Splatbook*

Do the triggers need limits?

Is your trigger too broad? If read literally, will it apply even when you don't intend it to? Revise the trigger to avoid such problems. You might do this by…

  • ... using more-specific language. The original trigger for Clash was, "When you attack a foe…", which applied even if that foe could not fight back. So now the trigger is, "When you fight…", which better reflects when the move is intended to apply.
  • ... adding a qualifier, like how Defy Danger has you first check whether another move applies.
  • ... checking for player intent, like how Seek Insight clarifies that the player is "looking to the GM for insight," or how Keep Company has the players ask each other if they want to invoke the move.
  • ... splitting the move into multiple parts, each with a sperate trigger. When a PC Persuades vs. NPCs, for example, the move has the player say what they want the NPC to do. It then has a second trigger, "If they have reason to resist…", which prompts you, the GM, to consider whether the NPC would just go along with the PC or if the player needs to roll.

You don't need to get this "right" just yet. You might not realize that you need limits until you get feedback on your move or see it in play. But give it some thought. Take your best shot at identifying and fixing any obvious mismatches between the trigger you intended and what you wrote.

For my mushroom-trip move, I already have a trigger in mind: "When you take shrooms together in the Great Wood."

I'm quite happy with that! It's nice and specific, based on the PCs acting as a group in a particular way. I consider making it more general, like just "When you take shrooms," but I don't think I'd bother with this move if someone took them alone, back home in safety.

Is my trigger too broad? Hmm. Maybe. I'm writing this move for a very specific situation: the PCs addling their minds under a full moon in order to access to the Fae paths. That might have more specific results than just taking shrooms in the forest.

I adjust my trigger to: "When you take shrooms together near a waystone, under a full moon." But depending on the results that I come up with, I might reconsider.