GMed a first session last night and got stumped a couple of times. In particular, how do you handle misses on moves like Spout Lore? I tended to use “reveal an unwelcome truth” or “show signs of an approaching threat” and add a new dangerous element that they recalled was connected to the situation. Not many of the other GM moves seem to apply when the character hasn’t done much but think and maybe consult some books. And the outcome still feels somewhat like a success for the character, since they recalled something useful… in the sense that they know about a danger that didn’t exist before.
What other things should I be considering?
6- is not always a failure: it’s just always trouble. Also, this:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105808699738403752805/posts/ickbSdjj14G
You can in practise make whatever GM move you want as long as you can establish it fictionally. There is no direct correlation between what the character does and what happens after that.
Vasiliy Shapovalov posted a great answer for this one a little while ago: https://plus.google.com/105808699738403752805/posts/ickbSdjj14G
I think the main one to remember for Spout Lore is that the character has wasted time trying to remember or figure something out, and that gives time for something bad to have happened offscreen. But there are other ways to get them in trouble, too.
A cool thing i just thought about, turn there moves back on them:
Tell me wizard, how could an Ogre best stump you into powder, what plan would work best?
It’s fun if there’s a way to turn their knowledge back on them in terms of what is socially acceptable. Like, “Why would you even know about that?” For example, a good character knowing about necromancy, a ranger knowing the appropriate bribe for a palace guard, an elf knowing how to eat traditional dwarven broth. Something juicy that would out them for their past deeds.
i mean, you can make the “change the enviroment” move because a player missed a roll.
“You think hard about it as you walk through the dungeon, it’s close, you know it’s there but then your thoughts get interrupted as Gregor screams “HEY GUYS! There is a cave full of glowing diamonds over there!”
Thanks for the pointer to the previous discussion!
My favourite move on a missed Spout Lore or Discern is either blatant falsehood with an opportunity “You’re pretty sure that the creature is made of negative energy and that if you hit it with fire, it’ll die. This is wrong. You are super wrong. Dangerously so. I’ll give you XP if you act on it.” or straight up interruption – “you start to examine the ancient tapestry, wracking your brain to remember where you saw these patterns before when SUDDENLY OGRES”
SUDDENLY OGRES is my next band.
Scott Diehl What is that beautiful river you have on your page ?
Adam Koebel Is that XP withheld from the 6- roll until they act on the false information?
Magi max It’s Windy Creek with Mount Craig in the distance, in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Some of my favorite ways to make hard moves on Spout Lore:
Time. You can figure it out, but the arcane formulas/prayer/research will take a while. Will you do it?
Distraction. As you’re lost in thought you totally miss the SURPRISE OGRES. (Okay, that’s overly dramatic, but you get the idea)
Reveal an unlwecome truth. A 6- doesn’t mean you can’t give it to them. “Oh yeah, you know that zombies are vulnerable to fire, but only because the ones you killed earlier without fire are getting back up right now…”
Scott Diehl nah, it’s an on-the-fly custom move. “When you act according to false information as if it were true, mark XP”
The scenario I had was that the PCs had spotted some halflings looting a room in the dungeon and were trying to figure out where they were from and if they might be hostile. The cleric decided he might know what gods they worshiped and rolled a 3 on his Spout Lore. So I decided to bend the situation towards conflict and said the halflings in this area tended to worship a god opposed to his own (and mentally marked his steading as enmity: halfings’-town-name).
I wasn’t sure why the halflings were there in the first place, so a failed roll helped me solidify them as potentially antagonistic.
If I’m absolutely stumped, instead of “lore” I spout the bullshit everyone thinks they know is true when they don’t actually know jack. It’s like false rumors. “Bree Yark is Kobold for ‘come in friend!'” Or “everyone in Jacksbug knows vampires are afraid of cabbage.”
I like what Sage says above: “Reveal an unlwecome truth. A 6- doesn’t mean you can’t give it to them. “Oh yeah, you know that zombies are vulnerable to fire, but only because the ones you killed earlier without fire are getting back up right now…”
Instead of learning something useful that allows them to improve their situation, they learn that things are actually way worse than they thought.
What triggered that Spout Lore roll? What did the player say he was doing, exactly?
Great discussion. This is good prep for my own DW GM premiere.
Adam Koebel The druid had just scouted ahead in bat form and discovered a cave with a chimney up to the surface and a rope hanging down from it. There were a couple of halflings in the shadows, stuffing loot into bags next to a pile of orc corpses. On hearing this report, the cleric said that he probably knew what gods the halflings in the area were likely to worship, which might help determine if they would be friendly or not. I took the roll’s failure to make the move “reveal an unwelcome truth” that they might be unfriendly, since it was as yet undetermined.
That’s a great use of paradigmatic awareness. Thinking through the lens of the class. Super cool.
Yeah, that player is coming up with some pretty good stuff for his cleric.
Adam Koebel do you mind if I steal your SUDDENLY OGRES for an article name? It’s way better than “My eyes!” I’m using now.
Absolutely.
Thanks!