Here’s a custom move I used recently to create new magic items. There is a dungeon that is sort of “infected” with some extraplanar power, and if you go into this one room, a bunch of that power can transfer to an item. It’s pretty long for a move, but that’s only because I wanted to have lots of modular options – you can put in any effect that’s appropriate for your campaign!
When you enter the chamber, roll+WIS. On 10+, the GM will name an object you carry and describe an enchanted effect. Take +1 ongoing with it, forever. On a 7-9, choose 1 from the Boons list and the GM will choose 1 from the Price list. Each time you use a Boon, expend 1 charge.
Boons
– It casts more than one shadow. The next time a use would be consumed or the object would be broken, a shadow disappears with a bloody scream instead.
– It bends and twists at angles that defy geometry. Add one range, not necessarily contiguous to the range(s) it already has.
– It is hidden, unable to be seen until used.
– It is convenient, always ready when you are. If it has the “reload” or “slow” tags, remove them. If not, you can always say when the item is in your hand.
Price
– It is cruel. It must be ritually bathed in the blood of an innocent or a companion, dealing 1d4 damage (1 charge per HP of damage)
– It is deceitful. Sometimes the GM will ask you a question. Answer it truthfully. (3 charge per question)
– It is hateful, and it shares its spite (+1 charge each time you Interfere with a Good or Neutral act)
– It is spiteful, and it inspires envy, lies, and strife (+3 charge when you rewrite a Bond that includes the listed emotions)
On a 6-, it awakens with an intelligence and agenda all its own.
Fantastic narrative for magic items.
Oh why Apocalypse World Engines do I simply want to see 7-9 results; Success is almost too boring.
That might be an effect of the weird way I think about *World dice results. To me, 10+ is an unqualified success, and that is, unfortunately, pretty boring a lot of the time. Then again, +1 ongoing forever from your new glowing sword is totally cool.
In the context of DW, though, this move also means that clerics, druids, and rangers are the least likely to experience complications from this move, because of their typically higher WIS. I like that fictionally, because they’re the ones who are most tied to this world or another plane.
I think Iacopo Benigni, Nikitas Thlimmenos and Enrico Ambrosi should take a look here (they are my fellow players).
That’s up to you. Personally, I wouldn’t stack up effects.
In my game, I let three people enter and said the power was used up.
This could be a great starting situation for a starter :-). What to do with all these angry items?
Ha! That’s an awesome idea!
The +1 ongoing doesn’t make much sense if it’s to everything you do; I take it it’s meant to be +1 ongoing to rolls using that item?
Alex Norris Yes, that could probably be phrased more clearly. I wrote it intending it to work as you describe, not like your new enchanted bow lets you shoot better, jump better, talk better etc.
Silly question for Travis Scott. Why not allow the player to give up the +1 and take a Price instead on a 10+? I don’t see a reason not to allow that, especially when it could provoke interesting fiction.
Jeremy Morgan That’s a totally fair question! My design ethos when writing custom moves is:
10+ = unqualified success. An awesome thing happens to you, period.
7-9 = partial success. An awesome thing happens to you at a cost.
6- = failure. Complications are fun!
In other words, I tend to put all fictional complications at rolls of 9 or less, because when you succeed hard, the GM should not be allowed to say “Yes, and…” or “Yes, but…” It has to be a straight-up, “Yes!”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a more interesting way to do the 10+ result (e.g., Hack and Slash). How would you make this move better?
Travis Scott I’d write the move in such a way that the player could decide to take a Boon and Price on a 10+ in lieu of the +1, if they wanted to.
That way the agency rests with the player, and you get to keep the ethos you’ve held.
That could work! To me, it feels a bit same-y. Like, compare Hack and Slash, where you get a choice about whether to take damage or not in exchange for an advantage. Narratively, I see why someone might decrease their level of success, but the mechanics don’t follow for me. (And that could just be me.)
Another option might be to do the following:
10+: Item acquires a Boon. The player may then choose to take a Price to get a +1 as well.
7-9: Item acquires a Boon and a Price
6-: Item manifests intelligence and acquires either a Boon or a Price from the list, but the item uses that Boon/Price for its own ends.
Those could work, too! I think which version you used in play depends entirely on what you want to get out of your fiction. You should try out that one and let me know how it plays! I’m super-interested!