Final Act question

[Skywalker]

First, congrats on such a great game.

One question I have is with Final Act. There are two missions. However, I am unsure on what the expectation is on how to deal with these with multiple pilots.

I am thinking of going with a 2 pilot/2 anchor set up for each mission for 4 PCs, swapping over between the missions, giving players a go at both sides in the same session.

I intend to treat most of the mission goals as achievable by both pilots (seems to work for all as a default) but I am considering treating the final mission goal for both missions as one of cooperation if both pilots are still around. For example, looking at the first mission, each pilot must reach the base, evade patrols and enter the base. If they both make it then together they may coordinate to locate the central core.

Thoughts?

[hix]

Good question, Luke. I'm thinking about playing a single pilot through the first mission, and seeing:

a) how long an action takes
b) how tough an action is on the pilot.

From there, I reckon I'll make determine whether to:

a) run multiple pilots one after the other through the same two goals (if it's easy/short)
b) replace a pilot mid-mission (if it's tough, and the anchor wants to eject them)
c) run the mission multiple times, to give everyone a chance in the pilot's seat (and me a chance to threaten their relationships)

For later missions, I reckon I'll do it so it's one pilot at a time taking on the mission (with cuts away for interlude scenes). If a pilot fails/ejects/is destroyed at any stage, the next pilot takes over from where they are. For instance, if they reach the base, evade the patrols, and then fail to enter the base, the next pilot starts at the 'enter the base' stage.

I'm gunna do it that way because we've only got two or three hours of play tonight and I want to get through as much as possible. I reckon I'll hand-wave it by saying that the new ANIMa can be projected into the area where we got the last readings of the previous ANIMa. I also think that'll give things a cool 'grind the enemy down' feel.

[Skywalker]

Good question, Luke. I'm thinking about playing a single pilot through the first mission, and seeing:

a) how long an action takes
b) how tough an action is on the pilot.

So you have 1 player as pilot and 1 player as anchor for the entire mission. What about the other players? They can contribute elements with the GM but that would seem to leave a lot of people out for a good chunk of the first session. If you do this I would look to calling for some Interludes for the other players during the mission? I think that's legal and would also highlight other parts of the game and perhaps help fill out the setting more quickly.

For later missions, I reckon I'll do it so it's one pilot at a time taking on the mission (with cuts away for interlude scenes). If a pilot fails/ejects/is destroyed at any stage, the next pilot takes over from where they are. For instance, if they reach the base, evade the patrols, and then fail to enter the base, the next pilot starts at the 'enter the base' stage.

I am not sure I like this approach too much, personally, especially for a one off or a starting session. It seems to have too long a focus on 2 players IMO.

Also, though the source material often has a focus on 1 pilot more than others, where there are more than 1 pilot, they are usually covered at the same time often building tension through frantic cuts between them. I think I would be a bigger fan of running a single mission goal for 1 pilot, then cutting away to another pilot and a single mission goal, and so on. That would create a similar feel and also give more narrative ammunition for the players to use across the missions.

Given time, there should be some good reasons for PCs to be occupied elsewhere with interludes and the like, such as being grounded.

[hix]

The process for the first mission actually worked pretty well.

Because none of the players had had a chance to read the book, there was a lot of me explaining how an action worked, lots of the players getting oriented on how much they could describe and in what voice, and hesistancy in assembling and describing their ANIMas.

Building to crisis points was effortless. Allocating dice took a little getting used to, but understanding the consequences of where you'd put the dice came quickly after reading the first set of results..

Gino's pilot got into an argument with Svend's anchor about their unborn child, and the anchor forcibly ejected him ("I want my kid to grow up with a father") just after Gino'd completed goal 1 of the mission.

Then Svend became the new pilot to finish off the mission, and Wayne stepped up as anchor. Svend choose Gino's pilot as a relationship. When it got damaged, it pushed Gino over the edge and he blissed out. This was, like, the third action of the game.

So, everyone felt involved, even Celeste - who'd didn't play so much of a part in the mission but was crucial to the Interlude Action that followed.

It was a tough testdrive of the game, but we're all keen to play again setting up our own characters and resistance cell.

[Ben Lehman]

There are actually three missions: the first one should be the "defend the base!" mission mentioned in the First Action chapter, which is two mission objectives for each pilot in the game.

Usually, I've found that this takes out one of the pilots. The other missions can be individual, cooperative, or tag-team.

yrs--
--Ben

[Skywalker]

It was a tough testdrive of the game, but we're all keen to play again setting up our own characters and resistance cell.

Sounds awesome. I read the rules a second time yesterday and found the concepts very easy to understand. I think after the first playtest the rules will run very smoothly. I will be interested to hear how the regular game goes.

[Skywalker]

There are actually three missions: the first one should be the "defend the base!" mission mentioned in the First Action chapter, which is two mission objectives for each pilot in the game.

Usually, I've found that this takes out one of the pilots. The other missions can be individual, cooperative, or tag-team.

Aahh. I missed that the default opening should be used in Final Act. A short 2 goal mission for everyone would be a great start.