QUESTION

How do you use Notice in 7th Sea 2ed?

Usually, in other rpgs, a player would roll Notice and the GM informs the player what the character spots. But in 7th Sea 2ed it's all about getting Raises and then using them to overcome things or take advantage of opportunities the GM tells the players about.

So if the GM tells the players about anything that's hidden (and needs a Raise to find), then even if the Notice roll is failed, the players still know not only that they have missed something, but what they missed as well.

This seems a bit odd

 ANSWER 

[–]7thSea_dev(Mike Curry)

Skills in 7th Sea 2nd Edition are about how the Hero overcomes a challenge.

Using Notice means that you are using your awareness and quick-thinking to deal with the challenge in front of you.

Notice isn't appropriate to every Risk (much like Athletics or Sailing isn't appropriate to every Risk) but you spend Raises on it just like anything else.

Of particular note for Skills like Notice, you can use your Raises to either state a fact that the GM will either confirm or deny, or you can ask the GM a question that they will answer.

For example, let's say that you're at a fancy dinner party. A Dramatic Sequence begins. You choose Notice as your Approach and you get 3 Raises.

You spend the first Raise and say "Who is the Count the most comfortable around? Who does he seem to trust?" The GM tells you that the Count spends a lot of time talking to his advisor, and actually seems to be avoiding his wife.

You spend a Raise and say "Is it true that the Countess is spending most of her time on the arm of a young, up-and-coming Bravo?" The GM can tell you that yes, this is true. The young bravo has recently earned a reputation across the city for cleaning up a few crime organizations. Or the GM can tell you that no, she isn't spending time with any bravo. In fact, she isn't spending time with anyone -- she hovers around the balconies overhead, alone, looking down on the gathered nobles below.

You can spend your third Raise, and ask the GM "Is there anyone here who doesn't seem to fit in? I'm looking for someone who seems particularly out of place, maybe because they have snuck in or they got an invitation at the last minute and don't know why, something like that." The GM can tell you that everyone here (with the likely exception of the Heroes) seems perfectly at ease, as if there are few if any strangers present. Everyone's guard is a little down, they're comfortable here. Or the GM can tell you that yes, indeed, there is someone who stands out to your keen eye -- a servant who seems to spend most of his time hovering around the kitchen door and the stairs. You think he might be looking for an opportunity to slip upstairs -- you know, where the Countess is spending all of her time. Alone.