Basic Story Token Clarification

[Jon Hastings]

I've read through the FAQ for an answer on this, but I still don't quite have a handle on it:

1. If I claim what ends up being the losing side of a conflict but I have otherwise had nothing whatsoever to do with the conflict, (i.e., I didn't create it and I didn't have any of my characters roll on either side of it), am I eligible to recieve Story Tokens?

2. If I claim what ends up being the losing side of a conflict but I have only had my character(s) act on the winning side, am I eligible to receive Story Tokens (i.e. from Debt that another player's character allied with the winning side has Staked)?

Thanks!

[Hans]

I've been wrong a lot recently, but I'll take a stab at this anyway.

1. If I claim what ends up being the losing side of a conflict but I have otherwise had nothing whatsoever to do with the conflict, (i.e., I didn't create it and I didn't have any of my characters roll on either side of it), am I eligible to recieve Story Tokens?

2. If I claim what ends up being the losing side of a conflict but I have only had my character(s) act on the winning side, am I eligible to receive Story Tokens (i.e. from Debt that another player's character allied with the winning side has Staked)?

I think both of these are answered by the same reference.  The rules state pretty clearly on page 30 that if there is no character ALLIED with the losing side, the story tokens cannot be awarded.  This implies that merely claiming is not sufficient.  Moreover, this is supported by things Tony said in several of the threads listed in the FAQ.  Therefore, the answer to both of your questions is no.

The FAQ as you would have read it was somewhat mistaken in this regard, implying in one sentence that claiming was enough to get a shot at story tokens.  If this was what was throwing you off, I apologize.  I have corrected it. 

[Jon Hastings]

Hans -

Thanks!

Just to be clear, here's a follow-up:

If I created the conflict but otherwise had nothing to do with it (i.e., claimed one side or the other or had a character act on either side), do I get a Story Token?  If so, would this be a case where the losing side has no character allied with it and yet Story Tokens are still awarded? 

[Eric Sedlacek]

If I created the conflict but otherwise had nothing to do with it (i.e., claimed one side or the other or had a character act on either side), do I get a Story Token?  If so, would this be a case where the losing side has no character allied with it and yet Story Tokens are still awarded? 

That's actually a really good question that I, for one, can't answer with complete confidence.  What I think I have seen in play is when you make a conflict and you aren't on the winning side, you are owed that one token, even if all you did was create it.  I guess that would mean you were entitled to all of them if no one else is eligible. 

[Hans]

If I created the conflict but otherwise had nothing to do with it (i.e., claimed one side or the other or had a character act on either side), do I get a Story Token?  If so, would this be a case where the losing side has no character allied with it and yet Story Tokens are still awarded? 

In this thread:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=18080.msg191249#msg191249

Tony states the correct wording as errata for the text on page 30.  All that is necessary to get a story token as the conflict creator is that you not be allied to the winning side, and that you are NOT the resolver (per page 30).   So, in your situation above, yes, you would get the "first" story token and yes, this is a situation where story tokens can be awarded when there is no one allied on the losing side.

Another question which I think is still somewhat open is if more than one person has staked debt on the winning side, does "first story token" mean "first story token distributed, regardless of the number of players allied to the winning side" or "the first story token EACH PLAYER distributes"?  That is, does the conflict creator get one token per conflict or one token per debt-staking player per conflict?  We have always played that creating a conflict entitles you to one story token for free, but you have to fight for any more than that.