Having actually played it approximately once a week in two related campaigns spanning about a year and a half: it's fun but definitely feels like it was either not playtested enough, or playtested by people with a very specific set of background assumptions that didn't make their way into the text.
The "count as a small gang" mechanic is mentioned exactly twice with zero actual explanation of what a small gang can do. There are no consequences at all for failing to cast magic. It's not clear what constitutes pushing through stress. The ability to roll with links encourages hoarding them forever and very quickly becomes unbalanced.
... A recurring thought we've had on the subject is that it leans so heavily on the improvisational storytelling that it almost feels like it was meant to be a GMless game. We've been toying with the idea of hacking it to actually be GMless and see what happens as a result...
no subject
The "count as a small gang" mechanic is mentioned exactly twice with zero actual explanation of what a small gang can do. There are no consequences at all for failing to cast magic. It's not clear what constitutes pushing through stress. The ability to roll with links encourages hoarding them forever and very quickly becomes unbalanced.
... A recurring thought we've had on the subject is that it leans so heavily on the improvisational storytelling that it almost feels like it was meant to be a GMless game. We've been toying with the idea of hacking it to actually be GMless and see what happens as a result...