I have a question regarding marking specific conditions. The Peripheral Moves for Conditions states the following:
“Sometimes the GM may tell you a specific condition to mark, especially after a hard move.”
and
“If you need to mark a condition and have no more conditions to mark, you are taken out.”
So what happens if the GM tells a player to mark a condition that’s already marked? Should the GM just change it to an unmarked condition instead?
Or for the case of something like the Beacon’s vulnerability move, where it says “if they deny it, mark Angry..” what happens if Angry is already marked? Do they mark Angry or some other condition?
When the Beacon is already Angry they can’t use that move.
When the GM tells you to mark a specific condition and you already have it, tell them. They either will tell you “that’s lucky, you are fine” or they will tell you to mark a different condition. Depends on if they wanted to really inflict a specific condition or just named one.
At least my take.
As with all PbtA games, follow the fiction.
If the GM tells a player to mark a Condition that’s already marked and it makes sense for another Condition to be marked instead? I’d say mark a different condition. But if the fictional situation that caused the Condition to be marked doesn’t make sense for any other Condition? I’d say don’t mark one.
For example, if the villain insults a hero over their weak superpowers, the GM could tell the player to mark Angry. But if Angry is already marked, I could see marking Insecure instead.
(or they could mark insecure)
Is there an argument for the player being taken out of the scene as well? So if you need to mark Angry, but you’re already Angry, then you become so furious that you can’t function and storm off.
Well, you could play it that way. But it has a big effect on the game. If forcing a character to mark a Condition they already have marked takes them out of the scene, you are encouraging players (including the GM) to do that. Players will start looking for ways to hit characters with Conditions they already have.
One result of that change could be shorter fights. In the normal rules, villains are tougher the more conditions they have. A one Condition villain is easy, a five Condition villain a serious cjallenge. But it won’t matter how many Conditions the a villain has if the heroes can just make them Angry twice.
I’m not too familiar with all the rules and moves, but I think it’s actually pretty rare for the player to be able to choose the condition they inflict on others. Usually the action is to “mark a condition”, in which case an available condition will be marked.
It’s only in very specific cases, like the Beacon’s vulnerability move, where a specific condition can be inflicted.
If being able to take a character out of the scene is too much, then it would make sense to stick with the other two options based on the fiction. If it’s not that big of a deal though, I think all three options are possible.
You’re right. Most “mark a Condition” effects do not specify which one is marked. It’s left up to the player suffering the Condition to choose which one they mark.
So, yes. If having a Condition marked a second time takes a character out of the scene, I don’t see players choosing that option.
Personally, I would still play it where if a Condition would by marked a second time, either through a GM move or a move specifying the Condition, that Condition doesn’t get marked. I’d have the GM pick anorher Condition or say the move doesn’t resolve.
If you’re told to mark a certain condition by the rules, and you have already marked that condition, then you skip that step and continue to resolve the move. It’s the same if you have a label locked and the rules tell you to shift that label.
As a player, when presented with the choice of marking any condition, you can’t mark a condition you have already marked.
As a GM, while you’re allowed to inflict a specific condition, the rules discourage it. The book says you should only tell the player which one to mark if you have a very clear idea for it. If you do, say, choose to inflict Afraid and the player tells you that it’s already marked, then you should change your move.