Still more questions.

Still more questions.

Still more questions.

Yep, I’m back with a new batch of questions. I’ve collected a few.

1. Is finding a new vice purveyor a downtime activity? I can’t find a rule in the book that says so, but it feels like it would fall under the Acquire Asset activity.

2. How do some of the more abstract Claims manifest, and how would you go about turning them into a score (sometimes without destroying the claim)? For example, Bluecoat Confederates/Bluecoat Intimidation doesn’t sound like a physical location that can be raided, and even if it was it feels like you run the risk of battling the actual Bluecoats instead of the opposing faction. Would you, perhaps, have the crew run the opposing faction out of a territory? Or maybe track down the Bluecoat head honcho and “convince/bribe/blackmail/etc” him or her to switch alliances? I might ask the same about Informants. Cover Identities is another one. Is that a guy in a back room forging false papers, or something more abstract? How about Secret Pathways? Are you more or less just running off an opposing faction that guards those routes? There’s more, but I think you get my drift.

3. Do starting playbook supplies sort of resupply after use, or does the player have to acquire them again once used/lost/broken? For example, our Cutter recently used his Rage Essence Vial and then later broke his Fine Claymore in a fight against a hull. Do those items resupply out of the nebulous non-coin expenditure the crew is just assumed to use, or do they need to actively seek them out ala Acquire Asset? Should some of the pricier items cost actual coin?

4. Does actual coin play into the Luxury vice? I have a PC with the Luxury vice and he’s outfitting his apartment with some pretty swank swag. Should I be charging him coin for that stuff? That doesn’t feel quite fair, given that the rest of the PC’s are basically indulging their vices for free. And yet, that painting over his fireplace has got to cost something to make it Luxury. And how then does this play into Stash? It feels like, mechanically, they are totally separate, but at this point his lifestyle is quite beyond his fellow crew members. I’ve sort of funneled him into non-permanent vice indulgences (nights at the opera, museum visits, etc), but in the early game I did allow him to simply hand wave filling his little apartment with luxurious items.

Thanks for any and all advice. You guys are the best!

6 thoughts on “Still more questions.”

  2. 1. I’d just do freeplay. A lot of them just amount to walking into a different drug den/casino. I wouldn’t even bother with a roll. Vice purveyors want to be found.

    More broadly, Acquire Asset is for the CREW, not the individual.

    2. I don’t always bother with a full score. For something like Lookouts or Informants, just spend some time and COIN in freeplay. Talking to some people, making some friends’ll do. (There may be a score of some kind to get the COIN to throw around, but not for the actual acquisition of the claim.) COIN amount to be determined by some combination of Crew Tier and GM mystical mumbo jumbo.

    Another way to go could be a Long-term Project, if it makes sense to do so.

    3. Mostly replace without thought. If the player wants to complain about the balance of the replacement, and go get something custom made, then go run around in freeplay and charge a little COIN. If they want to go get a particular piece of steel, you could end up turning this into a full score.

    Again, I feel that Acquire Asset is for crew, not individuals.

    4. A drug or gambling habit is typically not an inexpensive thing. If a character wants to look at pretty things instead, I wouldn’t charge them extra. (I also wouldn’t let them liquidate everything later for more than pocket change.)

  3. For number 4, I’d just assume that the PC is able to pay through some other means when they take time to indulge their vice. Charging for Luxury would penalize players who pick it, and you could make the argument that they need to spend money on any of the vices really. Maybe he gets permanent items when he spends Coin or Rep to indulge in his vice as a bonus downtime action, or when he increases his Stash.

  4. 1. AFAIK it’s a long term project to find a new purveyor.

    2. Think about a claim. They’re not always a place, but could be a set of people. One things for sure, it’s always owned by another faction. Describe to your players how the billhooks use their informants or how some Bluecoats are on their payroll, then leave it to the players to figure out how they take that from them.

    3. Playbook items resupply after each score. That being said, if a consequence was to permanently break or lose an item (major consequence level) then it’s be a long term project to get a new one permanently.

    4. No. Vice is free (except when you want to boost up your effect level using coin) regardless of how the player expresses it. Just don’t let them sell their luxuries for anything more than loose change.

  5. Yep, what Antimatter said.

    Replacing a vice purveyor is not simply going to the next dealer on the street. It’s a process of finding a reliable and safe way to indulge your vice.

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