Working out a level 6-10 move for a very Dancy playbook… thoughts? Trying something a bit different here.
Muscle Memory (WIS)
When you focus intently on a target’s movements, roll+WIS. On a 10+, time appears to slow and you dodge with uncanny speed, halving any damage done to you from this target and taking +1 Forward to your next move. On a 7-9, roll+DEX…
– On a 10+, your reflexes kick in, treat the original roll as a 10+.
– On a 7-9, you feel almost overwhelmed, take -1 to your next move.
I’m not a fan of the 7-9 results triggering another move and another dice roll. Especially since the second dice roll just seems to give you a redo of the first move.
How about the initial move gives you a hold. Spend hold to
* +1 to your next move
* take 1/2 damage from that enemy
* ????
…And especially since the second 7-9 is just a less interesting failure.
Thanks all. I have a concept in my head that makes sense but it helps to get fresh eyes on the problem.
Yeah, stacking the dice rolls is bad news for the PC. It looks like this is inspired by Defend; why not draw more from that?
When you focus intently on a target’s movements, roll+WIS. ✴On a 10+, hold 3. ✴On a 7–9, hold 1. When that foe attacks you, spend your hold to do one of the following:
* Uncanny Dodge: – Halve an attack’s effect or damage
* Sly Flourish: Gain +1 forward against the attacker
* Swift Strike: Deal damage to the attacker equal to your level.
Part of the problem is that I’m not exactly sure what the move is trying to do. The trigger is “when you focus intently on a target’s movements”, but the 10+ result mentions your predictions. The trigger should be the character predicting the target’s movements then.
The idea is to be able to read an enemy’s movements so as to react with enhanced speed, mitigating damage done to you. The idea with the additional roll was that your “muscle memory” has a chance to save you on a 7-9 of the original roll. The second 7-9, is uninteresting. I agree there.
I thought so Damian Jankowski. But I think that needs to be made explicit in the trigger.
Dylan Knight Why do you think it hurts the PC in this case? It actually seems to provide a way to recover in my eyes. There are some moves that blatantly say “treat some move result as a 10+” or something to that nature, where as here you have a chance for that, but also a chance for something else. This move is intended to be purely mechanical. Here is another iteration (I understand it still runs off the same premise, but I wonder if something interesting can still come of it – a bit of an exercise in thinking outside the box of typical move language):
Muscle Memory (WIS)
When you observe and react to an enemy’s incoming attacks, roll+WIS. On a 10+, time appears to slow and you dodge with uncanny speed, halving any damage done to you from this target and taking +1 Ongoing to your moves against it. You can only gain this benefit versus one target at a time. On a 7-9, roll+DEX…
On a 10+, your reflexes kick in, treat the original roll as a 10+.
On a 7-9, choose only one: halved damage or +1 Ongoing.
Maybe I’m just overcomplicating things.
The reason it seems like a punishment is that this would normally take the place of a defy-danger, except that the 7-9 is a “roll again on a different stat”.
Basically, as someone else said, you’re basically calling for a Defend roll, based on WIS. I’d argue that you should do a Defend roll based on Dex. Let the trigger be narrative “When you set yourself to defend, you may choose to rely on your dancer’s grace and quick reflexes, and use +DEX.”
Then, to simulate the slowing of time, add this move:
When successfully defending, you are in the zone. You may make a Discern Realities roll about your enemy or the current situation.
Just that the initial roll caries a failure chance with it, and the reroll can turn a partial success into another failure.
What does the reroll represent? What’s the reason for it? On the move above, you have two effects on a 10+, and then a reroll on a partial success, and then a 2nd partial success gives you one of the options? What is the reason for not just condensing those to both bonuses on 10+, a single bonus on 7-9? Does the class have a large luck or randomness feel to it, thus the additional rolls?
There are indeed moves that blatantly say “treat another move’s result as a 10+” but those moves don’t usually require another roll. That’s my main issue here. There doesn’t seem to be any point to the additional roll on the 7-9 result other than “trying to be different”. There’s no fictional reason for this additional roll, and I feel it’s unnecessary.
Why not something like this:
Muscle Memory
When you draw on your training to predict a target’s future actions, roll+WIS. On a 10+, hold 3 and on a 7-9, hold 1. As long as you continue to watch the target you may spend your hold one-for-one to:
– dodge with uncanny speed, halving any damage done to you from the target;
– take +1 forward against the target;
– ask the GM what the target will most likely do next.
Joseph F. Russo I dig it. I think I’ll work with that.
Dylan Knight Not sure I follow the logic. On the original roll, a 10+ would yield the full benefit and a 7-9 would allow for a second chance at a 10+ success – or if you 7-9’d again, you only get a half-benefit. By condescending the way you mentioned, you have the same move, but now no reroll to possibly regain that 10+ success, reducing the strength of the move.
The idea was to give the “feel” that you can gain advantage by watching your target’s movements due to your skill in kinematics, but, if you miscalculate, you still have the chance for your dexterity to recover your success. I just don’t think I was able to capitalize on what I envisioned and ended up over-complicating it. Chris Stone-Bush That was the fiction in my head, but maybe not obvious enough!
Here’s the math…
On a normal move, assuming no bonuses, you have a 17% chance of 10+, and a 41% of 7-9.
On your move, you have a 17% chance of 10+, but then on 7-9, you reroll. Again, assuming no bonuses on the re-roll, you only add a 7% chance of getting a 10. However, your odds of getting a 7-9 now drop to 17%, and you additionally get a 17% chance of totally failing from your original success.
This means that you go from
17% 10+
41% 7-9
42% 6-
To
24% 10+
17% 7-9
59% 6-
Essentially, when you make the player reroll, it increases overall odds of failure. That’s how the move punishes its player.