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Realistic Consequences vs Gameplay
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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8025857" data-attributes="member: 16814"><p>Let me share the last scene from my Blades game this last weekend (I ended up running Blades due to a last minute on-call from one of my players). First, a brief setup -- the PCs were burgling an apartment to steal an engagement ring so they could gain a loyal fence. The fence had sold the ring, then found out it was the ring of a gang's leaders mother, and so was in a bad spot he couldn't get out of. Turns out he sold the ring to the nephew of a rival gang and he had given it to his fiance. The play was to get the fence out of trouble so he'd owe the Crew, and also to stoke up the war between these two rival gangs. So, the launched their burglary with disguises to look like the rival gang, in case they were spotted.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the caper, two of the PCs were rapidly exiting the apartment via the fire escape because someone was entering the apartment. There were a few of the rival gang around (the nephew was actually in the building checking out the apartment on a lower floor -- I thought maybe because he wanted to live close to the girl's parents, but it never came up, so I don't really know why - hold on lightly and all). The PCs got a partial success on their Prowl to escape detection, and so made it to the alley below before the alarm was raised. One gang member was chasing down the fire escape and another was at the mouth of the alley. The PCs decided to leg it, and declared that they would split up, so no group led check. One PC made a success with complication, and managed to escape with a twisted ankle (harm 1). The other PC... much more exciting.</p><p></p><p>So, to play. The player has declared that they're legging it. Since the gang members are fairly distant to start, I marked the position as Risky (default) with Standard outcome (again, default). The player rolled Finesse, and bombed it. Like critical failure bombed it. So, I narrated that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't shake this guy -- he must run every day or something -- and, after a few minutes, the ganger had closed the distance to almost grab range and had pulled his long knife. This was my 'soft' move -- I escalated the danger and placed the PC in a 'do something about this now or else' situation. The player then marked equipment for an alchemist bandolier (the PC is a saboteur), and tried to have their PC throw acid in the ganger's face (the PC is also Not Nice), Pushing for an extra die. I marked the position as Desperate (you're throwing acid in the face of a guy trying to stab you sounds kinda desperate to me) with Great Effect (landing acid in the face is a sure way to stop someone). The player rolled, and failed again. Since I had already made the 'soft' move, I paid it off. The ganger, a trained fencer, deftly ducked the acid and slashed his blade down the PC's extended throwing arm! Harm 2, deep laceration to the right arm. The PC decided to resist, and rolled Insight, say that the ganger telegraphed the slash so the PC was able to pull back at the last minute. They rolled resistance, and got a 6, meaning no cost in Stress to modify this outcome. I downgraded the Harm 2 to Harm 1, shallow gash to right arm, and narrated the PC seeing the move at the last minute, yanking back and causing the acid to fly wide but saving their arm! Regardless, the situation was largely similar, but I reframed that the interaction had opened the distance a bit, so the player decided to have the PC run again.</p><p></p><p>This time, though, the player changed tactics. Instead of a foot race, which because of established fiction that the ganger was an excellent runner (he'd already run the PC down once), the player declared they were going to lead the chase into a crowded area, like a market. The player suggested Survey, and I marked it as Risky, Standard (again, back to default). [Sidenote: if the PC had tried to outrun the ganger again, I would have set the outcome as limited -- you might open the distance a bit against a good runner (the PC wasn't established as athletic), but not much and not for long.] The player rolled, and nailed it -- full success. So, I narrated that they had burst into the main market for the neighborhood, and the ganger had followed but had to quickly conceal the knife, letting the PC slip a bit further ahead. The player then had a stroke of genius (and some good luck), and declared that their character was now going to do the 'lift new clothes while walking through a market and change outfits to blend in' move, classic in so many spy movies. Again, we set Position as Risky, but I really like this idea and thought it would work really well, so I set Effect as Great. The player rolled Finesse and got another outright success! I narrated that the PC deftly slipped through the market, shedding their rival gang disguise and picking up a few items to replace it, so that, finally, they stood gazing at a table of goods while the chasing ganger walked right past them. The PC then made their way, without further incident, back to the hideout.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the session, the player of the saboteur (the PC in the above) exclaimed, "I f-----g love this game! I was sweating the whole time, wondering what the hell I was going to do next!" A better compliment could not have been paid to a GM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8025857, member: 16814"] Let me share the last scene from my Blades game this last weekend (I ended up running Blades due to a last minute on-call from one of my players). First, a brief setup -- the PCs were burgling an apartment to steal an engagement ring so they could gain a loyal fence. The fence had sold the ring, then found out it was the ring of a gang's leaders mother, and so was in a bad spot he couldn't get out of. Turns out he sold the ring to the nephew of a rival gang and he had given it to his fiance. The play was to get the fence out of trouble so he'd owe the Crew, and also to stoke up the war between these two rival gangs. So, the launched their burglary with disguises to look like the rival gang, in case they were spotted. At the end of the caper, two of the PCs were rapidly exiting the apartment via the fire escape because someone was entering the apartment. There were a few of the rival gang around (the nephew was actually in the building checking out the apartment on a lower floor -- I thought maybe because he wanted to live close to the girl's parents, but it never came up, so I don't really know why - hold on lightly and all). The PCs got a partial success on their Prowl to escape detection, and so made it to the alley below before the alarm was raised. One gang member was chasing down the fire escape and another was at the mouth of the alley. The PCs decided to leg it, and declared that they would split up, so no group led check. One PC made a success with complication, and managed to escape with a twisted ankle (harm 1). The other PC... much more exciting. So, to play. The player has declared that they're legging it. Since the gang members are fairly distant to start, I marked the position as Risky (default) with Standard outcome (again, default). The player rolled Finesse, and bombed it. Like critical failure bombed it. So, I narrated that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't shake this guy -- he must run every day or something -- and, after a few minutes, the ganger had closed the distance to almost grab range and had pulled his long knife. This was my 'soft' move -- I escalated the danger and placed the PC in a 'do something about this now or else' situation. The player then marked equipment for an alchemist bandolier (the PC is a saboteur), and tried to have their PC throw acid in the ganger's face (the PC is also Not Nice), Pushing for an extra die. I marked the position as Desperate (you're throwing acid in the face of a guy trying to stab you sounds kinda desperate to me) with Great Effect (landing acid in the face is a sure way to stop someone). The player rolled, and failed again. Since I had already made the 'soft' move, I paid it off. The ganger, a trained fencer, deftly ducked the acid and slashed his blade down the PC's extended throwing arm! Harm 2, deep laceration to the right arm. The PC decided to resist, and rolled Insight, say that the ganger telegraphed the slash so the PC was able to pull back at the last minute. They rolled resistance, and got a 6, meaning no cost in Stress to modify this outcome. I downgraded the Harm 2 to Harm 1, shallow gash to right arm, and narrated the PC seeing the move at the last minute, yanking back and causing the acid to fly wide but saving their arm! Regardless, the situation was largely similar, but I reframed that the interaction had opened the distance a bit, so the player decided to have the PC run again. This time, though, the player changed tactics. Instead of a foot race, which because of established fiction that the ganger was an excellent runner (he'd already run the PC down once), the player declared they were going to lead the chase into a crowded area, like a market. The player suggested Survey, and I marked it as Risky, Standard (again, back to default). [Sidenote: if the PC had tried to outrun the ganger again, I would have set the outcome as limited -- you might open the distance a bit against a good runner (the PC wasn't established as athletic), but not much and not for long.] The player rolled, and nailed it -- full success. So, I narrated that they had burst into the main market for the neighborhood, and the ganger had followed but had to quickly conceal the knife, letting the PC slip a bit further ahead. The player then had a stroke of genius (and some good luck), and declared that their character was now going to do the 'lift new clothes while walking through a market and change outfits to blend in' move, classic in so many spy movies. Again, we set Position as Risky, but I really like this idea and thought it would work really well, so I set Effect as Great. The player rolled Finesse and got another outright success! I narrated that the PC deftly slipped through the market, shedding their rival gang disguise and picking up a few items to replace it, so that, finally, they stood gazing at a table of goods while the chasing ganger walked right past them. The PC then made their way, without further incident, back to the hideout. At the end of the session, the player of the saboteur (the PC in the above) exclaimed, "I f-----g love this game! I was sweating the whole time, wondering what the hell I was going to do next!" A better compliment could not have been paid to a GM. [/QUOTE]
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