What is the point of GM's notes?

[Manbearcat]

Yes, much more accurate assessment of it! I remembered having to use Pietra for that part, but I had forgotten the use of my Bandolier, so I had less gear available to me for the remainder of the Score. And yes, Stiv assisted by subtly steering innocent bystanders away from the area of the lamp so that they didn't get exploded.

Even still, all of that was worth it for both the moment of play when it all came together, and also to preserve the majority of our resources for the second half of the Score.

Yup.

A single Blades PC and certainly a Crew as a collective has a large pool of resources to marshal to “bring a plan together (as a Flashback).”

It’s really about figuring out what/when/how when it comes to spend/risk/return.

 

[Lanefan]

With Blades, the PCs are not Heroes, and so that conditioning is absent, and we’re more likely to take risks with them and more willing to see things end horribly for them.

From this it sounds like you play Blades the way I play D&D.

 

[cmad1977]

Per the OP:
Mostly to get thrown over my shoulder after the players start getting involved.

“So… THATs not exactly how I saw this going…”

 

[Emerikol]

I do think the clash of all these different play styles, and I'm sure there are more than two and perhaps dozens who knows, is that the D&D game designers have thrown in tidbits of different styles at different moments and I wonder sometimes if this isn't less than helpful. I realize D&D is a game that tries to appeal to a wide audience.

I will say this about the Story Now games. They are predicated upon assumptions that require metagame thinking. These things are not sprinkled in thoughtlessly. They are considered a feature of the game.

Whereas with a game like D&D, I think they do many things completely needlessly. When you make divisive choices you know you are cutting out a piece of your player base. That is fine when you are targeting a completely different player base. I think it is sloppy otherwise. And sure they made a lot more good decisions than bad and often that is all that matters and of course already sitting on the biggest name in the hobby doesn't hurt.

 

[pemerton]

lets...analyze what is going on in someone's head.

1. Traditional
Player: Do I recognize the spell he is casting?
GM: rolls spellcraft (good roll), yes you believe he is casting the hold person spell.
Player: "Drats" looking at character sheet, "I wore my water breathing ring this morning expecting a water trap".

The player is asking a question about what his character knows because it's impossible at this time to create a game where he just knows it. The player though is performing the realistic task of thinking as his character to remember something from his past. The GM is providing the data.


2. Flashback
Player: The guy is casting hold person, I am glad this morning I decided to wear my ring of protection and not my ring of water breathing when dressing this morning.
GM: Okay you get a +1 on your save against the hold person spell

The player is not remembering a fact based on his lore skill. He is creating events that occurred that morning after the fact.

In your 1 the player is not noticing anything: the GM is telling him/her something that the GM decided.

In your 2 the player is not remembering anything: she is deciding something and telling the GM.

To me, the second seems more conducive to in-character immersion. Here's why: in the second, the player tells the GM Here's what I remember . . . This is completely commonplace in real life. Whereas in the first, the GM tells the player you believe he is casting Hold Person. There is nothing remotely immersive or in-character about being told one's mental states in the second person, unless I am playing an amnesiac.

 

[pemerton]

A lot of GMs struggle with making moves against players on Lore move misses.

Luke Crane discusses this - in relation to Wises - in his Adventure Burner/Codex for Burning Wheel.

His most worked example involves the recollected information involving an additional, unwelcome twist: the player wants it to be the case that before a duel the combatants drink a toast - because the player wants his/her PC to be able to drug one of the combatants - but on a fail the GM introduces the twist and then each drinks from the other's cup. Not so easy now to pull off the drugging plan . . .

This also serves an an example of "intent and task" at work: the GM can't identify what would be an unwelcome twist until s/he knows what the player hopes to do with the information in question.

 

[Manbearcat]

Luke Crane discusses this - in relation to Wises - in his Adventure Burner/Codex for Burning Wheel.

His most worked example involves the recollected information involving an additional, unwelcome twist: the player wants it to be the case that before a duel the combatants drink a toast - because the player wants his/her PC to be able to drug one of the combatants - but on a fail the GM introduces the twist and then each drinks from the other's cup. Not so easy now to pull off the drugging plan . . .

This also serves an an example of "intent and task" at work: the GM can't identify what would be an unwelcome twist until s/he knows what the player hopes to do with the information in question.

Yup.

This sort of asymmetrical but thematically attendant complication handling for aspirational but no physical action declarations (discerning, “lore-ing”, praying, et al) are areas where many/most GMs need the most work and TTRPG instruction for GMs needs the most robust guidance (and has historically, outside of some particular games, been poor).

An example last night in one of my DW games was:

* PCs were preparing a Ritual for Water Breathing Potions in the base camp of an archeological dig site (that contains precious many NPCs and a precious effort). They were doing this so they could attack an Ancient Blue Dragon that was recovering in its (former) lair at the bottom of a meltwater lake high in Himalyan-esque mountains (they nearly slew the beast the session prior).

* The Paladin’s role in the ritual was critical so the Paladin and his Cohort protege were praying to their Goddess for divine fortification in the ritual to come. The protégés prayer move failed.

* The move was intended to bulwark their preparations to assault the Dragon in its lair.

* Therefore, my response was to have her prayers lead her to a state of terrified catatonia where when she came out wide-eyed and struggled to get out a scream of “Dragon!” Of course her prayers had intercepted the flight of the Ancient Wyrm, its tremendous aura of terror taking her...as the Dragon was now dive bombing and besieging their site, interrupting their preparations!