Do you ever run plot arcs that grant Surplus’s to more than one Family at the table, ie SURPLUS: PROGRESS for controlling an energy plant, as long as multiple groups are inhabiting it, and fictionally its powerful enough to support it?
Whats the carrot on the stick youve needed to get people to work together on any given expedition, even if the lions share of the spoils goes to one Family/Faction?
As a GM of a PbtA I tend to avoid directly influencing the play through reward. I find it better to let the players work out their own rewards and then they use the move to ask how they can achieve that. This then lets me set up interesting decisions and consequences for that goal.
In general, I prefer scenes with only 1 or 2 PCs in it so it’s easier to give them greater spotlight time. As such, there is much less need to have them work together to make the narrative work. Also the rules allow other players to play quick characters, so there is no concern that they will sit out.
Luke JW Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I defintely get the point of letting them drive the fiction, Im just wondering if when they ask if X reward could easily be split, what others opinions are.
Im used to full party PBTA, like Masks, so I’ll see how I can get the flow going with 2 person groups. Even with quick characters, I feel you still want to move that spotlight around.
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I would never force anyone to work together. That’s yucky. I spend most of my time creating strife between PCs.
As for splitting rewards, I dunno, depends on the specifics. But I am super wary of the term “run plot arcs” – you should be letting the PCs drive the fiction.
Very much yes and a little bit of no 🙂
Story arcs tend to run themselves, based on player agency and choices. But i do agree that the GM can focus the narrative on certain hooks available – thus proposing a story arch, however so subtly.
Family cooperation is by no means anathema, much less an issue. They tend to compete, sure. But whenever you want you can add environmental pressure to encourage them to think beyond the basics and, yes, cooperate like BFFs. To deny that possibility is robbing the game of an essential aspect… Just think of Wonders: for every blindly selfish Total War someone plans, there will be a Capital, which everyone wishes to succeed.
Finally, go ahead if you want to reward a well thought and executed course of action with multiple instance of the same Surplus for all involved. If it makes sense in your Fiction, why not?
Wonders can also work to achieve this. A Family decides to bring about the energy revolution. If other Families help and get Treaty then they will likely benefit in the Fortunes that it creates.