So, i have this new group of colleages and it started with a blast, all first timers now instanzly fixed on. Hell, they organized monthly meetings where everyone gets to invite in a cycle. Gee, im so used to lazy players GM organizes everything that i just couldnt believe it!
Now, one of the players i introduced to rpg via Fate some time ago, but we didnt get to play back then. But now, hes playing Dw like fate, making up things on the spot.
No problem, thats great, worlbuilding-wise but he also does essentially custom moves, like having his Bard doing a magical mist with his pipeweed to hide from spying birds. I said cool, and beeing a fan of the players, yeah, just roll pls cha, and so he did it.
Question is, how do i integreate stuff like this system wise?
Use whatever basic move seems most appropriate. Personal fiction might allow you to activate them in fairly unusual ways, but the basic moves can cover pretty much everything you would want to do as a player. When in doubt, call it Defy Danger.
Edit: For example, I would call the pipeweed thing Defy Danger (DEX), because the important action they’re taking is defying a danger (that they’ll be spotted) by *getting out of the way.*
The magic is just what allows him to do that, kind of like a tag. The magic itself is not the key action, so I wouldn’t run it off of CHA. Consider that stock advice going forward for stuff like this, otherwise you could end up rolling CHA for everything, and that’s both kinda boring and not really being a fan of the other characters who have to leverage all their stats when the fiction demands.
Edit again: You have good taste in profile photos. :P
Thx, yeah I’ll spread out stats more according to what fiction suggests. Plus i think I’ll limit a little bit in this case through the resource pipeweed – just like ammo I think.
Ps yeah, cat familiar as it seems 🙂
Great that the player is so enthusiastically contributing to the fiction of your game.
Defy Danger is essentially DW’s universal move for actions that don’t fit the other basic or class moves, as it has the universal structure (10+ = success; 7-9 = things get complicated; 6- = fail) and uses whichever attribute best fits the action.
The attribute to use for Defy Danger depends entirely on how the player describes their action (as James Etheridge indicated, things like the magic involved are simply resources that feed the move). If needed, ask the player to describe their action in more detail until they give you enough to determine which attribute they should use.
Some examples:
– channeling as much mist as possible: +STR
– keeping the mist between the party and the birds: +DEX
– making the mist as dense as possible around the party: +CON
– using the mist to make the party appear indistinguishable from the trees and shrubs: +INT
– making the birds think the party members’ movements are merely natural eddies in the mist: +CHA
– using the mist to conceal the party’s route away from the birds: +WIS
I agree Defy Danger is a catch-all move (when it doesn’t seem like there’s danger to defy, think harder; there’s always danger), and it makes a lot of sense to me that magicians should be able to do miscellaneous magical nonsense to escape danger. A bard’s magic is their song, so they would roll with charisma.
Later you might look into a custom move (maybe based off of Defy Danger, just specific to bard magic), or even a prestige class, something like Arcane Trickster or Illusionist.