Plot Points
Getting Plot Points
- Complications. When you roll dice for a Test or Contest, any die that rolls 1 (in your main pool, not your side pool) can become a Complication. The Watchtower can then buy these dice to put in the Trouble Pool; she gives the player who rolled them 1 Plot Point per die.
- Distinctions. There are a bunch of Distinctions that can earn you Plot Points; generally of the form "Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to have your Lead do something that makes causes them trouble".
- Opponent's Spent Plot Points. When you're in a Contest or Test, and your opponent spends Plot Points on their rolls against you, you get them. But you have to set them aside; you can't use those Plot Points until the Contest or Test is over.
Using Plot Points
See page 9 for more information about these.
- Roll More Dice. Before a roll, you may spend a Plot Point to roll more dice.
- Include More Dice. After any roll, you may spend a Plot Point to include more dice in your result out of those you just rolled.
- Useful Detail. You may also spend a Plot Point to exploit a Useful Detail from the story and add a d6 to your pool. A Useful Detail lasts for the remainder of the scene, and you don't have to keep paying for it (but anyone else who wants to use it has to pay once for access to it).
- Add a Relationship. Spend a Plot Point to add a d6 Relationship with a Feature to your sheet. Remember to write a statement! After the first scene in which it's added, the Relationship automatically steps back to d4.
- Activate Assets. Some Assets (Distinctions, Heritages, Abilities) have triggers or Spend abilities that give you a benefit when you spend a Plot Point.
- Get Help from Resources. Spend a Plot Point to get Aid from an Extra or Location that isn't on your sheet.
- Give In. If you're the reacting player in a Contest, and you've rolled dice, you have to pay your opponent a Plot Point when you Give In. (I assumed this means you can't Give In if you're out of Plot Points, but see below. — AJG)
What if I run out?
What if you're out of Plot Points, and you really need one right now (like for Giving In)? Cam Banks says (over on the RPG.net boards) "if there's ever an occasion where a player finds he's out of Plot Points, he can step back a Drive or Relationship for a Plot Point (usually this happens when you want to Give In and can't) to spend immediately on a d6 Relationship." Or, I assume, on Giving In.
That box at the top of page 9
There's a horribly-edited "Watchtower Alert" box at the top of page 9 that has not one, but two pronouns with unclear antecedents. I'm pretty sure that what the box means to say is something like this:
When a player buys a Useful Detail, it's always at d6. When you, as Watchtower, buy a Useful Detail, you can do it the same way players do. Or you can choose to remove a d8, d10, or d12 from the Trouble Pool and use that for your Useful Detail instead. (You could also do this with a d4 or d6 out of the Trouble Pool, but why would you? That would be making life easier for your players.) In either case, this counts as a Plot Point expenditure, so hand a Plot Point over the the opposing player if this is a Contest or Test.
