Crises

A crisis means active, urgent badness in the village, here and now. A monster attacks. A house catches fire. Someone is murdered. Whatever it is, it's bad and it has the potential to get worse.

A crisis is usually a hard GM move, something you do when a player rolls a 6- or when the PCs ignore trouble. But a few player moves can generate crises even on a 7+. For example, when the Seasons Change to spring or autumn, a 7-9 says that "a threat to the steading makes itself known or gets worse," which could manifest as a crisis.

Resolve a crisis like any situation. Frame the action. Describe the environment. Add details as needed. Ask and answer questions. Portray NPCs. Make a GM move to put the crisis on screen. Ask, "What do you do?" Resolve their actions. Repeat. Play to find out what happens.

The village might Meet With Disaster. Maybe the PCs prevent calamity and panic, maybe they don't. It might not even be possible. If the crisis starts with two farmers slaughtered in the fields, then calamity has already struck.

After a crisis, the PCs might immediately launch an expedition in response (per the previous page).

If they don't head out immediately, shift back to homefront play and deal with the aftermath. Figure out what happened, who was affected, and how. Play out a scene immediately following the crisis as folks take stock. Play out some follow-up scenes, including a scene with each PC and their family or other close NPCs. Then transition back to downtime.

Rhianna's player is back this session and I still need to follow up on that 7-9 result from the Seasons Change move.

I frame the action in early autumn, a few days after Caradoc and Vahid got back from the Ruined Tower. "It's a cool, dark night, cloudy and breezy. What are each of you up to?"

We do a quick scene with each of them, ending with Caradoc on watchtower duty. I ask more questions, and we learn that Morwenna is still mad. He's braiding a leather bracelet as a peace offering.

I kick off the crisis with a monster move, the crinwin's mimic noises, words, cries for help. "You hear… voices? On the wind, and like, from the Wood? But that makes no sense. What do you do?"

Caradoc Seeks Insight and realizes that, yeah, crinwin are sneaking into the village. He raises the alarm! Rheinal dies in the fight, but they kill a bunch of crinwin and chase off the rest. The PCs manage to keep panic from spreading, so the village doesn't Meet with Disaster.

By the time the action ends, it's near dawn and folks are exhausted. We shift to homefront play. I describe the aftermath—children crying, wounds being seen to, Pryder weeping over his dad's body. Each PC gets a short scene, and the next morning, Rhianna and her crew try to track the crinwin. Alas, she gets a 6 to Seek Insight, and I reveal an unwelcome truth. They find a few bodies, dead of their wounds, but no nests and no clear trail. "Crap," says Rhianna, as we shift back to downtime.