I have some thoughts about actions and attributes in blades hacks.
The names chosen in BitD are so perfect for that game and a real mix from fairly generic to incredibly specific. I can see the temptation for leaving a system that works well intact until you have other stuff figured out.
But, In my opinion it is one of the first things you should think about hacking.
The action words are some of the things that stand out most on the playbook sheets and they are the biggest part of the player interface. The players are contently going to be using these words to describe their characters’ actions in the context of your setting.
It seems that about half of blades hacks make no changes, and most of the rest change the names of a couple of moves that the author could think of a particularly on theme word for, but leave the rest. The most interesting hacks (again in my opinion) completely change how actions are organised in the philosophy of the setting.
Some words that I would highly suggest changing.
Attune – This is highly specific. Even if there is magic is your default action to attune to it?
Consort – This word says a lot about the setting. Do your characters consort? to they chat? do the mingle? is this the default friendly interaction in your setting?
Sway – I love how evocative this word is. I also think it should probably change in a lot of settings.
Finding the exact right word is hard and I understand the urge to put it off when there is already a great list of actions that works, but if you can change even a few of these words to actions that you want to see characters taking all the time I think you will be in a much better place.
100% agreement.
Absolutely!
Very insightful. I’m thinking about this now in my cyberpunk hack. As you said these are powerful verbs that encompass so much of the setting and the stakes involved.
Something I’ve grown to appreciate in BitD is how ambiguous these words are, and how that is a great boon for defining what the characters do. Sway could mean lying, but also just acting, rhetoric, seduction, etc. Trying to find similarly descriptive but also ambiguous words is proving to be difficult. Which is I think why some hacks leave some of them unchanged.
so a completely different breakdown of social actions for WW1 fighter pilots might be Banter, Address, and Command. Very different connotations about how they are used and when you would use banter or address for lying.
Girl By Moonlight is also a super good example of replacing the actions in a way that totally refocuses the game on emotional outcomes for the PCs. It’s one of the coolest things in the game (and it’s a game of cool things!)
I am going to throw out a bunch of Communication words right now:
Front, talk, appease, intimidate, boast, connect, bluster, relate, demand, suggest, accord, imply.
In one game maybe you can Front or Appease, those are the only ways that you can communicate in that game.
In another you can Connect, Suggest or Demand this would feel more contemporary and warmer than blades but still have a similar space.
In another you can Clarify, Obfuscate or Imply.
Okej
Joseph Levey Imagine how different your magic system must be if instead of Attune, you Sacrifice 🙂
I just wanted to toss in the importance of words that function as both nouns and verbs, like whisper. They are great for giving descriptive titles that also say what a thing can do.