diagnostics screen – and swore.

"Damn it."

Coolant pressure spiking. That meant one thing: a pipe had cracked in the cold. If she didn’t stop soon, the engine would overheat and seize up.

She could already feel the way Rimecrawler struggled, like a beast pushing past its limits.

But the outpost was close – just over that ridge.

She pushed the throttle, coaxing every last ounce of life from the dying machine.

Ten minutes later, she rolled into the outpost, engine knocking like a death rattle before cutting out completely. Steam hissed from under the hood.

"You made it."

Jari’s voice crackled over the radio. She could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Yeah," she muttered, kicking the dead dashboard. "But I ain’t making it back ‘til I find a damn coolant pipe."

Next: Social and Heist Challenges in Part 2

In the next post, we’ll explore tense social conflicts and high-stakes infiltration, including a corporate enforcer crushing a union uprising and a smuggler breaking into a high-security vault.

Stay tuned for Part 2!