On The Spider’s “When you address a tough challenge with planning or calculation.”
Two major questions.
1: In what contexts do downtime actions count for this? When one has acquired an asset, finished a long-term project, or gathered information that was relevant for a completed score?
2: If you pull out climbing gear or wrecking tools from your Load when it turns out you need them, do you get experience for “planning” for that eventuality? Does anyone have examples of other ways that requirement might be satisfied outside of downtime actions or flashbacks?
I think #1 could definitely work for XP, especially regarding LTPs. The others may or may not work at my table on a case by case basis.
#2 is pushing it, I doubt I’d ever award XP for pulling something off of your equipment list.
Planning hopefully happens infrequently outside of Flashbacks, and downtime to a lesser extent, but calculation can happen any time. A ruthless spider that pits two opposing sides against each other in a fight without taking a scratch is addressing a challenge in a calculating way. It’s a broad term that can be applied to many actions.
Mark Griffin Good point! I tend to forget about the calculating half of that trigger, probably because it’s so broad I have trouble imagining any particular action as being a “calculated action.” That’s on me though.
I’d let the PC tell me which actions they took that made them feel most like Danny Ocean or Nate Ford and if it wasn’t clear to me explain why that was a calculated move. If they go into enough detail about their plans and motivations you can probably turn that around into new story elements later.
For planning, I think of it as two intentional actions/ideas where one directly contributes to the success of another. Acquiring an asset which is then used to facilitate the success of a future action is planning. Coming up with a successful plan to infiltrate an armory would be another. But using readily available gear in a single action doesn’t count, because it’s not planning per-se, it’s just being prepared (and because of the rules, that sort of preparedness just isn’t planning in any sense of the word).
For calculation, it’s all about identifying moments where a character ‘manipulates a variable’ in a situation that isn’t immediately apparent.
Honestly, if you just remember that the Spider is a character archetype built around ideas and cleverness, it shouldn’t be hard to identify those moments where a good idea or a particularly clever manipulation of a situation results in an advantage of some kind. It’s not like there needs to be a hard and fast rule, just don’t be so picky that the player doesn’t feel rewarded, and don’t be so loose that they’re getting something for nothing. The reward is there to encourage the Spider’s player to think outside the box.
I think that a downtime action is rarely a tough challenge because they usually don’t involve risk BUT if a downtime action (even as a flashback) creates the means to address a tough challenge (even if it’s faced by another character) then it should count for the reward.
Besides downtime actions, I think that Setup actions and even Insight Resist rolls may qualify for the reward if they imply some kind of improvised calculation or planning.
When really seeing a Spider shine it has been through judicious use of flashbacks. I remember I was playing with a Spider, and we were robbing some shops smash and grab style (Breakers), and as we loaded up on heavy silver and bulky spirit bottles, and were kinda floundering at how we’d get it all back to the hideout, the spider says “as I check my watch, the cabbie pulls up right on time” (rolls consort in a flash back to have arranged this transport all along, paying stress as normal, of course). That’s just one example… but remember “planning” in blades isn’t always done beforehand by the player; it can be thought of spur of the moment and a flashback confirms how well it plays out in the moment.
Basically, my take away is: if your Spider comes up with a cool idea to have had ALREADY done, let him, and that is where he gets his XP.