I’ve given this a read through because it seems incredibly exciting. The dark side feels quite penalising, marking it on a failed roll n all.
I’m curious about the Take Decisive Action move, in particular the “inflict harm OR clear all Dark Side” option. What’s the fictional appearance of this? Is it meant to offer a choice between maiming your foe or sparing them to end the duel? I wonder if it could do with some clarity.
Apologies for not replying sooner! I don't check in here often enough!
Regarding Take Decisive Action this is the end of an epic Duel! First of all between Duel rolls, Jedi characters and their enemies should be trading quips and appealing to one another just like in Star Wars Media! I mention this because this will all lead into TDA feeling all the more satisfying.
TDA itself is meant to be the end of a battle, however you (or the Senate) decide to play it out in the fiction. What I love about my favorite lightsaber battles is that the themes behind the characters are often more important than the choreography. In these movies, shows, comic books etc, duels rarely end in actual character death. Which is why I want the threat of Dark Side to be more or at least as pressing as taking harm in this game. When you win a duel it's not a victory of swordsmanship, it is a victory of good over evil. That's why you clear all dark side (or at least cut off a hand).
The move is open ended as far as how it looks in the fiction on purpose. The Senate may decide that the enemy flees. Perhaps you are separated by two halves of an imploding spaceship. Maybe the enemy plummets down a vast cavern. Those things could happen if you fail the roll as well, you'll just be on the receiving end of the consequences. I'll think about the wording of this move in future updates though. Thank you!
As far as Dark Side feeling penalizing and exciting, that's very good! I have been tweaking the balance of this since I created the game. When I added downtime I added a way to remove dark side between missions. My goal is to keep things dire during the missions, though you can use the Extra Move May the Force Be With You to clear a dark side. There are also some playbooks that help you clear dark side during missions. I have thought about adding another basic move for this, but nothing has felt right, and I kind of enjoy how scary the threat is.
Keep in mind the Senate may ask you to mark or clear dark side at any time. So if you've done something incredibly altruistic, feel free to appeal to your GM to clear a dark side.
Cheers,
Ian
PS If you have played this game in the three months since posting, please feel free to give me you or your fellow players' thoughts! I am currently working on a new update to the game. You can reply here or reach me at ian@maudlingames.com
So, I think I win the award for taking longer to reply, just checked back in on this. First off, very excited new stuff is in the works!!
My group ended up playing a one shot just to play around with the system for my own enjoyment. We had a blast. We still found TDA a little tricky to wrap our heads around, mostly which option evokes which element of the fiction (does Luke Skywalker clear all his Dark Side when he stops short of killing Vader, or does he inflict his game when he severs his arm, or does he try and redeem him?) but we found the overall experience quite tight and fun. Looking forward for more!
That is great feedback on TDA. I designed the move to have to choose between a gesture to redeem them and inflicting the harm (ie lopping off an arm) even though I know duels that we have seen could culminate in both. I can also see where it is strange that it seems like all three should be possible hah. I have already made some changes to this move in the new version, but I will put some thought into this before I publish to make sure everything is as tight as it can be. Perhaps it should be 1) inflict the harm or 2) redeem them and clear dark side. Especially if you have decided a particularly bad baddie needs to be "redeemed" more than once.
I'll also say that if a player chose the redemption or the dark side option, but expressed an interest in inflicting some sort of memorable wound, you could absolutely as the Senate say that they chopped the opponent's arm off in the process. My general advice for PbtA in general is to have the player choose the mechanic and then work out what that looks like in the Fiction collaboratively. It might be tough to logically wrap your head around "they lose an arm yet take no harm," but I think it's reasonable.
I am so so glad to hear that your group enjoyed the one shot, despite the awkwardness surrounding that particular move! Thank you for playing it. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions!
Cheers,
Ian
P.S. it is in part, due to your earlier feedback that I have introduced some changes to dark side and provided an extra way to clear it with the influence system, which you'll see once I publish the new version (still waiting on some artwork and editing) so big thanks for that!
If you don’t a little more feedback, maybe the act of redeeming someone should be rooted in its own separate move that fires off of a successful Decisive Action?
My thinking is this, Luke wins the duel against Vader on the Death Star and casts aside his weapon, clearing his Dark Side in the process (which I’d argue is the major thematic component of the move, the choice between vengeance and mercy, right?). That isn’t the act which redeems Vader, but rather the act which redeems Vader could be viewed as Luke spending the Influence he has on Vader to turn him to the light side for his final act.
So maybe a successful 10+ on TDA could look like this:
You make a move to end the fight. You may either deal your lightsaber’s harm to the opponent OR clear all darkness and take influence over your opponent.
And that could trigger a separate redemption move that could incorporate the other part in TDA as written? Just my half awake ramblings, I just figured the redemption attempts usually follow the winner sparing their opponent.
