Assessments & Declarations: Minor,Move, or Standard? ;-)

[MyNinjaH8sU]

They have a section on Navel-Gazing Maneuvers which would do just this thing, but those maneuvers have to be performed as a full action on one's own turn.

That said, a GM might be willing to reward creative storytelling by letting the PC Declare a flashback scene when something like this happened, and allowing such an Aspect to be the result, But this would come down to play style.

That sounds reasonable as a flashback declaration that would require a fate point, which as was stated the warden did not have. I for one would tell my player that if they don't want to spend a fate on it than it is a maneuver, but in this case there isn't time. I'd say he's Sh-- Outta Luck.

There's no hard and fast rules for when you can make a declaration, but I for one am disinclined to allow them to be made out of turn. Also, don't forget that even navel-gazing maneuvers can be defended against in some situations, such as shooting at the cover someone is diving for, as explained in YS.

[devonapple]

The spirit of Declarations are generally "Luckily I happen to know x or "Is that a(n) x right there?"

[JesterOC]

Just to clarify, it's not hand-waving. Saying Yes, is part of the rules.

At the same time the rules give clear rules concerning what the difficulty rating of a declaration should be. And since it is a function of a skill and skills are a limited resource, it is important to not just hand wave these things because it reduces the utility of a PC whose player decided to amp up his/her perception to be able to make declarations more easily.



JesterOC

[JesterOC]

I apologize to anyone whom I've offended by the tone of my earlier statements, I'm not trying to be a rules lawyering, confrontational nitpicker.  When my players ask me how the game works and I don't have a cogent answer it doesn't come across well, so I want to get this kind of thing nailed down hard.  That sounds odd for a supposedly free form narativist game, but there's a fair bit of hard rules in these books, and not all of them are explained clearly (at least that I notice right away).

I agree with you, I come here often and ask lots of corner case questions. I am not trying to be a jerk, but I am trying to craft questions that will solidify subjects that are not clear in my head. I come from years of D&D, and Gurps playing, so I am used to hard fast rules with clear answers.

To me, FATE games cross the line between narrative centric games and mainstream "traditional" games. So far I love the way it works, but it does require much more reading and rereading than most games I own.

I have recently started reading the Spirit of the century SRD and I find that it helps a lot. Those rules seem to be stated more concisely that the Dresden Files rule book. Use caution doing this because they are not 100% the same. But I do find it a valuable resource.

[zerogain]

That sounds reasonable as a flashback declaration that would require a fate point, which as was stated the warden did not have. I for one would tell my player that if they don't want to spend a fate on it than it is a maneuver, but in this case there isn't time. I'd say he's Sh-- Outta Luck.

There's no hard and fast rules for when you can make a declaration, but I for one am disinclined to allow them to be made out of turn. Also, don't forget that even navel-gazing maneuvers can be defended against in some situations, such as shooting at the cover someone is diving for, as explained in YS.

Can anyone point me at some guidelines for when to ask for a fate point for such skill uses?

Thus far I have also been denying declarations out of turn, even though they aren't really actions.  I am still getting a feel for when to allow and disallow them.  I do like the more open "let the players come up with it" attitude, there is a time and a place when it can get out of hand, for sure.

[JesterOC]

My Rule of thumb.

If no die roll is required, a fate point must be spent.