Hi there, I was curious about something. When your villains mark a condition (from hero attacks, spent influence etc) do you tell the players you have marked a condition? And if so, which condition?
I’m not sure because the book says to cloak your moves, but if you tell them the villain is angry, they understand “oh that’s why he threw me through a wall”.
Also do you explicitly tell the players how many conditions the villain has in total? Or how many more they have left before they are defeated?
I think the idea with cloaking isn’t to be obfuscatory, just to talk about what’s going on in terms of the fiction, rather than just naming the mechanics. In terms of the fiction, it still seems most satisfying for it to be clear how you’ve made the villain feel, through their actions.
Satisfying and more immersive.
I typically keep how many conditions the opposition has under wraps. But I absolutely tell them how the npc acts, and a lot of the time that includes dropping an emotional statement for them. Whatever makes sense for them to know in the fiction is exactly what I tell them.
Oh no, I definitely describe how they act in a way appropriate to their condition. Usually by triggering the condition move associated with that emotion-break something if angry, explain their drives through a monolgue, run for the hills if afraid etc.
I just wanted to know if the PCs should know how close the villain is to being defeated. It seems you guys say don’t mention mechanics, just keep it in the fiction.
That’s how I play it anyway, Chirag Asnani. If the players express interest in the mechanics I’ll tell them. But I don’t offer that info to start.
Definitely keep all the specifics of your villain mechanics secret. Explicitly telling your players how many conditions a particular villain can take (or has left) risks reducing your villain to a hit point tally instead of full-fledged character in the minds of your players, which isn’t much fun for anyone involved. Keeping it all in-fiction works out better for everyone.
New players will inevitably ask how they go about beating villains, in which case you’re free to tell ’em that villains have conditions much like the heroes do. Explaining game concepts is fine, it’s mid-fight status updates you want to avoid.
Also keep in mind that most villains will try to escape before being totally defeated, so your description of their growing desperation and desire to run away will probably tell your players that the bad guy’s almost done-for anyways, as a fictional “you’ve got them on the ropes!” cue for the heroes to exploit as they see fit.