Created two custom moves for my game tonight.
The first applied only to the druid who had morphed into a massive lion (valiothan)…
When you attempt to forcefully stop an iceworm, Roll+STR.
On a 10+ – you successfully redirect its movement, preventing it from going under.
On a 7-9 – You may pick 2…
– You avoid taking damage
– The iceworm does not re-enter the water
– You do not fall into the water yourself.
—–
The second was for the players choosing to convert their sea-vessel into an ice vessel…
When you drag a ship out of water, designate one leader to roll. That leader will choose how he (or she) leads the others efforts.
Roll+Relevant Stat (the player explained how they would work with the others)
On a 10+ The ship is fine, and stable on the ice.
On a 7-9 The ship is up on the ice, but choose one…
1. The ship is on its side, and moves slowly
2. The ice is fragile & dangerous.
3. The ship is damaged irreparably, and will never sail again.
4. You attract unwanted attention
All the players who helped got to roll to aid, but only the best roll was used. The rest simply fed into the narrative.
It looks like the second option for the ice worm move is a “must take”, otherwise the player ins’t successful. I would drop that option and just have the player pick one on a 7-9 result.
It’s there to stay true to the “hard bargain” option of a 7-9. In essence “Do you get what you want with the knowledge that it will harm you? or would you rather be okay and live to try again?”
I get that, but 7-9 results should still fundamentally be a success for the character. Look at your other move: on a 7-9 the ship is up on the ice. The characters have achieved what they intended, even though the circumstances aren’t ideal.
But with the ice worm move, you are forcing to players to spend one of their two pick on success. In my mind, that success should be part of the result, not an option.
I’m on board with Chris Stone-Bush here. The first move (which i don’t think should be phrased “attempt to…”) is all about stopping the Ice Worm. If you fundamentally succeed at that, having it re-enter the water is essentially a failure (Based off the 10+ result including “preventing it from going under” – i extrapolate that what you are attempting to do is keep it from going in/under the water).
When you redirect the Ice Worm’s attempt to escape into the water, Roll+STR. On a hit, you keep it out in the open; On a 7-9, Choose 2:
* You gain an advantageous position
* You keep all your gear
* You don’t take damage
I like the idea of the players dragging a ship onto the ice and pushing/ dragging it with them with all their stuff inside! I think your move there works, but i also don’t think i’d use it.
I would tend to just let them portage the boat, as long as they generally describe how they’re moving/controlling it, and then as we move forward in the fiction, any of the dangers you present in the move might be on the table as GM moves, should they offer something interesting to where-ever we are in the story.
Especially if they will be pushing that boat around for a long time, i wouldn’t want to have them feel cheated if at one point it starts to break apart, and some time later it tips over, and some time later the ice starts cracking precariously beneath it….
I considered it, but the party was split on the necessity of lifting the boat. The move essentially served to inform the narrative, as half the party was passionately arguing that it would never work.
Once it was on land, we moved to undertaking a perilous journey, and the ship was fine until the ice worm attacked a full day later.