Combat - group vs individuals + conditions

[u/Jstarkey4]

I am just wondering - sometimes the core book talks about major NPC Group - does a major group get treated like an individual for combat sake - ie they make one collective attack and have collective fatigue or do the stats translate to individual members?

Also when a move asks to mark a condition to an opponent or the user, does the GM decide what condition to assign?

[u/Sully5443]

Yes, NPCs combined in a Group are considered 1 singular Stat-Block with their own singular Fatigue Track, Conditions, and Balance Track. They make 1 Technique as usual + additional Techniques equal to their current Balance Score, just like any NPC.

They are usually using the Stat Block of a Major NPC for small groups of around 5 to 10 unnamed coordinated mooks/ minions/ people and Master NPC Stat Block for around 15 to 20 people unnamed coordinated mooks/ minions/ people

Anything more than 20 or so people really can’t be grouped for the purpose of an Exchange as the Exchange is no longer a suitable mechanic to support that fiction. That is akin to just dealing with any other major problem, like a landslide or a room filling with poisoned gas or breaking down a barrier or whatever: just use Basic and Playbook Moves as usual

When NPCs take a Condition, the GM can decide which ones to mark

When a PC takes a Condition, unless otherwise stated by a given mechanic, it’s a best practice to let the player decide which Condition they want to mark.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Pop_105]

I'll have to find the link, but there were a couple threads on this a bit ago, as someone was plotting a set piece battle with a villain and an army of animated terracotta warriors.

I'm still kinda new to GMing this, but I was setting up an encounter like this for my session a couple weeks ago.

Let's say you have a waterbending PC that has an angry mob moving in on them. You choose to handle it as a simple test, and the player chooses to fight them via Push Their Luck. Alas, they roll poorly and miss. As GM you could force them to take a Fatigue (they get away, letting the story move forward, but took some bumps and bruises), or alternately they take the Afraid condition (they were almost overwhelmed and while they escaped, they are seriously rattled).

Conversely, if the PC wins, they get a suitable outcome and the story proceeds. Whether the mob is Fatigued or Afraid is mostly irrelevant, but you could take that condition as something to color any subsequent interactions. The mob of gangsters were defeated, but they're Angry, and are holding a grudge for later.

Or, for some reason, you're running the opposing group as an Exchange. The PC makes their moves, the opposing group makes theirs, and the various outcomes are resolved. The Boomerang Gang got water whipped or ice daggered, and take a Fatigue. When they countered, they got a miss, and took a second Fatigue, possibly taking them out of the fight. Maybe it goes for a couple more rounds. We can narrate it as the water bender taking a victory pose (perhaps with a black eye and torn clothing indicating some Fatigue and a fierce Angry glare) as a half dozen Boomerang Gang groan at her feet, while the others slink off to tend to their bruises.