The Barbarian and the halfling Thief have been descending a crumbling stairway that juts out into a vast, cavernous abyss. The stairs come to an abrupt end, and stone crumbling off under their weight and fall-fall-falling into the darkness. Out there, at the edge of their torchlight and maybe 5′ below them, they can barely make out the “next” stair. A gap of maybe 15′ lies between them.
As they take this in, they think the hear a scraping noise from above, then some rocks or pebbles clattering down into the abyss. The Thief shines his spotlight lantern in that direction, the Barbarian holds her torch high. They Discern Realities, the Barbarian aiding the Thief, and get a 7-9.
What should I be on the lookout for? “Oh, crap… you spot a a big winged demon-looking thing, perched on a ledge up above. At first you think it’s a statue but no, its eyes open, and quick as anything it’s diving toward you, what do you do?”
The halfling Thief flings his dagger at it, triggering Volley but rolling a miss.
“Your arrow flies wide and WHOOMP it just snatches you off the ledge, out into nowhere. Barbarian, you’re blinking after the gargoyle that just flew off with the halfling when you hear a another rush of wind and barely spot something diving towards you, what do you do?” (GM move: show signs of an approaching threat.)
The Barbarian’s like “I whip my broadsword at it, gutting it as it attacks me! Hack & Slash?” Yup. She rolls a 7-9, and 5 damage, forceful and messy, but it’s still up.
“Okay, you don’t gut it, it gets its arm up in the way, but you do cleave through its arm and check its momentum.” (Not really a move, just narrating what happened and including the Barbarian’s tags. NOW I make my move, the gargoyle’s attack with the element of surprise) “Unfortunately, whoomp another one lands behind, unexpectedly, and rakes across your back. Take d6+2 damage and you stumble forward on the stairs towards the first one, what do you do?”
The Barbarian lets herself fall forward and uses her momentum to gut the first gargoyle, getting out of reach of the one behind her. Hack and Slash again! She rolls a 10+, chooses to deal damage and evade the enemy’s attack. Rolls 7 damage (messy and forceful). it has 3 HP and 2 armor, so that’s plenty of damage to kill it.
You’re the GM. Let’s say you decide to stay on the Barbarian instead of flipping over to the halfling Thief. Do you say…
option A: “Yeah, just like you said, you run it through and stumble out of reach of the other other one. You even manage to get your blade free, flinging the dead gargoyle into the abyss. What do you do?”
or
option B: “Yeah, just like you said, you run it through and stumble out of reach of the other other one. You even manage to get your blade free, flinging the dead gargoyle into the abyss, then twisting around just as the other one leaps at you, trying to bowl you over the edge of that last stair. What do you do?”
(and by the way, I swear these polls are all towards some end)
oh, also: h/t to Addramyr Palinor for the pic and the initial scenario, from way back when.
Great poll series. I love how each time I feel a different combination of what I would do and what I should do. No repeats for me yet.
Jeremy Strandberg ooh now you’re making me want to redo this picture with my tenfold terrain crafting skills and amount of actual crafted terrain. 😎
A) because I’m not saying what a pc character does, that’s the purview of the player. Plus I feel like I’ve given enough spotlight to her, I want to finish with the fiction and move to the thief for a bit. What I could do though is finish the description with a cliffhanger for excitement but then move the camera to the thief. I’d be more inclined to say : “great describe how you kill it” and then add something “nice, then as you [what she said], the other one suddenly rushes at you, trying to bowl you over the ledge of the last stair. Theif, you feel the beasts claws burrowing in your shoulders as you are taken with a sensation of vertigo. You can’t see much in the darkness but you feel in your gut the gaping maw beneath your feet. What do you do? “
Addramyr Palinor I agree with Addramyr’s comments for sure. I’d have the player describe how they get the killing blow, and I try not to describe what a player does. And I also agree that a soft move must almost always be present to give players something to react to. That’s why I’d pick option B, since I think the point being made in this series is, “Do you describe successes with or without a soft move on a 10+” and my answer to that is always “include a soft move.”
However, there’s an important distinction to be made, as the obvious question is “Doesn’t a 7-9 already include a soft move? So how would a 10+ be different with one?” The answer to this is simple: a 7-9 includes a soft move about the action the player is making, while a 10+ uses a soft move to set up a new situation to react to!
Without said soft move, let’s look at option A for a moment. She killed the gargoyle, and you ask “what do you do?” Well now the player is definitely going to ask, “What is the other gargoyle doing?” That’s a meaningless moment that should be answered by some sort of soft move anyways. You’re likely going to say, “Well it’s trying to attack you,” or some variant. Either way, without giving the player something to react to, the action ends.
Ron Shier I disagree about the inaction. There’s plenty of actionable details already in the scene. I would opt for a brief restatement, if I felt like the players needed it. No need to add another attack on, UNLESS relentless attacks are what honesty demands based on the monster description.
“Your companion was whisked away, you’re dangerously close to the end of the stairs, you just killed a monster, and it’s terrifyingly dark. What do you do?”
Dune Aught, an attack was used as an example, but far from the only soft move available. I’m merely saying that the players need something to react to. The Gargoyle could be gripping the Thief by the throat. The Gargoyle could be trying to make off with the Thief in hand. Really, anything. But what’s important is that it’s doing ‘something.’ It’s not just standing there. It may not be relentlessly attacking, but it’s doing something.
If that something is clarified, then it’s technically a soft move. If that something is ‘not’ clarified, then players will surely ask, “What is the remaining Gargoyle doing?” so they can figure out what they want to do next. Players look for things to react to. If we don’t give them something to react to, they don’t know what to do next. Thing players can react to are soft moves.
The barbarian already has an interesting choice in front of him: fight the one on the ledge with him or try to do something about the one carrying the halfling away. He’ll probably go after the one right in front of him, but maybe he’ll do something else. If he goes after the one right in front of him, shift your attention to the halfling before resolving that hack & slash. If he does something else, see what happens since it might change the situation faced by the halfling, for better or worse.
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I want to do B) in my gamemansship, but would probably do A). I like player’s (comlete) successes too, and often ease up on the pedal (i.e. accellerator).