How often are folks using clocks during a score?
I keep meaning to introduce them but I always get wrapped up in the fiction and just keep effects narrative / qualitative. I think we probably get to the same place but I wonder if there’s a hidden cost or benefit that I’m not realizing.
One thing I like about using clocks on heists is it lets me hit the rogues with a tougher consequence, but they don’t mind because it is delayed. So, maybe a complication or devil’s bargain is that they can get through the window but will leave signs of passage. And then a clock with 6 segments for how long before somebody raises the alarm.
Once you’ve got the clock on the table, you can also negotiate segments. Like, a complication brings the clock closer to completing by adding a segment, or you can get that +1d but the clock adds a segment. It’s easy and tangible and pre-existing at that point.
Depending on the clock, you can allow them to do actions that reduce the clock back down (if fictionally appropriate). Like, the dogs are sniffing around and will catch your scent, three of the four segments are filled in. Then somebody has a flashback to the wyrdpepper they caked on their heels. If they succeed in Attuning that weird crap to their trail, then the dogs will chase phantom imps, so the number of segments their roll would normally gain are instead rolled back off of the dog clock.
Andrew Shields nice! Foreshadowed consequences, action trade-offs, and more flashback opportunities are all great reasons – thanks!
Clocks are primarily a pacing mechanic. But they are incredibly versatile, and you can use them for all kinds of things. One of my favorites is to throw down two opposing clocks, one for the PCs, one for the opposition, and you can really see the tension ratchet up as they rush to fill it.
So clocks are just about my favorite part of Blades, so I use them a lot, almost always have at least one on the table, and I think about them in a few different ways. One way I think about the game’s resolution mechanic is that in every roll I’m using clocks, even for standard actions. A standard success (4-6) fills two pieces of a clock, so a standard action is a 2-clock that doesn’t warrant writing out. That might seem pointless, but it puts the difficulty of action on a slider for me and serves to remind me about the way the world should impose difficulty. This is generally invisible; I don’t write out more than a few clocks for a given score. One or two tough fighters, advanced security systems, or tense social interactions is generally good to spice up the action and make a character look awesome overcoming an overwhelming difficulty. Then there’s one or two score complication or Devil’s Bargain fodder clocks to go with that and provide tension and drama.
For a combat example, a standard guy should just be a roll to Skirmish into uselessness or Wreck brutally. If that guy’s of a higher tier faction and properly kitted out, you get knocked down to limited effect and only filling one segment of his 2-clock. You need a fine weapon, some advantage (like a set-up action or asset), or an exceptional success to do that in one go. If that guy’s just a bad-ass, he might be a 4-clock instead. If it’s a supernatural creature, he might be an 8-clock, or a couple of connected smaller clocks.
This equally applies to almost anything the PCs do as part of a score, like breaking into a building, fitting in at a party, or performing an oblation to your cult’s dread master.
A recent episode of Rollplay Blades on the itmejp channel shows this off. There are multiple clocks representing multiple threats for a single situation, all protecting/obfuscating the ultimate goal of the players. There was also a post here a while ago about using multiple clocks to represent a “boss monster” like an unfettered demon or ancient god.
And then there are other kinds of clocks, like the Devil’s Bargain/Complication clocks for alerting guards, reinforcements arrive, rituals complete, etc. that give you fodder to offer Bargains. “Sure, you can knock that sentry out, but I’ll offer you a bonus die to sloppily hide them in the hallway and fill in one segment on this alert clock. Sure, you can take out the Vampire’s bodyguard so you can access his Salon, but you’ll get a bonus die if he’ll hear you and I’ll fill a segment on this clock. Who knows what it does?”
For the most part, I like putting all of these clocks out in plain sight. There’s information that the characters in this story ought to be aware of but that might not be tagged properly by narration, or might not be heard correctly even if it’s well expressed. If I say that this building’s got a visible field of electroplasmic energy and guards on duty, and the whisper can see roaming ghosts, do the players hear that an infiltration attempt will be multiple clocks? An 8-clock? A stonewall that means “I don’t want you doing this” and they give up that plan and start over? It’s a lot clearer (and builds more trust with the players in my experience) to mark the clocks in the open, and if the PCs want to intervene or know more, they have a base of general information about the scale of opposition and the likelihood of consequences coming to fruition. There are usually too many competing priorities to be able to do everything, so drama will still happen. There are a few exceptions to doing this in the open, of course, like factions that act in secret or rivals in the shadows, but I think those should be a sometimes-food on the Blades buffet.
Clocks are also a good way to clue your PCs into goals and possible actions they can take. If you throw down a clock for Alarm is Raised, they know they need to try and be sneaky. If you put down a clock for The Enemy Ritual is complete they know they’re against a timer and they need to find a way to disrupt it.
When I look back at sessions and think about what I could have done better, the answer is almost always “use more clocks”. They replace hit points and difficulty target numbers, help with foreshadowing, and illustrate the threats effectively even when you never fill them more then once of twice.
One accessory I found useful is this illustration of clocks by Vandel J. Arden – I use it for years (with appropriate “keychain”), and it’s gorgeous:
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Ah its been a while 🙂