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<blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 9324172" data-attributes="member: 2303">One aspect of visible clocks is that they make the situation more real. Anything that has an actual game mechanic for it somehow becomes more real in my experience. So if the GM has a &quot;Skyscraper launches like a rocket into space&quot; clock ticking, letting the players know this makes this dramatic, which triggering a secret clock to the same effect feels arbitrary. Now, GMs usually do toss arbitrary stuff at players, but in BitD you mostly do so in smaller doses and with the player's participation in the Free Game segment. Having a major event like this happen without a clock feels like you lose some drama. Even i the PCs don't know the skyscraper is being turned into a rocket, the tension is palpable. Maybe the GM only releases what the clock is all about at a certain thick? This segues naturally into what thefutilist said.Another way to do this is naturally to keep the clock hidden and instead narrate the escalating tension like you do here, thefutilist. What it most certainly is is more work and more time at the table, so I'd reserve this for the main clock of the entire campaign rather than just any background clock. But I do think this has the most dramatic effect.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Starfox, post: 9324172, member: 2303"] One aspect of visible clocks is that they make the situation more real. Anything that has an actual game mechanic for it somehow becomes more real in my experience. So if the GM has a "Skyscraper launches like a rocket into space" clock ticking, letting the players know this makes this dramatic, which triggering a secret clock to the same effect feels arbitrary. Now, GMs usually do toss arbitrary stuff at players, but in BitD you mostly do so in smaller doses and with the player's participation in the Free Game segment. Having a major event like this happen without a clock feels like you lose some drama. Even i the PCs don't know the skyscraper is being turned into a rocket, the tension is palpable. Maybe the GM only releases what the clock is all about at a certain thick? This segues naturally into what thefutilist said. Another way to do this is naturally to keep the clock hidden and instead narrate the escalating tension like you do here, thefutilist. What it most certainly is is more work and more time at the table, so I'd reserve this for the main clock of the entire campaign rather than just any background clock. But I do think this has the most dramatic effect. [/QUOTE]

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