Alright, on with the "how vulnerable to illusionism is this" theme. As I said upthread, I'll analyze a social action scene in my current Dungeon World game on here. I'm going to do it peace-meal because (a) I don't have time for a mega-post and (b) it might make things a little easier for any folks interested in participating. Dungeon World shares a considerable amount of overlap from agenda, to GMing principles, to genre expectations. Quick primer:
The Basic Outcome
* 10+ you succeed with little trouble
* 7-9 you succeed but with some kind of complication (a worse outcome, a cost, a hard bargain). The GM will make a soft move against you here; something without immediate, irrevocable consequences or something that can be avoided with a little ingenuity or a player move that goes well.
* 6- Things go wrong. The GM will tell you what and you mark xp. "Things go wrong" typically, but not always (the GM can elect for a soft move if it seems fitting), means something with immediate consequences. Dealing damage, imposing a debility, escalating the conflict in a real bad way that puts the players behind the 8-ball RIGHT FRIGGING NOW are hard moves.
Here is the section on GMing. Any 4e GM should be able to recognize this stuff pretty easily. Alright, on with it (sblocked for space, etc):
[sblock]
In the antechamber I greet Saerie with a warm smile and harken back to our parting: "I promised I would find you...and so I have."
I'm quite happy to oblige them the peace-bonding of our weapons. I'm gracious for the goblins extending the trust to us in allowing us to keep them. Our people likely wouldn't be so courteous. I'll try to let the king know that if I can find the right moment.
Originally Posted by
Manbearcat
The bowls must have just been served as the soup inside is piping hot with steam. "Join me for a delicacy" says the king. "Darkmantle-Wing soup. I slayed the creature's mother when it was a pup and brought the entire brood back. Within a year, this was the lone, hardy survivor of the group. He lived a good life. A noble predator. He served my kingdom well. We will honor him by ingesting his remains." He clearly doesn't look pleased that you killed his "pet" Otthor.
"Sit" he says.
I'll take my seat after Saerie, settle in and take a spoonful of the soup and a sip of the mug's drink, be it tea or spirits. I need to address what the king said straight-away because it is begging for a response to the offense he has taken. It is potential conflict I need to defuse.
"A noble predator indeed. He served you well as guardian to the back door of your domain. The vast boneyard was testament to that. I have battled more than my share of cavern stalkers who were intent on making a meal of me. He came the closest to it."
I raise my mug in a toast to salute him.
[sblock]Defy Danger (Cha)
4, 3 + 1 = 8
Success but the GM will offer you a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
<Confirmed Binks is good with your toast. Saerie will raise her mug.>
The king and his constable raise their mugs and drink to your toast. After the king puts his mug down, he leans forward and you can see frozen air exhale from his lungs, cold enough to briefly cast a layer of frost on the steaming soup before him. "If only he would have been your better" his voice full of ice. You can hear the sound of mailed gloves clinching on polearms, the 5 elite guards sprinkled about the room, none more than three paces from the table, nerves taut.
The mood quickly lightens as the king sits back and says "but it wasn't to be. If he was to perish, it is good to know it was at the hands of a capable warrior rather than pestilence or rotten luck. A good death."
Constable Ozark quietly chimes in with "...he tastes a hell of a lot worse than he fought."
The king chuckles out of the corner of his mouth and gets right back on task. "My loremaster and shaman examined the beast you put down. It breaks down what it consumes quickly, but there were goblin bones still in its guts. They called the creature 'an aberration'. They said it 'wasn't of this world.' I don't know what to make of that. A summoned assassin from a wizard bent on claiming my head?" He says this last bit with a playfully inquisitive, but no less indicting, tone.
I'm searching my accumulated knowledge for a Far Realm creature well known in goblin history.
[sblock]Spout Lore (Int)
1, 3 + 3 = 7
the GM will only tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Lets go with the Phaerimm and a tale of goblin genocide as an entire underdark colony was wiped out when they were used as hosts for their "Aliens-like" hatcheries. Spin a yarn.
I take another drink and regard the king. "Assassin? I don't think so. I'm sure your people are well-versed in the tale of Drikbiyet, the goblin civilization lost to the flying, magic grubs of the Far Realm?" Leading his thoughts, I say "I think the same thing is happening here..."
Per Manbearcat
The king furrows his brow, ponders a moment and looks to his flanking constable. "What do you think?"
To that, the constable says "I'm interested in what she thinks" as he points across the table to Saerie. "She said neither of them are from this world. That they're just here to stop such a threat from the Far Realm that he is talking about. But our spies have long since learned of a female elven ranger protecting Giliad's Rest, the human settlement at the base of the mountain. World's End is peopled with the same folk. Just so happens that we've got two of them, 6 months slave labor, for breaking the law..."
The king looks from the constable to Saerie "that is interesting..."
You're up Binks (I give up on mention tags...they don't bloody work).
[/sblock]
Real low resolution backstory to this situation. The 2 PCs and their hirelings are on their way to Earthmaw (this goblin kingdom) to look for refugees and hopefully gain audience with the dragon that sponsors the kingdom. The Scout role of their Undertake a Perilous Journey fails leading to an encounter with a glacial crevasse that didn't go so well for Otthor. The sleds barely make it out before they fall in...but Otthor is consumed by the deep dark, splashes down in an icey underground river and spills out in the basement of Earthmaw. The other PC (the DW version of Saerie) and the hirelings, having successfully made it to Earthmaw, take the front door. Otthor barely survives an encounter with the guardians and the trash-monsters of Earthmaw (a Darkmantle and a Roper) but having done that, he discovers that immature Aboleths are hunting the Earthmaw residents (Aliens-style). He slays one of them, saves some goblins, audience with the king ensues.
So then. I frame them into the scene and immediately set about doing my job, going on the offensive. I make a move which
fills their lives with adventure, portrays a fantastic world, and allows us to "
find out what happens" with an immediate potential escalation of the situation and a PC decision-point. As you can see with the GMing, principles, a lot are present with this opening move. The king raised the Darkmantle from a pup and was clearly proud of the creature's contributions to the security of his kingdom (and now they're eating him). As far as the move itself, its basically a combo soft move of "
Reveal an Unwelcome Truth" and "
Put Someone in a Spot."
So how does the PC respond? He immediately sets about trying to diffuse the potentially volatile situation with a
Defy Danger (Charisma) parry:
"A noble predator indeed. He served you well as guardian to the back door of your domain. The vast boneyard was testament to that. I have battled more than my share of cavern stalkers who were intent on making a meal of me. He came the closest to it."
I raise my mug in a toast to salute him.
He rolls a 7-9 which is a success with a complication. So I make a soft move. I "
Show Signs of an Approaching Threat." The king states flatly that he wishes Otthor would have died instead, he literally exhales such (obviously supernatural) coldness that it frosts the liquid of his soup, the elite guards are on edge/nerves taut/trigger-happy, and he not so subtly implies that his shamans councilled him that the otherworldly creature was likely summoned by a wizard assassin intent on killing the king...and Otthor is an elven magic-user.
Otthor then "searches his accumulated knowledge for a Far Realm creature well known in goblin history." He makes
Spout Lore move but only gets a 7-9. He gets some info but it is
on him to make it useful. On a 10 + I'll outright give him some useful info he can use to facilitate his sought end.
I go with "the Phaerimm and a tale of goblin genocide as an entire underdark colony was wiped out when they were used as hosts for their "Aliens-like" hatcheries." He proceeds to make something up about that (establishing world backstory) and attempts to use it to his advantage:
I take another drink and regard the king. "Assassin? I don't think so. I'm sure your people are well-versed in the tale of Drikbiyet, the goblin civilization lost to the flying, magic grubs of the Far Realm?" Leading his thoughts, I say "I think the same thing is happening here..."
So now he is getting somewhere. His intent (really THE intent in a DW social action scene) is to
establish leverage on his adversary and make a successful
Parley (you know the deal - Diplomacy, Intimidate, et al) move with it. So that is what he is attempting to set up. However, there are some loose ends that need to be addressed that follow from the fiction of the prior scene with Saerie:
Per Manbearcat
The king furrows his brow, ponders a moment and looks to his flanking constable. "What do you think?"
To that, the constable says "I'm interested in what she thinks" as he points across the table to Saerie. "She said neither of them are from this world. That they're just here to stop such a threat from the Far Realm that he is talking about. But our spies have long since learned of a female elven ranger protecting Giliad's Rest, the human settlement at the base of the mountain. World's End is peopled with the same folk. Just so happens that we've got two of them, 6 months slave labor, for breaking the law..."
The king looks from the constable to Saerie "that is interesting..."
So now Saerie is "
Put in a Spot" (the spot she created from the prior scene) and we will find where this goes and if the PCs can gain the leverage they're seeking or just flat out ingratiate themselves to the king (eg - "say yes").
Alright, clear and transparent play procedures, clear and cogent GMing advice. Anyone who is interested...how vulnerable to illusionism?