Encounters and Exploration

When you encounter something unfamiliar that you are curous about, be it a person, place, thing, situation, relationship, or similar. Say what you are curious about.

Anyone may ask setting the scene and stakes questions.

Players choose to Speculate or Observe. One or the other, not both.

If you choose to Speculate, tell the GM what you think it must mean, the GM may establish specific risks if any are relevant. The GM may also establish any number of Miss Something (see below) tokens at risk, then ask:

• Is the speculation plausible?
• Does the speculation build on what we know of the world?
• Does the speculation connect two or more seemingly unrelated facts?

Ask the GM 1 question for each hit:

• Where can I go or who can I ask to learn more?
• What detail here have I missed?
• What omen is there to be guided by?

If you choose to observe, the GM may establish specific risks if any are relevant. The GM may also establish any number of Miss Something (see below) tokens at risk. Ask:

• Has your background or past experience prepared you to understand this encounter?
• Are you unencombered by distraction, tunnelvision, or hurry?
• Do you fear the danger of this situation or person?

Roll 1d6 for each “yes” and for each hit either avoid missing something or ask the GM 1 question:

• What just happened here?
• Is something about to happen?
• What should I be on the lookout for?
• What here is useful or valuable to me?
• Who (or what character) is really in controll here?
• What’s being avoided here?
• What here is not as it appears?
• Who (or what character) is being honest and who is not?
• What is someone (or some character) really feeling?
• What does someone (or some character) wish I’d do?
• What would it take to get anyone, or some specific someone to ___?
• What might cause ___ to happen?

Oftentimes the party encounter something unfamiliar together and therefore will all be curious, for example when a new character is introduced or a city comes into view over the horizon. In these situations the GM may choose to proceed:

• without a roll granting each player the option of a one hit Speculate or a one hit Observe without a roll
• with a combined roll
• with individual rolls

Miss Something

When encountering something new it is generally a risk that one might miss something important. We use tokens to represent that something was missed. When a Miss Something token is at risk and that risk is not avoided, the GM gains the token and may spend it to introduce complications, difficulties, challenges, twists, or novelties when they see the opportunity for one. The GM holds these tokens until the circumstances that created them pass or another unrelated circumstance creates some tokens. Use your judgement.