Some General Questions

Played my second session with my kids the other day. Some things that came up:

Research Move. The party traveled to a port city on a wide river. It had a good sized library. The Wizard wanted to research all kinds of things--mainly I suspect to just try to get XP. But it did fit with his bookish character. If INT is a highlighted stat for that session, couldn't a wizard just spend all his time in quiet contemplation and thereby get XP? Is there a required amount of time for how long the research should take. It just says "some time". Seems like there should be some limits or some sort of restriction. The Wizard's Research and Ritual moves allowed him to reach 3rd level while the others barely crested 2nd level at the end of the mission.

Continuing with Research, how would someone who isn't The Wizard research something in the library. The fiction could be the Thief for example goes to a library and says "I want to read up on how to make poisons." If they don't have Research skill can they not research? Would it be Discern Realities instead? Sorry, not sure how to handle moves that could reasonably performed by another class.

Prepare Spells Move. Similar to above, any guidelines on how long it takes the Wizard to prepare his spells? It just says, "When you spend uninterrupted time in quiet contemplation...."Is it quicker for lower level spells and longer for the higher level ones? Is this 5 minutes per spell? 2 hours?

Animal Companion. The Ranger has an animal companion. She chose a cougar. How much damage does it give in combat? Same as the Ranger?

Summon Lesser Monster. Does the Wizard get the exact creature from the monsters section? What constitutes a "lesser" monster, as opposed to a greater one? What's the dividing line? Does it have a limit on amount of HPs or anything?

Thanks! We had fun playing.

The theif in question could hire a librarian, scholar, or mage as a hireling to research.

I'll have to tackle your questions one at a time, I only have a free moment. Re: research...

The wizard takes as long to research as fictionally takes to get stuff in that library. In a supernatually organized planar library that could even be minutes. In a mad-wiard's den that could be days. Let the fiction dictate.

If the wizard is taking a lot of time doing that, other things are happening, right? Is he going to keep researching while the goblins make off with the treasure he wants to get?

When the Thief walks into a library and searches for something no move has happened so the game continues as normal. You respond with what the fiction, your prep, and the rules demand. You might even make a soft move, since they're looking at you to find out what happens. Maybe tell them the consequences and ask: "You've never seen this many books, this is clearly the wizard's domain. You start poking around and find some leads, but the organization is completely foreign to you. You can get some information here, but it'll take a day at the least. Are you going to spend all that time with the orc army on the move?" (Tell them the requirements and ask being the move – for the wizard they could probably research here in a few hours.)

Preparing spells:

We're going to clarify this one to a wording like "an hour or two." Exact time is down to the situation, it'll usually just happen along with making camp.

Thanks everyone.

Ran my third session recently. I think the Summon Lesser Monster spell needs some clarification. Here's the spell:

Summon Lesser Monster
Level 3, Ongoing, Summoning
A monster appears and aids you as best it can. Choose the type of
monster by choosing 1d6 statements from the list below, the GM will
tell you the type of monster you get based on your choices:
  •The monster is intelligent
  •The monster is not reckless
  •The monster is happy with you
  •The monster follows one command
  •The monster is a vicious combatant
  •The monster is charismatic
  •The monster has some useful adaptation
The creature remains on this plane until it dies or you dismiss it.
While the spell is ongoing, you take -1 to Cast a Spell.

Questions:
The main question I have is how much control does the Wizard have over the monster? The spell just says it aids the Wizard as best it can. Can it aid the wizard if the wizard doesn't give it a command--choose that item from the list? I suppose it would since the spell says it does aid him, but it has to understand the situation well enough to aid him. 

One of the items in the list is "The monster follows one command." Does that need to be in there if the creature will aid the wizard anyway? Can the Wizard take items that more than once? And what is one command? Can their one command be "Follow my next 100 commands?"--which is basically what The Wizard did. He said, "Do whatever I say from here on out."

I think changing the spell to something like this would be more fun as it leads to the potential of magic gone awry:

Summon Lesser Monster
Level 3, Ongoing, Summoning
A monster appears and has the potential of aiding you.

On a 10+ choose the type of monster by choosing 1d6 statements from the list below. On a 7-9 the GM chooses 1d6 choices from the list below. The GM then tells you the type of monster you get based on the choices:

  •The monster is intelligent
  •The monster is not reckless
  •The monster is happy with you
  •The monster follows only one two word command, like:
   "Guard me!" or "Attack that!" or "Follow me!" (you can take this item multiple times)
  •The monster is a vicious combatant
  •The monster is charismatic
  •The monster has some useful adaptation
  *The monster is uncontrollable until subdued.
  *The monster emits an unforseen magical side effect at some point.
  *The monster lashes out at the caster and companions.
  *The monster remains on this plane only if destroyed (despite the description of this spell.)
  *The monster is playful and friendly with you and desperately wants to show it's amiability first and foremost.
  *The monster will aid you, but only if you first ____________.
 
The creature remains on this plane until it dies or you dismiss it.
While the spell is ongoing, you take -1 to Cast a Spell.

Another question that arose from this situation is with regards to Monster vs Monster combat. For example, in our session, the wizard was engaged 1 on 1 with a Worg in a burned out shed following a goblin attack on a farmhouse. He cast this spell, succeded, and in a blinding flash of light, he rolled a 6 on the list, and I determined a Blink Dog came to his aid.

But then I wasn't sure how to proceed. How do I determine who would win the Monster on Monster combat? The Worg or the summoned Blink Dog? True, the Worg was wounded already after a couple of magic missles slammed into him and the Blink Dog gives much greater damage---but you never know. After all, the chars roll dice to determine randomness in how successful their moves are. Should the summoned monster do the same? Or is it just GMs call? I ultimately just said the Blink Dog won out, since he wasn't hurt yet and was a stronger creature, and in one bite took down the Worg.

Not that anybody asked me, but here's how I would do it:

The monster, when summoned, has basic understanding of what's happening and what the caster wants.

How the monster goes about helping the caster get what he wants in that situation is up to the monster.

If the caster wants the monster to do something that it doesn't want to, or wouldn't think to, then that requires the "command" option.  So futiley throwing itself at the dragon or attacking the leader instead of the nearest enemy might require a "command".

As for how to resolve the monster-fight, I think you did well.  Followed principles and all that. Be a fan of the characters, Think Dangerous, etc.

The dog was fresher and meaner than the Worg.  Let the Worg die.  Or if that doesn't work, if the Worg has the advantage, then "Sometimes, let them decide" / "Show Signs of Doom".  Let the player know that the dog is not going to make it and see what the player does to help (or not).

I think that sounds right, but goodness knows I do this wrong all of the time.