Alright, GMs and ambitious players: What are custom special abilities are you most proud of or just want feedback on?
For Mothlands I have two.
For “The Heart: A Charismatic Empath” I wanted to write something that embodied my re-imagining of The Slide.
Like a Book: When you Study someone with an
empathetic eye, gain potency and you may notice tells
too subtle for others to see. How are you alike?
And for “The Mouse: A Stealthy Sneak and Thief” I really liked the Ghost Veil move but needed to reflavor it away from the supernatural.
Perfect Timing: You concentrate a moment, syncing
with the rythms of the world. Take 2 stress, plus 1
stress for each extra feature: It lasts minutes rather
moments, you hide in plain sight, you climb like a
mouse.
Like a book has two benefits which seem to duplicate one another. Gaining potency allows you to see things others won’t see since tier will be ignored. And while I like those probing questions, but what if you are not alike at all or don’t know the other person?
Perfect timing doesn’t seem to do anything without taking additional ( more than 2) stress: “syncing the rhythms of the world” doesn’t really mean anything on its own. What is your intent with that line? Maybe needs rewording for clarity
Posting one of my own for feedback now
For my Star Trek hack of Blades (this one working on the Spider’s Ghost Contract)
Diplomatic Authority: When you make an agreement or draft one on official record, you and your partner— alien or otherwise—both bear a copy of the agreement. If either breaks the contract, they also lose 3 requisition. [req = money equivalent]
Thanks Mark. I’ll take that feedback into consideration.
In reply:
Just like the original move, the initial benefit of Perfect Timing is a bit ambiguous. Syncing with the rhythms of the world is pretty useful when timing is important and might offer extra quality when judging the patterns of guards, machinery, animals, etc.
On Like a Book, perhaps it could use a little clarification but I suppose my intent is that it’s kind of like what Sherlock Homes does: the connections made are impeccable and improbable. As for not being alike, this is a players opportunity to establish something about the NPC and their character that could be useful for future social exchanges.
I’d love comments on any of the abilities for the custom Gothic Horror hack sheets I just posted which you can find by searching #bumpsinthenight on this group. My two favorite are probably Pick-me-up on the immortal sheet, or Create Spawn for the vampire. Of course I created all these abilities before V8 released, so I’ll need to retool a lot of them to fit into the new blades style.
Well, “becoming shadowy and insubstantial for a few moments” offers a clear fictional benefit (and a duration). So I’d disagree the original is anywhere near as ambiguous as Perfect Timing.
Oh right, I get the intent of Like a Book, but I think you should work on the trigger and benefit. An “empathetic eye” is really limiting when you consider both the scope of Study, and the fact “empathatic” is showing understanding and ability to feel how others are feeling. Perhaps “When studying conversation or reactions” is more concrete for what you want. And the two benefits seem largely duplicated. Compare with Ghost Fighter and Ghost Hunter, which grant potency, and “this other thing [that is clearly something you couldn’t normally do]”
So for Like a Book, maybe the following?
“When you Study conversation or behaviour gain potency and you may notice details unsaid or unexpressed.”
And for my reference I compare it more to the slide move that lets you know when someone is lying. This requires a roll but is more general and can get more information.
And for Perfect Timing:
You conenctrate, syncing with the rhythms of the world. You gain prescience of the movements within your sight and hearing. Take 2 stress +1 for each extra feature: it lasts minutes rather than moments, you hide in plain sight, you produce no sound.
Yea, that version of Like a Book looks a lot clearer and now I’d actually consider it if I was a player.
re: Perfect Timing. Meh. I think it’s too broad, and vague – and so I don’t like it as a result. Also, it sounds like a mind reader thing, plus magical stealth, making it very unfocused. At least the word “prescience” in it at least sounds like it might result in some perfect timing, but I don’t think this redeems it much.
Keep it and see how it goes in play, and continue to tweak it so other GMs can provide a similar benefit to their players without much interpretation. If I were you, though, I would look for some fiction I want to see in Mothlands, and consider how the action system doesn’t do that, and make this ability do that.
Some good advice. I might roll some of my ideas from that move into my own version of another Lurk move (the one allowing you to push yourself to make enemies attack one another).
I came up with this thinking about what kind of move might exist purely in my own setting. Kind of a “use magic device” move for wily tgieves and headstrong adventurers.
On Instinct Alone:
When you Finesse or Ruin devices (including those of predecessor design, such as auger) to produce their intended effects you don’t suffer from decreased effect or position for recklessness or ignorance. Neither do you gain any special knowledge or understanding of its operation.