Situation aspects in conflict

GMs, when you’re setting the scene, keep an eye out for fun-sounding features of the environment to make into situation aspects, especially if you think someone might be able to take advantage of them in an interesting way in a conflict. Don’t overload it—find three to five evocative things about your conflict location and make them into aspects. Good options for situation aspects include:
• Anything regarding the general mood, weather, or lighting—dark or badly lit, storming, creepy, crumbling, blindingly bright, etc. • Anything that might affect or restrict movement—filthy, mud every where, slippery, rough, etc. • Things to hide behind—vehicles, obstructions, large furniture, etc. • Things you can knock over, wreck, or use as improvised weapons—bookshelves, statues, etc. • Things that are flammable
Considering our warehouse again, Amanda thinks about what might make good situation aspects. She decides that there are enough crates in here to make free movement a potential problem, so she picks Heavy Crates and Cramped as aspects. The loading door is open, which means that there’s a large dock with water in it, so she also picks Open to the Water as a situation aspect, figuring that someone might try to knock someone in.

Situation Aspects and Zones in Mental Conflicts

In a mental conflict, it might not always make sense to use situation aspects and zones to describe a physical space. It’d make sense in an interrogation, for example, where the physical features of the space create fear, but not in a really violent argument with a loved one. Also, when people are trying to hurt each other emotionally, usually they’re using their target’s own weaknesses against them—in other words, their own aspects. So, you may not even need situation aspects or zones for a lot of mental conflicts. Don’t feel obligated to include them.

As the scene unfolds, players might suggest features of the environment that are perfect as aspects . If the GM described the scene as being poorly lit, a player should be able to invoke the Shadows to help on a Stealth roll even if she hadn’t previously established it as an aspect . If the feature would require some intervention on the part of the characters in the scene to become aspect -worthy, then that’s the purview of the create an advantage action. Usually the barn doesn’t catch On Fire! without someone kicking over the lantern. Usually.