"Put them on the Clock"

[Ihadris]

Hi guys,

Ive been re-reading through the rules for Spirit of the Century in anticipation for Dresden. Unfortunatly I never managed to get a group together to play Spirit so I'm appealing to those with experiance of running fate games to help me out with this one.

How do you go about running a 'timed event' in your games? Im feeling that the same need for action is a common theme in Dresden, Harry rarely seems to get much downtime

The section of the rule book that references this stars on page 304. I understand the basics of it- that there be an immediate need for action to be taken by the players for whatever reason. One of the exmaples cited is players battling ontop of a train running out of track. Obviously saying to the players 'You weren't quick enough, the train runs out of track and you all die' isn't the best thing to do but I feel that if there was never any chance of the dire consequences actually happening that it would seem both obvious and fake.

So how do you measure the progress of the impending doom? Actual time? Rounds?

Thanks in advance
Ihadris

[Archmage_Cowl]

I personally have preffered the three warnings system(own personal name dont know if it has a real one) Basically ill give the players like a comment like, hey this will happen soon and let them react to that. If what ever they do doesnt change things then i say Hey this is still a big problem over here. Then they get to react again. If what they do still doesnt solve the problem then i say basicly you get one last chance. If they cant have solved the problem by now its usually just one of those things were you say sorry and see if their characters die.
Based on your example i would say hey the train is running out of track. Then maybe next i would say as the train continues to barrel toward certain death. Then finally if they havent gotten away by then i say you see the end of the tracks vanish under the train as it begins to go off. If they havent managed to resolve that situation somehow then well... sorry. It might not kill them all but it certainly could cause one or two of them to be maimed or out of main combat for a session or two.
as for timed events i use an hour glass its very dramatic but can involve lots of shouting. lol

[Ihadris]

Thanks Cowl, thats a really solid idea!

I'd love to use an hourglass; I can just imagine the look on their faces now! Bizzarly we have a few at home knocking around from old board-games. I would be concerned that I wouldnt leave them enough time to work out the scene, perhaps after I run a few games and get a feel for it I'll try using one.

[Archmage_Cowl]

well i wont lie using timed scenes is a really powerful tool(i feel) it should only be used rarely. Frankly it just gets annoying if every time something happens you have only limited time to think. It keeps pace but the people i play with frown upon it largely so i can only use it at really focal points. but when ever they see me start tapping that hourglass as we are working up to a big scene the look of fear on their faces is just priceless. I can see it going through their heads now "okay hows he gonna screw us over?" 

[srl51676]

This is a really great idea and it got me thinking what about using scaled real time to cover longer term impending doom. for example you have 24 hours to find the little girl or she runs out of air this game session last 4 hour if you have not found her by the time we break for the week she dies and you have to deal with the consequences. I would not break it into hard 1hr-6hrs but the last real time hour could get fairly tense.

[Bosh]

What's more important than a specific timeline is giving the players a sence of ugency that bad stuff will happen UNLESS THEY START DOING STUFF RIGHT NOW!!!

[mrsleep]

I've have a friend who had to resort to an egg timer with his players.  It was a little different situation.  The players frequently dithered or argued without their characters doing anything.

When I ran a game (with some of the same players) I ended up having the characters miss actions (skipped their turn) if they couldn't make a decision fast enough.  I know this sounds harsh, but you don't need to take five minutes to decide which fist you're going to use to hit your opponent every time.

[iago]

"On the clock" should exist as a story pressure first, and as a social pressure only distantly second, IMO. The point is to rationalize there being a short amount of time to make decisions in character, and then to use that pressure to keep things from stalling out around typical time-wasters such as the "shopping trip" or the "session long no-actual-plan-coming-out-of-it planning session".  In the DFverse, it's also important simply because some problems can be solved with thaumaturgy + enough time. But when does Harry have enough time? (Granted, thaumaturgy needs the right material components in order to be possible too, so that's as much of a limiter as anything. No blood/hair from the bad-guy, there's only so much you can do no matter the amount of time, etc.)

[paulWTAMU]

Not a DV example but the GM used to use a timer during certain circumstances in my oWoD games. Particularly during pressing situations--"OK guys, that PO'd tremer is working some blood magic. You've got about 5 seconds to do something or you'll probably die. Or wish you did."  I don't think anyone ever actually died from stuff like that but my character lost an arm for a while from dithering too long in a gun fight. 

Another, longer term version is only getting a certain number of sessions to deal with a plot point, although extra sessions can be added depending on what's done. Say, for instance, again using a oWOD example...there's a potent vampire in town, maybe 5th generation, whose up to trouble. The characters get X time to get rid of him/expose him/whatever or all hell breaks lose as  his plans come to fruition...but smart actions by the players can extend the time. Say...we a construction crew bulldoze whatever building he's hiding in during the day, or thwart a few of his initial plans. 

[Cajun Guy]

When running horror based (lately Deadlands) countdown usually 5 or less to say what they do based on the circumstances. Anyone who doesn't react fast enough is flat footed for the event. Players seem to like this if it is used sparingly. It heightens the urgency in a given situation. Sometimes you can't take all day to mull over the rules and find an optimal solution. You just have to let it all hang out once in a while. 

For example you are on a train at night and are asleep and then (insert loud scream) . It's pitch black and the screams of terrified passengers reverberates though the walls from the next car. What do you do? 5...4...3..2...1...

One guy said he slept in the nude. Makes for an interesting scene. It is amazing what people will and won't remember under pressure

Cajun Guy

[SoulCatcher78]

I think that aspects would play a key role in how you deal with timed events.  The longer you wait, the more important the aspect becomes or the more aware you become of how the aspect impacts your characters.  This would be difficult to implement with something like the 24 hour limit on air but easier to make the characters feel the importance of something like ticking down to a ritual (things get progressively wierder, i.e. Ghost Busters).

For the train running out of track I would use an easier method of tracking with rounds of combat/chase, letting the PCs know through descriptions of the scene how the aspect has begun to change ("Dangerous to walk on" the train becomes "treacherous" as the vibrations from the loose track builds up all the way to "you now wish you had the ability to fly" when they can see the train cars ahead of them go over the edge).

[Ihadris]

Thank you all for your great advice. I hadn't even thought of using aspects. Every time I think I've gotten my head around all the stuff they can do the mechanics still surprise me.

I don't forsee my players being one to spend an eternity arguing over small details or agonising over every little decision but it is always good to be mindful of different techniques of dealing with it should the situation arise.

[Bosh]

Compels are also great for cutting short lengthy planning discussions. In the SotC game I played the GM said, that according to our various aspects (mine was "attention span of a gnat") he'd give us each two FATE points each if we immediately ran into the embassy with no planning whatsoever and just made stuff up as we went along.

[mrsleep]

Compels are also great for cutting short lengthy planning discussions. In the SotC game I played the GM said, that according to our various aspects (mine was "attention span of a gnat") he'd give us each two FATE points each if we immediately ran into the embassy with no planning whatsoever and just made stuff up as we went along.

This smacks of desperation.  Sweet, sweet desperation.


What did you do to your poor GM to elicit this response?

[Bosh]

This smacks of desperation.  Sweet, sweet desperation.


What did you do to your poor GM to elicit this response?

You mean aside from having my character sneak out in a Zorro costume to the Imperial embassy so he could launch a pineapple can attached to a letter giving the Imperial ambassador everything we had learned out of a case of mis-directed nationalism? Could it have been the jumping out of a biplane with a bungee cord attached to his waist and a rapier in one hand to board an enemey biplane?