Player's Turn Clarification

Hi everyone,

I just started running a game with a few friends as the GM and, after our first session, I have a question about exactly how the players turns work.

Just to give some background, we ran the Find the Grain Peddler mission. Naturally, after finding evidence that the Peddler was a traitor, they want to make their way to Barkstone and perform some investigations.

My question is this: how much bang for their buck does a player get for spending a check? Would the entire investigation cost just one check, or would each test involved in the investigation cost a check (i.e. Circles for finding someone related to the traitor, conflict after finding said person, any related twists, etc.)?

I’m very confused as to how the Player’s turn exactly works, and what exactly player’s can do during this phase. Any clarification/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Each check spent buys either one test or one full conflict. Exactly how much one gets out of a single roll is deliberately fuzzy, of course, but I’d imagine in the case you cite that it would cost at least a few tests to do an investigation of the peddler.

Helpful?

I agree that it is deliberately fuzzy.

I try to check what the player wants for their mouse. If it seems a big thing, I might place it at odds with other checks or the overal mission. We have each player think of how they are going to spend their checks and pencil the order of checks. If that changes, it isn’t too bad.

For example, a game placed the patrol in Dawnrock, where I had described the town had a king with extensive power. The patrol was responsible for capturing a pirate ship and sailing it to Dawnrock during a storm; a Guardmouse wanted the king to declare their bounty was the ship itself (I had described the dock mice stripping the ship of useful stuff and the small bit of cargo). I charged a check to talk to the king, but getting audience with the king would possibly take time the patrol needed to complete their mission. To avoid the lost time, another player used a check to intercept the king while on one of his weekly private walks. The test was a failure, so he was angry with something the king said, but his patrol-mate was able to speak with the king. The successful persuader check resulted in the refitted ship as well as proper supplies being awarded.

In the end, no time was lost; because both players spent a check to avoid the lost time through their actions. Both did receive what they were seeking, though one paid for his failure with a condition. In another little jab, for having sought out the king despite being told they could await an audience, the king presented them with a letter to the Matriarch which he expected them to carry and present his case to her. They didn’t know what the letter contained.

Clarifying what the player really wants as an outcome helps establish how much the get from one check, if something gets obscured, to what the check might be at odds, and which other players may need to be involved.