Help me "get" Forged in the Dark.

[Fenris-77]

Jeff the Stromtrooper. Now a part of every SW-adjacent game I will every run.

 

[Fenris-77]

Jesus Jeff, how did you get here? Last I heard you were guarding parade routes on Fladeriha IV...

 

[Reynard]

I just want you all to know that this thread has been invaluable and has really changed my previously biased view of FitD games. Thank you.

 

[Fenris-77]

There's something about honest back and forth that always seems to produce some level of glasnost.

 

[Reynard]

I have scheduled my first S&V game. Expect furious questions and concerns as it draws nigh!

 

[Fenris-77]

I have scheduled my first S&V game. Expect furious questions and concerns as it draws nigh!

I'm sure it will be awesome. We're all here to answer questions as the deadline draws nigh...

 

[Ovinomancer]

So, say the PCs are gathering info and ask about the layout. Does a bad (1-3) result in false information, or a layout that is troublesome and makes things harder for the PCs?

Related: as I understand it, this is something that can also be done during a flashback?

Info gathering is a big divergence from trad play, in that it's not about finding details about what scenario the GM has prepped, but rather creating the game as you play. I'd never, ever use false information as a low rest. One, this creates secret information, and two, the PCs are expected to be competent, so this isn't really in line with that. 1-3 results should be information that is challenging to the PCs -- little to no upside, significant downside or challenge. 4-5 is good intel with a twist -- something is missing/harder than expected/surprising and unwelcome. A 6 should be good info -- if it's about an established challenge, give good details on it, if seeking info, be forthcoming and nail down some useful details that the PCs can leverage. On a crit, provide something extra and useful -- an added bonus or a shortcut through anticipated danger or a way to knock down the danger if leveraged (like maybe a virus installed that will shut down security for a minute or two at a critical moment -- doesn't autowin the job, but makes an interesting play available).

This isn't at all locked in, though, it can be anything. The point of info gathering, though, is that it's info gathering and that's important to play. So don't block, go with the questions asked, feel free to establish small things that make sense (it's supposed to be a challenge) and follow the questions the players are asking and the dice.

Resistance rolls are more about going back and changing the fiction. A solid hit from a blaster bolt becomes a light graze, setting off the alarm becomes noticing the sensor at the last moment.

With a flashback, you've already accepted the consequences that led to your current setback, so the facts of the scene are established. But by using a flashback you may be able to change the context of the scene to something more favourable.

Let's say you're trying to break into a building and a clock's been filling up called "caught in the act." You fail a lockpicking check, and a patrol trooper comes around the corner. Nobody resists that (maybe the clock was so full that even a mitigated failure was going to add that last segment) so that's the situation you're facing.

And then you declare "Hey, I know this guy - it's Jeff! We met at a cantina last week while he was off duty, got to talking, I hooked him up with a supplier for some sweet contraband, so I have some dirt on him and he owes me a favour. Should be a cinch to persuade him to walk away."

That's a pretty major flashback, so at least 1 point of stress, probably 2, if the GM is willing to let it just work. Maybe mitigate it down a point if they're willing to let success depend on a Sway roll, or throw in a cash bribe.

So, I like this, but some quibbles. I look at resistance rolls not as retcons, but as efforts to prevent the obvious consequence coming in. If you require the players to tell you how they resist the consequence, then you just roll that into the narration. Like, "oh, a 2? And desperate position? That's gonna be harm 3, badly burned chest from his blaster bolt catching you." Player: "ouch, I'm going to resist that with Prowess." "Sure, you can resist that down to Harm 2, what's that look like?" "Okay, I twist away and the blaster bolt only scores along my chest instead of catching me full on, so still a nasty burn, but not like my whole chest, just a line." "Cool."

On flashbacks, it's a judgement call, but I'd say that was a normal flashback instead of a serious one. My metrics for flashbacks are:
0 -- minor detail established allowing a move that doesn't change the situation much. So, like placing a piece of specialist gear in a good place that was accessibly prior to the mission, or having a cohort show up in an easily arranged way/place/time, etc.

1 -- significant detail that allows a new way to address a problem. This is where I'd put the example above -- it allows you to move from "guard raise alarm unless you shoot/silence him" to "can try and talk your way past the guard." It's changed the situation to allow a new way forward but hasn't resolved the problem or really made any headway to resolving the problem.

2 -- major detail that resolves a problem or makes significant headway towards resolving the problem. For example, I'd modify the above example to "Oh, that's Fred, I met him at the bar last week and paid him off to let us pass." That's 2 stress.

The other major thing to remember about flashbacks is that they still require a check and they may have associated costs. If you pay someone off, you need to give the coin (and doing so may remove the need for a check). If the check on a flashback is a 1-3 or a 4-5, introduce the complication now, in the scene. So, with Fred, if the meet to get him friendly so you can talk him down has a failed check, then Fred is pissed about the merchandise sold because it turned out to be broken/fake/bad in some way and so he'll listen, but you'll also need to overcome him being pissed at you as well. As an aside, you can also let some consequences be pushed into the future, like "okay, you tell Fred that you'll make good, and have convinced him, so he'll look the other way for now, but I'm starting a 4 tick clock that I'll be making a Tier 2 check against every downtime until you clear it that represents Fred losing his patience and turning you in to (whoever is scariest). That means 2d6, so it can go off in one go if it crits, you good with that?"

 

[Reynard]

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.

 

[Ovinomancer]

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.

As GM, you do not care about stress. You don't consider it, unless being asked to assign a cost to a flashback. It's not your bag at all. Managing stress in on the players. Really, don't even worry about it.

ETA: this feels weird, but seriously, don't worry about it.

 

[MarkB]

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.

So, Stress is essentially a resource to be spent in the course of doing a job. It's something the player can expend deliberately, by the basic methods of Push Yourself, Help or Lead a Group Check, or other character-specific special abilities if they have them.

But it's also your buffer against Bad Stuff happening to you - if you want or need to resist a consequence, you could be finding yourself getting hit with up to five Stress in a single go if you get a bad roll.

So players need to manage their Stress carefully during a job, using it as needed but not overspending. If they come out of a job with Stress nearly maxed out, they may well wind up having to use all their downtime on Indulge Vice, or have none to play with next job.

Don't be afraid to challenge the players with the potential of exceeding their maximum Stress, especially near the end of a job. If they get taken out and acquire a Trauma, that can be a good opportunity to add some character development.

In my experience it's rare for a character to accumulate enough traumas to be completely taken out of a campaign, but it's worth having backup characters to step in occasionally for when one character is either overstressed or unavailable.