Hey there everyone, I'm starting a game of Edge of the Empire this Friday and have been reading about the many uses of Threat and Advantage.

In the rules it says you can come up with different narrative and combat effects for different levels of Threat or Advantage and while I've thought of a few myself, I thought it'd be wise to check with others and see what kind of things more experienced GM's have come up with.

Are there any very handy examples you can provide to someone starting out who might not think of something to do using Threat or Advantage in a given situation that happens often in Edge of the Empire?

I've thought of things like reinforcements showing up, or lights going out, mostly enviromental or combat related ideas but not so much narrative or how to portray a threatening trade deal or smuggling search.

Thanks in advance for any advise!

The things suggested in the rulebook are all pretty solid and you can narrate them based on the environment. I do like the lights going out, but my players all have scanner goggles so that's not a problem for them .

The combat chart has good examples of uses of threat and advantage. You can use those guidelines to scale for other situations accordingly. It's important not to go overboard with the power of these results, even Triumphs/Despairs.

Outside of combat I can't really be more specific, the usage is very much tailored to the situation. If in doubt, don't agonize over it, just apply (or let the players recover) Strain. Say the player rolled a success and 2 threat, narrate as something like "You're trying to bribe the guard, but he doesn't seem to be going for it. Finally he reluctantly takes your credits, but like he's contemplating turning you in anyway. Take 2 Strain from being nervous."

Eventually you and your team will come up with more interesting variations, but don't be afraid to default to strain to keep the story moving.

My advice is that the suggestions under each skill description should only be a guideline or a fallback. First try to tailor dice results to the specific situation, and then if you can't decide on what it means, either go with Strain or look up the skill description for some ideas.

For example, my PbP PC's recently rolled Coercion to get an NPC to come with them without causing trouble. The Player rolled 2 Success, 3 Threat, 1 Triumph. I ruled that the success means he comes along, The Triumph means the NPC has a key piece of evidence on his person at this time. The Threat means his two companions give a knowing look to each other and will look for an advantageous time to help their firend (the NPC) escape.

Listen to http://www.madadventurers.com/category/field-recordings/skill-monkey/ The Skill Monkey. Lots of examples.

I typically only assign strain, using threat, when I can't think of anything better. In one of my recent sessions, my players were chasing four swoop gangers in their ship, through a canyon. INstead of trying to hit the swoops, the gunner decided shoot at a weak spot in the canyon and bring rubble crashing down on them.

The roll was a success, with two threat. So I said, the wall comes crashing down on the bikers, but TWO of them manage to speed through before being crushed. There's nothing official about that ruling, but for that situation I felt it was the best use of threat. The ship was actually above the canyon or I would have used the threat to have the pilot make a piloting check to avoid colliding with the debris as well.

When you're dealing with Threat, just ask yourself, what would make the situation more fun, without going over board.

I like to drive the story first and foremost. One fore instance, during the beginner set, one character was attempting to dive behind some cover and rolled too much threat, so I said he twisted his ankle and dropped his blaster. So he was assigned a strain then had to retrieve his gun.

Of course I also threatened to make their checks harder when they started giving me a hard time. I told them they were angering the force and should stop arguing! As long as it can be explained reasonably, I never feel bad (so far).

Strain and setback dice

I often just assign setback to the character, or a boost die to the badguy, but it's all in the narration. You can always just say take a black setback, but it's better to say You're able to get the shot off, but you had to overextend yourself so far you stepped out into the open, now the stormtrooper gets a boost die to shoot you. The badguy misses you with his mighty vibro axe, but while dodging out of the way you smack your funny bone against a crate. One black to swing your sword back.

A lot of rolls come down to adding blue or black dice, or taking a strain or two. The trick is coming up with creative trappings for the die.

I like to think the way threat and advantage should be spent is really dependent on the character who generated it. As a GM I like to encourage the players to describe to the rest of the group with he spends his advantage on in a narrative manner. Sure we stick to the suggestions in the book, but we try to make sure the character's "style" is felt.

Skill Monkey is an excellent place to start. I also highly suggest you watch your fav movies, whether it be action or drama. Watch them and try to imagine the roll that created that outcome. I like to think that a failed range attack roll with 2 threat while trying to disengage and shoot would perhaps narrate to the effect of the mook holding on to your shirt as you try to move away and shoot; missing wildly. Whether you give the bad guy a free maneuver or say you got caught up trying to escape comes out all the same mechanically.