Hello everyone ! Very excited by the game. Once again, Magpie Games delivers.

Hello everyone ! Very excited by the game. Once again, Magpie Games delivers.

Hello everyone ! Very excited by the game. Once again, Magpie Games delivers.

Yet, I have a question about when you investigate an object. It says ask two questions. Then what ? Since I, as a GK, am not allowed to make a move since A. no dice rolled, B.no lull in the action. Can the player just ask another two questions ?

If not, why ? The only response that makes sense to me is : introduce a threat or make a move when you answer the questions. But would it not be an illegal move ?

19 thoughts on “Hello everyone ! Very excited by the game. Once again, Magpie Games delivers.”

  1. When I’ve played the game, the gatekeeper doesn’t just answer questions directly, they narrate action that helps to answer the question, and usually is quite threatening. It tends to naturally lead to more of the ring moves.

    You can get a little bit of a feel for it by listening to the Actual Plays Sarah Richardson has run and actively looking for the moves she’s making. It’s still genuine PBtA, just really remembering that you ‘make a move, but never state its name’

  2. Vincent Eaton It seems to works wonderly when you take stock of a situation. But when you investigate ?

    Let us say a player finds an hairbrush on a piece of furniture, with dry gore on it. The player asks :

    • Who does it belong to ?

    I can say “The touch of the hairbrush chills you to the bone. The handle is like the scale of a snake. It smells of putrefaction. When you take the handle, some of the dry blood dusts off, and you can see “Eleonore” carved on it, the carving filled with red”

    Or “As soon as you touch the hairbrush, you feel a breathing down your neck. An instant later “This is mine…”. When you turn back, you see a beautiful woman. Her hair is dark and her skin is as fair as porcelaine. She smells as lavender. She has a [insert the opposite of the Bride’s flaw] and she is wearing a red silk dress, as red as the gore on the hairbrush”.

    First case : I did narrate the answer without making a move, but then the character can investigate further. Second case : I made a move “Shame the Bride by introducing her to a perfect woman”, and, to my mind, it is an illegal move.

  3. Hey Antoine Pempie! That’s a good question. One thing that may help to know is that you want those two questions to escalate the fiction, so that the player then does go to a ring move, as Vincent said. Introducing former brides is good, since that helps move the story so that the players can begin to figure out what happened in that room, and you can do that without making a move. Does that help?

  4. Magpie Games To be honest, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that escalating the situation is not a move.

    More, I fear that when the players get that asking questions about their environment let the GK send trouble their way, they may be less inclined to do so, whereas the exploration of room is what they are supposed to do.

  5. Like everyone not on the design team, I haven’t gotten to read the rules myself, but one thing that makes Bluebeard’s Bride unique in the PBtA world is that very few of the moves come with a die roll. I’ll be interested to see if the rules make it explicit that the groundskeeper can make a hard move in response to any move made by the players.

    Running through the setup phases patiently with players resolves a lot of the buy-in to embracing the horror of the game.

    The game really takes explicit buy-in, so it helps to be upfront about expectations, and don’t gloss over the start of session section to get to rooms.

  6. Vincent Eaton I really hope that the rules make clear when the GK can make a move. To my mind, it is what is at the core of a pbta game.

    As you say, the game takes explicit buy-in. But in my opinion, it is a prerequisite for all horror games.

    The thing I find disturbing is this : the game demands from the players to put themselves in danger. And a “good” player should always consider placing its character in danger for the sake of the narrative. But usually, to push the player to the right direction, there is a stick, or better yet, a carrot for him to do so. I can’t see neither of them in the game.

    Even if there is no mechanical motivation, there should be a fictional one. After two rooms where serious sh*t happens to you, why wouldn’t you just run the heck out of this creepy place ?

    If everyone bought in those things, fine. But it is a hard bargain…

    I am not trying to diminished the game or anything. I have to say, I cannot wait to play for it. But I really do hope those blanks in my head get filled.

  8. Hey Antoine!

    There are mechanics to prod players into investigating. They can not leave a room until they make an exit move, and they can not leave the manor until they complete the token track.

    I would suggest looking at the Groundskeeper Agendas and Principles in regard to the Move question.If you are following those, then you’ll know when to make a Move.

  9. Magpie Games  Thank you for your answer. But where would I find the Agendas and Principles ? Are they in the documents available to backers ? Because I have downloaded those documents and I can’t find neither.

  11. First page : Starting questions, Key questions, Rooms and a space to jot some notes about the bride and the sisters and the Gifts.

    Second page : Room Threats

    Third page : Final Outcome.

    Am I missing something ?

  16. Magpie Games That’s great news! 🙂 As long as an update is coming, could you double-check the text for the Kingmaker and the Lily too?

    There’s so much anticipation in my game group for this game!

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