So what happens when you need to overcome an obstacle that can’t be solved with your powers, but is something anyone could (theoretically) do? For example, sneak past a guard or prop up the ceiling so you don’t regret you dramatic entrance?
What move can you use?
Whatever move gets triggered by the fiction.
If they do something that you think might be hard or chancey but it doesn’t trigger a move – make a GM move.
Tell them the consequences and ask
is always a good first place to start.
Do you really want your cool super heroes to fail at a mundane task. Is getting caught by the security guard going to result in a cool scene? My answer would be usually not.
Having said that, I use “unleash powers” for the skills of the character’s too. Your awesome detective skills? totally a power in terms of that move.
In PBTA games, the moves are focused on what’s important to the game. If there’s no move for it, let the PCs succeed! It will help them to feel awesome and make your hard moves all the more punchy.
If you really really really want to let the dice decide, as Tim Franzke has said, make a custom move.
“If there’s no move for it, let the PCs succeed!” means that a PC always succeed at anything that doesn’t involve interacting with people or directly engaging threats, provided you don’t have a superpower for it
In other words, my 8-foot tall Bull is better at sneaking around than my buddy’s Punk who can create Illusions. This is undesirable.
I’m pretty new to PbtA-style games. What’s a good custom move?
I tend to ask the player “Do you think you can do it?” then “Ok! How you do it?” – followed by a GM Move. If there is uncertainty I ask Access the Situation and move from there – I have found it is fun to add people to the task from there “You Could collect the clues and ask you Music teacher. She should know…” and “Teh Guard seems too alert to be passed without you been noticed – you could ask somebody to make a distraction…”
“In other words, my 8-foot tall Bull is better at sneaking around than my buddy’s Punk who can create Illusions.”
This isn’t true. They are equal in situations where their powers doesn’t help them. Where the results are pass/fail/complication.
The Punk is permitted to try sneaking in situations where your Bull would’ve failed outright because of his powers. In that situation he is infinitely better than the Bull at sneaking.
One thing I miss from other PbtA games in Masks is “Act Under Pressure” as a basic move. It’s such a great catch-all for things like this. I would even just use it as a custom move by house rule fiat.
But I agree that if it’s unimportant to the fiction, they should succeed anyway. Make it tense and dramatic, but let it happen. If it’s really important that they might fail, then a version of Act Under Pressure would be something to put in here. I’d say probably rolling with +Superior.
Here’s the text of Act Under Pressure from Monster of the Week if you’re not familiar:
This covers trying to do something under conditions of particular
stress or danger. Examples of acting under pressure are: staying on
task while a banshee screams at you; barricading a door before the
giant rats catch up; resisting the mental domination of a brain-worm;
fighting on when you’re badly injured.
When you act under pressure, roll +Cool.
• On a 10+ you do what you set out to.
• On a 7-9 the Keeper is going to give you a worse outcome,
hard choice, or price to pay.
• On a miss, things go to hell.
There have been multiple discussions about Act under Fire/Pressure / Defy Danger in the community already. The game doesn’t need it and is better off without one.
At this time I’m starting to lean into same direction, the game work well without Act Under pressure move. Its much harder to “get” and I still think harder to run – but the end result is good.
Tim Franzke That’s fine that “the community” apparently decided it’s not needed. But everyone can play the game the way they see fit, despite your decree that it’s been decided. The OP presented a problem for which Act Under Pressure could be a solution, so I offered it as a suggestion. Sorry it didn’t fit your paradigm, but it fits mine and maybe it fits this person’s.
The discussions about it are here:
https://plus.google.com/114493035025354983838/posts/hv99n56Bcw5 https://plus.google.com/106272299449786208178/posts/Rws4pZYMU4w
Adam West Thanks for this. Masks is the only PbtA-style game with which I have experience or interest.
Adam Beece once the full game comes out I’m sure it will have more advice for situations like this. But if you read any of the other books (Monsterhearts is my personal fave) they’ll give you advice on how to improvise in the system.
After reading the discussion linked here, it hardly seems a closed subject that the game doesn’t need or want this move. Even within that discussion it’s very undecided and several people argue very well why it’s useful. I’ll be curious to see what the next iteration of the game has, and if it addresses this question. In the meantime Adam Beece, if you didn’t read the link that Tim Franzke posted, you should. It has several thoughts that might be helpful to you.
After some further thought, there’s a really great blank in Assess the Situation that can probably deal with a lot of Act Under Pressure type situations, including the one in your original post Adam Beece.
In Assess the Situation, the first question is “What here can I use to ________?” Keep in mind, that in PbtA games, it really shuts things down to answer a question like that with “nothing.” So usually the answer should be that there is something there they can use to accomplish the thing they’re planning. Sneak past a guard? There’s a car alarm you can set off to cause a distraction. There’s a fire alarm you can pull. There’s a ventilation shaft that you can crawl into. They might still get into more trouble while trying to do this thing, but unless it’s dramatically exciting, let them do it now that they know what tool is there to do it with.
A very good point!
I personally like to add Face to the Access the Situation – as in Who can help. Turning a task into social situation preferrebly. And as the Characters are kids it sound cool that they need to gte help – even if they don’t want to.