posted
I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this rpg. I just picked it up and it sounds like a whole mess of fun. I'm planning some adventures for a set of 4 heroes and I was hoping to ask for some advice.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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One big thing, I don't understand how guns are handled.
I get that all forms of combat are basically equivalent, i.e. punching a guy does as much damage as shooting him, assuming equivalent fists and guns skill levels, but that guns act at range. But I don't get reloading. Or (non-stunt) weapons of different quality.
Also, Resources? As I understand it, this is like one's base state of money having-ness. How do I represent either if someone gets a big reward/find/etc that would temporarily increase their cash and, conversely, if they made a big purchase that would decrease it?
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I really love the idea of the game, especially the collaborative world-building (game building) elements of it.
I own the ruleset but have yet to play. I keep trying to get fugu or TomD to start a game, but so far they're resistant.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Just like how in pulp works, reloading never seems to happen except when dramatic, people in SotC don't run out of ammo/reload off screen during normal play. As such, people are only out of ammunition if they've endured a consequence that makes them out of ammunition, or if they've had an out of ammunition aspect placed on them. In those situations, people will need to reload. For most stuff this is just an extra action (like drawing the guns), but depending on the weapon and situation you can vary what's required however you like. Here's a place in the rules with a good summary of the basics of ammunition.
Quality matters with guns regarding how hard it is to obtain a gun of that kind. Since guns are basically all equivalent, this doesn't matter much, except flavor. Of course, a resourceful player will use the type of his or her gun to support arguments for aspects and the like.
Resources isn't really about money, but about one's ability to obtain what one wants. This is especially true as the minor details of money are almost irrelevant to awesome pulp heroes (except when dramatically appropriate). To handle a big reward, give the person an aspect like "Killed _____ for a Big Reward". Then, that person can invoke that aspect when they can reasonably argue they'd be able to use their award money. (edit: and if they're using the aspect too much, have it change to "Killed ____ for a Big Reward, then Spent it All" -- which could be fun later if, say, the person they killed turns out to be alive.)
If someone makes a big purchase, I'd suggest only making them "Low on Money" (as an aspect) if they nearly make the roll -- so they still get the thing, but with that aspect. Then, whenever they want to buy something, you have the option of compelling the aspect. Or, if you want to be extra hard on them (and especially if they have any relationship in their aspects with a criminal element), you can double-compel and have someone pop up who wants to be paid back in full . . . and in blood.
If you feel the being low on money (or having low access to money) isn't something you'd like to deal with as an aspect, just add a difficulty modifier to Resources rolls while that applies.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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