Dec 22, 2021 11:23 pm
Whereas encounters are largely GM-driven, with the GM presenting players with a situation and then adjudicating their characters’ actions, interludes are largely player-driven. These are segments of downtime in between encounters in the narrative of the game. The most common interludes in The Expanse occur during long travel times between destinations in the system, or during off-ship breaks like shore-leave on a station or colony. An interlude allows characters time to pursue their own interests and goals, to recover from the exertions of their adventures, and to handle the routine tasks of life that get pushed aside in the press of encounters and action time. The process for handling interludes in play is as follows:
1. The GM informs the players of an interlude, such as, "Your trip to Ganymede is going to take about a week, so you have an interlude." In some cases, the players can also request an interlude like, "When we dock at the station, we want to take some time for an interlude." The GM decides when an interlude begins, however, since the players may not be aware of the circumstances, such as trouble awaiting them on the station with at least one (if not several!) encounters before they get a break.
2. The players declare how their characters will spend their time during the interlude. Depending on the length of time available, they may pursue one activity or several, depending on their requirements. The characters may cooperate on some goals or split up for others.
3. Players and the GM make any necessary tests for the characters’ declared activities to see how they progress or succeed, or not. Some interlude activities require no test so long as there is sufficient time, while others need a test to see if they are successful and, if so, to what degree.
4. Once all character activities during the interlude are resolved, the GM declares the end of the interlude and begins the next encounter. By definition, an encounter always follows an interlude; two or more interludes simply add up to a single interlude with more options for activities.
INTERLUDES AND FORTUNE
Recovering or Favored Activity = 10 + level Fortune per 8 hours
or
Other Activities = 5 + level Fortune per Interlude
INTERLUDE ACTIVITIES
Depending on the length of the interlude, characters can engage in one or more activities. These are similar to actions taken during action time, but on a more narrative time scale, and interlude activities are largely simultaneous, rather than handled in rounds like action time. This section describes the most common interlude activities but, like the Actions section of this chapter, players should feel free to come up with their own, with the GM adjudicating them using existing activities as guidelines. In some cases, an interlude activity requires an advanced test, with the test total determining how long it takes the char- acter to complete the activity (see Advanced Tests in Chapter 1). If the character does not complete the activity in the time of the interlude, it’s up to the GM whether or not those efforts carry forward to the next interlude, where the characters have the opportunity to pick up the activities where they left off. Generally, this should be the case, unless there’s a compelling reason why the initial time invested into the activity would be lost, such as changing conditions or time-sensitive work.
ADVANCEMENT
During the interlude, you spend time consolidating an advancement within an organization.
Requirements - You must have received an advancement in Membership as a reward prior to the start of the interlude (see Membership in Chapter 14)
Resolution - This requires a test only if the GM feels it is needed to close the deal of an award of advancement in rank, in which case it should generally be an advanced test of Communication, unless the organization prizes some other ability you can use to demonstrate your worthiness. The test should have a fairly low success threshold, between 5 and 10, reflecting your already existing value to the organization.
MAINTENENCE
You make sure things are functioning properly.
Requirements - You need the necessary tools, parts, and equipment. If you’re lacking them, or they are of poor quality, the GM may say your maintenance work takes longer or is less effective. If you need to acquire them, then an Income test is needed, with a Cost set by the GM using the guidelines in Chapters 3 and 4.
Resolution - Usually, no test is required, although the GM may require a character to have the appropriate focus, like Intelligence (Engineering or Technology) to do the work, and sufficient time and resources.
MAKING OR FIXING
You spend time making or fixing something.
Requirements - You need the necessary materials (which can be acquired with an Income test with a TN equal to the item’s value –5) and necessary tools and equipment. If you are lacking in the latter, the GM may apply a penalty to the advanced test. If you are fixing rather than building something, subtract an additional 2 from the TN of the Income test.
Resolution - Make an advanced test using the appropriate focus, such as Dexterity (Crafting), Intelligence (Engineering), or Intelligence (Chemistry) with a TN equal to the item’s cost –2. The GM determines the success threshold based on the item’s complexity: 5 for a simple item; 10 to 15 for more complex ones; up to 20 to 25 for truly complex works or pieces of equipment. Lower the success threshold by as much as half for fixing something rather than building it from scratch, so a threshold of 20 might become 10, for example. The GM can adjust this based on the extent of the repairs needed. Each roll represents 6 hours of work. When you reach the threshold, the item is complete.
RECOVERING
Sometimes, you need to spend an interlude, perhaps even several, recovering from the results of your prior encounters.
Requirements - While recovering, the character needs to engage in only light activity: resting, reading, conversation, and so forth. No other activities can be undertaken during the same interlude while recovering.
Resolution - Make an advanced TN 11 Constitution (Stamina) test every 24 hours. If you are under medical care, your physician (or auto-doc) can make an Intelligence (Medicine) test against the same TN and you can use the better of the two rolls. Track the result of the Drama Die for each successful test. At a success threshold of 5, you can remove an injured condition. At a success threshold of 15, you can remove a wounded condition. For recovering from additional conditions due to hazards, the GM sets the necessary success threshold. If recovery conditions are less than ideal—like trying to recover in the wilderness with little shelter or food, or on a ship low on supplies with minimal life support—the GM may increase the TN of the test.
RELATING
You take time to get to know someone better, or to change the nature of your relationship.
Requirements - Relating only requires time and someone willing to relate to you, or given no choice but to do so by circumstances. At the GM’s discretion, you might need to at least get someone else to an attitude of Neutral toward you in a social encounter before you can really relate to them during an interlude.
Resolution - No test is required (except perhaps to improve the other person’s initial attitude, see Requirements). You just take time to either change your relation- ship with someone (see Changing Relationships in Chapter 14) or to establish or strengthen a Bond (see Adding Relationships in Chapter 14). The GM determines how long this takes: It might be anywhere from a heartfelt conversation for an hour or two to spending days or even longer together.
REPUTATION
You live up to your reputation, or create a new one for yourself.
Requirements - Either an existing reputation to maintain or a new one you are aiming for. See Reputation in Chapter 15 for details.
Resolution - You spend time doing things in accordance with your reputation in order to maintain it; reputations and fame can be fleeting, and a known pattern of behavior can reinforce them. Exactly what depends on your reputation, but during an interlude it is often making your actions known in some way, whether it is giving an interview or broadcasting a video or a piece of writing out to the system. In some cases, the GM may require a test, such as Communication (Expression or Performing) to measure the effectiveness of your efforts. You can likewise do things counter to a current reputation in order to try and rid yourself of it, or something new in order to gain a new reputation. The GM decides when it is appropriate to drop an old reputation or to award you a new one, as given in Chapter 14.
RESEARCHING
You spend time looking up (or digging for) information.
Requirements - You need access to sources of information, usually your hand terminal and a network, although some research might also require specific sources of data or even subjects of study, such as biological material or samples.
Resolution - Make an advanced Intelligence (Research) test with a TN based on how obscure or difficult to find the information you’re looking for is. Each test represents 4 hours of work. The GM sets the success threshold for when you find what you’re looking for. Optionally, the GM can set multiple thresholds, each revealing a particular piece of information about the subject, until you have found out everything there is to know about it.
TRAINING
Practice makes perfect, or at least secures progress.
Requirements - You need the time and the right conditions to train with whatever focus or talent you’re practicing. This may also call for certain equipment, at the GM’s discretion, such as a shooting range (or at least a virtual simulator) to train with guns, for example.
Resolution - No test is needed, but you need a hundred hours of training (cumulative) to acquire a new focus or new degree in a talent, or to advance an ability after gaining a level (see Advancement in Chapter 1). The GM is free to reduce or even waive this time as best suits the overall story. Otherwise, interludes after characters gain a level can be assumed to be taken up with at least some training time.
UPKEEP
You put time and Income into maintaining a lifestyle.
Requirements - The necessary Income.
Resolution - No test is required, unless the characters is trying to live above their means and enjoy a higher lifestyle than their Income would normally allow. In that case, reduce the character’s Income by 1 per additional class of lifestyle, just like overextending Income on a purchase. Naturally, this makes this sort of living quite unsustainable.
WORKING
A prime way to handle upkeep is by working to get paid.
Requirements - A paying job the character can perform.
Resolution - Characters can spend interludes working a job, either for a particular employer or a free- lance or gig approach of getting paid for certain tasks. The default is that the character maintains their Income score, and may recover from any reduction in Income from expenses prior to the interlude, at the GM’s discretion. Alternately, the character can take a riskier approach, making a test with a suitable focus for the work against TN 13. If successful, the character scores a temporary windfall, a +1 to Income that lasts until after the next purchase requiring an Income test. However, if the test fails, the character suffers a reversal: a –1 penalty to Income that lasts until the character’s next opportunity to increase or restore Income by reward, leveling, or interlude.
1. The GM informs the players of an interlude, such as, "Your trip to Ganymede is going to take about a week, so you have an interlude." In some cases, the players can also request an interlude like, "When we dock at the station, we want to take some time for an interlude." The GM decides when an interlude begins, however, since the players may not be aware of the circumstances, such as trouble awaiting them on the station with at least one (if not several!) encounters before they get a break.
2. The players declare how their characters will spend their time during the interlude. Depending on the length of time available, they may pursue one activity or several, depending on their requirements. The characters may cooperate on some goals or split up for others.
3. Players and the GM make any necessary tests for the characters’ declared activities to see how they progress or succeed, or not. Some interlude activities require no test so long as there is sufficient time, while others need a test to see if they are successful and, if so, to what degree.
4. Once all character activities during the interlude are resolved, the GM declares the end of the interlude and begins the next encounter. By definition, an encounter always follows an interlude; two or more interludes simply add up to a single interlude with more options for activities.
INTERLUDES AND FORTUNE
Recovering or Favored Activity = 10 + level Fortune per 8 hours
or
Other Activities = 5 + level Fortune per Interlude
INTERLUDE ACTIVITIES
Depending on the length of the interlude, characters can engage in one or more activities. These are similar to actions taken during action time, but on a more narrative time scale, and interlude activities are largely simultaneous, rather than handled in rounds like action time. This section describes the most common interlude activities but, like the Actions section of this chapter, players should feel free to come up with their own, with the GM adjudicating them using existing activities as guidelines. In some cases, an interlude activity requires an advanced test, with the test total determining how long it takes the char- acter to complete the activity (see Advanced Tests in Chapter 1). If the character does not complete the activity in the time of the interlude, it’s up to the GM whether or not those efforts carry forward to the next interlude, where the characters have the opportunity to pick up the activities where they left off. Generally, this should be the case, unless there’s a compelling reason why the initial time invested into the activity would be lost, such as changing conditions or time-sensitive work.
ADVANCEMENT
During the interlude, you spend time consolidating an advancement within an organization.
Requirements - You must have received an advancement in Membership as a reward prior to the start of the interlude (see Membership in Chapter 14)
Resolution - This requires a test only if the GM feels it is needed to close the deal of an award of advancement in rank, in which case it should generally be an advanced test of Communication, unless the organization prizes some other ability you can use to demonstrate your worthiness. The test should have a fairly low success threshold, between 5 and 10, reflecting your already existing value to the organization.
MAINTENENCE
You make sure things are functioning properly.
Requirements - You need the necessary tools, parts, and equipment. If you’re lacking them, or they are of poor quality, the GM may say your maintenance work takes longer or is less effective. If you need to acquire them, then an Income test is needed, with a Cost set by the GM using the guidelines in Chapters 3 and 4.
Resolution - Usually, no test is required, although the GM may require a character to have the appropriate focus, like Intelligence (Engineering or Technology) to do the work, and sufficient time and resources.
MAKING OR FIXING
You spend time making or fixing something.
Requirements - You need the necessary materials (which can be acquired with an Income test with a TN equal to the item’s value –5) and necessary tools and equipment. If you are lacking in the latter, the GM may apply a penalty to the advanced test. If you are fixing rather than building something, subtract an additional 2 from the TN of the Income test.
Resolution - Make an advanced test using the appropriate focus, such as Dexterity (Crafting), Intelligence (Engineering), or Intelligence (Chemistry) with a TN equal to the item’s cost –2. The GM determines the success threshold based on the item’s complexity: 5 for a simple item; 10 to 15 for more complex ones; up to 20 to 25 for truly complex works or pieces of equipment. Lower the success threshold by as much as half for fixing something rather than building it from scratch, so a threshold of 20 might become 10, for example. The GM can adjust this based on the extent of the repairs needed. Each roll represents 6 hours of work. When you reach the threshold, the item is complete.
RECOVERING
Sometimes, you need to spend an interlude, perhaps even several, recovering from the results of your prior encounters.
Requirements - While recovering, the character needs to engage in only light activity: resting, reading, conversation, and so forth. No other activities can be undertaken during the same interlude while recovering.
Resolution - Make an advanced TN 11 Constitution (Stamina) test every 24 hours. If you are under medical care, your physician (or auto-doc) can make an Intelligence (Medicine) test against the same TN and you can use the better of the two rolls. Track the result of the Drama Die for each successful test. At a success threshold of 5, you can remove an injured condition. At a success threshold of 15, you can remove a wounded condition. For recovering from additional conditions due to hazards, the GM sets the necessary success threshold. If recovery conditions are less than ideal—like trying to recover in the wilderness with little shelter or food, or on a ship low on supplies with minimal life support—the GM may increase the TN of the test.
RELATING
You take time to get to know someone better, or to change the nature of your relationship.
Requirements - Relating only requires time and someone willing to relate to you, or given no choice but to do so by circumstances. At the GM’s discretion, you might need to at least get someone else to an attitude of Neutral toward you in a social encounter before you can really relate to them during an interlude.
Resolution - No test is required (except perhaps to improve the other person’s initial attitude, see Requirements). You just take time to either change your relation- ship with someone (see Changing Relationships in Chapter 14) or to establish or strengthen a Bond (see Adding Relationships in Chapter 14). The GM determines how long this takes: It might be anywhere from a heartfelt conversation for an hour or two to spending days or even longer together.
REPUTATION
You live up to your reputation, or create a new one for yourself.
Requirements - Either an existing reputation to maintain or a new one you are aiming for. See Reputation in Chapter 15 for details.
Resolution - You spend time doing things in accordance with your reputation in order to maintain it; reputations and fame can be fleeting, and a known pattern of behavior can reinforce them. Exactly what depends on your reputation, but during an interlude it is often making your actions known in some way, whether it is giving an interview or broadcasting a video or a piece of writing out to the system. In some cases, the GM may require a test, such as Communication (Expression or Performing) to measure the effectiveness of your efforts. You can likewise do things counter to a current reputation in order to try and rid yourself of it, or something new in order to gain a new reputation. The GM decides when it is appropriate to drop an old reputation or to award you a new one, as given in Chapter 14.
RESEARCHING
You spend time looking up (or digging for) information.
Requirements - You need access to sources of information, usually your hand terminal and a network, although some research might also require specific sources of data or even subjects of study, such as biological material or samples.
Resolution - Make an advanced Intelligence (Research) test with a TN based on how obscure or difficult to find the information you’re looking for is. Each test represents 4 hours of work. The GM sets the success threshold for when you find what you’re looking for. Optionally, the GM can set multiple thresholds, each revealing a particular piece of information about the subject, until you have found out everything there is to know about it.
TRAINING
Practice makes perfect, or at least secures progress.
Requirements - You need the time and the right conditions to train with whatever focus or talent you’re practicing. This may also call for certain equipment, at the GM’s discretion, such as a shooting range (or at least a virtual simulator) to train with guns, for example.
Resolution - No test is needed, but you need a hundred hours of training (cumulative) to acquire a new focus or new degree in a talent, or to advance an ability after gaining a level (see Advancement in Chapter 1). The GM is free to reduce or even waive this time as best suits the overall story. Otherwise, interludes after characters gain a level can be assumed to be taken up with at least some training time.
UPKEEP
You put time and Income into maintaining a lifestyle.
Requirements - The necessary Income.
Resolution - No test is required, unless the characters is trying to live above their means and enjoy a higher lifestyle than their Income would normally allow. In that case, reduce the character’s Income by 1 per additional class of lifestyle, just like overextending Income on a purchase. Naturally, this makes this sort of living quite unsustainable.
WORKING
A prime way to handle upkeep is by working to get paid.
Requirements - A paying job the character can perform.
Resolution - Characters can spend interludes working a job, either for a particular employer or a free- lance or gig approach of getting paid for certain tasks. The default is that the character maintains their Income score, and may recover from any reduction in Income from expenses prior to the interlude, at the GM’s discretion. Alternately, the character can take a riskier approach, making a test with a suitable focus for the work against TN 13. If successful, the character scores a temporary windfall, a +1 to Income that lasts until after the next purchase requiring an Income test. However, if the test fails, the character suffers a reversal: a –1 penalty to Income that lasts until the character’s next opportunity to increase or restore Income by reward, leveling, or interlude.