Splatbook*

MAKE A PLAN

When you wish to accomplish some project but don't know how to go about it, tell the GM what you hope to achieve. They'll say what's required. If you're stumped on how to accomplish one of the requirements, tell the GM and Make a Plan for that.

Make a Plan is a formal way for a player to say "I want to accomplish X," and for you to tell them the requirements for accomplishing it. When a player wants to pursue a new long-term project, or doesn't know how to unlock an arcanum or complete a steading improvement, direct them to this move.

Clarify exactly what the PC wants to accomplish, what they hope to get out of it, and how they're thinking about going about it (if they have any ideas at all).

From there, tell them as many of the following as makes sense, connected with 'and' and 'or' as you see fit.

  • You must learn/know/decipher ___
  • You must find/locate/obtain ___
  • You must create/design/fix ___
  • You'll need the help/support/approval of ___
  • You must wait until/for ___
  • You must travel to ___
  • It'll take days/weeks/months/years (which means ___ will go undone)
  • The best you can get/do is ___
  • It will cost ___
  • You'll risk ___
  • The steading must Pull Together ___ times, each requiring ___

Pick requirements and fill in the blanks based on the nature of the project; the PCs' current knowledge, capabilities, and standing in town; the season; recent events; active threats, etc. Rephrase or tweak the wording to suit. If it makes sense, create entirely new requirements. Ask the players for input as needed.

Answer any questions the players have. Clarify your statements. Don't be afraid to negotiate or change your mind.

If a requirement is itself a project, with multiple requirements of its own, then tell the players that they can Make a Plan for that step (now or later).

Write the requirements down with tick boxes next to them. Give the list to the player who's making the plan, or put it somewhere public for everyone to see. As they make progress, have them tick the boxes off.

If the players aren't sure how to get started on a requirement, then you can…

  • ... clarify it, just tell them ("that means you'll have to Persuade Elios"); or
  • ... ask them ("Who in Gordin's Delve do you know who could help?"); or
  • ... suggest that they Know Things, or use some other move; or
  • ... direct them to pick "interesting news" or a "valuable insight" when they get a seasonal gain; or
  • ... suggest that they Make a Plan for that specific requirement.

If the players come up with a clever way to bypass a requirement, great! If they think of a feasible alternative way to accomplish their goal, update the plan!

After the disastrous patrol in early spring, Rhianna decides that the village needs a palisade (a steading improvement) to help protect against the crinwin. One of the requirements is "lots of timber, 20-25 wagonloads (Value 3)." She asks how they'd get that much timber from the Foothills, and we Make a Plan.

The Foothills entry in Book II actually has a pre-made plan for this. I summarize it on an index card and give it to Rhianna, adding the need to wait for summer (they can't spare 20 able bodies from the fields in spring).

  • O You need to wait until summer
  • O You need ~20 able-bodied workers, a wagon, & two horses working for a season
  • O You must talk to a few town leaders, and get their support
  • O You risk accidents and attacks
  • O You must Pull Together, costing 1 season, 1 Surplus, and 1 Fortunes

"Do I need to wait until summer before talking to the leaders?" No, of course not. "Cool. Who do I need to talk to, exactly?" I turn it over to the table and ask who needs to be convinced. They identify Fion, Gwendyl and Seren, Owain (gulp), Elios, Taliesyn, and Thecla.

Rhianna arranges a sit-down with them all and makes her pitch, rolling an 8 to Persuade. They'll back the plan but only if she recruits the workers herself AND they provide a plan for protecting the village while so many fighters are gone. Rhianna nods. "Fair enough. I'll have to chew on that."

Vahid wants to lay down a perimeter of sanctified marks around the village, in order to help keep the crinwin at bay. "I'll carve marks in like two-dozen field stones, and add them to the Ringwall." Clever!

The sanctifying mark arcanum doesn't require a roll by itself, but it does turn part of Vahid paler each time he makes one. And folks are somewhat distrustful of his weird magic. So I write down the following requirements:

  • O You'll need to obtain two-dozen good stones
  • O It'll take a month or so to finish
  • O You'll risk (more) suspicion and distrust, accusations of sorcery
  • O A noticeable part of your body (your choice) will grow pale, then a shocking white

Vahid nods. "For the first part, is that really hard to do? We've got no shortage of stones in town. I'll just tell the kids what I'm looking for and make a game of it." Yeah, that makes sense. I tell him to mark that requirement as done.

He says that his hands fade to be a shocking white as he works over the month. And to avoid suspicion, he starts a habit of walking the Ringwall every dawn, quietly placing a newly warded stone each time. "Seems like Defying Danger with INT to me." He agrees, but rolls a 6. Just a few days into this new routine, I oppose his wishes and have Glenys confront him, waving one of the sanctified stones around, yelling about sorcery and clearly not happy.