Help me "get" Forged in the Dark.

[Fenris-77]

Gather Info isn't a non-trad thing at all. I've been doing stuff like that for decades. Blades does it a little differently, mechanically speaking, but the idea isn't new at all. The difference is that Blades does it without a lot of the baggage that other systems bring along.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Let's talk about Stress for a minute. It feels really weird that I can find the Stress threshold under the part of the book that explains what stress is and how to use it. I feel like there's major pacing issues associated with Stress but the S&V book at least doesn't seem to enumerate it well.

Stress is something that only gets spent by the players. It’s never inflicted on them; the players always choose when to spend stress.

It’s a big part of why you don’t need to pull your punches. If a character is facing significant harm or consequence, they can reduce it by resisting and spending some stress.

 

[Fenris-77]

Stress is something that only gets spent by the players. It’s never inflicted on them; the players always choose when to spend stress.

It’s a big part of why you don’t need to pull your punches. If a character is facing significant harm or consequence, they can reduce it by resisting and spending some stress.

That said, it is a reason to pay very careful attention to the number of players. If you're playing with two PCs you need to dial things back a little as they don't have the same group stress pool to spend on mitigation.

 

[Reynard]

Stress is something that only gets spent by the players. It’s never inflicted on them; the players always choose when to spend stress.

It’s a big part of why you don’t need to pull your punches. If a character is facing significant harm or consequence, they can reduce it by resisting and spending some stress.

But I still don't know how much stress causes a trauma.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

But I still don't know how much stress causes a trauma.

"When a PC marks their last stress box, they suffer a level of trauma."

 

[hawkeyefan]

But I still don't know how much stress causes a trauma.

I believe it is 9 for Scum & Villainy as well as Blades in the Dark. Band of Blades is 6, but more can be gained through an advance.

The character sheets of each game have a track that the players can use to track it and when they mark the last box on the track, they're out of play for the remainder of the scene, and they gain a trauma.

 

[Ovinomancer]

That said, it is a reason to pay very careful attention to the number of players. If you're playing with two PCs you need to dial things back a little as they don't have the same group stress pool to spend on mitigation.

I'm a touch confused by this, because that's not my experience at all. You do not worry about pacing or stress as a GM. I mean, if this were a thing, and given how open these games are about how to run them, where is this in the books about how to pace the game?

Instead, you follow the fiction, the principles, and the agenda. Scores end when they end. It's not your job to bring them to a close, nor is it your job to extend them if things go really well. If you're honoring successes, you'll get to the end in a reasonable loop, absent terrible dice, and, well, that's how that rolls. PCs trauma out or are killed.

 

[Fenris-77]

I'm a touch confused by this, because that's not my experience at all. You do not worry about pacing or stress as a GM. I mean, if this were a thing, and given how open these games are about how to run them, where is this in the books about how to pace the game?

Instead, you follow the fiction, the principles, and the agenda. Scores end when they end. It's not your job to bring them to a close, nor is it your job to extend them if things go really well. If you're honoring successes, you'll get to the end in a reasonable loop, absent terrible dice, and, well, that's how that rolls. PCs trauma out or are killed.

I'm going to guess you haven't been a player in a two PC game, otherwise you'd be more aware of the paucity of resources two PCs have to manage the overall mechanical game play. Stress is a per PC resource that is used to affect results, so the less PCs you have the less stress you have and the harder the game pushes that particular button. That's not a complicated idea. Why you'd suggest different is beyond me.

Edit: That wasn't meant to sound quite as confrontational as it sounds as I read it back, sorry.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I'm going to guess you haven't been a player in a two PC game, otherwise you'd be more aware of the paucity of resources two PCs have to manage the overall mechanical game play. Stress is a per PC resource that is used to affect results, so the less PCs you have the less stress you have and the harder the game pushes that particular button. That's not a complicated idea. Why you'd suggest different is beyond me.

Edit: That wasn't meant to sound quite as confrontational as it sounds as I read it back, sorry.

Yes, I have. Thanks for asking. Run for two as well. The GM should not be engaged in pacing or monitoring stress. It's not necessary, and the game that puts all of it's "how this works" cards on the table doesn't mention it. Follow the principles and agenda and fiction and it works fine.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yes, I have. Thanks for asking. Run for two as well. The GM should not be engaged in pacing or monitoring stress. It's not necessary, and the game that puts all of it's "how this works" cards on the table doesn't mention it. Follow the principles and agenda and fiction and it works fine.

Well, sure lets compare anecdotal evidence I guess. I've found both playing and running 2 PC FitD stresses the system rather a lot of if you don't manage it. My experience says it does not work as advertised. You say it does. We can't both be right. Happily, math is on my side. Do you have anything specific to say about that other that 'yeah it works' when even the basic math suggests it gets far more difficult? I'm really reaching to find the middle ground here my friend, but I'm struggling with that dismissive attitude you seem to put on sometimes, even in face of equal skill and experience. But, I guess, sure, go ahead and tell me again I don't know the game or how to run it if that's what you meant. We can agree to disagree.