Got a couple of questions about effect level. So, standard effect means that if you do it, you do it to a normal standard. I understand this. But how do great and limited effect work out? I understand in terms of combat that great effect may be a greater wound or limited could be that you hit armour, but what about rolls like sway? How do you limited effect sway someone? I feel bad if they try sway, roll a 6 and they don’t get swayed. Do I start clocks for limited actions so they take longer?
Another issue I have is complications alongside limited effect. It’s almost like they rolled a “you don’t do it”. So how do you get around this?
Second question: In a group action, which characters effect level and position do you use?
There seem to be a few ways you can model limiters effect.
One is that it gives them a more effective avenue of attack. If they get a limited effect on a sway, maybe the opposition gives a cue that the player can exploit with the next roll at standard effect. Or an attack that bounces off hidden armor gives you the knowledge you need for the next attack to strike true.
Clocks are another way to go. Limited effect generally means ticking 1 segment of a clock so if you’re persuading someone with limited effect and succeed, maybe they remain skeptical but you start needling away at their doubt. Many small victories can still lead to success, but it’s a more difficult avenue of attack, which is kind of the point.
AFAIK, sometimes a Limited effect is all you need, depending on what you want. Also…AFAIK…the effect level should be known from the start. Perhaps you’re Swaying a guard to get into a gambling den in order to see a local crime boss. A Limited effect might get you in, but the guard’s got an eye on you (not the greatest example, I realize). A Great effect means he not only lets you in, he’s impressed enough to walk you to the boss and make an introduction. Or, with a Limited effect he says, “Stay here. I’ll go talk to the boss”. At this point I might do a fortune roll to see how the boss feels.
One thing I think of is how well “armed” the PCs are when using social actions, good or bad. Do they have information on something the boss wants? That affects the Effect level, I’d say. Do they know that Sister Bruch is terrified of the supernatural? Having a whisper in their spirit mask in the group might give Potency by way of an Assist.
So much depends on the fiction. There are countless variables. Swaying the guard of a seedy den might be easy enough whereas Swaying the guard of a crime lord’s establishment might require some clever preparations.
Ugh. I’m up way too late and I hope I made at least a little sense. 🙂
My whisper in a spirit mask example got me thinking: Let’s say the whisper’s the one dealing with Sister Bruch. Would the spirit mask (or even better, a bottled ghost!) give Potency for free or would it require 2 stress and pushing yourself? We know the Sister is vulnerable to the supernatural (or at least the fear of it at any rate), so it stands in the fiction. Based on that, I’d feel comfortable saying the whisper would have Potency to begin with. If the whisper went full-on creepy, that’s where pushing yourself and a stress cost comes in. Thoughts?