Negative aspects in combat

[austinmonster]

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of compelling aspects in combat.

I understand the idea very well in social situations, or in normal RP - they limit the character's choices or create more complication (something you see Harry doing a LOT)
However, the idea of using a maneuver in combat to put an aspect on someone (AKA throwing sand in their eyes and giving them the compel "blinded!" temporarily) needs some clarification.

I understand that someone else can tag that aspect and get a quick +2 or reroll against the target.  However, with an aspect like "blinded!" wouldn't you think that the blinded person would be suffering more than just having the ability to get hit easier?  Is this topic addressed in the book anywhere?  I mean, I know that aspects are supposed to supplant the idea of situational modifies... but maybe I'm just not catching something.

[JosephKell]

For example:  There is a fight on a roof top.  Early on in the fight, one of the two ghouls the protagonists chased to the roof of a building was knocked over and edge and went splat below.  It screamed the whole way down putting the scene aspect "Screaming Death" on the scene.

In the course of battle, the remaining ghoul swung a baseball bat into Garold and he decides to take a physical consequence ("Bum Leg").

Since the players took out the ghouls pretty easily, the GM decides to make a complication from the "Screaming Death" aspect so that the cops show up.

After it is all over, the cops exit the door and order them to surrender.  But the group has no time (or interest) spending the night in lock up so they decide to run and jump to the next roof top to effect an escape.

The GM can compel that Garold can't make the jump (athletics) because of his temporary "Bum Leg" aspect.  This is a case of "Limitation" because it stops Garold from trying a normal trapping for a skill his character has.  So maybe another character will have to toss Garold across or he has to try to take the fire escape down the side of the building.

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"Blinded!!" could compel a limitation on usage of Guns or Athletics to get over borders (such as a fence between two zones, or even finding the door between two zones).  That is why it is important to track how sticky a temporary aspect is.  In this case, I would say "blinded!!" goes away after it effects the game a number of times equal to its stickiness.  Of course, I think a player could execute a maneuver to remove a maneuver aspect (Endurance to get rid of "blinded!!"?).

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On a different note, PC character aspects shouldn't be all positive or negative.  See YS109.  I once was in a Shadowrun game where one player decided to make a one-armed magician (originally the character had a cybernetic arm, but then the player found out it would mean major bad news for the character's magic score).  In FATE, such an aspect might have the advantage of fate points, but I wouldn't recommend it (at least three times a session there was a situation along the lines of "Okay, I have my gun in one hand and I grab-- ****!!").

[Tallyrand]

Also, don't forget that getting a +2 to a roll is only one of the uses for an Aspect, and often times not the most efficient one.  For example, if your locked in a melee with a character you've 'blinded' you might tag or compel him to level his next attack at one of his allies.  Or if the scene as some exciting aspect like 'The First Step's a Doozie' then you could compel that blinded to have him stumble over the ledge.

[austinmonster]

Also, don't forget that getting a +2 to a roll is only one of the uses for an Aspect, and often times not the most efficient one.  For example, if your locked in a melee with a character you've 'blinded' you might tag or compel him to level his next attack at one of his allies.  Or if the scene as some exciting aspect like 'The First Step's a Doozie' then you could compel that blinded to have him stumble over the ledge.

I forget about THIS use of a compel.  I always seem to forget that a PC can compel an NPC.  Now that I'm listening to the books (some for the first time) I can't help but see when people are attacking to put maneuvers, or attacking for sheer damage.  (not a spoiler) When Remirez used his acid blasts to make a huge hole in front of an attacker instead of just blasting him directly, he put the "stuck in a hole" aspect on him, which would have limited him by keeping him from moving zones (until he spent a turn getting out - effectively removing the aspect).  Though in that particular scene, a certain ally decided to tag that aspect and use it to but the pointy-ended hurt on him.