In one of my campaigns, I’ve got a classic magic object that’s somehow connected to a greater power that wants to use it to corrupt/influence one of the characters. At the end of the last session, I offered the Mage a chance to form a bond with the item in exchange for marking XP; he took the bait. 🙂
Going forward, I’d like to up the ante and am considering a custom move. I’m curious to hear what folks think about it.
When you cast a spell and call on [the item] to aid you, you may upgrade from a miss to a 7-9, a 7-9 to a 10+ or a 10+ to a success with no side effects (the Mage class always has side effects when they cast a spell.) When you do this, [the item] gains 1 Hold.
[The item] may spend 1 Hold to interfere with you taking an action or to attempt to manipulate the result of a spell you cast. The nature of this interference or manipulation is up to the GM, but you’ll always have some option to try to resist, though perhaps at some cost.
On the one hand I’m good with the open-ended nature of that final paragraph (“..but you’ll always have some optoin to try to resist, though perhaps at some cost.”). On the other hand I wonder if some players would prefer to have some set of concrete choices? (things like taking a debility, forgetting a random spell, inability to ‘rest’ the next time the party sleeps, so on…) Some players prefer that choice mechanic, but then again, depending on this thing, maybe it’s just a hardcore item.
Tomer Gurantz
I think this particular player will be cool with the open-ended consequences. After all, he is playing the Mage, whose spell-casting mechanic is basically “you can try to do (almost) anything you want, but you have to choose from a list of side effects, most of which are open-ended.” What I’m liking about this idea is giving him the option to forgo some of those consequences now in exchange for introducing new unforeseen consequences later.
The main risk I see is that this puts a lot of the campaign spotlight on the Mage character, at least for a while, since obviously this item is going to be tied in somehow with the impending DOOM running in the background. I need to make sure he doesn’t overshadow the other characters as a result. He’s an experienced enough player to handle it well, I think. In addition, all of the players will be aware that this mechanic is going on, which could definitely create some interesting tensions
I’d nix the item being able to spend the hold. Instead, let the player spend the hold to downgrade any future success by one step (Hard success to soft, or soft to failure). However if the item ever gets to 5 hold, the item exerts it’s influence, and the player will have to do something terrible that furthers the goals of the corrupting Influence. Until they do they are -1 ongoing to anything not related to achieving the Influence’s goal and can’t reduce it’s hold on them. Once they accomplish one of it’s goals, all hold is erased and the cycle starts anew.
Yanni Cooper Hmm, why would the player ever choose to let the item get to 5 Hold, then? I don’t really want a secret threshold, as I want the player to feel in control of when they trigger the consequences, however dire. If it’s a known limit of 5, you could just use the Hold to get clutch successes and downgrade to misses in less dangerous situations, never exceeding 4.
Maybe, maybe so… However that temptation will always be there… Maybe at 4 tell the player what the Influence wants… if accomplishing it also garners the player something (wealth/power/etc) they may want to accept it… Again, the above is what I would do, it might not work for you.
This inclusion of a hold mechanic feels a little too mechanical to manage. Have you thought about using a tag instead? Maybe the Mage’s magical actions (i.e. cast a spell, ritual) include the ‘dangerous’ tag ongoing until [the item] has had its fun. You could make a future 7-9 or 6- roll on a magical action hurt a bit more, but leave a 10+ as a full success.
Hmmm, I would include a cost for releasing the hold. He can release the hold at any time but maybe the item twists the magic every time it is released. Or maybe the item can have flags (see the option of doing Flags instead of bonds, can’t remember where on her it was) and when the flag gets dinged something bad happens or it gets a stronger influence over the character.
I am assuming that this is a manevolent power. How about when you get a 6 you can choose to have a 7-9 effect but it gains influences the Mage and they get one step more corrupted or the demon’s grip get’s tighter. Eventually causing a roll to try to get rid of it.
Hmm, I don’t know, just spitballing here.
If the hold limit isn’t known in advance, that first time the limit is reached is going to be instructive. There’s also the added quirk of whether the pc favors the item’s goals, or can offer a compromise which the item can accept (such as choosing who to kill, who to damn, etc.).
Creative idea, however I would recommend you don’t interfere with the backbone rule of 6-,7-9,10+ by making that ruling you are taking the “teeth” out fate, making failure easy to overcome, think about when this character gets to +3Â on spell casting failure will be virtually non existent. I don’t like to criticize without leaving a solution, but the item you designed seems unnecessarily complicated. As an example you could give the mage an extra spell slot per day i.e. Pearl of Power style.
On a different sort of note. I have been thinking about a mechanic that would allow the player to change a 6 or less into a success for the cost of giving the GM a “Drama Point”. Drama points can be spent by the GM at any time to make a normal Move when they wouldn’t normally be able to. Yes, it gives the GM a bit of power but it also allows for the player to succeed where they wouldn’t normally at a key time for a price.
Sort of a devil’s bargain, I know but there are a number of times where I want to put in some extra drama and flare when by the rules, I can’t. Mechanically that is the goal. I am not sure how to word it or make this rule.
Am I crazy or do you think that this could work?
The GM move design gives you plenty of opportunities to “put in some extra drama and flare”. I recommend you go back to the book and re-read the section on moves, player moves and when you should do GM moves.