Examining "Once Per Day" in TFT: Solution or Problem?

JLV · 06-15-2018, 12:18 PM

I certainly understand the need for accuracy in some regards, and I don't think the wall clock answer is going to work (primarily because time in the game does not coincide with reality, and even a fanatic like myself has never gamed for 24 hours straight), but at the same time, I also understand where Anthony is coming from logically speaking.

This is a game that asserts that your characters do whatever the players say around the table, even if they are just joking among themselves (though I think the intent there was to minimize said "out-of-character" joking around and keep people focused on the game), so worrying about the precise Game-Turn in which a power suddenly "switches back on" seems a bit, I don't know, "excessive?" or maybe "overkill" is the word I want.

Personally, as a GM, I never let that sort of thing overwhelm the actual play of the game. If the precise Game-Turn of recovery is absolutely necessary to the action currently on-going, and I don't have a strong feeling one way or another as to how that should be played (and it's a given that I don't know the precise second at which the power suddenly switches back on, because I sure as shootin' didn't track the five-second turns in between), I just have the player involved roll a die to determine if he gets lucky (as long as sufficient in-game time has passed to make it plausible). In other games, they'd expend a luck or "karma" point to make it so, but TFT doesn't have that kind of mechanism (unless I import it from DCG), so a simple die roll (which really IS luck, isn't it?) suffices for me.

Jim, you're a mathematically inclined guy, for obvious reasons, and you raise some valid points, but we've already established that I'm just lazy as heck! ;-)

06-15-2018, 12:18 PM	#15
JLV Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Arizona	Re: Examining "Once Per Day" in TFT: Solution or Problem? I certainly understand the need for accuracy in some regards, and I don't think the wall clock answer is going to work (primarily because time in the game does not coincide with reality, and even a fanatic like myself has never gamed for 24 hours straight), but at the same time, I also understand where Anthony is coming from logically speaking. This is a game that asserts that your characters do whatever the players say around the table, even if they are just joking among themselves (though I think the intent there was to minimize said "out-of-character" joking around and keep people focused on the game), so worrying about the precise Game-Turn in which a power suddenly "switches back on" seems a bit, I don't know, "excessive?" or maybe "overkill" is the word I want. Personally, as a GM, I never let that sort of thing overwhelm the actual play of the game. If the precise Game-Turn of recovery is absolutely necessary to the action currently on-going, and I don't have a strong feeling one way or another as to how that should be played (and it's a given that I don't know the precise second at which the power suddenly switches back on, because I sure as shootin' didn't track the five-second turns in between), I just have the player involved roll a die to determine if he gets lucky (as long as sufficient in-game time has passed to make it plausible). In other games, they'd expend a luck or "karma" point to make it so, but TFT doesn't have that kind of mechanism (unless I import it from DCG), so a simple die roll (which really IS luck, isn't it?) suffices for me. Jim, you're a mathematically inclined guy, for obvious reasons, and you raise some valid points, but we've already established that I'm just lazy as heck! ;-)