Is Spout lore an exceptional move, in that the DM can allow to roll after a simple request , then ask to describe the fiction that would have activated the trigger after the roll? Or is it a normal move, that can’t be activated before the player explains how the character accumulated the knowledge?
EDITED
I handle it like a normal move; meaning that the player must have their character take appropriate fictional action before the move triggers. But the trigger in this case could be the player saying “Hey, my character studied Purple Owlbears back in Wizarding school.” or “I must have picked up stories about the Ice Witch during all the travelling I’ve done.” The fictional action can be the character remembering something. It can be much more passive than other moves.
It’s a normal move, triggered by an internally-narrated “action”. The player says “I think back to when I was [at the Academy of Thaumaturgy][in Clerical school][the Battle of Torran Falls] and try to recall what I learned about [bugbear mating habits][ancient cultist protocols][the Xu-Xian sword style].” Then you roll.
Adam Koebel would you consider it activated even with the player simply saying “I try to remember something about XYZ” without additional context?
Paride Papadia as a GM, I’d never let them get away with that as-is, but it’s a great opportunity to grill the player. “How the hell do you know anything about the Demon Rites? Aren’t you an Adept of the Light? Where did you pick up this forbidden knowledge?”
I don’t know, there was some discussion about it in the italian dw community. An example came up: “Pincopallino the fighter is the dumbest adventurer who ever walked, last heir of a truly ignorant family. He approaches some burrows with swords as gravestones and touches them with a thoughtful expression.” The italic part was considered a valid trigger for spouting lore. With a 7-9, he knows it’s a recent grave where fighters of the last war were buried. The gm obviously asks: “now how on earth did you know this?!” and the fighter replies: “well my grandfather is one of them.” Something that’s very cool but couldn’t be possible if he had to explain this in advance.
Would this be ok? I mean, I know that each group will find its own balance on what triggers a move and whatnot, bu how do you see it this way?
What Alessandro Gianni said. 🙂
The player could explain that in advance, though. The Fighter walks up to the swords and and touches them with a thoughtful expression, the player says this triggers Spout Lore. The GM asks how the character would know anything about these grave markers, as they are the dumbest adventurer who ever walked the earth. The player responds by telling the GM that the Fighter’s grandfather was buried under a similar sword, justifying how they would know anything at all about them.
yes and no: what if it wasn’t a graveyard in the first place? What if they’re actually sword-shaped plants with steel roots?
Alessandro Gianni that’s beautiful. What a poetic use of the move, too.
credits go to Simone Micucci ! 🙂
So the move trigger was left purposefully vague?
The other thing is that if it’s ever unclear, the player who intends to trigger Spout Lore can always say “I would like to Spout Lore” and work it out from there. Just like the GM and other players are listening for Lore to be Spouted.
in my example I didn’t say exactly that.
Now i’m working. Give me four hours for the real example. ^_^
love to all. ^_^