Quick question: Does, or should, Tier affect Gather Information rolls? Should it be harder to get the goods on Lord Stangford than Rigney the Bartender? And if so, what would those mechanics look like?
Quick question: Does, or should, Tier affect Gather Information rolls?
Quick question: Does, or should, Tier affect Gather Information rolls?
Since Tier really mostly impacts impact/consequences, and Gather Information tends not to have consequences, I would answer with a hearty “kind of”.
That is to say, that a combination of approach and tier should both be taken into account. Trying to get information out out Lord Strangford & His friends directly? Tier is absolutely in play, and a successful roll might produce snippets of information overheard while they were out watching the Eel Fights (diminished effect). But bribing his house staff for some inside information? Neatly gets around any Tier considerations.
All of which is to say I wouldn’t put any more mechanical load on the idea beyond bearing it in mind when you ask how they’re gathering information, and assuming the default is that they’re going for accessible information first.
Rob said it well. The TL;DR is that it comes down to the narrative. “Is this gather info something that would be affected by tier? Are the factions involved benefitted by their scale/size/quality?”
The bigger the target, the more people know something about them. Sifting through all that to find the info you want is the hard part.
Maybe? Often, yes- it should be. I take into account background, heritage, approach, and needs to get that information. As the GM it is up to us to decide how difficult it is to get the information.
As the gather information section specifies: if it’s common info, just tell them what they know. if it is troublesome to get the information, an action roll is required. If it’s uncertain, a fortune roll (using whatever trait is most relevant) decides how much info is gathered.
It’s not so much GM Fiat as GM honesty