We’ve been intrigued about lasting effects.

We’ve been intrigued about lasting effects. There are only a couple mentioned as examples in the QS, and that’s great – it allows for group discussion on what ‘conditions’ require time and effort to remove.

I like the idea that the default is 6-8 segments, citing a broken leg and being seduced. Given that time is ephemeral in the game, what with flashbacks, aggressive scene framing and ghostly powers, there is not much point comparatively mitigating your -1D dis-function with ‘time’.  

Though our Hound, Lord Malcolm did just that. On a whim, I gave him both a broken leg and the horrific concept of being seduced… post falling from a roof top duel and during his subsequent capture suffering the attentions of an EXTREMELY tempting daemon. He was fortunately liberated by his colleagues, suffering both an 8 segment broken leg and 6 segment seduced recovery.

In RL, a broken leg ‘normally’ heals in around 8 weeks (segments). and post the score in Downtime, Don wanted Lord Malcolm to heal his leg via this well worn method of convalescence.

It was a controlled situation and he aced the action roll, though his effect roll still left him with some time left to heal. (he had indulged in some heavy drinking to relieve stress). He pushed for more Downtime, advancing faction clocks and costing him coin in lost machinations. The second recovery roll was not so successful, it escalated to risky and we fictionalised this through the danger of his on-going seduced state and imminent possession by his daemon paramour. His  6 segment recovery clock for daemonic seduction is now a push-pull clock. That when it reaches 12 full segments, he is possessed.

He also took the devil’s bargain of forever walking with a cane during the effect roll, clearing the clock with a 6. So we stand to start the next session narrated as roughly 8 weeks later, a lovely montage of Lord Malcolm’s troubled Manor-bound recovery; beset by daemons, both self-inflicted and stalking. His horribly fractured leg both healed and scarred but his very soul tempted by the daemon that lovingly caresses his every thought.

So a few thoughts – clocks can resolve in a few moments or months of gametime – This disparity is brilliant and acts like a narrative pacing mechanism rather than a direct time/effect scale. We are prone to accepting that recovery clocks being (roughly) one week per segment. This gives our audience stance some time to reflect on the Duskwall getting on with business, and pressures against the PCs impending. It also has heightened our montage narration skill, something the ‘in the moment’ action storytelling of a score tends to avoid.

The other cool thing is the emergent story of the action choices taken to alleviate lasting effects.  _Stitch_ is the obvious healing action, but Lord Malcolm engaged his Consort action  to convince his NPC friend of Dr. Frakenstein to apply his ministrations for recovery. 

What other recovery clocks have folks had during play? I think it might be nice to have a boxed example in the final rules with a few ideas….

Stabbed in the eye – 12 segments

 Badly Broken leg – 8 segments

Seduced by a daemon – 6 segments

Belittled by nemesis – 8 segments