Hi guys,
I need a bit of your help this time 🙂
I cannot see the difference between the move Tricks of the Trade – basic move from rogue playbook when disabling traps, and any other character try to do so by defying danger (DEX roll) .
In both on 10+ they get it. On 7-9 they still do it, but the GM
does a minor move.
Ok, you can decide to don’t let others but rogues roll for it, but I don’t like it that way to be honest since it might happen that silly situation in which the group goes into a dungeons, the rogue dies and the rest…well would they be doomed in the dark?
Thx in advance 🙂
Gustavo MarinÂ
Tricks of the Trade is not much better than standard Defy Danger, but it is better.
On a 7-9 Defy Danger, the GM can offer “a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice.” That gives the GM a lot of leeway in just how hard of a move to make on that 7-9 result.
On a 7-9 Tricks of the Trade, “the GM will offer you two options between suspicion, danger, or cost.” That means the GM is always giving the Thief a choice on a 7-9, and the Thief’s player can pick their poison.
What’s probably more important is that the move explicitly means that picking locks, picking pockets, and disabling traps is something the thief can do.
When another PC wants to do those things, they aren’t necessarily triggering a move, they are looking to the GM to see what happens. That means it’s time for the GM to make a GM move. And, yeah, maybe it’s “okay, sure, but you’ll be defying danger and the best you can hope for is …” (tell them the requirements/consequences & ask). But they might also choose a move of make them backtrack or give an opportunity fitting a class’s abilities. “Yeah, picking a lock isn’t something just anyone can do. Too bad you don’t have a trained thief, or a fighter who can bash this door down. You’ll need to think of another way to bypass the door or take another route. What do you do?”
It’s more of a permission move in my book, like Jeremy Strandberg said.
Also, I think common practice is usually, if the party doesn’t have a thief, then normally a GM won’t put traps in a dungeon. I would make exceptions on 6- rolls while in a dungeon to be able to make an interesting move, but thats always a trap they had no knowledge of. I always get hung up on when to put traps in when the thief is present. I hate saying, “Well maybe you should roll to see if there are any traps in here.” but its better than telling them they should just roll at every new room. That is tedious!
Scott Selvidge I usually try to give descriptive clues instead when a thief should be looking for a trap. Everything from a feeling to his/her eye catching something minute works. They’re a trained professional after all, right? Makes sense they would naturally spot clues like that that others would miss. Also, with or without a thief warning of traps before they even get there (not blatantly, but in the fiction) helps them to prepare properly as well (research, hire a hireling, the bolster special move, etc.).
Scott Selvidge I certainly don’t consciously think “up, no thief in the party, better not include any traps.” I try to stock dungeons based on what I think would be there, based on what I know about its past, its creators, etc.
Now, if I’ve got a thief asking “there any traps here?” I’m a little more likely to think “yeah, sure.” But I don’t avoid traps because they don’t have a thief. I also don’t avoid undead because they don’t have a cleric.
Jeremy Strandberg Right. If they’re in a place that could very well have those things, I still include them, but the party doesn’t have someone specifically skilled to handle it, so I use traps as hard moves instead of the thief being clued in on their presence with a soft move. I guess I wasn’t clear before. Sorry!