18 thoughts on “Okay, how’s this for a racial move?”

  2. Yeah, that’s what I’m used to working with. I figure, the only way I’m going to figure out how to hack DW is practice, and trial and error. I just don’t understand the advice the book gives for making new moves.

  3. The move’s not wrong. Nothing about the way you’ve written it is incorrect. It’s just not exciting is all.

    Setting aside mechanics and numbers for a bit, what is cool about elves and illusion magic in your setting? How did they get it? Why are they better at in than other people? What do they do with it, and what does that mastery look like?

  4. Chris Stone-Bush I agree. I think that the mechanics are fine if they are fictionally appropriate, just add more flavor and the racial move will sing just fine.

  5. Nathan V In addition to trial and error, try this:

    Find some moves (from the core playbooks, from 3rd party ones, from the community) that you really like. Moves that, well, move you. Excite you. Make your brain light up with possibility and excitement.

    Then, analyze them! Look at what they’re doing differently than purely mechanical moves like Merciless or Iron Hide. Start looking for patterns, for different ways you can do things, stuff you can riff and repurpose.

    But also: play more! Pay attention to which moves actually get used, which ones drive play, which ones are fun to resolve and which ones are a chore. And keep an eye for ones that seem cool but don’t actually do much, or that leave a bad taste in your mouth.

    Let it all churn around and add to your feel for how the game works.

    Do all that, and trial and error. And you’ll find yourself writing some blazingly hot stuff.

  6. Okay, I’m thinking about that, and now I’m thinking of using some sort of fey race, so I can develop more of a trickster archetype. Which I think should help explain why they’re better at illusions, and what they do with that. Right?

  7. Sure, that works.

    There’s also nothing wrong with sticking with elf. It just means you’re saying something about elves in your world: that they’re good at illusions. And that might imply or inspire all sorts of other details in play.

    I think the more important question is, how do you convey that elves/fey are talented illusionists via this racial move?

    Off the top of my head, ways you could do that would be:

    – Give them invisibility as a cantrip

    – Give them a special illusion spell that only they can cast (ala the dwarf cleric)

    – Give them a question asking move, like always being able to ask “what here is illusory or hidden by magic”

    – Add a fictionally interesting but potentially useful 7-9 option when they cast an illusion spell, like “you glow brightly like the sun” or “all manner of strange illusory effects surround and follow you, for as long as the spell lasts”

  8. One thing I learned doing Fourth World: if the center of your move contains “take +1”, it probably could be rewritten to be more interesting. Use that sort of construction as a last resort.

    When I get on my laptop, I’ll post a before and after of the species moves for the Air Sailor. They started as take +1 moves but ended as something else.

  10. The glamour is in your blood.

    When you interact with mere mortals, you may present yourself as something you are not, but has some similarities with you, and they will believe you. Any creature of some magical substance will not be fooled.

  12. When you cast prestidigitation, you may choose to make your illusion life-like for one sense (sight, sound, smell, touch, etc). If you do so, take -1 ongoing while you maintain the illusion.

  13. Wynand Louw​ I think I like that, but I just don’t understand how you got that.

    I dunno. I feel like I’m trying to make a house of jello, on a foundation of pudding.

    Jeremy Strandberg​ I like that second 7-9 option, that illusory effects follow you. I could tack that on to what I have above, right?

  14. When coming up with ideas, try brain storming TONS of ideas. Wright down idea after idea after idea. These ideas can be one word. To spark further ideas

    Once youve got a paper full, you can start to tweek them. One by one, until you come across the ones that cant be fixed. Those just get thrown away.

    Then you can go back and start to thin them out simply by picking the ones you would rate a 7 on a scale of 10. Again, tweek them, mix them together, add or remove parts.

    Once youve done that you can go back through and pick the top 5 and present them to a group of friends. Ask them what they think and get some feed back.

    This takes a LONG time, but with practice you can do it on the fly.

    I wish you luck!

    P.S.

    Dont worry so much. There will always be something to improve about a move. I still, and will never, make a perfect move. Thats why i present them to this wonderful community for feed back.

  15. Nathan V​ It is a purely fictional move, thats all.

    Player: I appear to him as a dragon.

    GM: What similarity to you have with a dragon?

    Player: I have a fiery personality.

    GM: Dragons sleep most of the time, thats hardly a fiery personality.

    Player: My ears? My size?

    GM: You appear to him as an elf-sized dragon. He bellows, “By Saint George!” and charges you with his sword. What do you do?

    Ok, just fooling around…

  16. It’s important to remember that the engine that drives the story in PbtA games is low rolls. That is to say the main “currency” the GM has for injecting interest into the game are 6- and 7-9 rolls. Moves that remove rolls or give +1s are a trap because though they makes the players feel more powerful because they won’t “fail”, they remove GM agency and thus make the story less interesting. A move like Wynand Louw’s gives the player more agency (by giving them control over NPC reactions) but doesn’t remove GM agency (the player still has to look to the GM to see what happens).

    As to how to get there… I think of moves like scenes in a movie. How would a scene that showcased this particular character’s ability get set up? That’s the trigger. How would it go well? That’s the 10+. How would it go poorly? That’s the 6- or 7-9.

  17. OK, as mentioned earlier, before and after species moves from the Air Sailor in Fourth World, a class that is built around the aid move.

    Here is the original version, which were terrible:

    dwarf: When you defend using a shield, take +1.

    elf: When you help someone volley, take +1.

    human: When you help someone parley, take +1.

    ork: When you help someone hack and slash, take +1.

    troll: When you help someone discern realities, take +1.

    t’skrang: When you help someone defy danger, take +1.

    Here is the current version. They may still suck, but they definitely suck less than before:

    dwarf: When you defend using a shield, you may also spend hold to knock the attacker down.

    elf: when someone you aided to volley deals damage, they add your INT to the damage they do.

    human: when you aid a parley, you may ask the GM a question from the discern realities list.

    ork: when you successful aid to hack and slash, if the enemy deals damage, reduce it by −1d4.

    troll: when someone uses your aid to discern realities, you may ask a question from the basic list as well.

    t’skrang: when someone defies danger with your aid, you also defy the danger.

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