Entanglements

During the Downtime Phase, there is a step called Entanglements. Briefly, it’s about the unforeseen consequences from the actions of the players specifically in the last score. There is a mechanical element to it and possible narrative elements in how to handle it. In Season 1, we took a very literal approach in dealing with the Entanglements step immediately.

Screenshot from the PDF about the parts of the Downtime Phase. Credit to John Harper and Evil Hat for the copyright.

Here’s how it generally worked:

• The GM and Crew would have a discussion about Heat & Wanted Level.
• The GM would roll the dice based on the Wanted Level. If the Wanted Level was zero, 1d6 would be rolled. (This was based upon an incorrect understanding of the rules. However, we were consistent the whole first season).
• The GM would give the Crew the choice of which Entanglement they wanted to face and how they would address it.
• Sometimes addressing it would be an immediate resolution (for example, spending Coin).
• Other times, it would be handled narratively and could last for an entire session (the raising of Clav and the Spirit Well).

While mechanically this was ok, it could change the pace of the Downtime phase. It would encourage a conversation about what entanglement to pick (when there were options to) by the crew and conversations can go long. When resolution was handled narratively, that the events really did become a kind of Score and deserved it’s own Downtime Phase.

It wasn’t working out quite as well as it could.

To better accommodate the opportunity for narrative AND make the downtime phase run smoother, we’re making a change to handle Entanglements differently in Season 2.

Here are the basic steps:

• When Entanglements part comes, we’ll have the same discussion about Heat and Wanted Level.
• The GM rolls the dice based on the Wanted Level. If the Wanted Level was zero, 2d6 is rolled and the lower result would be taken. (The amount of dice when the Wanted Level is zero is actually the correct rule from the book).
• The GM not to reveal the result of the dice roll. The complication will be introduce without the Crew having any prior expectation.
• When the complication comes into play, the Crew will be made aware the Entanglement has arrived and given a choice of how to handle it.
• One option will be to address it quickly with a resolution of some kind (spend coin).
• The other option will be to play it out narratively for resolution.

Getting to Downtime Actions faster means that we can get back to the Scores phase quicker. This should also make for a more entertaining for the viewers.

For reference, Entanglements are detailed in the Downtime Section of the book starting on page 150 (158 in the PDF).

Discussion

As a part of the work to get Season 2 rolling, I personally watched a fair bit of the RollPlay Blades series to see how John Harper runs the game. They started that game while it was still in Beta, so the rules changed as they played through the series.

John’s approach to Entanglements is pretty close to the suggested changes above. My understanding of his intent was that it kept the mechanical elements moving quickly so that the Crew could get back to the story elements and the role playing quickly.

We’ll make sure to follow up to discuss how this change plays out at the table.