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Vibe Check - Enter the Inversion

Survive the Watcher's Game in this illuminated by LUMEN tabletop role-playing game · By Ostrichmonkey Games

GM Turn Clarification?

A topic by Chesh created Nov 14, 2023 Views: 81 Replies: 3
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I've just done my first session of Vibe Check last week and while we had fun I think I need some clarification on what occurs during a GM Turn. I know that I as the GM have the opportunity to "shake up" the battle during this point, and that I can have enemies do things...or is it thing? Do the enemies only get to take one action out of all of them, or does each enemy get to do something? I understand with the level of hp that I shouldn't have enemies outright attacking during this turn unless they are very aggressive, but it was unclear if I just pick a single enemies abilities to utilize here or if I can tap multiple of them? Perhaps by type of enemy (minion/striker/solo) or even by individual pandemonium (Crawling Wires/Asphalt Gremlins/Metal Snake)? It's definitely a case of wanting to create a fair but tough fight - my players are already getting pretty strong at the end of session 1 and I'm figuring out how to keep them from 1-turn wiping the enemies as I know we all want something a little stronger to sink our teeth into without jumping to having higher tiers be the norm, at least so early?

Developer

So! During the GM turn, "change the battle in a big way" doesn't have much in the way of limits! The three provided examples in the text are just ways to get started. 

The "default" setting for enemies and their moves is that the GM activates them in response to failures/partial successes after a player's action roll. But, if the GM wants, those moves can also be activated during the GM turn to make the enemies more dangerous (potentially letting them activate their moves multiple times/deal damage multiple times).  You could activate as many enemy moves during the GM turn as you want, depending on how dangerous you want those enemies to feel. 

There's not a specific rule for the order or which enemies act during the GM turn. I personally tend to lean toward less dangerous enemies, but for more balanced challenge, having the "bigger" enemies (striker/solo) also act during the GM turn and leaving minions out of it could work well. 

If you find that a particular enemy gets taken out too quickly, you can also use the GM turn to introduce more enemies (or maybe even play around with the idea of a second or third "phase" of the fight with strikers/solos/bosses).

If I had had some more foresight, some "swarm" or "large group" rules for minions would have been cool (might make it into a re-edited version eventually though). 

Hope that answered your question, but I'm happy to continue the discussion!

this is pretty helpful, yes! I often find my enemies only getting a turn or two, but that might have been due to the party getting lucky with the +2 damage to trending fashion lol.

A side but related question: does activating a token as a pure attack require a roll? We played it as if it didn’t unless they were trying to manipulate it in some way because they got crazy flow/dice pools right off the bat.

Developer

It can be easy for player's to stack bonuses (which, is intended lol)! Activating a token that deals damage does not require a roll, correct! And yeah, if a player is attempting to do something outside the "regular" effect of a Token, then calling for an action roll is appropriate. But any immediate effect of the Token only costs the stated Flow.

Also, if you're looking for other ways to tweak the challenge, given how much damage players can output when they're creative/lucky, adjusting the overall stakes of the scene is a good idea! Different time limits, environmental changes (I ran a session where the battlefield shifted to be in the middle of "traffic" and players had to dodge cars and stuff on top of dealing with the enemies), changing the parameters of a mission, all of that sort of stuff is a great GM tool to keep in your pocket. And all of those challenges would fall under "changing the battle in a big way" too!