Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with ideas based on threats when a mundane action is occuring.

For example (spoilers of Long Arm of the Hutt)

At the beginning of the adventure, there are several activities the players are able to resolve aboard the ship. Like, turning off the opera on an easy computers check. Sure, you can always hand out strain, but constantly handing out strain on these checks and soon players are afraid to do basic checks.

Occasionally, we'll just ignore the fact they rolled threat, unless it makes sense for something negative to occur. In the above example, he's successful in turning off the opera, but rolled threat....sooooo, then what? Obviously, it's up to the imagination, but sometimes that's more effort than it's worth. Maybe he accidentally kicks off more music or something, but for brevity's sake and to keep the scene moving, sometimes it's easier to ignore threat on simple tasks (i say "simple", but I don't mean simple difficulty, I just mean "not dramatic")

What have you guys done, as GMs coming up with non-strain threat when there's nothing really threatening going on?

A good rule of thumb is to only make the players roll when the roll actually matter, eg. it makes a difference for something and it could be complications.

I have not read the long arm of the hutt adventure so i have no clue about the situation, but maybe a sucess means they turn off the opera, but the threats means that the security knows exactly from which computer, or maybe another set of "enemies" enters the opera at the same point. Maybe the opera is turned of but so is also the entire lighting of the building, maybe they "succeed" with accidentally locking themselves in and the door behind them jams.

Strain is usually also good, if also advantage removes strain equally often. Describe why the strain occurs, maybe the gaurd passes them by but misses to notice them, maybe they where lucky enough to complete it at the right moment or else it would have been really sweaty, that's stressful.

A good rule of thumb is to only make the players roll when the roll actually matter, eg. it makes a difference for something and it could be complications.

My only exception to this may be when the group is first learning the rules and you want to demonstrate how it works with an unimportant roll. Otherwise this would be the best course of action.

A good rule of thumb is to only make the players roll when the roll actually matter, eg. it makes a difference for something and it could be complications.

I have not read the long arm of the hutt adventure so i have no clue about the situation, but maybe a sucess means they turn off the opera, but the threats means that the security knows exactly from which computer, or maybe another set of "enemies" enters the opera at the same point. Maybe the opera is turned of but so is also the entire lighting of the building, maybe they "succeed" with accidentally locking themselves in and the door behind them jams.

Strain is usually also good, if also advantage removes strain equally often. Describe why the strain occurs, maybe the gaurd passes them by but misses to notice them, maybe they where lucky enough to complete it at the right moment or else it would have been really sweaty, that's stressful.

So, in my very specific example, they are in a ship all by themselves, and there's a horrible gamorrean opera being broadcast over the PA system. As long as the music is playing, they recieve setback die on all skill checks because of the distraction.

So, the roll DOES matter because on a failure, they retain that setback die. So, they succeed, turn off the music and roll threat. I don't want something equally as bad happening that puts the setback die back on, because in my mind, that negates the success in the first place.

There are no enemies, no alarms. nothing to jump out and capture them or fight them. How about a different example. Say there's a safe they want to open. Opening the safe means getting money. But the safe is not tied to a security system, it's not under survellance. The roll matters because they get money, but what does threat do in such a non dramatic situation other than provide strain?

sometimes I just kinda sit there for a few seconds racking my brain and the players just kinda watch me try to think of something. I usually go with strain because it's quicker, but last night one of the players actually refused a medicine check because he didn't want any more strain. That's when I realized I need to investigate other ways of delivering threat that doesn't necessarily cause strain or wounds (like an extra squad ambushing them).

For mundane stuff, strain is perfect in my opinion.

Ever have some simple task to do, but you struggle to remember the 3 basic steps to complete it. Then you get flustered and frustrated and you're more likely to do it wrong. For example, just signing into a computer. You type that password every day. Have someone stand behind you and watch, now you make some basic mistakes, but you eventually sign in after 3 attempts. That's stress, or in other words strain.

If it's really a mundane check, the difficulty should be low, and the dice you are rolling for the check should be great enough to mitigate most of the threats. If you didn't, you really struggled with that task...in this case because the smell and the noise. It made you stumble.

You can get more creative also. If the music was the first thing they were doing with the computer, they could have that check affect further checks negatively, or have something else on the ship happen...like he accidentally opens the cage. Now the guy thinks he's escaped and attacks the party without realizing whats going on.

We used strain for that scene. And something funny ended up happening. The droid was doing all the computer work but kept just barely passing the simple checks. After enough strain, the droid was incapacitated! I just indicated that the droids CPUs were overheating from trying to process all the information. So the big hulking wookie with no training gave it a shot and made the most difficult check without any negative symbols completely humiliating the droid player.

A good rule of thumb is to only make the players roll when the roll actually matter, eg. it makes a difference for something and it could be complications.

My only exception to this may be when the group is first learning the rules and you want to demonstrate how it works with an unimportant roll. Otherwise this would be the best course of action.

Agreed! True. When learning the rules this is a good thing.

Another thing, as a GM you could also call for inspiration on what happens with despairs and treats by the players, maybe they'll come up something bad that you as the GM could never come up with. involve the players as much as possible, especially when your mind is frozen.

Haven't played long arm of the hutt, but here are some off of the top of my head (humorous, but you can see where I am going with them and make them serious):

- Your furry feet along the carpet built up enough static electricity to give you a solid ZAP when you pressed the "off" button. Take a setback die on your next check due to the annoying, tingling pain.

- The opera was successfully turned off, but you accidentally switch it to a gamorrean karaoke channel (potentially alerting someone you don't want alerted)

- You disabled the opera, but the song is still stuck in your head. Your attention has been sapped slightly, so take a setback die on a perception or computers check.

I agree that if a skill check is essentially trivial, then there's no need to roll the dice. Not unless something thematic can come from it. And if this was a case like that, then there is a crazy amount of things you can do (and describe) rather than say "take some strain."

Edit after more posts were created during this one: If they are attempting to get rid of music to remove a distraction then:

- Everyone else is fine but you were more annoyed by that music than the others. Your annoyance continues for one more round.

- As you find the channel to shut the music off, you are treated to the video that is playing as well. Suffer one strain for seeing a female gamorrean in a metal bikini.

For mundane stuff, strain is perfect in my opinion.

Ever have some simple task to do, but you struggle to remember the 3 basic steps to complete it. Then you get flustered and frustrated and you're more likely to do it wrong. For example, just signing into a computer. You type that password every day. Have someone stand behind you and watch, now you make some basic mistakes, but you eventually sign in after 3 attempts. That's stress, or in other words strain.

If it's really a mundane check, the difficulty should be low, and the dice you are rolling for the check should be great enough to mitigate most of the threats. If you didn't, you really struggled with that task...in this case because the smell and the noise. It made you stumble.

You can get more creative also. If the music was the first thing they were doing with the computer, they could have that check affect further checks negatively, or have something else on the ship happen...like he accidentally opens the cage. Now the guy thinks he's escaped and attacks the party without realizing whats going on.

We used strain for that scene. And something funny ended up happening. The droid was doing all the computer work but kept just barely passing the simple checks. After enough strain, the droid was incapacitated! I just indicated that the droids CPUs were overheating from trying to process all the information. So the big hulking wookie with no training gave it a shot and made the most difficult check without any negative symbols completely humiliating the droid player.

In that case, perhaps I could introduce ... SKILL MONKEY. Seriously good stuff. http://theskillmonkey.blogspot.com/

You can get more creative also. If the music was the first thing they were doing with the computer, they could have that check affect further checks negatively, or have something else on the ship happen...like he accidentally opens the cage. Now the guy thinks he's escaped and attacks the party without realizing whats going on.

That's a great idea, lol. I think I just need a better imagination.

Haven't played long arm of the hutt, but here are some off of the top of my head (humorous, but you can see where I am going with them and make them serious):

- Your furry feet along the carpet built up enough static electricity to give you a solid ZAP when you pressed the "off" button. Take a setback die on your next check due to the annoying, tingling pain.

- The opera was successfully turned off, but you accidentally switch it to a gamorrean karaoke channel (potentially alerting someone you don't want alerted)

- You disabled the opera, but the song is still stuck in your head. Your attention has been sapped slightly, so take a setback die on a perception or computers check.

I agree that if a skill check is essentially trivial, then there's no need to roll the dice. Not unless something thematic can come from it. And if this was a case like that, then there is a crazy amount of things you can do (and describe) rather than say "take some strain."

more great ideas, thanks guys. I guess suffering a setback die on your NEXT check is a good idea that's sorta equivalent to strain from an intensity standpoint and doesn't actually affect the plot (like spawning new enemies, or changing the fate of a security system or something)

A good rule of thumb is to only make the players roll when the roll actually matter, eg. it makes a difference for something and it could be complications.

I have not read the long arm of the hutt adventure so i have no clue about the situation, but maybe a sucess means they turn off the opera, but the threats means that the security knows exactly from which computer, or maybe another set of "enemies" enters the opera at the same point. Maybe the opera is turned of but so is also the entire lighting of the building, maybe they "succeed" with accidentally locking themselves in and the door behind them jams.

Strain is usually also good, if also advantage removes strain equally often. Describe why the strain occurs, maybe the gaurd passes them by but misses to notice them, maybe they where lucky enough to complete it at the right moment or else it would have been really sweaty, that's stressful.

So, in my very specific example, they are in a ship all by themselves, and there's a horrible gamorrean opera being broadcast over the PA system. As long as the music is playing, they recieve setback die on all skill checks because of the distraction.

So, the roll DOES matter because on a failure, they retain that setback die. So, they succeed, turn off the music and roll threat. I don't want something equally as bad happening that puts the setback die back on, because in my mind, that negates the success in the first place.

There are no enemies, no alarms. nothing to jump out and capture them or fight them. How about a different example. Say there's a safe they want to open. Opening the safe means getting money. But the safe is not tied to a security system, it's not under survellance. The roll matters because they get money, but what does threat do in such a non dramatic situation other than provide strain?

sometimes I just kinda sit there for a few seconds racking my brain and the players just kinda watch me try to think of something. I usually go with strain because it's quicker, but last night one of the players actually refused a medicine check because he didn't want any more strain. That's when I realized I need to investigate other ways of delivering threat that doesn't necessarily cause strain or wounds (like an extra squad ambushing them).

Hmm if you don't want to give them strain and in this example, maybe the PC accidentally turn something important off, maybe the weapons, shields or the hyperdrive for 1 turn per treat, and doesn't notice until they actually need that system to work again. Or maybe turn of the gravity

Perhaps the one turning it of got some massive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_worm from the opera and only that PC suffers from the setback dice for the rest of the encounter.

And if the players complain of gaining strain, grant them the use of removing strain with advantages with normal rolls aswell if you don't already.

If they are opening an incredibly basic safe (like, simple difficulty) and have a really high Skullduggery skill, just don't make them roll, especially if they are just taking their time with it and time doesn't matter at all. If they aren't as adept at it, and the safe is super advanced, make them roll, even if time isn't a factor. Threats can be spent to cause strain as they flip out and start kicking the safe, hurting their foot and making them more mad. Plus, you can cause them to spend more of their downtime wasting it on trying to get it open to no avail.

A Despair, on the other hand, could make them break the lock, but not open it, increasing the difficulty by one because now even the locking mechanism is messed up.

Another option on "nothing" checks like that is to make just a flavorful threat. He turned off the opera but he jammed his finger and is annoyed for a while, or maybe he broke the radio knob. Nothing to affect the game, but definitely a negative.

And if the players complain of gaining strain, grant them the use of removing strain with advantages with normal rolls aswell if you don't already.

Yeah, there's plenty of that going on, so it's not really about the danger of recieving too many strain (though last night, the player had 8 out of 10, so he WAS in danger of falling over if he threat'd on a roll), but it's more about repitition and pushing believability. If everything causes strain, these guys must be the most anxious beings alive.

Also remember if you dont know or have forgotten you could make a simple cool/discipline (i think) roll after every encounter to get rid of some strain and a nights fulls rest sets it back to full (usually).

Also remember if you dont know or have forgotten you could make a simple cool/discipline (i think) roll after every encounter to get rid of some strain and a nights fulls rest sets it back to full (usually).

yeah, we take care of that, too.

I love the ideas being listed here, thanks guys. keep them coming if you want. Also, like i said..it's not to mitigate the strain itself (though every now and then it's an issue), but it gets a little repetitive after a while.

Another really bad thing could be it the PC was in cockpit the treats could start the hyperdrive and send the PCs into to nearby astrological phenomena that the PCs now most navigate out from before making the actually planned hyperspace jump.

While turning off the radio the PC's spill out some coffee on the instrument board and it needs some basic repairs.

The PC misfires a weapon and accidentally hits a nearby spacecraft that now thinks it's under attack and starts shooting back.

(Could escalate to a fight or some fast-talking well needed charm checks)

The PC does not only turn of the music, but also disable all intercoms on the ship.

And always remember that sometimes the causes of actions aren't necessarily manifest. When my PC's were building their ship, they wanted the .5 lightspeed mod. the roll netted 2 success and 2 threat. I told them that they mod was in, but their engine was loud, giving others looking for them (via sensors) a boost die. Think loud pipes.

Later in the adventure, they were flying thrrough an asteroid (space slug tunnels) and failed a roll, but generated like 3 advantage. So their freighter was covered in goop, but it knocked the hyperdrive back into alignment, remobing that boost die (which was used once)

The threat were genereated in the first adventure, the advantage in the second. It made for a great story and gave the PC's an "oh yeah" moment they talked about long after.

Threat/advantage may not have immediate benefits, as long as they have some benefit and you can cite where the +/- came from.

And always remember that sometimes the causes of actions aren't necessarily manifest. When my PC's were building their ship, they wanted the .5 lightspeed mod. the roll netted 2 success and 2 threat. I told them that they mod was in, but their engine was loud, giving others looking for them (via sensors) a boost die. Think loud pipes.

Later in the adventure, they were flying thrrough an asteroid (space slug tunnels) and failed a roll, but generated like 3 advantage. So their freighter was covered in goop, but it knocked the hyperdrive back into alignment, remobing that boost die (which was used once)

The threat were genereated in the first adventure, the advantage in the second. It made for a great story and gave the PC's an "oh yeah" moment they talked about long after.

Threat/advantage may not have immediate benefits, as long as they have some benefit and you can cite where the +/- came from.

This is great! Very creative.

And always remember that sometimes the causes of actions aren't necessarily manifest. When my PC's were building their ship, they wanted the .5 lightspeed mod. the roll netted 2 success and 2 threat. I told them that they mod was in, but their engine was loud, giving others looking for them (via sensors) a boost die. Think loud pipes.

Later in the adventure, they were flying thrrough an asteroid (space slug tunnels) and failed a roll, but generated like 3 advantage. So their freighter was covered in goop, but it knocked the hyperdrive back into alignment, remobing that boost die (which was used once)

The threat were genereated in the first adventure, the advantage in the second. It made for a great story and gave the PC's an "oh yeah" moment they talked about long after.

Threat/advantage may not have immediate benefits, as long as they have some benefit and you can cite where the +/- came from.

This is great! Very creative.

yeah, no doubt...i need to start taking notes. I like the funny approach. The other day, we did come up with a funny scenario. In Escape from Shuuta, the character rolled a success on convincing the spaceport control lady to undock the Krayt Fang, but rolled a Despair. So, he was forced to give her a few "personal" favors in her office. He gave her the best 3 and a half minutes of her life.

HAH. That's absolutely hilarious.



I had a slicer trying to slice into a holographic twi'lek dancer device that was staticy and poor-quality to try and fix it (and activate Stripper Mode). He suceeded, but rolled 3 threats. He cleared it up to HD and activated Stripper Mode, but as soon as it got to "The Good Stuff," the twi'lek changed to a Houk and he (and all the other people gathered around watching and clapping, except for the one Houk there ) suffered 3 Strain.

Going back to the Computers check to turn off the opera:

-you could have them accidently broadcast their astromech data telling anyone listening where they have been and/or where they are going.

-maybe broadcast a Holopic of the cockpit of of the ship which might alert people looking for them where they are and what their flying

On the safe cracking check:

-maybe the credits they found are being tracked by the Imperials looking for some drug or gun smugglers and only a hard computers check will alert the PCs of this fact