Context: I’m quite new to FITD - have run two games of Blade and played in five of Scum & Villainy (all players in both groups are totally new to the system).
How do you handle consequences when a character is doing a set up action and rolls a 1-3 or a 4-5?
Is the intent that we apply consequences that only apply to the character doing the setup action? Or possibly to the action they are helping to setup?
Or is the idea to just have the setup fail (and thus provide no benefit), but not worry about consequences from the setup roll? (Or some other option we haven’t really considered?)
Any advice or shared experiences with how others play this at their table would be really helpful 
The set-up is an action roll from an individual character. As such, normal rules for action rolls apply: there should be consequence(s) on a 1-5.
But note:
- With any action roll, nothing says that the consequences have to apply, or to apply only, to the PC who has acted. Consequences can very well, depending on the fiction, apply to anoher character, or to the whole group (like ticking an Alert clock, etc.) It is the same for a setup action. Let the fiction be your judge.
- On a 1-3, the setup fails as well.
- On a 4/5, have the setup succeed, but apply consequences. The consequence, in my view, should not be “reduced effect”, because that would negate the success: you don’t want to cancel the improved position or the +1 effect. Also, if you choose “worse position” as a consequence, it should of course not be worse position for the PC benefiting from the setup (because that would be negating the success), but worse position for the next action of the player having done the setup, if that’s fictionaly possible.
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That is helpful, thank you A_B. The observation that it could potentially apply to the next action of the PC doing to setup is interesting, and a good example of the sorts of things that we are slowly coming to terms with as we get used to the game system. Thank you!
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