This looks most excellent, and I can't wait to bring this to my gaming groups this week.
I'm wondering about the transition from Solo to Head Out, though - specifically the "determine how much HOLD your crew has over their bounty." section; it seems a bit too hand wavy (and a bit of a stumbling block) when compared to the rest of the game. Would a points bucket filled and emptied from the Solo's 10+ and 6- results be appropriate? Then if it's positive, that's +1 Hold, negative is -1 Hold, and zero is +0 Hold?
Cool! I'll get my groups to play it RAW first, of course, but here's what I'm prepared to test if needed;
{Added to SOLO section}
When you are ready to determine the success of your character's contribution to the investigation, describe how you handle that and roll 2D6+TRAIT:
If you use _force or threats_, roll +HARD
If you use _perception or intelligence_, roll +SHARP
If you use _charm or dexterity_, roll +SMOOTH
EDGE BONUS: If your EDGE applies, you get +1 to your roll.
STYLE BONUS: If your description is particularly clever, stylish, or detailed
you get another +1.
On a 12+, you succeed with a bonus. Take +2 PREP for the group.
On a 10-11, you succeed flat out. Take +1 PREP for the group.
On a 7-9, you succeed with a significant limitation or cost (usually an injury or condition). Take +0 PREP group.
On a 6-, things go from bad to worse; describe what happens. Take -1 PREP for the group.
{Modification to the HEAD OUT section}
Decide as a group where the showdown should occur, the determine how much HOLD your crew has over their bounty. HOLD represents your whole crew's ability, as a group, to corner, capture or control your bounty:
- If your group's accumulated PREP is > 0, take +1 HOLD for the group.
- If your group's accumulated PREP is = 0, take +0 HOLD for the group.
- If your group's accumulated PREP is < 0, take -1 HOLD for the group.
If, during the HEAD OUT, your crew introduces a _cool twist_ or _ties the mission back into the background of any number of characters_, your group gets +1 HOLD.
Thanks again for a really well put together game!
Hi Rob!
I played SBB RAW with my group last night and we had a blast! Thanks for a great game!
Some things we noticed;
1) Regarding Flash Points - is the intention to risk having a worse outcome on the re-roll? One player rolled 2d6+3=11 on their Build-Up roll and was considering using a Flash Point in hopes of up-ing the result to a 12+ to avoid the cost, but we realized that they were much more likely to end up with a worse result, so that FP was never spent.
2) On the dice result tables, is the intent to have the "with a significant limitation or cost" text apply to each lower result as well? That's how we played it in the later stages of the session, because it made the tables make more sense for us.
As far as my previous comment, there were only 3 of us playing, so it wasn't too difficult to decide how much Hold we had in THE HEAD OUT, but we did still keep track of our Solo dice results to make that decision easier (7, 8, and 10, so we went with "just okay" and Hold +0). I'd like to hear what other people experience here, though.
We've decided to make a campaign of it, too, so thanks again!
Awesome, admutt! Thank you for the feedback, it really helps. To answer your questions:
1) The intention was that you would use a Flash Point when you rolled a 6-; there's not much benefit to using it on an 11. That being said, I'm thinking about amending the use of Flash Points so that (a) you can give them to other people (so they can, for instance, re-roll a 6-) and/or (b) you can spend them after you roll to increase your result by +1.
2) The intent is that things just go terrible for you on a 6-; sometimes the failure is a big enough cost in itself, but other times it makes sense to also include an additional cost--either because it makes sense in the narrative or you just rolled *really* crappy. I'll make this more explicit in the next version.
3) I'm glad it worked out. I'm currently rewriting that section based on your previous feedback to be more explicit. In the next version, you start the session with 1 Hold and track changes to it throughout, so you don't have to stop the action at the beginning of the Head Out.
Can't wait to hear how the campaign play goes!
PS: tell me about your bounty hunter so I can draw them!
The only problem with a "roll 3, keep 2" advantage mechanic here is such a valuable benefit that it breaks the math, especially considering a player only rolls dice a few times per session.
I playtested the new rule that lets you spend a Flash Point to increase your result by +1, and it seems to work.
But if you try the advantage mechanic, let me know how it feels.