is a terminology issue.
Checks.
We have been finding the term confusing for players for the first couple sessions.
The use is so off the path that it rattled game last night. We have a new player; it was his second session.
The term is used often in other games to indicate making a roll (Check against Strength, Dex check) or marking experience (in RQ, BRP, KAP, T4, Better Games’ whole line).
It is used to indicate marking a box or circle by many people both inside and outside the gaming realm. (“Check the boxes for your gender and ethnicty”) It is also used as a synonym for look-up or examine.
In MG, the term checks is a “specific meaning”: Those points earned by invoking traits as disadvantages, and used to buy player control over storylines.
The term is also used in a number of other contexts, which creates verbal confusion:
“Check out Multiple Characters in a Team later in the chapter. It’ll explain how to act as a team in a conflict.” p 102
“Be sure to check your character’s condition, traits and gear for modifiers to starting disposition” p 104
This is the only downside so far.
(We just rounded out our first “year”… one of the PC’s hit level 3 in a trait… System is brilliant.)