I didn’t see a discussion of this below. In my game, we now have a new Gothi and the Rites has raised some questions. What are the options actually supposed to do? By my reading, I concluded that you can do four different things with bonds.
1. Look at a character’s heart (get an answer to a question).
2. Give a character -1 or +1 for their roll.
3. For the Matriarch, lower the price of a bargain (Driving a Hard Bargain).
4. For the Monster, give grave harm to the bonded character you’re fighting with (Accursed).
So for the Rites, the options are:
– Get silver (obvious)
– Give the Gods a bond with you. I assume this is played by the MC. Since it’s no use for them to look at your heart, and they are not Matriarch nor Monster, they can give +1 or -1 to your roll. Technically I guess there’s no restriction to which roll it is or to whether they should pick bonus or malus, but it would make sense that Gods give the +1 to a roll related to what the Rite was about (did they ask help to something?), or the -1 if the gothi acts in a way the Gods disapprove of. It would seem not fair that Loki gets to be mischievous and give -1 just because he wants to (unless that was somehow relevant to the story).
– Gain a bond with the Gods. Since the NPCs don’t roll, it’s no use giving them +1/-1, and I would really want to avoid a physically manifested God combating a Monster who could give them grave harm by this. The main purpose of this option seems to be to give the gothi an answer from the Gods to a question – although in principle it could also be possible for a Matriarch to bargain with the Gods and have a discount!
Is my analysis correct? Am I missing something?
The Tempt Fate seems to work in a similar way, basically giving the Norns a +1/-1 to your roll. But how is this supposed to be restricted? Can the Norns just intervene in any roll the MC feels like, or should it be restricted to wyrd rolls only, or Tempt Fate rolls only? “At any time” seems to suggest there is no restriction, but again, it would feel odd to sabotage some random roll just for the heck of it (unless there was a clear rule that the next roll you take would be affected). Sure, the MC should make a call based on the narrative, but what I like about the moves in PbtA games is that they give clear rules how to use them, lessening the MC’s burden to decide the details of the PCs’ fate in a specific situation. Making the MC responsible for both bonus/malus choice and picking the roll to intervene adds to that burden.
Hi, Matias, sorry for the late reply.
You are basically correct. The MC can spend bonds as the Gods and Fates to aid or hinder the PCs by giving them +1/-1 on their rolls.
The main thing is to remember here is to keep this rooted in the fiction, Fates are there to enforce prophecies and gods are supposed to have their own goals and motivations. It’s not just about the rite, the gods can sit on that bond and then spend it to enforce their themes and archetypes. Thor is not going to give you +1 to running away from a fight. If there is a prophecy that you will die at sea, the Fates will give you -1 when you go sailing, etc. There is no “mechanical” restriction, but the MC is “restricted” by their agenda, principles, prep and fiction. You never sabotage a random roll, but only when it follows from what’s established.
I get that it’s a burden though, and a deviation from a typical PbtA game. Off the top of my head I can think of a few possible hacks to transfer that burden back to the players but perhaps they are a bit too convoluted and I’d need to think about them a bit more.
If you feel spending it for modifiers is too much, I also don’t consider spending bonds to look into the PCs hearts as pointless at all. Sure, in theory the MC can ask questions at any time, but this option was specifically left in to cover for “the MC might ask you a question or two; answer them.” from the Open your brain move in Apocalypse World. You might consider it waste of a bond, but it could be a thematic way to tell the players “hey, the gods know your hearts” in ways specific to the fiction, like “As you lie to him, from the corner of your eye you see a raven perched on a nearby tree, cocking its head at you, Odin knows you for a speaker of falsehoods now”.
As a side note, the game works perfectly fine by ignoring the bonds with the gods. It’s one of those outer layers of the design that can add flavour but it’s not deeply important to how the game runs. I added it more as a quick (and weak) solution to a small problem rather than an integral part of the game.
Thanks!