I’m sure this has been asked 20 million times, but I don’t know how to search this forum for a topic.
What’s the difference between a Gather Information roll during downtime and a Gather Information roll other times? Are there certain questions you can only ask during downtime, or can you gather information about anything at any time? If so, why would you ever use a downtime action to Gather Information?
I think it’s more of an available time problem. When not in downtime – you and the other PCs are right in the middle of a bank job or something: Do you want to go to a bar and question the patrons, talk to contacts and bribe guards while everyone else is trying to get past local security and not get shot?
When the circumstances allow, I let my crew make gather info rolls in preparing for a job (usually one roll each per PC). So far they haven’t taken on any jobs that were on such a tight schedule that they wouldn’t get the chance, but it could happen.
During downtime, you can spend Coin to improve the results of a roll.
My understanding is just that the actions taken during downtime are ‘safe’. As in, you don’t get consequences for failing/partially succeeding.
Figured out how to search the forum! I’ll leave this here in case someone else wants to weigh in, though.
My experience has been thus: the limits on information gathering during a score or downtime is purely logical, and should be limited by the details of the current fiction. IE: during downtime, you can ask questions that require more complex fiction (and do so without taking stress to create a flashback scene). Whereas during a run, you have logical limits on how much you could do or find out (and probably have to take stress to flashback for more involved info gathering).
Related question: What do you do when a character flashes back to an activity that normally would require downtime, e.g., acquire an asset? Do you allow it with extra stress, or require them to spend coin/rep to retroactively take an extra downtime action, or what?
Both of these are answered in the new rules text, so this one is easy. Let me cut and paste:
Gather Information
When you gather information during downtime, you get +1 effect since you’re taking extra time. Also, you get +1d to the roll if one of your friends or crew contacts helps you.
Flashback to Downtime
If a flashback involves a downtime activity, pay 1 coin or 1 rep for it, instead of stress.
John Harper Awesome, thanks!
“Also, you get +1d to the roll if one of your friends or crew contacts helps you.” from now on I think I’ll give players the extra dice for involving your’s of the crew’s enemies as well. not because the said enemies are helping, but as a form of devil bargain.
Yep, that’s a good devil’s bargain.
You can have Devil’s Bargains in downtime, too?