How do you determine effect when making a roll?
Do I consider effect to be 0, then consider quality, scale and potency, or set a number, and use those factors to adjust? The examples for the section shows cases when the players doesn’t get any effect, and the example given for quality is confusing given that tier and quality haven’t been introduced yet.
I always start at Standard effect and then find the factors that will affect the action in the world and adjust accordingly.
From my understanding, completing a simple task (one with no clock needed) begins as a 2-tick (standard) effect. This isn’t the whole story though. Players will necessarily adjust the effect they want based on what you say, and then confirm by saying something like: doing the thing (2 effect), partially doing a thing (1 effect), or doing more than that (3 effect).
After the player describes the effect they want (and we discuss the relative risk for that), i lock that in to my equation (again, this is usually 2 effect), then select the position for the action. I will adjust the effect that a 6 will bring for the factors present just like Trung Bui describes and then tell the player if this has changed the effect.
With more complex tasks that do require a clock (eg taking out a named NPC) I always end up having to tell the player how the effect they could expect will look, since completing what they want is usually not possible in one action without 2+ factors in their favor.
Edit: clarity
For me it’s really all about the fiction, though I do default to standard effect(2 ticks if a clock is present) unless there’s a good reason to do otherwise, and that’s before considering scale, potency, and quality. If something seems like limited effect(1 tick for a clock if relevant), I always ask if it seems more like a setup than an action that causes progress: is it more about making things easier for the next action, or will it actually solve the current issue(in part or whole)? For when players have really fantastic ideas that work in the fiction, I step it up to greater effect(3 ticks).
This tends to mean that I run with standard effect about 90% of the time before considering other factors, but it seems to work with my groups. Probably best to test the waters with your group(s) and see how they feel — do they want effect to be more fluid, or should it be standard as a default most of the time? I could see arguments going either way, it’s really about how the fiction works and what your group likes in play, I think.