Guidance on resolving town things that don't fit in town procedure or adventure? For example: it's established that the boss smith (currently missing) is the only one with certain tribal knowledge but our PC smith would love to get the forges running. Seems like an obvious candidate for an action roll. But it doesn't really fit anywhere and adding it doesn't have the "time passes" downside other rolls do. For this particular one we can probably substitute it for the job roll but a few potential things came up.
Viewing post in Rules Questions and Clarifications
I would run this as:
Finding an opportunity
If they're not sure what to do, they may find an opportunity at a town location that offers such leads. Doing so costs 1 scratch, representing something in trade to someone for the tip. (Issue 1, page 17)
If they aren't satisfied with the answer they get from the boss smith, maybe there's an action roll to press him for more information. Or maybe there's an adventure in getting him something he wants in exchange.
You're right about the 'time passes' trade off. I think the appropriate tradeoff is a 1 scratch cost to bring the boss smith to the table.