I think I could use some advice on when to advance Countdown Clocks. I played through a mission (The Downtown Dataheist), and we didn’t get much movement on the legwork clock. There were not a lot of missed rolls, and when the players rolled 7-9, they didn’t choose options like “It attracts attention,” so I didn’t feel like there was much for me to do on the legwork clock. We had more fails in the action phase, and with alarms being triggered as a fight broke out, I felt more justified in bumping up the action clock. But it still feels a little like GM fiat. I’m fine with that, but I guess I’d like some guidelines or advice on what other people do on advancing clocks.
I think I could use some advice on when to advance Countdown Clocks.
I think I could use some advice on when to advance Countdown Clocks.
The clock is effectively GM Fiat. Its basically part of a GM Move, so in some respects they are all basically Fiat. 🙂
As for leg work..I would also move the clock any time they are stalling on making decisions, or any time the decide to take an action that would obviously generate attention, even if they succeed.
Downtown Dataheist is a little unusual in that respect, in that it runs a somewhat abbreviated version of the legwork phase.
But really, it is GM fiat – albeit constrained by the rules in the GM section, which you maybe need to re-read. In particular, page 173, where it says:
The MC gets to make a move:
» When a player misses a move
» When the players are waiting passively for something to happen
» When the fiction demands it
Sounds like you’re playing to the first one, but maybe not to the others? So if a player misses their roll, a miss automatically means a complication, which might include bumping a clock. But even if the players are making all their rolls, pay attention to the effects of what they’re doing – if it’s logical that their actions would attract attention (e.g roughing someone up in a crowded club), then even on a success you’re justified in making a move like raising the legwork clock.
Along related lines, remember that the clock corresponds to the planned parts of the mission – e.g. page 4 of Downtown Dataheist, where you’ve got elements like “at 18:00 on the legwork clock, Existence Entertainment hears vague rumours”.
That works both ways – if you advance the clock, then EE should hear rumours; but equally, if the player actions mean that EE must have heard rumours, then the clock must be advanced to match.