Long feedback comment ahead...
Played in another great game last night, with a group of 4 this time instead of 3. Our bounty got away in the end and one of our crew now owes a major debt to the Black Dragon Crime Syndicate for not coming through on his promise to take down the target!
There were parts of the game that we didn't engage with this time (including Flashbacks and Troubles) as we focused on the rules surrounding Solos.
Specifically, the LEAD, FOLLOW and BACKING BAND roles.
We fumbled our way through this a bit, as some players kept falling into the "I'm a PC, who's the DM?" mentality and stopping their Solo narrations at points like "I open the door...", and then waiting for someone to tell them what they see or what happens.
I think this mindset was harder to shake as our Follow players were heavily invested in bringing NPCs to life with great dialogue and descriptions of their actions. Which was great and amazing and fun, but I think not the point of the game. I think that the Solo's would have been smoother if the Follow kept to a third-person narration of NPC's actions and reactions. Something like this;
SOLO: I walk up to the reception desk. There's a bioroid behind the desk, filing her nails. I tap on the desk to make sure I've got her attention and say, "I'm here to see Dr. Kincaid."
FOLLOW, interrupting: The receptionist asks to see your appointment card and then hands over a tablet and tells you that you will have to fill in the NDA before you can be escorted in to see DR. Kincaid. (Two obstacles, the NDA and an escort, are introduced quickly in this fashion.)
SOLO: I fill in the NDA with one of my fake ID's, hand it back to the bioroid and wait for my "escort" to show up. When they do, I follow them into the main lab area and keep an eye open for a terminal...
Instead, what we had was our Follow taking to the roleplay instruction in the rules, which lead to 20-minutes of the Solo interacting with the receptionist and waiting for the Follow to allow them to gain access to the building or call for a roll. Amusing, yes, but it didn't really add anything to the game.
We also ended up with some Roleplaying scenes that resolved the goal of the Solo before we realized it; in one Solo, the PC's goal was to convince Dr. Kincaid to arrange a fake appointment with the Bounty (who was blackmailing the Dr.) so that we could be there to apprehend him (and make the Dr.'s troubles go away). The roleplay went so smoothly that we had made the agreement before we remembered that we needed to make a dice roll to end the Solo! :D
Both of these are great ways to play, but the first makes for a tighter game where the Solo is in charge of the narrative, with the Follow only issuing challenges (introducing obstacles) when an opportunity is presented.
My Conclusion: In the end, after 5 hours where we rushed The Head Out and The Tag as it was getting very late, I think that having the Follow's duties include roleplaying of NPCs detracted from the game. We saw a lot of Follow vs Solo being played out, which often derailed the Solo's progress toward their stated Goal. Also, because all this amazing roleplaying was going on, we often forgot to add any other threats, obstacles or complications that didn't originate from the NPC being roleplayed.
Next time, I'm going to suggest that we strikeout the roleplay instructions and run with more of a "Tell us a story" Solo where the other players can interject with "But what about <this obstacle>? How did you proceed?", call for a roll because "it might not be that simple", or just ask questions and offer ideas.
Aside: we also interjected some roleplay scenes between Solos that involved our characters sharing information and updating their plans (unless a player felt that they would have been pursuing their own objectives at the same time as another character was). These were a lot of fun for everyone as our crew got to interact with each other and showcase their personalities a bit more.