Example of play

Everyone's arrived. We've chatted, gotten comfortable, and we're ready to get started. The session starts in loose play. I ask if anyone wants to recap. Rhianna's player does.

"We sent a logging crew to the Foothills. But some sort of goat-demon spooked them, and it—or something—wounded Andras. They sent him back. We've gone up to investigate. Did we get anything useful out of Andras before we left?"

Blodwen says "He was pretty out of it. We got him stable, but he kept moaning 'that eye!' And I think he made a pass at me."

"Right, right! You'd already outfitted and started up to the Foothills," I say.

I ask some questions to help us warm up. "But before we start—Caradoc, who do you think gave you guff about going on yet another adventure? And Vahid, why are you so happy to get out of town for a bit?"

We learn how Sawyl the Tanner's been looking for a new apprentice and how Caradoc feels all sorts of guilty about it. We also learn that Vahid needs a break from the widow Maire, who's been cramping his "confirmed bachelor" style. I take some notes!

Okay, let's do this. I frame the action and then describe the environment. "The four of you enter the Foothills in the afternoon of the second day out. The hills rise out of the Flats, and the road wends between them. Young, thin trees dot the slopes, getting bigger and older as you press farther into the hills. As the sun dips low, you finally get some blessed shade." (Some of those details are from the almanac; the rest I made up).

It's the first time we've seen the Foothills ingame, so I ask questions like "What striking difference do you notice between these hills and the Great Wood?"

After they answer my questions, I zoom in and frame an actual scene, giving details and specifics. "You reach camp just after sunset. It's on the wayside, but even so, they've set up felled logs like a barricade. They're all huddled round a feeble cooking fire. Everyone's quiet, tense, gripping their hatchets. They spook a bit when you show up, but when they realize that it's you four, there's a murmur of relief. 'It's Rhianna,' and "the Blessed,' and 'Thank Tor.'" (Notice how I'm focusing on feelings and behaviors more than the tactical layout, because those are the details that matter. I'm also portraying my NPCs.) "Hey, Rhianna, who'd you put in charge?' (Asking more questions!)

"Huh. Elios, I guess."

I make my soft move and ask a provocative question. "Cool. He's like, 'Just the four of you? So, what, we're done? We can go home?' Others nod, hopeful. What do you do?"

Rhianna asks me, player-to-GM, "Wait, hold up. Is my crew here?" I answer her question, tell her that they aren't, then ask her again what she does.

Rhianna replies (in that stern voice of hers), "Where's my crew at, Elios?" Time to resolve her action. She's pressing Elios (Persuade, maybe?) but there's no reason for him to resist and so the move doesn't trigger. I just say what happens and reply in Elios's voice. "They're still out. Hunting.'"

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The situation's clear but could use a nudge, so I keep talking as Elios and make another soft move (announce trouble). "'You know, they should've been back by now.' What do you do?"

The PCs discuss searching for the crew, but opt to stay put and get more info. They still aren't triggering any moves (they're asking questions that the loggers would willingly answer) so I just portray my NPC. Elios and Terrwyn say how they both saw the demon a week ago, before Andras was attacked. "Like a big goat, with a human skull, three eyes, and a huge horn."

I was going to offer an opportunity but Vahid jumps in. "Have I ever heard of something like this?" That triggers Know Things, so he rolls +INT and gets an 8.

I know from my prep that this demon-goat is actually a guardian spirit, and that the real threat is a hagr, so I use one of my exploration moves and hint at more than meets the eye. "Sounds like a shaksa, a spirit or demon the folks up north believe in. Like a guardian of graveyards? Or maybe that's a metaphor and it's like the lord of the dead? How do you know this?"

"Oh, from a religious text of theirs, I read it in a library down south. I'll keep it to myself for now."

I update the situation. "It's full night now and the crew still isn't back." I focus the spotlight and offer an opportunity. "Hey, Caradoc, while they talked to Elios and Terrwyn, you noticed some glances between the others. Like, they're scared. But maybe hiding something, too? What do you do?"

"Ooh, I watch carefully and try to figure out what's up. Seek Insight?" Alas, he rolls a 4. Time for a hard move!

I announce trouble."You're sure that Iwan and Cadi know more than they're saying, but before you can act on that, there's this horrible roar and crashing sound from up in the hills, then smaller shouts—like people fighting. You all hear it. What do you do?"

They ask questions and I clarify the situation a bit (its dark, the fight sounds pretty close, none of them know these hills well). Then Rhianna says "Let's go. Into the hills."

That ends the scene! There's a bit of loose play as we talk logistics. Vahid and Blodwen each bring a torch, lit from the cooking fire. "You head out?" I ask. They do.

I zoom out and describe the situation in general: "It's dark, the hills are steep and wooded, and you're navigating by sound, following the sounds of battle." I make my soft move and tell them the requirements. "If you're trying to get there quickly, that'll trigger Struggle as One—the danger being that you get lost or separated or hurt on the way. If you take your time and move carefully, you won't trigger a move—but you probably won't get there in time to help with the fight. What do you do?"

They decide to Struggle as One. We resolve the move and they each roll well, and so we transition to the next scene. "It's a desperate, half-blind run through the woods, but then you pop out into a clearing. In your flickering torch light, you see Eira and Lowri facing off against this huge, hulking brute, like 12 feet tall and half as wide."

I barely take a breath before making my soft move (put someone in a spot): "It hoists a small tree like a club and roars, about to smash them both, and they're both just staring at this thing, gaping." I've been addressing the group, the spotlight unfocused, so now I tighten it up. "Rhianna, Blodwen, you got here first—what do you do?"

Rhianna's player doesn't hesitate. "I shoot it. In the head. Let Fly?" Yes, but I tell her to wait until we see what Blodwen's doing.

Blodwen asks questions. "So this is like a person? Just really big?" Yup. "And it hasn't noticed us?" Yup, for now, they just got there. "Do I recognize it? Like is it maybe one of our loggers, mutated or something?"

"Eh," I tell her. "I doubt you could tell at a quick glance in torchlight. You could take a moment and Seek Insight. Do you?"

"No. Could I like yell and wave the torch and distract it?" she asks. Caradoc's player notes that this sounds like the trigger for Defend ("jump in to protect others") and we all agree. But we also agree that Rhianna would get her shot off before that happens.

Rhianna gets an 8 to Let Fly, and chooses to move to get a clear shot. She only does 3 damage, less 1 armor. It's barely hurt, and Rhianna just exposed herself to danger.

"I think you've got to step into the clearing to get the shot, yeah? You clip it in the shoulder, and—good news—it checks its swing, snarls and turns your way, leaves Eira and Lowri alone. Bad news, though, is that it fixes you with its big, bulging, horrible eye and your mind just goes blank, your knees start to wobble, you can't even think."

That resolves Rhianna's move, so I shift the spotlight and offer an opportunity. "Blodwen, do you still want to Defend?"

She does, and rolls a 9. She immediately spends her Readiness to draw all attention from her ward (Rhianna, now) to herself. "Cool, what does this look like?" I ask.

"I step in front of Rhianna, waving my torch and yelling, like 'YAAAAAA!'"

It works, of course. I say how the hagr turns its eye on her, filling her with that same feeling of dread that Rhianna had.

I shift the spotlight to Caradoc and Vahid. I tell them that they just arrived, quickly recap the situation, then offer an opportunity. "It's focused on Blodwen right now, what do you do?"

Vahid takes the situation in by Seeking Insight. We decide to resolve that later, because Caradoc rushes in, shield up and spear stabbing low. Blodwen had its attention, so we agree that Caradoc can get close enough to attack, but it's still very able and willing to fight back. This triggers Clash, but Caradoc gets a 4.

I need to make a hard move, and the obvious thing is to hurt him. "I guess it sees you coming, Caradoc, and swings that tree branch before you can close in. you get smacked in the head and everything's just white and your ears are ringing and what is even going on? Take a d10+3 damage and mark dazed*. Rhianna, you snap out of it and see it club Caradoc in the head, he just went flying and landed in a heap. What do you do?"*

And we go from there.