Well, feel free to give the monster a "speedy" tag, or a move like "dash blindingly fast" or "act with astounding speed before anyone can respond". Giving it H damage (two dice, pick the highest) can convey speed and skill. You can also make people Defy Danger if they're not taking its speed into account ("You just don't have time to carefully stow your bow and draw your sword. It'll be happily eating your face by then. Drop the bow on the floor or Defy Danger.")

Hi guys,

One of the players in the game I'm planning to run has expressed an interest in playing a werewolf, werebear, or similar. I'm trying to work out a good way to handle this. Currently, the best idea I have is to let them pick class and race as normal and represent Lycanthropy with a Move, which the character would take instead of their first advanced move at level 2. I was thinking of something based on the Druid's Shapeshifter move; like this:

Lycanthropic transformation
When you allow your lycanthropic nature to assert itself, roll+Wis.
* On a 10+ hold 3.
* On a 7–9 hold 2.
* On a 6- hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.
You may take on the physical form of a great and terrible wolf, or a monstrous hybrid of wolf and your normal form. Only your body changes - clothes are shredded, weapons and possessions cast aside. You have any innate abilities and weaknesses of the form. You still use your normal stats but some moves may be harder or easier to trigger. When you purchase this move, spend some time with the GM working out a list of moves appropriate to the form. Spend 1 hold to make that move. You remain transformed when you run out of Hold, but may gain more points of Hold by making this Move again (although there is no further transformation).


Transforming back doesn't require a roll, unless of course doing so requires you to Defy Danger. Changing into wolf-form is usually the result of triggering the Lycanthropic Transformation move, but it could also be a consequence from missing a roll on something else.

So... Does this look sensible? Are there any glaring problems with it? Would you handle it differently?

Unless they come up with something clever, I'd just get the person with the worst modifier to roll Defy Danger. The person with the best modifier might find a way to Aid, but not necessarily.

Sure, it might feel more realistic to have everyone roll and to have the person with the best stealth to Aid each of them in turn, but that's an awful lot of dice rolling for no extra fun.

Sure, you get odd edge cases, but those are mostly resolvable through narrative (no, you cannot sneak an entire platoon of chainmail-clad Deep Dwarves and their war moles past the elven sentries, even if the slowest, clumsiest dwarf rolls a natural 12), or not particularly problematic (two master thieves are better at sneaking around than one master thief, despite having twice as many opportunities to be spotted).

I can't imagine that being an accidental change. It's +1 to the base stat, not to the modifier, of course.

Note that the starting stat array has changed (16, 15, 13, 12, 9, 8 instead of 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 8), and the stat score to modifier conversion table is also changed (12 is now a +0 rather than a +1).

Edit: I have run the maths. The biggest boost to statistic modifiers you can get out of the old system is +(+3). The biggest boost you can get in the new system is +(+5). However, you can't quite obtain three modifiers at +3.

A perfectly mundane Adventure Front for you. Note, this hasn't actually been used in a Campaign. I set it up to try to get my head around the way Fronts work, as something very different from the dungeons-and-dark-gods Fronts I've seen before - this one is political. Of course, there's plenty of adventuring to be done - its just that everybody's motivations are less clear.

Death of the Emperor

Description: The Emperor of Heliopolis is dead, felled by a horrific poison. There is no clear or appointed successor, and many forces conspire for the throne.

The Crown of the Sun is a sentient artifact, that rested heavy on the heads of Emperors since the dawn of the Empire. It has slumbered for generations, but the death-agonies of the last Emperor were so horrific that they awoke the Crown's formidable intelligence. It has looked on the current state of the Empire, with its bureaucracy and its Senate and its elections, and it is displeased. It longs for the old days of glory and conquest.
Its impulse is to find a worthy bearer and lead them to glory.
Its moves are:

• Sway the mind of the bearer
• Protect the bearer
• Give the bearer an aura of command
• Lead someone to destruction
• Bestow forbidden knowledge
• Recruit a follower or toady
• Incite desire and conflict
• Demand a sacrifice

Custom player move: Don the Crown of the Sun. Roll +WIS
On a 10+, the Crown finds you worthy, for now. It will aid you.
On a 7-9, the Crown sets a test for you.
On a miss, the Crown decides you are not fit to rule, and will sow your path with obstacles until it changes hands.

Grim portents:

• The Crown is stolen while the Emperor's body lies in rest
• A worthy contender dons the crown and is enfolded in a mantle of glorious light

Impending doom: The Emperor, driven by the Crown of the Sun, abolishes the Senate and becomes a tyrant (Tyranny)


The League of Concerned Citizens are a corrupt government, a cabal with deep pockets and lofty political ambitions.
Their impulse is to seize and maintain an iron grasp on the hearts and minds of the citizenry.
Their moves are:

• Attack someone by stealthy means (kidnapping, etc.)
• Attack someone directly (with a gang or single assailant)
• Absorb or buy out someone important (an ally, perhaps)
• Influence a powerful institution (change a law, manipulate doctrine)
• Establish a new rule (within the organization)
• Claim territory or resources
• Negotiate a deal
• Observe a potential foe in great detail

Grim portents:

• League-sponsored rabble-rousers cause rioting and disorder
• Senators opposed to the League are slandered, threatened, even murdered
• The results of the election come in: An unexpected landslide victory for a little-known contender!

Impending doom: The new Emperor is a pawn of the League (Usurpation)


Tecuh-Tli is a lord of the undead, the lich-priest of the extinct Lizardman nation that once took Heliopolis as its capital. He is magically enslaved, bound as a servant and advisor to the Emperor. With no Emperor on the throne, he is free to scheme, though he cannot directly harm the living.
His impulse is to seek release from his bindings.
His moves are:

• Cast a spell over time and space
• Spy on someone with a scrying spell
• Send forth undead minions
• Tempt someone with promises
• Play factions off against each other
• Travel unseen through secret passageways
• Use magic to confuse and terrify

Grim portents:

• Undead servants start appearing in the employ of various factions
• Tecuh-tli's allies spread panic that a great doom is coming to Heliopolis
• The Abomination Vault beneath the palace is opened to protect against the new danger

Impending doom: Tecuh-Tli uses the tools from the Abomination Vault to reanimate the Lizardman hordes (Destruction)

Stakes:

• Who will be the contenders for the throne?
• Will there be a bloody revolution, or a peaceful election?
• With whom will the PCs ally?
• Who killed the last Emperor, and why?