Grats on the newborn!

Full of truth. Pain is easy. Dropping someone ain't.

And there's tons of double-meanings in that one, especially today, +Fred Hicks .

Robert, I love the sentiment and fully endorse playing hard, but 23 stress? Help me on the math? 12 from Consequences (6/4/2), and then 3 to deal a hit which goes past that 2-stress box, right? Where are the rest of those shifts going? Absorbed by Fate Points? Oh, wait, is this the Extreme Consequence (who never gets invited to the fancy parties)?

Yup, that's Extreme Consequence math.

The Extreme Consequence might not get invited to fancy parties, but it is the most stylish way to avoid getting Taken Out IMO.

(Chicks dig scars.)

Congrats on the Baby! Joy!

As Robert's GM I can say that, in my experience, he is absolutely right. I have stomped on, shot, stabbed, and lit on fire my PCs many a time and I have yet to give them worse than a major consequence. I have tried being kind and all it did was make the game boring. Liven it up, play mean.


oh, and does this mean you will miss the game this week, Robert? I am OK with that, as i might have to cancel anyway.

+Jacob Poss :  Not sure.  It's only a two hour commitment, and at the house, so I may be able to squeeze it in.

ask them if they'd like to be a first level DnD dude instead :)

Yes, +Robert Hanz went over this with me a few days ago, so I tried it again last night. Unfortunately, everyone's rolls kept of being good enough to take out characters--even more than the standard mook, too quickly, because I give points for being smart rather than just going toe to toe. I have to make some badder bad guys.

Haha, +Fred Hicks . That was one of the quotes I had when I figured these guys last night were about to get into trouble--before they outsmarted me yet again. "Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory is forever."

Congratulations! 

Characters might be having a good run now, but the dice will hate them eventually, when they have a run of rolls bad enough that their underpants will fall off and trip them over!

The great thing is my players have been finding ways to not roll the dice.

I'm new to GM-ing Fate and it'iterations and I'm wondering how to balance encounters.
What I've seen so far is that numbers matter. A single opponent, though his skills can exceed the players' can be quickly reduced to consequences because players can easily start to use maneuvers to rearrange the odds in their favor. A bad guy with a skill that's +3 when compared to the corresponding skill of a player character is soon at a -1 compared when two others place temporary aspects to help the other score a serious hit.

Supporting a bad guy with a few mooks will easily level the playing field because the players will spread out their efforts over the various minions and it allows the bad guys some oppertunities to place some maneuvers of their own as well.

An interesting map with plenty of obstacles to help and hinder both sides can go a long way towards "balancing" an encounter too, honestly. :)

+Cameron Corniuk :  I'm interested in this, and how they're managing it.

Mainly through smart planning and creative skill use. For example, did they need to wander around the offshore rig aimlessly looking for clues? No. They're professionals. Obviously, they need to hit the servers. Security, and training in things demolitions (ir engineering), etc. allow them to find the most likely area. They set up their combats strategically, initiating a consequence right off the bat to all but take their opponents outs, well laid demolitions to distract their enemies, and so on and so forth.

Ah, yes, the 'strategist/competence' approach to play. If your group gets off on the heavy planning and outsmarting-the-bad-guys non-fightin' wins, fantastic. :)

That's what I said. As long as we're all having fun.

+Fred Hicks , Re: the extreme consequence, true, true. I just forget about him from time to time, as he's not on the new character sheet, and I came veerrrrrrryyy late to Dresden.