wrabbit37 Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 In many dice-based roleplaying games, I'll roll to check for my players to determine if they notice something in passing or get the feeling that the person speaking isn't on the up-and-up. It's easy to do then, and when my players know and trust that I'll make those checks for them, they don't feel inclined to say they're looking around all the time or trying to detect lies from everyone they're speaking to. In TtB, I can't do that since I can't touch the Fate Deck. And if I call for the players to make that check themselves, even if they fail, they know something is up. Even if I could make the flip myself, the player has the ability to cheat and would need to know if that option was available in the first place. How have other FMs worked with this staple of roleplaying games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowopal Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 I have a spreadsheet that has all the character's skill ranks and attribute ranks. On some of those things I come up with the tn and see if anyone has enough with the flip of 6 or less. If so, I just give it to them. If I feel it needs random element, I have a deck flipper app on my laptop or phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewmaster Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 There are two ways I handle it: if the information is important to move the story along, I don't leave it to chance. That's not to say I'll waive a check, but I don't like the "well they failed their spot check, so they don't find the key for Basement Level 2." Another way I handle it is through my rolEplay. I have horrible voices that I apply to my characters, and assuming the character isn't suave, I'll shift around, stutter, and do the things a shifty person does. My players TOTALLY pick up on that, and it doesn't QUITE break immersion. Worst case, Shadowopal's response completely works. The way I would describe that information is "Because you have ranks in..., you can reasonably assume..." With descriptors of the ranks, you can tailor the narrative for the player (Rank 5 = "you TOTALLY know this bit of info since you're an art aficionado" and so on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 And if I call for the players to make that check themselves, even if they fail, they know something is up. Just have them flip every so often....and just say; "Okay...thanks." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 Also generates a healthy amount of paranoia if they have to make random flips for an undefined reason with undefined results every so often... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 Exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrabbit37 Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Thanks for the suggestions guys. Heading into my second session tonight - I'll see if I can get some of these tricks to stick. Brewmaster, I completely agree with what you're saying - these aren't for checks that are stopgaps in the game (I also avoid having those in play). This is more for getting secondary information out of situations. Stuff that's not required to advance beyond this point, but stuff that could help you in the long-run. For example, are you being followed as you head home? Doesn't really matter much if you know you are or not - the story will continue - but you have something you can do about it or can use that information to help you out in the future. One question about having people flip cards at random times during the game so they don't know when it's important and when it's not... how do you deal with cheating at that point? Do you let people cheat when they don't know why they're flipping, or if the flip even matters for anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Not having done it myself yet, I'd say no cheating on those random flips. I only threw it out there because in other game systems that I used to run I would do that. Just tell them to roll a die...make an intelligence or perception check or whatever. Then just write something down. There are plenty of instances in the game where flips are not cheatable. How do you cheat something if you don't know what you're flipping for? So I would feel justified in just asking for a random skill check. If they ask to cheat my answer would be; "Sorry, it's something you really don't know about yet and due to that you can't influence the flip." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrabbit37 Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Hmm... that makes sense. If it comes up in tonight's session, I'll give it a try and see how it goes. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 When they start looking at each other and wondering what the hell is going on I want to hear about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad1 Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 In many dice-based roleplaying games, I'll roll to check for my players to determine if they notice something in passing or get the feeling that the person speaking isn't on the up-and-up. It's easy to do then, and when my players know and trust that I'll make those checks for them, they don't feel inclined to say they're looking around all the time or trying to detect lies from everyone they're speaking to. In TtB, I can't do that since I can't touch the Fate Deck. And if I call for the players to make that check themselves, even if they fail, they know something is up. Even if I could make the flip myself, the player has the ability to cheat and would need to know if that option was available in the first place. How have other FMs worked with this staple of roleplaying games? Our FM uses Assume 10 for a lot of those types of challenges. Example above regarding looking for a basement key he would just tell us we found it after a certain amount of time. If the time was important or he had another way for us to gain entry if we failed he might make it an ongoing challenge and take note of the time it takes or limit the number of flips we can make. Check out p 199 Fated Almanac for some more info. Kind regards, Ad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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