Daggerheart · 16 entries
| Action | Cost | Trigger | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask a Question and Build on the Answer | — | — | This is perhaps the most collaborative move-presenting the player with a question, and using their answer as truth to build the scene. You might ask them something like, "What do you see in this city that reminds you of home?" or "What about this place tells you someone else was here before you?" Typically utilized when establishing information about a scene or when you're interested in a specific character or player's perspective on the current situation, this move can be a great way to get the whole table involved in worldbuilding during the game. |
| Capture Someone or Something Important | — | — | Taking away something the party desperately wants or needs can quickly ratchet up the tension in a scene. You might knock a weapon from a PC's hand, capture a fellow party member or an ally of the group, or steal a powerful object from right under their noses. This move is an exciting, fiction-forward way to advance the story. |
| Clear a Temporary Condition or Effect | — | — | If there is a temporary condition or effect on an adversary or environment, you can choose to clear it. When you make this move, lead with the narrative, describing who or what causes the effect to end, then how it changes the PCs' situation. For example, if an adversary is Vulnerable because they're being held down by a tangle of vines, you might describe them using their blade to hack away at the vines to break free. Or if the effect is caused by a spell, you might describe the adversary unleashing a hail of arrows toward the caster, missing them but inhibiting their ability to focus on the spell any longer. If a PC just started an effect, think twice before ending it-it will be more satisfying if they see it impact the scene first. Clearing some conditions or effects might also require you to spend Fear. |
| Force the Group to Split Up | — | — | Usually the result of an environmental hazard or a trap, splitting up the party can force your players to think differently than they normally would about how to accomplish a task. This move can also make for some fun cutting back and forth between scenes as the two groups work independently before finding a way back to each other. |
| Lean on the Character's Goals to Drive Them to Action | — | — | One of the most powerful ways to change a scene as a GM is to introduce something personal to the PCs. If the character is seeking out a specific object or creature, you might reveal where it is and why it's going to be so challenging to get there. Using a PC's desires to drive them forward is a great way to reinforce why this scene matters to them. |
| Make a Move the Characters Don't See | — | — | This move is most useful when you have something happening behind the scenes that you're waiting to reveal. You might start a new countdown or tick down a current one, add more damage dice to an enemy's upcoming damage roll, adjust a narrative situation the PCs have yet to encounter, or create another consequence the players can't foresee. When you do this, don't tell them the move, but do create fun tension at the table by letting them know your machinations have changed: "Everything is fine… for now." Depending on your style of play, you might instead tick down a countdown timer the players can see but don't fully understand. You could also cut away to a scene that the players see but the characters don't. |
| Make a PC Mark Stress as a Consequence for Their Actions | — | — | This move is perfect for a success with Fear when you're not sure what other consequences apply-the PC can get it done, but it's not going to be easy. For example, the PC can charge across the battlefield, but they'll mark a Stress to do it. As a softer move, you can also make this an offer instead-maybe you give them the choice to only make it halfway across and not mark a Stress. When you have a player mark Stress, describe why the circumstance is stressful-or ask the player to do so. Is it physically taxing in some way? Does it bring up painful memories? Is the PC under significant pressure? |
| Make an NPC Act in Accordance with Their Motive | — | — | When a scene includes characters other than the PCs, you can spotlight what these NPCs are doing in response to the PCs' actions. You might show a friendly NPC helping the party in a fight, a group of townsfolk taking cover, or an enemy moving positions. Make sure their actions always flow from their motive. |
| Reveal an Unwelcome Truth or Unexpected Danger | — | — | This versatile move is usually applicable in any scene-you're simply heightening the drama or tension. Maybe an unexpected person steps out of the shadows, or the characters receive bad news that makes them rethink their plans. A soft version of this move might manifest as moving a group of dangerous foes within striking range of the PCs or revealing a guard captain just when the PCs think they have the upper hand over the guards. A harder version of this move might be an enemy pinning a PC against the wall, making a PC Restrained until they make a roll to escape the adversary's grasp. |
| Shift the Environment | — | — | You can change the environment the PCs are navigating to raise the stakes. If you're using an environment stat block, you could choose to utilize one of its actions. Otherwise, affect the area surrounding the PCs in a fun and engaging way-maybe the rope bridge they're crossing suddenly snaps or a river sweeps them off their feet. Perhaps an angry crowd packs the marketplace, obscuring the person they're following, or a building falls toward the PCs after being struck with a spell that missed its target. |
| Show How the World Reacts | — | — | To show how the world reacts, simply think about the way the PC's move has affected the world and narrate that change in a way that creates new opportunities for the PCs to act. At its softest, you might describe them successfully breaking down a door, then give them a description of the next room and what danger they find there. You could also make the person they're negotiating with present an option for compromise, or have an enemy they just hit attempt to retreat. This is your opportunity to make the world around the PCs feel real and alive. |
| Show the Collateral Damage | — | — | This is a great move to use when the player tries to do something powerful and there's a consequence. That fireball that missed? Maybe it went wide, struck the side of the mountain, and now they hear rumbling from above. An avalanche is about to swallow them! Whenever a PC does something that significantly impacts the world around them, you can use this move to show them the natural ramifications of that event. |
| Signal an Imminent Off-Screen Threat | — | — | A rustle in the trees, an alarm bell being sounded, the clanging armor of reinforcements headed their way-this move creates a ticking clock for your PCs. They need to get moving now. |
| Spotlight an Adversary | — | — | Heroes are molded when pitted against adversaries of equal mettle-this move allows your adversaries to act meaningfully in a scene. When you make this move, an adversary can move anywhere within Close range and perform an action. In battle, this often manifests as an attack-they move into Melee range with a PC, make an attack roll, and showcase their power whether the attack succeeds or fails. But this move isn't limited to violence. When you spotlight an adversary, they can demonstrate their tactics, reveal their motives, use one of their actions, or change the scene in an interesting way. Whether an adversary bludgeons a PC with jagged maul, floods the room with choking gas, or reveals that a local leader is in their pocket, this move is your chance to prove their prowess. Sometimes, you might want to spotlight more than one adversary during your GM turn. You can spend a Fear to make an additional GM move, shifting the spotlight to another adversary in the scene. You can spend any amount of Fear you currently have to move the spotlight around the battlefield, but you can't typically spotlight the same adversary more than once during your turn. |
| Take Away an Opportunity Permanently | — | — | When things are dire, sometimes the PCs lose an opportunity they once had. A softer version of this move might be to collapse the party's straightforward pathway through a cave system, forcing them to find another, more treacherous way to escape. A harder version of this move would be to kill a valuable NPC or destroy a powerful object the party desperately needs. These moves can be used to great effect when you want to twist the trajectory of the story in a new direction. |
| Use a PC's Backstory Against Them | — | — | Integrating a player's backstory into your move can have a huge impact on the PC and make the story much more personal to them. Maybe someone from their past shows up, a mistake they made long ago catches up with them, or the scene parallels a past experience, giving them the chance to make a different choice. Grounding the move in a character's history ensures their next decisions matter all the more to them. |