How often do you let people do offensive actions…without provoking a move?
Directly engage is specifically for trading blows with opponents.
If Seismic in Rock form is trading punches with Haymaker, and Bedazzle shoots Haymaker with her gem blasts from afar, would you rules, HM just simply takes a condition (Making a condition move of course), because hes otherwise not paying attention/engaged/being grappled by Seismic and also probably doesnt have a way to reach/attack Bedazzle?
What are your thoughts on parts of fictional combat that dont provoke moves, and do you find this makes “ranged” characters a bit too fictionally strong?
That sounds to me like Bedazzle’s assisting Seismic, so have them spend a point from the Team pool to boost Seismic’s roll.
Potentially? I mean, shes also just doing her own action of hitting him with a blast?
Few options I see:
1. As listed above, it could be an assist move.
2. She’s not being engaged, so she’s not directly engaging. She’s unleashing her powers on the foe. Which could go wrong in any number of ways. If it’s unstable, maybe she hits Seismic too?
3. Haymaker seems unable to attack back, but he actually can. “He lands a stunning blow on you, Seismic. And while you’re dazed for just a moment, Haymaker picks up a car/piece of sidewalk/whatever and hurls it toward you, Bedazzle.”
2. Seems unlikely because Unleash is for changing environment, avoiding an obstacle, or extending your senses. Its not specifically for damage.
And youre right, with #3, the way its set up he could attack back.
There are sometime things that just fictionally happen, if youve set up the scene right with other moves.
Like if HM was previously grappled so he couldnt move (say from Seismic selecting “create an opportunity for your allies”), it seems that there are times where just fictional actions make sense, like in other AW games.
But thanks all so far for your answers and the discussion.
I’ve found in general with any game, not just Masks, that it helps to sit back for a moment and establish what is the player’s goal. Is it to help their partner take the bad guy down? Steal their partner’s thunder by being the one to strike the telling blow?
I’m just starting out with Masks, but after reading through the rules a couple of times, it seems to me that the game involves that level of abstraction. The player defines a goal and then rolls to see if it was successful. The narration then steps in to describe what actually happened.
Hope that helps…
You could also have one of Haymaker’s allies or goons show up next to Bedazzle if she fails the roll.
This and the other post about Directly Engage vs. unleash are incredibly helpful.
I wonder if a lot of the issue (for me as I wrap the ‘ol brain around this stuff) is that physical damage exists almost purely in the fiction – a “hit” as defined by more traditional RPGs doesn’t work here since you can actually inflict a condition without doing damage (foiling a plan seems more likely to send some villains into a rage than actually hurting them personally) and cause no condition after causing actual harm.
Someone mentioned intent of the action as the salient point and I think that’s right, but clearly there are some scenarios where it feels like you’d have to do some hoop jumping to make it work. Almost feels like there’s a missing move. Almost a “when you attack a non-helpless opponent who can’t directly threaten you…” – seems like it exists between Directly Engage/ Unleash Your Powers. Defend Someone.
Phil Mitchell That seems like the sort of thing where you just do the thing.
Anders Smith maybe sometimes – but I’m wondering what happens when the situation has potential benefits and consequences – just not direct consequences to you. Feels like they just do it when they either can’t fail or if they do, it doesn’t matter. It’s the whole “trade blows” thing that’s making Directly Engage seem sub-optimal in certain circumstances.
The mental energy we gleefully expend looking to adjudicate: “Is shot you, yer dead!” “Am not!” “Are to – I got you!” 😂
I’d refer back to the example on page 57, if the thing your player is attacking can’t fight back it isn’t really a threat to them. So in this case you need to decide if the story is more interesting if the attack hurts the target or if the target can avoid or resist the attack, and what the consequences for each outcome are.
Another thing to remember is that Masks isn’t a tactical combat game and if your players really want to take a villain out without risking themselves then let them and have the rest of the world comment on it. Have other heroes villains and the media comment on their tactics and push around their labels. Then have villains start adapting to make their strategy not work anymore.
Also remember that villains can respond to an attack in a non-physical way. Getting called a coward might be a more powerful blow to a character then anything a villain can do physically.