Can’t wait to run Scum & Villainy… thank you Stras Acimovic! I’m not sure were else to put all this so I’m just posting it here… these are all the thoughts/confusions/questions/errors/etc. I’ve had so far
1) In COSTS section on page 13 it says on average 1 credit docking fees every downtime… is this in addition to or in reference to Upkeep as calculated on the ship page?
2) It looks like the terms DEBT and LOAN are used… I think they’re referring to the same thing? The only thing I see that increases either is going on a bender (+2 loan). Can you gain loan/debt to spend cred?
3) For upkeep you roll the consecutive number of times you’ve skipped upkeep… I don’t see a place to track that number – it would be nice to have that on the sheet, maybe in the Upkeep box.
4) Once your Upkeep = 2 it will be “cheaper” to not pay it… because if you fail the roll you can spend 1 credit buying an additional downtime action, and a 2nd credit for the repair action, which is what you’d have payed anyway (A jury-rig/repair can have complications beyond just costing credits but repair is a downtime action, which tends to bypass complications). So then you’d just want to pay the upkeep after a few times to reset the consecutive skip count, so you can get more free passes.
This is even more true if Upkeep gets to 3 or 4… maybe the damage done should scale up with the Upkeep score?
5) On page 12 under 8. Cred and Upkeep it just lists ship qualities in the upkeep calculation (in which case it could be 0 to start), but on the ship page it includes Crew (in which case it will always be at 1 to start – at least for the Stardancer, which has 3 default ship qualities)
6) Should Mechanic start with hack not study? Feels like it fits better, no other playbook starts with Hack, and Stitch already starts with study.
7) To “Just purchase a new module” cost 3 x system quality… total system quality, or the system the module is being added to?
Either way you’re penalized for upgrading system qualities faster than you add modules, and I don’t understand why that would be.
Instead… maybe base the cost on the number of modules already installed – total or in that system.
I seems like it should also require a long term project to buy/install a module… but I’ll see how it feels in play.
8) You need to get your weapons system quality to 1 before you can install a weapon module… hull, engines and comms all do something even if you have no modules… does a weapon system with no modules do anything (other than possibly increase your upkeep cost)?
9) It would be nice if page 23 (faction descriptions) was on the character/ship creation pdf to help players assign faction status ticks
10) typo on page 23 – “abilities” in description of The Agony
11) the Pilot ability Side Job seems like weak sauce… compared to the Slide’s A Little Something on the Side for example…
12) Speaker ability Favors Owed – says reduce heat, should be lay low
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📬 keeping an eye 😋
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Bryan – thanks for your thorough post! This is a fine place to type that up. I’ll hit it point by point here shortly when I get a chance.
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Bryan! Sorry about the delay. Juggling stuff as you might imagine ^_^
1) No. I think that was the old version of upkeep … good catch, I’ll fix it.
2) Yes, there’s going to be rules (we don’t have the page in, should be in 1.6). And if you have some loan you didn’t pay – an Ashen Knives Pasha might send someone to freeze you in Shimayan glass so you can be displayed at his dinner party as a lesson to those who don’t pay their debts in timely fashion.
3) Oh hey that’s a good idea. I’ll put that in. I just assumed folks would use that giant Notes section below. This might work better though.
4) What’s unclear here is that the parts don’t fail at the start of Upkeep. You roll, and the GM makes a note and play proceeds. “But we can fix it right?” Sure. But it’ll probably blow during that hectic chase when you desperately need to make a gate. To give you an example – Kaylee tells Mal he didn’t pay upkeep in ep 1. In ep 5 his ship blows out fire, and dies without a catalyzer mid-space. This is closer to how upkeep works. Feel free to keep skipping. It’s only a coin and downtime next time you make port. Like Loans – you can probably expect some more broad text on that ^_~
5) Crew quality should be included. All those nicer guns, better bullets, sweeter ammo, and fancier coats cost money. Good catch, I’ll fix it.
6) You do need to read and be able to study items to be a great mechanic. But many (like say Kaylee) don’t have hack. You have free points, you can easily toss 2 in there.
7) System it’s being added to. And have you ever bought parts for a BMW instead of a Chevy? They cost more. If you have sleek top of the line engines, getting things to interface with their wiring, and grade of power distribution etc is more expensive.
I like the long term project idea, but I want crew advances to be done in a montage so you don’t grind to a halt whenever you get upgrades. I’ll think about it and talk with John LL.
8) Weapons don’t do much without modules. We’ve actually said that you can have small weapons that don’t damage ships (generally used for clearing parasites, trying to shoot down missiles coming in, or protecting your ship in dock). In general most groups either stack their buy (at creation) or just spend 3 cred and put a gun on right away.
9) Just print out the extra page. You have to do the factions in the grid anyway (p22).
10) good catch, I’ll fix it.
11) You’re mixing apples and oranges. Slide is core blades. Pilot is S&V. The relationship between coin (which is used only for downtime) and cred (which can buy ship parts) is a different one. If you don’t believe me, think about a crew of 4 players who all take that via veteran and just give up one of their free downtimes for extra money. This also gives you rumors and something fun to do and build stories from. Ultimately – if you think it’s weak tea – don’t take it! We just found pilots (who tend to take vehicle damage more than personal damage) tended to have free downtimes, and this allows them to in a fashion bank them, or work on upgrading their ship the same way Trainings help you upgrade your char.
12) Good catch, will fix.
Thanks for the reply!
4) Ah… THAT is the piece I was missing… yeah… that’ll be fun 🙂
7) Hmm… I’d rather let players get things in the order they’d like, unless I have a good reason not to – is there a good reason not to? Basing the cost on the number of modules installed instead of the system quality gets me to the same price but lets them further up system quality before installing modules without paying a penalty… I can fictionally justify either calculation easily enough.
Long term projects can be accomplished by throwing enough cred at them… so I guess it would just add some variability to the price. Otherwise, if you want modules to be harder to get you can just up the cost. I didn’t think too hard about this one, it was just my 1st reaction.
11) Oh, I was TOTALLY comparing apples and oranges… but I, like, just got these oranges, so what else could I do? I love thinking of it as the training move for the ship. It reminds me of 1st edition d6 Star Wars where you could spend XP to up the stats of your ship/equipment… I’ve always liked that.
Could be a Pilot or Mechanic special move:
I Made a Lot of Special Modifications Myself – You may spend XP as cred to purchase modules.
New Question… can you buy Auxiliary Modules or Crew/Ship Gear with cred? For what cost?
7) Yes (it has to do with advancement balance, and timing on stacking – IE it keeps folks from rushing one quality to max, and gets a better story flow). But you should house-rule it if you like it better ^_^ it won’t break things too much.
11) John LL had already talked with me about some Permissions and Special Abilities. This might be something super-cool to throw in there since we’re already planning a Scavanger or Junk-Rat section.
That’s a very good question and I’m going to duck the answer by saying it’ll be in 1.6 ^_~ (we’re trying a few things out, but I want to playtest them before I give hard answers).