Question – I ran Blades In The Dark for the first time this last Saturday. During the session I used a single clock to represent two carriage guards. If the character got a full success I took of 3 pie pieces and if it was a success with complication I tool off 1 pie piece.
Is that ok? Should I have used straight single skill rolls? Thoughts as to straight skill roll vs a clock?
The clock is good, but remember Effect (as in, Position & Effect). Rather than clock segments being tied to full- or partial-success, they should be tied to Effect; 1 pie piece for Limited, 2 for Standard, 3 for Great. A success (partial or full) gives the requisite number of pie slices (unless you choose the complication “less effect”).
It depends on how strong or tough you want the opponents to be. If they’re cheap guards hired just to look threatening, they’re probably not very tough and a successful Action roll would be enough to deal with them. If they work for a high-Tier faction that can afford to have well-trained carriage guards on retainer, then a clock makes sense. If they’re secretly elite bodyguards acting as carriage guards to defend a VIP, then maybe a bigger clock, and give the PCs worse Position and Effect when dealing with them. If you want to hammer home that they’re elite, you can start rolls at No Effect so the PCs need a Setup, or maybe require a Resistance roll to close in without being taken out.
I’m on the straight roll side of the fence. I find it makes things less about marking of what are essentially abstract hitpoints and more inflicting practical injuries. The way I see it. a full success is a full success, and if a player is trying to shoot someone in the head and rolls a full success, they have fully, successfully, shot that guy straight through the head. Where you should be paying attention is the effect and position, which determine whether that headshot will be a brain-splatterer, or a more Phineas Gage affair, as well as what the players can expect as repercussions.
First off these posts are fantastic! Thanks! In my first session I played it more like S. Tan suggests. I want to make sure I have it all down for the second session so I read up on Position and Effect. I want to unpack it then have you guys tell me if I am on the right track. Also I want to throw in some questions at the end. 😉
Situation 1 – Wimpy Thug
Situation 1.1 – Hound goes for head shot from complete surprise. This might be a Controlled/Great to take on the one thug.
Situation 1.2 – Cutter jumps out from the shadows and tries to brain the carriage guard with his billy club. This might be Risky/Great.
Situation 2 – Pair Of Rival Gang Members
Situation 2.1 – Hound goes for head shot on one gang member from complete surprise. This might be Risky/Great because the other gang member might shoot back.
Situation 2.2 – Cutter jumps out from the shadows and tries to brain one of the gang members. This might be Risky/Standard as the target is tougher and the other gang member might fight back.
Situation 3 – Powerful Demon
Situation 2.1 – Hound goes for head shot. This might be Risky/Limited unless he is using magical bullets. It could also be the start of a clock to break down the demons magical defenses or similar.
Situation 2.2 – Cutter jumps out from shadows. This might be Desperate.Limited or maybe start of a clock to break down the demons magical defenses.
With a gang of guards it just might be a clock and taking out pieces removes guards. When they are all gone the clock is removed.
At a high-level is that on the right track? Thoughts?
Related question. With a group of PC you really need a lot of threats. Is that typically the case?
Thanks again guys…I am actually saving this thread because it is so helpful.
That definitely sounds on the right track to me, I wouldn’t disagree with your examples. My only quibble would be about demons, but that really depends on your own take on them. For me, any attack on a demon starts at Desperate/No Effect, but I like them to be absolutely terrifying. Just personal taste.
Regarding your related question, I don’t think you necessarily need a lot of threats with a group of PCs. You control how tough each threat is. Imagine an elite swordmaster; they disarm half the gang and start pressing the attack against one PC before anyone’s had a chance to react – there’s a whole wave of resist rolls to not be disarmed and you shine the spotlight on that one PC, resolve how they deal with the swordmaster’s onslaught. When that beat has come to a cliffhanger, you switch the spotlight and give someone else a chance to get involved. The key things are:
– the elite threat requires a lot of work to take down, they’re a clock on their own (unless something happens in the fiction, like a bullet to the brain, that demands the end of the clock)
– the elite threat can threaten any number of PCs at once, and the spotlight follows through one at a time. There’s no initiative here, no demand that everyone gets a shot before the elite threat can respond.
Gosh Tim Denee…fantastic reply. Thanks! I get it! 😀
Just as an addition, I’d like to say that position and effect are inherently mutable, clocks as well. So if you’re fighting a gang, you can view the gang as a whole, “I open fire on the gang,” in which case a clock is more appropriate; or you could view the gang as a collection of individual gangsters, “I aim at the big guy brandishing a cleaver and pull the trigger.” Either way works, it just depends on how you and your players want to frame things.
Then, to go off what Tim Denee said about the elite swordsman, I think that rather than having a clock, it’s enough to set position and effect in such a way that it’s a significant risk to take even a minor swing at them. I generally prefer to uses clocks in a more literal way, counting down the time until reinforcements arrive, or until the fuse reaches its base, etc.