This is about describing how you are using those advantages (or threats) in combat. In order to help your players come up with ideas of how they're giving or using those boost or setback dice, it may be handy to come up with some features for a particular scene. Things that players can use to describe how they're imparting those dice. For instance, a scene could take place in a warehouse, and it could have features like crates , labour robots , and a mobile crane . Now in the scene, when a player rolls enough advantage he can say he is using a labour robot as a shield, inflicting either a setback die or upgrading the difficulty of an opponent's check. Or maybe he says he is taking an extra maneuver and uses the mobile crane to carry him away from an opponent who is about to attack him. Or maybe his shot broke open a crate and spilling its contents and distracting his target, giving himself or someone else a boost die.

Anyways, not everyone who plays (both players and GM) is going to have the imagination to use those advantages and such, so it may be helpful to have features like this to help the process.

After reading your post I remembered about the location cards in Warhammer 3. For those who don't know what they are, just a card that you put into play when the PCs are in a given situation /location. For example: an abandoned mine, a desacrated temple, a crowded tavern, a ball room, sewers… some of these cards have a extra rules, and some have rules on how to spend "threats", "advantages", "triumphs" and "despairs". They are not great, but the idea was good and related to what you say.

May be would be nice that people (or the developers team) creat a list of "traits" for locations (like in FATE) with their effects (as guidelines). For example:

Gas pipes: A character may spend bla bla bla to hit a gas pipe and blind his opponent.

A character may spend bla bla bla to hit a gas pipe and inflict 1 wound to a character.

Cheers,

Yepes

Here are some examples from my recent game:

Warehouse -

Mag-crane: Can be sliced by Computers and turned on. Advantages and Triumphs can be spent to blast / position droid attakcers near it, where they are Immobilized.

Fuel barrels: Can be ignited by spending 3 Advantage. Explodes like a frag grenade, catching nearby enemies (range determined by DM) in blast.

Shipping Containers: Can be used for cover, or dropped on enemies. 2 Advantage blasts open a lock, spilling contents and knocking down enemies in path as well as creating rough terrain. 4 Advantage knocks entire container over, crushing anyone caught nearby.

Heavy Droid Chassis: Hanging from ceiling by chains. 3 Advantage shoots chassis loose, drops it on one target for damage, creates cover.

Asteroid Field:

Asteroids: 3 Advantage on Gunnery shots blast larger asteroids into debris, giving additional cover to ship (1 Setback die to attack it).

Tight Maneuvers: Advantage from Piloting checks can be spent on Setback die for enemy pilots. This description already exists in the Advantage uses list, but is just another way of expressing it or giving players a cinematic way of planning how to use Advantage when they pop up.

Abandoned Mining Droids: 3 Advantage blows them up, attacking enemy ships like a mine or frag grenade.

@ Yepesnopes- I was totally thinking of FATE scene aspects.

If you list them on a note card it would be really easy for players to quickly look at what is available to them. You probably don't even need to give ways to interact with them. I think the players would be good once you get the ball rolling with some ideas. I try to cut my prep time as much as I can, so I kind of rely on this (sometimes to my detriment, but it leaves me less annoyed when i write stuff that isn't used)

Example:

Scene Cantina (from the beginner box)

Zone 1: Bar

• Crowded Tables and Booths
• Stage with Twi'lek Dancing Girl
• Open Ceiling with exposed rafters and ductwork
• Storage Closet
• Clean bartop with bottles of liquor behind

Zone 2: Backstage (if anyone goes back there they can see…)

• Costume racks
• Mirrors and stools in changing area
• Giant Fusebox