Updates and Clarifications to the Turn System
The Turns system has proven itself an invaluable tool for effecting both player and NPC behind-the-scenes actions through a storyline. With that in mind, a few refinements and clarifications are necessary.
I am imposing a soft cap on the amount of Turns a given player can spend in a given round of events. This is intended to show realism (you can only do so much with your time) as well as to encourage more shy players to take actions.
The cap will be determined each round, and will be roughly equal to 1/5 of the total NEWLY AVAILABLE Turns. So if a new event spawns 20 Turns, the cap would be 4 per player. This cap can be exceeded upon request, with GM's approval.
The Prepare action is a simple, single roll, representing an action that might take, at most, a few hours to resolve ICly. It's a popular choice for, well, preparing for an event!
An Investigate action is more in-depth than a Prepare, but basically still just a single roll. Like it says, it's for work that takes time, and time is a resource, which is what Turns are all about.
Additionally, inside the aegis of Investigate we sometimes will see the Challenge action. A Challenge takes 2 Turns, and involves 3 rolls, not all determined by the player, to achieve a more complex goal that could not be resolved with a single Prepare but will not necessarily take more time than an Investigate.
Players do not ask for Challenges. The GM decides when it's an appropriate and necessary action type for a desired goal.
There has been some confusion about Discussions. It's not intended for when PCs just want to interact and RP about plot points; that can be done on their own time. It's intended for when GM presence is required for such a gathering. Perhaps rolls will be needed. Perhaps people just hope to have the GM prompt them if they forget or misremember things their characters would know. Perhaps discussions might turn into something more complex, a miniature Act! Either way, it's a convenient vehicle for getting together and discussing, with supervision.
Another useful function of the Discussion can be if players want to interact in an RP capacity with any NPCs. Because this is a use of time on my part, much as I do love and appreciate the interest, I am going to require Turn use for it, going forward. This being said; if multiple players want to get together at a single time and Discuss with one or more NPCs, the Turn cost will not increase, and may be divided among them, as desired.
The infamous Act is infrequently used (especially in this plot). Some plots might revolve heavily around player initiative; in others, such as Starsfall, more often I will plumb the playerbase for ideas about tracks people would like to follow before making the new round's events, and have the events reflect PC intent. This being said, Acts are still possible. The most important thing is scheduling: grab the other players, and the GM, make a discussion group on Discord, and see when everyone might have a few hours to wreak some adventure.
In the future, at times, I might leave a specific event slot open; just an open, unused time slot, for players to create an Act for.
One other restriction I would like to explore, other than Turn caps (above), is Travel. I've not used Travel events in Starsfall yet, though that may change. In the past, I've required that players set aside IC time to actually travel to and attune to key locations (Camp Nowhere, Camp Glorious). Moving forward, I will likely require a 1-or-2-Turn expenditure for such activities. I might even give the option; spend a few Turns to travel, or simply forfeit all Turn use for the current round. The latter might spare allies the cost of dwindling resources, when things get urgent...
The Turns system has proven itself an invaluable tool for effecting both player and NPC behind-the-scenes actions through a storyline. With that in mind, a few refinements and clarifications are necessary.
The cap will be determined each round, and will be roughly equal to 1/5 of the total NEWLY AVAILABLE Turns. So if a new event spawns 20 Turns, the cap would be 4 per player. This cap can be exceeded upon request, with GM's approval.
Additionally, inside the aegis of Investigate we sometimes will see the Challenge action. A Challenge takes 2 Turns, and involves 3 rolls, not all determined by the player, to achieve a more complex goal that could not be resolved with a single Prepare but will not necessarily take more time than an Investigate.
Players do not ask for Challenges. The GM decides when it's an appropriate and necessary action type for a desired goal.
Another useful function of the Discussion can be if players want to interact in an RP capacity with any NPCs. Because this is a use of time on my part, much as I do love and appreciate the interest, I am going to require Turn use for it, going forward. This being said; if multiple players want to get together at a single time and Discuss with one or more NPCs, the Turn cost will not increase, and may be divided among them, as desired.
In the future, at times, I might leave a specific event slot open; just an open, unused time slot, for players to create an Act for.
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