Please help me.
Hi guys, I am running a regular game and in the last session one of my players’s character arrived in town and wanted to walk around town to listen for gossip. Is there a DW move for such a thing? What would you as game master do? Thanks for your help.
Ask him what kind of gossip his character is looking for. Is it a lucrative adventure seed ? If so, then he may find
one shady character who has useful informations, but the PC needs then to get leverage against him to parley. Maybe a service the party could do for the NPC ?
Maybe asking around would attract the attention of some dangerous third party, and the PC needs to Defy Danger to avoid attracting their attention.
Basically, trigger one of your moves :
Present an opportunity, with or without a price
Reveal an unwelcome truth
Show signs of an approaching threat
Tell them the requirements and ask them if they do it
Ask questions:
Where do you listen? What are you pretending to do?
Then I’d look at my fronts, consider how they are effecting the world in ways folks might talk about and bring future badness…
Sounds like they’re Discerning Realities. You might also want to look at the thief and bard, I think they have advanced moves that deal with walking around towns (the thief might just discern realities with charisma when gossiping).
Judd Karlman
Nice idea. It just makes sense. But would there be a roll of sorts involved?
Unless the player is actually doing something that activates a roll, I would say no. When they do something that a move can accomplish, roll it!
But like others said, ask how they do it. Is it dangerous the way they do it? Do they find someone just out of ear-shot and to get close would be a Defy Danger? Do they “pretend” to do it at a bar? Do they try to get info directly from someone with a parley like mentioned above?
Hi Oney, I’d agree with Kevin Farnworth . The advantage of using the DR list of questions is that they are suggestive – if a players just asks for a rumor, you could be left floundering. If a a player asks “what here is not as it appears to be”, that tells you they are looking for a mystery, and if they ask “what here is useful or valuable”, you know they are just looking for something to give them an edge. Either way, you know the sort of thing that will interest them and have a starting point to work with. From there you can probably riff something – don’t be afraid to start off with a cliche, you can give it some jazz as you develop the hook in game.
So, I would start with the DR list, but once the basics of the rumor have been established “the old mansion is not as abandoned as it appears!”, just go to regular back and forth roleplaying. I’d only do Defy Danger if there was actual danger and the player was confronting it. If the character is making inquiries about the old mansion, he doesn’t get to roll to avoid the evil smugglers hearing about him asking – how discreet he is is established in gameplay. He gets to to roll DD when some thugs confront him in the street and tell him to back off.
That’s my thinking on it, anyway. Hope it goes well!
I wouldn’t make a roll. Nit yet ay leasy. From my perspective they’re not going to fail to hear gossip when walking around town juludt listening. Make up a bunch of petty gossip on the spot. A cat is lost. The price of beans is rising. The miller’s son was fishing instead of working. Yadda yadda yadda. Describe the people they see and give those NPCs lives.
But also ask what kind of gossip or what kind of people the player is looking for. Once they find something to take interest in or try to join the conversation, then rolls happen (or not) depending on what they do.
I dunno if that calls for a roll. I mean, rolls are what you do when you want something to maybe go bad. Is this such a situation? It doesn’t sound like it. It sounds like a player saying, “Hey GM we don’t know where you have prepared content for us to experience. Please point the way.” There is absolutely no reason to discourage this behavior.
Having the players ask around for information is a good time to look at your Fronts, and have their current status filter down to them. There’s no real Danger to Defy, unless enemy agents are actively searching for the PCs in town. So no, I wouldn’t roll in this situation. I think Judd Karlman had the right idea.
Alternatively, are they actively seeking out sidequests or adventure sites? If thats’ the case, I wrote a move for that a while back.
When you seek out information on a dangerous place you have yet to explore, say how you do it. If you research old tomes, dusty maps, and bits of lore, roll+INT. If you ask around for people who might know something, roll+CHA. *On a 10+, pick two from the list. *On a 7-9, pick one, and the GM holds +1 Twist.
• You find part of a map; draw it out or otherwise present it to the group.
• You learn of a trap or similar hazard; describe it and hold +1 Preparation. (see the Bolster move)
• You learn of a dangerous denizen or group thereof in the area; describe and/or name them and hold +1 Preparation. (see the Bolster move)
• You learn of valuable treasure; describe it and where it’s kept.
• You learn something useful about the area’s history, layout, or politics; tell us what.
• You gain something that will be particularly useful in there (a key, a password, etc.); tell us what you got.
*On a 6-, the GM holds +1 Twist and you pick one from the list above. Don’t describe it yet. Instead, ask the GM what it will cost you or what you must do to gain that benefit.
When the characters enter the dangerous area, the GM can spend 1 Twist to reveal that your information was slightly off, out of date, or incomplete.
Examples:
“Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a passage here? It’s on the map…”
“That trap? Oh, it wasn’t a sliding blade, it’s an alarm. You hear a growl coming from deeper within the dungeon.”
“Oh yes, there’s ogres. They’re servants of the demon that’s taken up residence deeper inside.”
“Why yes, this is the tomb of the ancient king Dalboz. Did you remember to wear his colors so his undead servants wouldn’t think you’re tomb robbers and attack you?”
“Here’s the secret door, right where the guy in the tavern said it would be. Anyone got the key? Because it’s locked.”
On the spot custom move: If you listen around, gathering information, Spout Lore with CHA
Wouldnt do it all the time, but could be interesting…also, if you ask ” how did you acquire this information?”
I used this in a campaign I ran a while back:
GATHER INFORMATION
When spend time gathering information by researching in a library, asking around town or by talking to contacts, describe what you are doing and roll + [INT or CHA]. On a 10+, choose three. On a 7 – 9, choose one. On a 6-, you still choose one, but the GM will introduce an additional complication.
• You gain the information that you were seeking
• You make a new contact or improve an existing one
• You gain unexpected, but useful, information
• You do not arouse suspicion or draw unwanted attention to yourself
• You manage to complete the task in half the time
What about…? Pick up Rumors (custom move) When you try to find out interesting or useful rumors roll +Cha *on a 10+ your game master gives you information about any recent grim portent. On a 7-9 you get the information from your GM but you also attract some unwanted attention and trouble. In any case explain how you get the rumors.