Author: Andrew Shields

I have a hard time getting comfortable with spending experience on elements outside the character, unless there is a way to recycle that experience if something happens to the external element.

What happens if a Hound invests special abilities in a pet, and it dies? Is the upgrade about learning how to invest this power in a pet, so the Hound can start with a new one and add the ability? Can the Hound sell it, and then invest the power in a new animal for free as a down time project to make some extra coin?

Or does the character just lose the experience and special ability until it is purchased with Coin by getting a similarly gifted animal? Is it impossible for a Hound to buy an animal with special qualities because it requires experience and a playbook special ability?

If a Lurk wants to buy a pet with a special ghost ability, does the Lurk need to get the Veteran special ability and take this off the Hound’s playbook to do it? Is that in addition to coin?

Because experience is involved, there is this abstract cost that is added to the potential concrete cost of having to pay coin (which you don’t have to do in picking up other special abilities.) Or you just get lucky and find one, or conduct a heist to steal one.

Just something I’m reflecting on as I review the playbooks.

My recommendation: give the Hound the ability to BOND with animals who have special abilities. That’s entirely within the character, who can choose to get an animal it will work with.

So, does armor only refresh if you take a lasting injury recovery action now? That’s how it looks to me on the player reference page.

How about special armor from special abilities?

Now there is no roll to add heat or to see how the payout of the heist went. I understand the additional simplicity this adds, but miss the gambling aspect, where you can get more or less than you bargained for with a job.

Crime is so unstable, with mercurial fate, after all. 

Seems to me “Skirmish” implies messy, with numbers on each side.

To match the description text, I’d suggest “Duel.” Other possibilities could include Precision, Clash, En Garde, or Fencing. Your mileage may vary. =)

I would also conflate what I understand to be “Murder” with “Skirmish” and leave “Mayhem” as a second. With three categories, that’s pretty fine distinction. Maybe Murder should include things like poison use, managing clues, and some sleuthing (and anti-sleuthing) techniques. That could distinguish it better.

I guess my main problem with murder is that it is one-sided. In that case, the need for a roll gets fuzzier; if the target doesn’t see it coming or cannot defend, then when would you roll it (instead of just succeeding)?

If I understand right, using Tier rating to clear off Heat means that for every mission, a Tier 0 crew (where everyone starts) rolls 2 dice and keeps the lower. Ouch! Am I missing something? Or is it just that hard to clear off Heat for new crews that no one has ever heard of before? This is especially brutal since high profile or killing adds 2 Heat instead of 1 now.

Also: could we get one-sentence descriptions of the new factions? Previously I’ve cut and pasted that from the FAQ into my Quickstart, the names alone are not very helpful.

So the roll to acquire an asset is crew tier. Again, pretty rough for everybody starting at 0, and no skill comes into play. Could you use an “acquire asset” roll to get medical help for lasting conditions instead of paying for it? I would think so.

I like unlocking downtime actions so you get two and not the ones for free and the ones you pay for. So if you are really stressed you can use Vice two times, for example. But if you are not stressed, you can do two Heat rolls or whatever.

Okay… am I just dense? What the hell is Rep (reputation, I assume) and what does it do?

I think I like Suffer Harm better now than I did with the last update, but not as well as the lasting condition simplicity from the first version. =)

Thanks for the update. I’ll be pushing the domino rows to get my game lined up with changes.

So, regarding entanglements. How many happen? I like the idea that it is variable, as I believe it once was. I think the scale for engagement (0, 1, or 2) would be useful. But what would the dice pool be? Maybe I’m just missing where that’s written, but that’s pretty key.