This is my first time trying to write a custom move and could use some feedback. In my campaign, I’m going to have an antagonist come up who is a cyberware repo man who uses EMP rounds to disable cyberware without permanently damaging it. The idea is kinda based on how gel rounds work and forces a custom EMP Harm move instead of the normal Harm move.
EMP Rounds
EMP rounds are designed to jam and disable cyberware – a weapon loaded with EMP rounds inflicts EMP-harm instead of its listed harm value; targets harmed by EMP rounds add the original harm value to their roll when making the EMP harm move. Cyberware that has been insulated versus EMP reduces the harm inflicted by 2.
EMP Harm
When you suffer EMP harm, choose a piece of cyberware you have installed and roll EMP harm suffered.
7+: choose 1:
◽ The cyberware’s software is scrambled and starts malfunctioning wildly. Act Under Pressure whenever you try to use it.
◽ The cyberware BSODs and stops responding.
7-9: The effects of the EMP don’t last too long.
10+: The effects of the EMP last until you can get it repaired.
It seems like you should swap out the 7-9 and the 10+ at the end. “Not too long” implies you will get it back within the session if you’re on a mission. “Until you can get it repaired” isn’t going to happen during a mission, most likely. Also, ‘not too long’ doesn’t preclude getting it repaired, right?
The choice you have for 7+, of ‘act under pressure to use it’ vs ‘it doesn’t work at all,’ isn’t very interesting to me. I would always pick the first option, because it’s not like you have to use the cyberware, but at least you have the option.
I would focus on either having a 7-9 and a 10+ effect, or work on just having a list of a few options. Something like
7-9 Choose 1
10+ Choose 2
It’ll be fine soon.
It doesn’t do 1-harm ap from extreme feedback
It doesn’t revert to a factory default and broadcast a trace signal.
This is a reversed roll, like harm (i.e. the more harm inflicted, the more you add to the roll, so higher rolls are bad), so I think the 7-9 and 10+ results are the correct way around.
My bad! That’s what I get for not drinking all the available coffee.
ALL. THE. COFFEE.
(Easy mistake to make though. Harm isn’t reversed in my next PbtA game. It works differently though, so it’s not an easy port to The Sprawl.)
Yeah, reversed moves are a definite source of confusion, since they’re so rare… it’s like they’re written from the opposition perspective… a high roll is good for the attacker, rather than the person making the roll.
Rather than copying Harm in that respect, I’d favour phrasing it the normal way, where a high roll is good for the person making it.
Simon Geard Charlie Vick I get the confusion that the reversed nature of the move causes but since regular Harm is already written that way and my players already understand that move, I felt it was more important that the different flavors of inflicting harm (i.e. harm, s-harm, and EMP-harm) were all internally consistent with one another as a subsystem. Basically, “Higher is better except for harm,” is still easier to grok than, “Higher is better except for harm unless it’s EMP-harm.”
I do agree with Charlie that my initial choices were a bit boring, though. Maybe instead of the duration increasing, I need to increase the intensity of the effect. Note that on a 7-9 the MC chooses now. Here’s my second pass:
7-9: The MC will choose 1:
◽Your cyberware BSODs and will need a reboot. It’s going to be a minute or two before it’s working again.
◽Your cyberware got a bit scrambled is acting kind of weird. Act Under Pressure whenever you try to use it.
◽Your cyberware causes feedback to your nervous system. Take s-harm and add +1 to the Harm roll.
10+: Choose 1:
◽Your cyberware is bricked. It’ll take a factory reset and a few hours before it’s working again.
◽Your cyberware is malfunctioning wildly. Until your cyberware is repaired, whenever you make a move, the GM can introduce a complication caused by your malfunctioning cyberware.
◽Your nervous system is completely overloaded by the electrical shock and you pass out.
Hamish Cameron Care to drop any hints about your next PbtA game? I’m a big fan of The Sprawl so I’m curious what’s coming down the pipe.
It might make sense to have it as a normal roll based on Synth? It would make a kind of sense; high Synth means you’re in better sync with your cyberware, and that it tends to work better for you, so it jives that you would be better protected against EMP. And Synth could use a universal non-playbook move or two anyway.
James Etheridge My first version of the move actually did use Synth as a kind of armor vs the EMP damage with that same reasoning. I might add that mechanic back in.
As far as making it back into a normal “higher is better” move, I’d really prefer that it stay the way it is. Here’s my thinking: I still want it to “feel” like the players got shot by a gun; the gun just happens to fire specialized ammo. Therefore, I want it to mechanically resemble the rules for getting shot by regular bullets.
Compare that to if a hacker were to infect the PC’s cyberware with a virus that has the same effects. If that were the case I would write it as a normal, “higher is better” move since it doesn’t need it to “feel” like a player being physically attacked.
I think a cyberware tag of +shielded is probably a worthwhile addition to including this move.
And I like the idea of rolling synth to use cyberware that suffered serious EMP damage.
Maybe one of the options should be a -1 ongoing for all rolls, to represent the distraction of having a body part that is behaving badly nonstop?