It’s me again.
During last session we had little pvp event. There was a lot of unleash attack and getting in the way. The way how it went kept me thinking.
As one of the option after hitting unleash attack move is take something from them. We used this option to take consciousness from the target (both PC and NPC). This become the ultimate move, by quickly and successfully unleashing attack and making your target unconscious you can finish him in the next action. The opponent can only try to get in the way.
What do you thing. It makes scenes look similar as it is the most effective way of fighting.
Taking someone’s consciousness is essentially ending the fight, I think it goes against the spirit of the Move.
This is up there with “I take their heart / soul / life / ability to move / etc”, and is generally frowned on.
At that point, you might as well say “I take their life.” As the others have said, it’s overpowered, and puts it into a “whoever goes first, wins” mode.
The pacing mechanism for ending a fight is the harm track. Do not allow any ‘take something from X’ to subvert this. You may modify conditions in your favor to pave the way for your victory, but you may not defeat anyone straight away by taking something from them.
From the text: Taking something from your opponent is a bit broader; it can represent literally taking an object they’re holding or it can be more conceptual, such as seizing the high ground, unseating their footing on a precarious surface, or capturing their complete attention when your ally is trying to escape. In many cases, you can use this option to open an opportunity for someone else to unleash an attack or escape a situation. When you pick this option, the MC works with you to describe how the situation changes because of your dominance.
However, like others have said, I don’t believe this fits in the spirit of the move unless you are fictionally positioned to do so (unleashing with a rocket launcher, for instance). I’d ensure the same requirement for Let It Out was in place – it is vulnerable and exposed.
I’ve have players Let It Out to take people’s consciousness before, but they already had their hands around their throat.