I’m trying to decide if this is a good move:
While you have a shield equipped, add the following option to Defend:
• Redirect a spell or magical effect from the thing you defend to yourself
Does intercepting a spell or magical effect count as redirecting an attack?
I’d say it does. In DW, an attack can be anything.
Also, if you make it a move, you’ll imply some things in the fiction. I mean if just any spell can be deflected by a shield, then even mental things like Charm person is a visible, tangible attack.
That’s perfectly okay to establish for a game, but should it always be the case?
I’m not sure I agree with you, Eric. I think making it a move strongly implies that spells and whatnot are normally not tangible attacks, because why else would you need a move for it?
With that said, I think a move that let’s you jump in the way of a spell isn’t super appealing. If the spell was described as a tangible attack, I’d feel like I could do that anyhow. And if the spell wasn’t tangible… I’d want the move to give me some defense against it.
Along those lines, I used this in The Judge:
□ MIRRORSHIELD
Requires: Aegis of Faith, level 6+
When you Defend with a shield, you can spend 1 hold to intercept a spell or magical effect and redirect it to a different target (or no target at all).
Now that is a cool move.