11 thoughts on “Fellow GMs, how do you guys handle multiple characters doing Discern Realities?”

  1. So I’m replying to my own question to say how I’ve handled it in the past.  Depending on the situation, I’ve tried 3 different things:

    1.  Take the highest roll, ignore the rest

    2.  Only one character can Discern Realities, but the rest can try to Aid

    3.  Deal with one character at a time, if the second/third/fourth character tries to also Discern Realities, so be it

    None of these seem super great.  Now I’m thinking I need to up the risk.  Multiple characters can act and Discern Realities, but each failure gets its own GM move.  Does anyone else do it this way?  Any tips?

  2. They are all trying to Discern Realities on the same situation/person right?

    Basically number 3 BUT the fiction should have moved forward by the first Discern Realities. For instance, let’s say I ask “What should I be on the lookout for?” And you say there’s a goblin sniper hiding in the dark. Perhaps the next player may want to Volley/Defy Danger/Crazy move instead of giving the GM a golden opportunity by closely studying the sitch some more.

  4. mh, I deal with a player at a time. No one can ask all the questions even on a full success, so I don’t see the problem. If the fighter does Discern Realities and asks “what happened here recently” for example, I answer them, then if the Thief asks the same question and the situation is not changed I’d notice that I’m going to give them the same answer… some of the questions may be subjective, like “What should I be on the lookout for?” or “What here is useful or valuable to me?”, but other than this I don’t see the need to do the same move multiple times at once (while the situation is still the same). If they do, things are going to get boring, and it’s not MC’s “fault”…

  5. First, you don’t get multiple discern realities at the same time unless you’ve presented the party with nothing much to react to and asked everyone what they do. If you make a move that has to be addressed by a PC, you can turn to that PC and ask what they do. Second, once the first character Discerns reality, don’t forget to make GM moves. Make moves that have to be addressed and you won’t get repetive discern rolls.

    On a miss, you should always be looking to make GM moves, or asking questions to set one up. Even without a miss, you should be making moves as well. On a miss, it’s just a golden opportunity to make a hard move.

  6. Well players can also jump in and say what they do. I look over there for tracks. I go with you to help. While they do that I go to the other side and keep and ear out for trouble and my eyes for treasure.

  8. DR should usually reveal something for the players to react to or interact with on subsequent moves.

    But you could always allow multiple attempts and make the results contextual. “What happened here recently” can look very different in the eyes of a Thief compared to those of a Wizard.

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