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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8621434" data-attributes="member: 16814"><p>No. You seem to be coming at this backwards, or, well, forwards from the incorrect understanding of how the game plays. You seem to be looking at it as 'the mechanics lead' like they do in D&D (combat especially) but this isn't the right place for any of the mechanics in FitD games. They follow. They follow from the fiction. The direction to the GM is to frame the PCs into situations that are dangerous, immediately so, such that they PCs are at risk of serious consequence. But to determine the actual position, you have to look at the fiction! You evaluate the action the PC is trying to accomplish against everything established and negotiate if this action seems it will have minor (but impactful), serious, or major consequences on the line and also if the PC should expect to get all of what they want, most of it, or some of it (great, normal, reduced). You don't just start at Risky/Normal for everything and then apply the tags, those tags had better have been presented in the fiction, because if they are not, they're not present to go into calculation. If a PC charges into a gang of 12 thugs to engage in mayhem, you evaluate this from the fiction. Who are the thugs? A group from an equal tier gang was what was established. Does the PC have anything going for them? A crew advance of quality weapons. Okay, now, how wrong does this seem like it can go? Really badly, 12 on 1 can totally ruin your day in a fight! Great, so this is clearly going to be a desperate Position, because it can go horribly wrong, and for effect we'd maybe start with normal, but it's going to be reduced two steps because a 12 person gang is 2 steps higher magnitude than 1 person, and that's down to no effect, but the quality weapons bumps that up one step to reduced. If the PC succeeds on a 6+, they'll kill/incapacitate maybe 2 of the thugs (the GM thinks this is best served by a 6-clock with each wedge being 2 thugs). If they crit, then about half of them because they become a whirlwind of death, but if they get a 4-5, they'll still kill 2, but take a few stabs into the gut, for a Harm 3 (or something as bad). On a 3-, they just get stabbed, Harm 3. If they manage to kill a few and still be around, then it's still probably going to be Desperate (6 on 1 is still bad) but the magnitude of the enemy gang will be reduced and that will make effect be more useful.</p><p></p><p>So, did the mechanic lead here, or did they follow? They followed. Everything the mechanics are doing here is aligning to what the fiction is demanding. Jumping into a way outnumbered fight can go really bad, and you aren't just going to murderize them straight out because there are 12 of them! And, as the fight goes on, if the PC is doing well, then the fiction shifts and the mechanics still follow to produce well. Potency, quality, magnitude, etc. are there to give you, as the GM, a good handle on how the mechanics are supposed to follow the fiction. You should be doing almost no work as GM with these because they're obvious from what's happening in the game. You are not stating from a Risky/Normal as a default and then trying to figure out what things you need to move that around. You just take what they players say and follow it. </p><p></p><p>If you're doing your job as a GM correctly, and following the players' leads and framing adversity at all times, in a honest and interested way, then this stuff is already all there, you just need to follow it. I've had sessions of Blades where almost every action was Desperate/Reduced because we were doing incredibly stupid stuff against people far above our level. There's not really a default except for where the GM should be aiming in how they frame situations -- dangerous and risky play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8621434, member: 16814"] No. You seem to be coming at this backwards, or, well, forwards from the incorrect understanding of how the game plays. You seem to be looking at it as 'the mechanics lead' like they do in D&D (combat especially) but this isn't the right place for any of the mechanics in FitD games. They follow. They follow from the fiction. The direction to the GM is to frame the PCs into situations that are dangerous, immediately so, such that they PCs are at risk of serious consequence. But to determine the actual position, you have to look at the fiction! You evaluate the action the PC is trying to accomplish against everything established and negotiate if this action seems it will have minor (but impactful), serious, or major consequences on the line and also if the PC should expect to get all of what they want, most of it, or some of it (great, normal, reduced). You don't just start at Risky/Normal for everything and then apply the tags, those tags had better have been presented in the fiction, because if they are not, they're not present to go into calculation. If a PC charges into a gang of 12 thugs to engage in mayhem, you evaluate this from the fiction. Who are the thugs? A group from an equal tier gang was what was established. Does the PC have anything going for them? A crew advance of quality weapons. Okay, now, how wrong does this seem like it can go? Really badly, 12 on 1 can totally ruin your day in a fight! Great, so this is clearly going to be a desperate Position, because it can go horribly wrong, and for effect we'd maybe start with normal, but it's going to be reduced two steps because a 12 person gang is 2 steps higher magnitude than 1 person, and that's down to no effect, but the quality weapons bumps that up one step to reduced. If the PC succeeds on a 6+, they'll kill/incapacitate maybe 2 of the thugs (the GM thinks this is best served by a 6-clock with each wedge being 2 thugs). If they crit, then about half of them because they become a whirlwind of death, but if they get a 4-5, they'll still kill 2, but take a few stabs into the gut, for a Harm 3 (or something as bad). On a 3-, they just get stabbed, Harm 3. If they manage to kill a few and still be around, then it's still probably going to be Desperate (6 on 1 is still bad) but the magnitude of the enemy gang will be reduced and that will make effect be more useful. So, did the mechanic lead here, or did they follow? They followed. Everything the mechanics are doing here is aligning to what the fiction is demanding. Jumping into a way outnumbered fight can go really bad, and you aren't just going to murderize them straight out because there are 12 of them! And, as the fight goes on, if the PC is doing well, then the fiction shifts and the mechanics still follow to produce well. Potency, quality, magnitude, etc. are there to give you, as the GM, a good handle on how the mechanics are supposed to follow the fiction. You should be doing almost no work as GM with these because they're obvious from what's happening in the game. You are not stating from a Risky/Normal as a default and then trying to figure out what things you need to move that around. You just take what they players say and follow it. If you're doing your job as a GM correctly, and following the players' leads and framing adversity at all times, in a honest and interested way, then this stuff is already all there, you just need to follow it. I've had sessions of Blades where almost every action was Desperate/Reduced because we were doing incredibly stupid stuff against people far above our level. There's not really a default except for where the GM should be aiming in how they frame situations -- dangerous and risky play. [/QUOTE]
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