Hey guys!
How do you deal with the Getting Paid portion of a job when it comes to the team ‘scouting ahead’.
I, as the MC, do not know in advance wether or not the meet will be a setup or ambush, so if they players try to find this out beforehand by sending in drones, hacking into security systems etc. what should I give them?
Up ’till now I’ve always simply told them what the initial meeting would look like, what sort of escape routes or possible entryways for bad guys could be etc.
I guess in a similair vein, do you MCs tend to let players roll for Get The Job the moment that conversation starts, or only AFTER they’ve received a briefing on the objective and agreed to do it?
Thanks!
I guess what I’m also asking when it comes to Getting Paid; do some of you let players make the Get Paid roll as they’re scouting ahead to have them determine the situation of getting paid?
I think this is a little against the spirit of the Move (since they are not actually triggering the Move as far as I can see, they’re not trying to get paid yet) and it leads to the meet being less tense and exciting.
Essentially, you leave suspicious gaps (and if necessary, cut dramatically).
So they do all their badass preparations, gets themselves perfectly set up (good firing lines, hiding places, plus one forwards), but what are they set up for? Presumably to cover potential entry points. So describe those entry points. Make them ominous. No meeting place will be a hermetically sealed environment.
I usually have them make the move once their prep is done.
Their preparations are essentially fictional positioning in case something goes down. Depending on the roll, how hard a move you make, the overall context of the game and mission, start thinking of how those defenses might be circumvented while they’re planning. Then when the ambush/setup comes, give them the easy shots. Let them feel like their prep was good overall, but if the hardness of the move warrants, have someone/something circumvent them.
So the people with firing positions are keeping the goons at bay, the Hacker is covering all the matrix angles, but who’s watching the corporate exec they just extracted as his hidden failsafe programming kicks in and he pops razor claws! Surprise scooby doo finale!
For Get the Job, I usually give them a broad outline first, then have them roll.
Couldnt you give em Intel to spend and cut back there if things become nasty ?
Sounds good Hamish!
That is essentially how I’ve been trying to do it, but you sum it up perfectly.
Also, I will HAVE to have the meek corporate Johnson they didn’t cover sprout razor claws now.