7.Tell Players the Rules First

7. Tell Players the Stakes First (Essential Requirement)

Every tool in this supplement asks players to spend a scarce resource. That includes invoking an Aspect, Create an Advantage, Overturning an Aspect, and the Spotlight Tracker. Each one asks you to spend Hope or a token against a Difficulty number. The core rules don’t require the GM to reveal that number ahead of time. That’s fine at the normal pace of the core game. But this supplement asks players to spend resources a lot more often. Without steady communication about the stakes, spending a scarce resource against an unknown target starts to feel like gambling — not a real tactical choice. That’s exactly the problem this whole supplement exists to fix.

Rule of thumb: tell players the Difficulty (or at least the stakes and what failure could cost) before they spend Hope or a Spotlight token, every single time. This includes telling them about a GM Aspect invoke (§1.4) before they commit. This isn’t optional polish — it’s the thing that keeps every extra resource-spend feeling skillful, not blind.

Example: The rogue wants to invoke “Archway Ready to Collapse” against the pursuing scouts. Before she spends the Hope, the GM tells her the stakes: “Difficulty’s 13 to bring it down on them. If you fail, you’re both caught in the rubble too.” Now she’s choosing with full information, not gambling blind. Compare that to only revealing the consequence after the Hope is already spent — that’s exactly the failure mode this rule exists to stop.