Inspectres Suiting Up question

[markb]

Hi,

This may be a daft question (haven't managed to play yet) - but how does the "Suiting Up" phase work? It looks like the players could just make an inifinite number of technology rolls to get any gear that they want...and what if they roll enough franchise dice to end the mission?

...even if they do get gear, how does it help them in the mission? Or does that just come out as part of the narrative?

cheers,

Mark

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Hi,

This may be a daft question (haven't managed to play yet) - but how does the "Suiting Up" phase work? It looks like the players could just make an inifinite number of technology rolls to get any gear that they want...and what if they roll enough franchise dice to end the mission?

...even if they do get gear, how does it help them in the mission? Or does that just come out as part of the narrative?

Hi, Mark.

Gear doesn't contribute to Franchise Dice, so if the player asks if the franchise has an M-16 and rolls a 6, well, there might be a machine gun but he doesn't get Franchise Dice for finding it.

Later, if he used the machine gun to help fight the Big Bad of the mission and he rolls a 6, yes, he would earn some Franchise Dice.

As far as the infinite gear roll question, I've never seen characters do more than get a couple items and then get rolling. Hell, I've seen players roll for gear, roll badly and go out anyway with faulty/crappy equipment...and they LIKE that. :) It just helps the comedic factor...


- J

[Tim C Koppang]

What about if player-characters are gear heads that know how to whip up some zany equipment?  If they successfully piece something together for the mission I think I'd want to give them franchise dice.  Any opinions?

[Jared A. Sorensen]

What about if player-characters are gear heads that know how to whip up some zany equipment?  If they successfully piece something together for the mission I think I'd want to give them franchise dice.  Any opinions?

Well, if someone builds a Quantum Lactator* and it sits in the back of the van all night, I'd say no. If they use it, then sure.

- J

* Heh.

[markb]

Gear doesn't contribute to Franchise Dice, so if the player asks if the franchise has an M-16 and rolls a 6, well, there might be a machine gun but he doesn't get Franchise Dice for finding it.

Later, if he used the machine gun to help fight the Big Bad of the mission and he rolls a 6, yes, he would earn some Franchise Dice.
- J

Ok. That sounds alright - but what does the equipment actually do for them in the mission? Does it give them extra dice, or what? And if not, what's the point (apart from the fun of making it up, which could be the whole point!)

cheers,

Mark

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Ok. That sounds alright - but what does the equipment actually do for them in the mission? Does it give them extra dice, or what? And if not, what's the point (apart from the fun of making it up, which could be the whole point!)

Devices don't give you dice. The dice give you devices. What the devices give you is narrative firepower. For example, if we're fighting vampires, you can make a Tech. check to wrangle up some stakes and garlic. Once those facts are established, you can use them during the game.

Using the Job structure as a guidelines...

1. Get the call. "Pale rock n' roll guys dressed in black move in next door? Your daughter is missing? Your cat was found, sans blood?" Contact rolls to talk with the client and get the facts straight (client could be clueless/lying/possessed/misinformed).

2. Research. Interviews and book/web research. Determine what the problem might be and a possible solution. Vampires? Need vampire hunting stuff!

3. Suit up. Equip team with weapons/gear based on research findings. In this case, garlic, holy water, stakes, etc. Note that the agents could be off the mark and all this crap could be useless ("Ooooh. Malaysian vampires, damn.").

4. Fieldwork. Athletics rolls for combat/sneaking/climbing, Tech rolls to use that UV pulse-wave emitter. "Oh, these Malaysian vampires aren't affected by UV. Okay, do we have anything in the truck?" Stress rolls to really turn up the heat.

And so on and so forth...see how it works? One piece of the mission gives you resources to use on the next piece.

- J

[xiombarg]

And so on and so forth...see how it works? One piece of the mission gives you resources to use on the next piece.

Okay, but let me get this straight: Only successful rolls during the Fieldwork portion of the game actually give you Franchise dice?

I think I know why my Franchise grew too big, too quickly in the InSpectres game I ran...

[Tim C Koppang]

xiombarg,

No, that can't be right.  Here's what Jared said in another thread:

[You can earn franchise dice] anytime after the # of required dice is assigned.

Again, this is intentional. If a group wants to play detective, it's a research game. If they want to play a more action-filled game, it's all about fieldwork. One way I've seen it happen is that some of the agents are back at HQ doing research and the other is out in the field (again, see GhostBusters. Venkmen checks out Dana, er, her apartment I mean...while Ray and Egon stay home and read). With InSpectres, it's perfectly reasonable to pull out the "I show up..." move with a Confessional so you're not stuck in the office unless you want to be there.

I think that one of the reasons that my game suffered from franchise dice bloat was because I was giving them out for gear.  As I read it now, gear never gives you franchise dice--even if you use it on the mission.  There is an exception to this rule however, which applies to wacky mad scienctist type gear that a PC created--but only if it's used during the mission.  Is this right?

[Jared A. Sorensen]

xiombarg,
I think that one of the reasons that my game suffered from franchise dice bloat was because I was giving them out for gear.  As I read it now, gear never gives you franchise dice--even if you use it on the mission.  There is an exception to this rule however, which applies to wacky mad scienctist type gear that a PC created--but only if it's used during the mission.  Is this right?

Wires are getting crossed somewhere.

Here's the straight n' simple:

Gear rolls don't give you Franchise Dice.

Using Gear (and doing anything else) only gets you Franchise Dice if you're furthering the goal of the mission. The goal can be changed but as long as you're contributing to the success of the mission, you're that much closer to completing it.*

*Because InSpectres jobs can flip-flop between various causes/solutions, it wouldn't be fair to have the PCs invest so much time persuing one line of investigation only to have their accumulated Franchise Dice be lost when the mission does the inevitable about-face.

- J

Post-crypt: I am reminded of the Origins game where Ron's character went out for coffee for the team. Yes, I did require him to make a Technology roll to purchase the coffee. Yes, it did come in handy at the end of the mission, though not for its intended purpose. :)

[Drew Stevens]

Er.

Question- how does 'Using the gear in a way that's handy' actually work?

As in, I can understand two ways to read this
A) Put the dice of Gear aside.  When a piece of gear comes in handy, add it into the Franchise dice gained.
B) Gear acts as pure flavor.  People are encouraged to use Gear in the mission, but it's color.

I think you're saying that A is the way you intended, but that's not terribly clear.  At least, to moi. :)

[Tim C Koppang]

So in your example Jared, did Ron earn Franchise dice for the coffee; and if so, when?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Ron did not earn franchise dice for getting the coffee.

People really seem to be having a hard time with this concept, but I don't know why.

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

This is really simpler than everyone's making it. Basically, if you are doing something that's advancing the plot vis a vis the "problem" you get franchise dice for it. So, no, Ron didn't get dice for making his tech roll to get the coffee. That didn't affect our attempt to deal with the thing in the pool at all.  

And, no, I don't want to talk about the rest of the scenario, and what happened to my character in the pool.

Mike

[Jason L Blair]

Mike got naughty in the pool.

Ron got naughty with the coffee.

Neither of which earned Franchise dice.

All of which went on everybody's permanent record.

[Mike Holmes]

Mike got naughty in the pool.

HEY!

I (or rather my character) did not "get naughty". Rather the devil squid "got naughty" with my character. Non-consensually, I might add.

All of which was Jared's idea. Jared is the naughty one. I was the traumatized one.

But, um, yeah, no dice for any naughtiness.

Mike