I have a doubt in Legend of The Elements, the wuxia hack by Max Hervieux.
The move Speak Honorably involves anything regarding persuading others and the move Act Dishonorably involves the threat of violence and/or social consequences.
What if I want to persuade someone to do something that will have ill consequences for them, but I am not telling them? There is no threat involved, but I am trying to fool or deceive the other. Is that still under Speak ‘Honorably’ ??
Yeah, it’s Speak Honorably still. I understand the dissonance between rolling “Honorably” to deceive someone into doing/believing something, but that was how the mechanical breakdown ended up making the most sense.
It might be helpful to think of Speak Honorably a little more like “Speak Politely.” You can be polite to someone and mean them entirely ill. That name just doesn’t have the same ring as Speak Honorably, which is why I didn’t call it that in the game.
I’ve had similar doubts in a game I ran. If we’d played another with the same characters I was considering taking the “mislead, distract, or trick” move from Urban Shadows (probably rolling +Fluid). Thinking of it that way – “honourably” referring to the appearance of the behavior instead of the intent – clears up the doubts I had about the trigger.
Looking at the move now, is the idea that “promise them something they’ll get in return” = write down an oath?
Jordon Davidson You’ve got the right idea reading it as the appearance of the behavior rather than the intent.
As for the promise, it often should take the form of an Oath. If it’s something instant (you promise them some cash, and then you so it right then) I wouldn’t call it an Oath – it’s not really substantial as a promise if it’s immediately payed off, and treating it as one would just be free Chi. That said, anything more long-term than that should absolutely be an Oath, like all promises you make.