A little too much DD with Dex? (In-combat soft move variety)
In running combat, I find there to be a pretty frequent occurrence (especially after a full success) where the move snowball stops and there’s no obvious direct next action implied by the results of the roll.
My natural response is to use a monster move to put someone in a spot. Since it’s coming in with no setup, I think this should be a soft move.
And it always, always ends up that the response to this soft move is Defying Danger with Dex.
The zombie swings its club at your face? I dodge. DD with Dex.
The wizard’s wave of force sweeps you into the air and tosses you towards a pillar? I try to break my fall. DD with Dex.
Basically, the go-to response to every attack in progress seems to be getting out of the way. It feels a little repetitive and it also makes high-Dex characters feel nearly untouchable.
(It’s cool for them to be able to dodge well– that’s what they’re built for and I’m a fan of them. But I feel like the way I’m running things is putting an inordinate amount of emphasis on dodging.)
I think the selection of the move itself is fine– use a golden opportunity to use a monster move to put someone in a spot.
But I think something about my narration leads to the players picking the same solution every time.
How do you set up incoming attacks as soft moves so that players consider options other than DD with Dex?