The Gather Information questions in Playbooks: some time ago I read an article about their purpose, but I’m hoping someone can point me to that discussion or refresh my memory.
For example: On the Spider sheet there’s the question: What’s the leverage here?
1. Is the list of questions finite? Does it mean these questions are the ones the Spider/Cutter/etc has the ability to discern?
2. Is this list more situational (a la AW): when you’re in a tense situation the Spider can discern these answers? (A Spider in a tight spot would look for leverage, a cutter for weakness (for example)).
3. Are the questions suggestions or examples to allow players to get into the mindset of the Playbook.
This came up in a game I played the other night and it left me wondering if I recalled the conversation correctly.
They’re just suggestions, not restrictions. On page 36 of the book, “Some example questions are on the bottom of the character sheet.”
1. Nope. Players ask questions they want answered.
2. Nope. The GM determines effect as usual, perhaps providing information without a roll.
3. This one.
The above answers are good, so I’ll just chime in with something that is only tangentially related to your question, but is a common point of confusion, so it’s worth addressing.
A lot of people talk about Gather Information as though it’s some special action or phase of the game. It’s not. “Gather information” is an action just like “Knock out the guard” or “Convince the magistrate”. When a PC wants to learn more information about the fictional situation, they ask the GM their question. If it’s something they’d easily be able to know, the GM just answers. If it’s uncertain how much they might know, the GM calls for a fortune roll, usually using one of their Action ratings for the die pool. If there’s a risk associated with obtaining the information, the GM calls for a regular old action roll, with position and effect just like normal.
I know that’s not what you were asking, but I so often see people get confused about that that I thought it was worth pointing out.