How do the MC’s follow the fiction when players use Playbook moves?
I love that narrative style of not defining my move when talking about basic moves, but how do you as MC”s keep up with their PB moves?
How do the MC’s follow the fiction when players use Playbook moves?
How do the MC’s follow the fiction when players use Playbook moves?
Basically, your job is to introduce threats and poke at the players’ weak spots but not to decide the outcome. If a move pacifies one of your threats or turns it in a new direction, you just go with the flow. If you don’t hold a conclusion in mind then it’s easy to follow the fiction when the players are writing it for you.
For example, I had a nasty guy who was going to drop a grenade into a crowd and one of the players, a Hoarder, saw it and used Acquisitive Eye which allowed him to ask “How can I make this mine?”
I thought about it for a moment and gave him an answer and he said “Okay.” and suddenly the Hoarder had a grenade, but the key thing was that the nasty guy didn’t have it anymore. So, I rolled with the punch and considered what the nasty guy would do if he couldn’t attack the crowd and I followed that line of thought into the next scene.
Patrick Henry Downs, my question is more with using the player move by name. So, with basic moves as a player, you are trying not say “I go Assault on them.” Rather, you would prefer they gave a narrative fiction of what they want to do, which you the MC says, “that is assault, roll+X.” With a player move though because there are so many, players get away far more often using their direct move name. Just asking if that is okay?
Oh, I guess I misunderstood the question. Well, as a player often my MC doesn’t know the name of my characters’ moves, so I usually explain what it does when I use it just so she knows as well as the rest of the players at the table. It’s hard to narrate a move like Indomitable because you just roll it “at the start of a battle.” But a move like Fingers in every pie has a distinctly narrative description, so when I use it I usually have to dictate which one of my crew I’m issuing the order to.
In other words, play it by ear. ;-P
It’s always okay for the players to say their moves’ names.
One of our groups “in-jokes” is ‘You’re Acting Under Fire, and the fire is Fire.” This has come about because the names of the moves, even the basic moves, tend to be fairly descriptive. Once you as a player get used to an MC not naming moves, it’s easy enough to want to follow suit and describe what you do. If your group embraces the “To do it, you have to do it.” expect it to happen sooner rather than later.
As an example from a player perspective, two PCs were trying to sneak past a bunch of creeps, so we had to act Under Fire… My savvy-head had Spooky Intense and the other PC aced his roll. I did as well (using cool) and described it as stepping exactly where they had, and in time with their steps… I don’t think I actually send the full name of the move, just that it was kind of Spooky.
Sometimes though, when you’re doing something weird, there’s not really a choice.
Well, while the MC is specifically supposed to misdirect and not speak the move’s name when using their MC moves, and the admonition is “to do it, do it/if you do it, you have to do it”, I don’t feel that requires people going out of their way to not say the names of basic moves and playbook moves. It’s legit to say, “So if it’s not clear, guys, I’m really trying to Seize By Force here. That’s what I’m getting at when I’m saying I’m letting loose with my hand cannons and looking to get in that damn bunker.” Fiction First, but be clear about what you’re doing. Same goes for playbook moves. “Fuck this. See that window? I’m diving through it. Like straight on run. I’m rolling Fuck This Shit.”
Remember, the MC isn’t the only one who calls for moves. It’s everyone’s job to watch out for when moves have been triggered. It’s the MC’s job to make sure the fiction is addressed, though, and if things seem unclear to ask questions until the fiction is clear.
Essentially what I’m saying is “Players should bear the brunt of responsibility for when they are rolling moves; the MC should call for them when they spot the triggers too; the MC should make sure players are addressing the fiction when they call for a roll if it doesn’t seem obvious”
Thanks Aaron Friesen
Aaron Friesen nailed it.
The idea that the players cannot mention moves is a pernicious fallacy. The MC is almost always supposed to respond with a “cool, what do you do?” but needs to make sure the do it/do it tuple is legit: they need to know the narrative and mechanical moves to do this.
(Hopefully I didn’t mess up your point sir!)
I feel like the point of the MC not naming their move is to immerse the players in the fiction. The MC doesn’t need to be immersed, they’re the director. They’re running the show, it doesn’t matter if the MC peeks behind the curtain.
Yanni Cooper, I was not worried about player to mc immersion but player to player immersion.
Could be personal, but I always felt it hard to RP if I was the only one in the group doing it.