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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8526921" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Quick drive-by post (I'll get a subsequent post up detailing the Journey phase of that first session...perhaps later today...perhaps tomorrow):On Difficulty and Skilled PlayI find the game to have a difficulty arc somewhat similar to Blades in the Dark (though ramped up for sure).  Its extremely tough to get the positive feedback loop going in your direction, but there is a clear pivot point once you can reliably muster solid Disposition/Attack + Defend pools for the Conflicts that you primarily face and when you can martial resources reliably for Camp phase Tests.  Its not set in stone where that is exactly because play is so dynamic on how characters evolve within through the crucible of play (and that can change dramatically in a 4 session interval).  But it is there and you feel a little bit of a weight lifted.  It never lets up.  The game is always difficult and it can always spiral and get away from you regardless of how safe you are, but there is are a few exhales built-in.In terms of Skilled Play, there are loads of vectors.* Team build is very important early on.  If you have particular holes, the game will find them and exploit them.  So build your team and pick your conflicts and targets very carefully.* Managing the sort of Pictionary + Rock/Paper/Scissors of Conflicts is extremely important.  Concessions in Conflict pile up character ablation just like The Grind so you want to be pick your Conflicts shrewdly, escalate only when necessary (Kill Conflicts are very scary things early), navigate the Attack/Defend/Maneuver/Feint matrix skillfully (including your turn order), and know when to cut your losses/de-escalate.* Navigating The Grind and your Light clocks are crucial.  Knowing when/how to Make Camp (there are a host of interlocking decisions that come with the initial decision around Camp-making) and how/when to fuel Camp Recovery with getting Checks in the Adventure phase is massive.* Dealing with the Twist/Condition + Success rhythm of failed Tests is huge.  The GM should basically be doing this every other one so (50 : 50) on the whole (virtually every failed Test could recognizably yield either outcome) so extrapolating outcomes and incorporating that into your decision-space is an important factor.* Managing the failure component of your advancement (marking Tests/getting Checks) and your thematic space to generate Persona and Fate (to martial for downstream use) is key to passing key tests next session and downstream of that.* Managing the logistics of the map.  Reliably getting to places to optimize bonuses in Town phase for that upkeep/recovery phase of play and minimize Journey Legs (particularly by maximizing Legs on Road rather than in the Wild) greatly impacts the Adventure phase.* EDIT - Forgot about Inventory/Gear/Supplies and porter/sentry/guide (et al) acquisition and management all have huge effects on play.* There are so many resources to call upon to manipulate your dice pools.  I won't mention them all, but there is a huge array.  Managing those and using them wisely for key Tests is as intuitive as a thing gets in terms of importance on Skilled Play. The other aspect is managing the fiction and the attendant risk of Helping to augment dice pools.Long story short here.  There is a fairly significant gap between unskillful and skillful play in Torchbearer.  I don't agree that play is cruel.  Its just enormously demanding.  And the stakes are very high.  The intersection of that yields extremely rewarding skillful play but also accepting the reality that sometimes, even when you play skillfully, the game will turn violently against you and you'll pay dearly.  Its not for everyone, but its a type of game that some folks love.On Might/Precedence and PC StatusI don't agree that adventurers are scum to start off play.  Its never been that in a game I've run.  Overwhelmingly, the games I've run have featured a world under extreme duress so the stratification of society isn't well-positioned to scarlet letter a lot of folks with "scum."  That seems to me to be the default position of the game.  Further, Precedence 0 + Might 3 actually yields a not-so-tenuous relationship to the hierarchy of the world even early on.Being on the social strata of soldiers, criminals, and prostitutes means that some level of parley is in play with shopkeepers, laborers, peasants, boatmen, merchants, financiers, and doctors.  Given the a robust suite of capabilities for Tests and Conflicts in the social arena, you can be rather formidable within that strat even at 0 Precedence.  And beyond the tier-up at level 6 (+1 Precedence), you can possibly increase your Precedence locally in a Town or with an NPC/guild via Adventures.  There are also various and sundry "ignore Precedence when x" in various classses.And the reality that you're Might 3 is a tangible thing that looms.  The Order of Might puts adventurers as very dangerous people.  The social sphere has to manage the calculus that the person who is haranguing you has the physical potential for harm/resilience as that of a Dire Wolf!On Marking Pass/Fail for Advancement w/ Help HouseruleSo, to be clear, this is something players get to take advantage of at their discretion; its toggled "on" for a boon at a risk.  Once per session you get to mark a test that you Help on w/ the increased danger of assuming a worse condition that you would otherwise (if you hadn't marked).  So it doesn't push people away from Helping at all.  It just adds a layer of advancement/build/threat calculus for play.</blockquote>

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