I’m trying an Empire of the Petal Throne conversion using DW as a basis and I’m grappling with a spell that slows down the perception of time.
My initial thought that in the hands of a hostile NPC priest is that it would prevent Defy Danger rolls based around quick thinking or quick reflexes. My general feeling is that it would probably render all combat un-winnable but that feels little bit harsh.
Any thoughts?
Hmm, perhaps model the enemy as moving ridiculously fast? Threaten then and when they Defy Danger, have him deal damage two or even three times. THEN see if they have a way out.
But you’re right, it seems like something you can’t fight against, so I’d make sure it presents enough weaknesses to tell a decent story (be their fan).
One idea would be explaining that they seem to be moving just as fast as he is, their movements rapid and blurry. Elude to them just thinking slow. Maybe they might stack actions ahead of time like playing Subterfuge 🙂
Not that this same problem presents itself for someone using the Mage alternate playbook, when the Mage chooses Time as a focus. I have not let anyone choose that option at my table yet because I haven’t been up to the challenge of dealing with it. So …. “subbing” to this. Hoping someone comes up with a brilliant idea here.
Over-concretizing effects is, I think, an error in DW design, where the fiction is so forward. Honestly I’d just slap all affected with a global -1 ongoing while the spell is in effect and do the rest in narration.
If this is an NPC ability, you don’t have to make a move other than a general description. Look to the monsters in the book as an example.
• Move impossibly fast.
• Attack in a flurry of blurred strikes (increase damage or make two moves instead of one per roll?)
• Hit them before they can react.
Stuff like that. Then you just let the rolls tell you what happens. If the players are attacking the priest, and they roll 10+, maybe they predicted his movements and faked him out. If they start rolling 6- then the priest has time to make 2 hard moves. If they roll 7-9 maybe they do their damage, but the priest deals their damage twice, or makes one hard move (normally I would use a soft move here, but because hes moving super fast he has time to get it off before the character can react.)
Its all about the rolls. I would also include some way to stop the spell as Aaron Griffin suggested. Alternately, allow them to find a way to speed up and catch up with the priest. Maybe its a potion? Or a profane prayer they have the choice to utter, but could have consequences later. Maybe they just have to hold out until the spell ends and the priest collapses from the exhaustion of moving so quickly, the magic having worn his body out.
I am, to some extent, approaching this from the wrong direction because PCs and NPCs are not symmetrical in their abilities and attributes. The translations I am making only make sense if the target is a PC so eventually each spell has to be translated twice, once for effect on PCs and once for effect on NPCs. The problem is a PC may also use any of the spells on another PC who has to be able to Defy Danger (equivalent to a saving throw) and have an effect that makes sense. The other option I am considering is to throw out the rich spell set and go with a simplified sub set that translates out to maybe a dozen Moves each for the Sorcerer and Priest characters.
The Clockpunk has a Freeze Time move. When he triggers it he gets hold that he can use while everyone around him is frozen in the moment. He can even pluck a frozen bullet from the air… When his hold is done things go back to normal.
For the other caracters it just looks as if the clockpunk teleports from one point to another instantly, the they notice the things he did in that instant.
The trick with any spell that seems O.P. is to limit the use of it with mana that gets depleted. Or make it high risk for the caster.
Lots of good suggestions. Note that it is the perception of time that is distorted not actual movement speed. So I think what is going to happen is that fast reactions and quick thinking are out and a lot of physical skills are going to start being governed by the intuition attribute (there are 5 attributes that roughly translate out to Physical, Mental, Social, Intuition and Passion). That and a condensing of how spells work from about a dozen spells to maybe four broader acting Moves but covering similar territory. Thanks to everyone who responded.