Hi,
backed the game today, and I’m liking what I’m seeing. But had a doubt.
The Directly-Engage says that “on a hit, you trade blows”, and one of the options is avoiding the enemy blows. But what are the mechanical effects of trading blows? What happens to your character if you don’t avoid the enemy blows? How do you knockout/defeat you enemy?
Hey Rodrigo! Welcome!
When you trade blows, it means that both characters hit each other, physically or metaphorically. That might mean that you both punch each other in the face or that you and your mom trade harsh words. Either way, the two of you both take a punch. NPCs who take a punch have to mark a condition.
If you take a powerful blow, then you’ve got to make the move. That move tells you what happens. That said, there are times where some enemies can’t hit you hard enough for it to be a powerful blow, like when you face off physically against someone who isn’t superstrong.
If you choose, avoid or resist their blows, then you don’t take the punch. You hit without getting hit back.
Either way, enemies are defeated when they surrender or can’t mark a condition.
That confirms my own guess about how it worked, but I have a further question. In the case you mention, where a foe isn’t really capable of hurting you, are you really Engaging a Threat?
Also, since I’m not very familiar with PbtA games, am I right in thinking that the GM doesn’t ever roll dice? When the GM makes a move, does he just introduce something into the fiction?
Garth Rose – There are situations in which you might engage a threat but that a blow isn’t significant enough to trigger take a powerful blow. For example, Colossus is engaging a threat when he attacks a sentinel, but the resulting blow isn’t enough to make him trigger take a powerful blow.
As for the GM, you’ve got it right!
Thanks for the clarification.
So what effect does Colossus take from the sentinel, then? Does he mark a condition? (Assuming he didn’t pick the ‘avoid or resist’ option, of course.)
He takes a blow (which the GM might interpret as a condition), but it might not be a powerful blow. Again, this depends on the fiction at the table!