Post by george1792 in Revenge of the 5th! Full 1.1.3 update! comments

Revenge of the 5th! Full 1.1.3 update! » Comments

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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!

Ian Mauldin23 days ago (1 edit)

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!

george179215 days ago

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.

Ian Mauldin14 days ago

Excellent ideas! Cheers.

itch.io

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