Had a pretty busy week with my new-ish job, sumo starting up and my next semester at school beginning. I think making no progress on a week like that is fine, but I also wanted to maintain my streak here.
So with that, here is my tiny bit of progress for the week.
Steam Thieves
(Steampunk x Forged in the Dark, Ashcan here [link])
Progress Clocks
A progress clock is a circle divided into segments. Draw a progress clock when you need to track ongoing effort against an obstacle or the approach of impending trouble.
Gliding towards the roof of a police station? Make a clock to track the alert level of the coppers on patrol. When the PCs suffer consequences from partial successes or missed rolls, fill in segments on the clock until the alarm is raised.
Generally, the more complex the problem, the more segments in the progress clock.
A complex obstacle is a 4-segment clock. A more complicated obstacle is a 6-clock. A daunting obstacle is an 8-segment clock.
When you create a clock, make it about the obstacle, not the method. The clocks for an infiltration should be “Patrolling Coppers” and “The Police Station,” not “Glide Past the Coppers” or “Make it onto the Roof.” The coppers and the police station are the obstacles—the PCs can attempt to overcome them in a variety of ways.
Complex enemy threats can be broken into several “layers,” each with its own progress clock. For example, the police station might have a “Watchtower” clock, a “Patrolling Coppers” clock, and a “Combination Lock” clock. The crew would have to make their way through all three layers to breach the police station.
Remember that a clock tracks progress. It reflects the fictional situation, so the group can gauge how they’re doing. A clock is like a speedometer in a car. It shows the speed of the vehicle—it doesn’t determine the speed.
Not in love with this section, but it will all get cleaned up eventually. Editing is where the magic happens. Right now I just need to get stuff down.