Had a fun first session discovering my players cult crew last night.

Had a fun first session discovering my players cult crew last night. I’ll post the AP details later, but for now here are some of the questions that arose. I’d love any input you may have.

1) Collecting dice pools was the most time-consuming part actually. I’m sure as people learn the system that will speed up but it led to a question about re-rolling for more risk. When you get a 1-3 on Controlled, you have the option of re-rolling at Risky. Do these kinds of riskier re-rolls mean a player just immediately grabs the same pool just rolled and roll it again (not requiring a new ally to take stress to grant a backup die, or offering a new Devil’s Bargain)? I’m sure there should still be some fictional development and dangers will manifest between each re-roll when you’re in risky and desperate positions, but soliciting new Backup assistance and devil’s Bargains as if it were a totally new roll just takes lots more time than seems fitting. However, if it is just an immediate re-roll of the former pool, then doesn’t that boil down to “Rolling twice for the same thing”?

The other side issue is that if dangers manifest in between these escalated re-rolls, rolling to resist those effects jam in and slow the pace of the seemingly quick re-roll. Am I expecting a faster pace than is realistic, or do groups with system mastery fly through these rolls without all the negotiating that bogged us down.

Another key point for the players to realize was that they didn’t need to roll to give a backup assistance die to another player, they just had to pay stress and narrate something believable. I think they were getting confused about the difference between Backup Assists (which give 1 die to a roll at the cost of 1 stress) vs Set Up Point actions (which hand over effect dice to the player that follow’s through at the cost of perhaps risking a roll).

2) Related to the riskier re-roll question above, if Player A is on point, gets 1-3 and decides to re-roll in a riskier position, do they stay on point and keep re-rolling until they finally resolving whatever Point action started the whole business? If so, then adding in all the danger resist rolls that such re-rolling may entail, the spotlight may linger on Player A for maybe 3-6 rolls and that seems to not be the pace this game assumes, especially if all this is also taking place within a flashback. In my game, this led to Player B poised overlong waiting to attempt his impersonation while Player A, setting him up using a flashback did a bunch of re-rolls, an effect resist, and whatnot. I must be doing something wrong.

3) The QS rules make it seem like the players can rise two tiers at one jump; is that true? The QS says: “Take advantage of a faction one or two tiers above you when they’re reduced to zero hold. Successfully perform a mission to seize their position in that tier (they drop down one tier and reset to 1 hold).”

Does that mean if the Lampblacks (Tier 2) are reduced to 0 hold, then the PC crew could supplant the Lampblacks at Tier 2 with a relevant, successful mission/score? The Lampblacks would now be Tier 1, Hold 1, and the PC crew would now be Tier 2, Hold 1 (and likely vulnerable to all kinds of threats from the resentful Lampblacks, their allies, and other big gangs feeling threatened by such a swift rise of an upstart competitor).

4) Does gaining Hold at Tier 0 matter much (EDIT: beyond the 3 Hold needed to rise to another tier)? My players finished 2 scores in the session and quickly got up to 4 hold, but that made me wonder why Hold matters at Tier 0. You’re in no danger of being reduced or supplanted by anyone below you, and when you finally do rise to Tier 1, you’ll reset to Hold 1. Is Hold at Tier 0 just a narrative barometer for how stable your operation is?