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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RenleyRenfield" data-source="post: 9563236" data-attributes="member: 7044197">Character Advancement = You get some XP from Desperate rolls, not failed 6- rolls.    So in this, the FitD is trying to use its dice pool mechanic along with its Position and Effect to encourage your character to take on more than they can handle.   This is very much a mechanical device, and works as such.  You get XP for pbta style stuff too, like embody your playbook, and playbook triggers.   All of this is part of roleplay so feels very organic. Crew versus character advancement 50/50 60/40 = utter nonsense.    None of that is applicable or even meaningful in FitD or PBTA.  rules as written =  Both Playbook and Crew advance under identical terms = did you roleplay its xp trigger?   did you take on a risk?   did you embody the playbook (crew or character) = they are in practice, the same questions for both.   So all you really need to consider is "did I pick a crew sheet that all of the players enjoy playing into?"   if you did then every action you take will grant XP for both character and playbook.You have 3 phases in most any FitD game =<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Freeplay</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Score</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Downtime</li> </ul>The best way to think of this is "Downtime is the second half of a Score, so they are one in the same."  Since downtime can only come after a score, its a mechanic to tell everyone "we did the adventure, now lets resolve how that change the world and what we need because of it"Everything else is just normal roleplay.  Do however much you are having fun with. If players are getting too wrapped up in preparing for a Score.   If they are trying be behave like D&D players, and account for every contingency of a Score, and debate every angle or outcome = shut them down instantly, kick off the score, and flashback to preparations.   Bad habits die hard, and players will want to whittle away at the possibility of perfectly planning a Score.  yuck, dont do that.  Scores are meant to be messy.  Stress allows you to get out of bad spots.  And flashbacks allow you to handle what you forgot to think of.   It is breaking the rules to over plan/debate a Score.But its perfectly fine to ignore the upcoming Score and just have fun indulging in side roleplay, NPC interactions, intrigue and romance and so on.  Never rush that.  Let them go to every party and take every drug they want.  When Freeplay isn't about the Score, Freeplay is at its best.Roleplaying Downtime.  Typically this is group dependent.  Some see the mechanics of Downtime and forget to roleplay at all.  Others want to spend 2 hours roleplaying their vice with every detail and kiss.   Keep the spotlight moving, make sure everyone stays engaged. My advice is to "let the players roleplay as they naturally do, and then when they trigger a Downtime action, ask them if they want to use up their Downtime to gain its mechanical benefit.   If so, do the Downtime rule, make the roll, whatever.  If not, then its just Freeplay in-between downtime actions, and thats fine = even if the Freeplay is indulging in a vice, it may not be what the player wants to spend their Downtime on, so they dont get the benefit.  They just get the fiction fun, and move on.FitD has a very strong "boardgame" aspect to its downtime.   And it can be crunchy.   So feel out your group and ask them to talk in character when they can, but also get the rolls done and move on too.Which downtime comes up the most?  Eh... depends on the Crew activities and Score. But I guess getting Stress back and reducing Heat are most common.Make it very clear that players will play their characters when they are not at 100% = YES  YES   Like, so much yes.   FitD is a game where you are always doing the strugglebus.   Let the players know ahead of time that this is a HBO series style game, where you are expected to suffer, have setbacks, losses, and not always fight at your best.....My Lessons learned from Forged in the Dark =  Its not PBTA! Blades in the Dark, and its spawn (such as Court of Blades) don't play anything like Apocalypse World,  Apocalypse Keys,  Night Witches,Forged in the Dark has a built in "Action Economy" system.  And it limits play in ways that PBTA does not. Everything is down to points and rules.  Stress and Damage in FitD is a set of trackers and sub-rules unto themselves.  PBTA has none of that.Scores and Downtime are a Boardgame you talk over.  Sure you can roleplay your vice, but if you don't have a downtime to use up, or its before a Score, you can't get any stress back for your vice.  These are hard and fast rules... again, it has Action Economy.  meaning that players cant do any action whenever or however much they want.  They must spend actions and are limited in how many they can spend.It's a crunchy game!   Forged in the dark has an order of magnitude more rules than PBTA.   Especially when you get into the Faction and Crew stuff.My suggestion is to first get everyone comfortable with the mechanics.  talk them step by step through each stage of the rules.  Put them in easy to win situations to learn what the options mean for their characters.   It takes time to learn when roleplay fits in and how much fits and in what times it makes no sense to roleplay and to just make a mechanical choice and move on.</blockquote>

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