Custom Move - Old Hand

For various reasons, I've been thinking of a move that lets you 'borrow' a move from another playbook. My intention is that this is for a character-type who's kind of a mentor - powerful and wise but time is catching up with you, and this move shows that they learned damn near everything back in the day but it's just not as easy, you know?

My original idea was to have them roll to take a move from another PC's playbook, and if it was a weak hit or failure then there's some kind of drawback or penalty - not as young as you used to be/long time since you had that job/etc.

But it sounds complicated and not very fun. The quicker and dirtier way is to, at the start of the session, pick a move from the PC you have the highest Hx with (player's choice to break ties). But that might be a little... bland, it really doesn't have the Achilles's heel I imagine this character would have.

Thoughts, folks?

When you use someone else's move roll+Hx. On a hit you get to use their move as it is written, no ifs or butts. On 10+ they hold 1 which they can spend to use one of your moves. On a miss you get +1 Hx with them but their move triggers as if it failed. With moves that you don't normally fail with (no roll) the MC makes a hard move as usual.

But that might be a little... bland, it really doesn't have the Achilles's heel I imagine this character would have.

Well, to do it, do it!  Why not just have the player describe what they're doing, and if their old age or infirmity comes into play, have them act under fire to succeed; perhaps with a bit of tell them the consequences and ask as well as some offer an opportunity, with or without cost sprinkled in by the MC for good measure.

I don't really see the need for a more detailed mechanic; the characters don't know about "moves" and, in my mind, it's much more cool if they describe what they're doing rather than picking from a list of possible moves...

Why do you feel it requires a custom move to accomplish what you're looking for?

Krippler - Very nice, this is mechanically almost exactly what I was looking for! I like how it also encourages the use of the move as a support for other PCs (although I didn't mention it, this playbook is meant to function as a sort of mentor) - the added bonuses of the hold or Hx bonus serve that purpose. Thanks!


Chroma - You actually bring up a very good point, and I had to think about it a bit as to why I felt this needed a custom move. I may be misreading here, but what you describe about using the move acting under fire and other MC moves makes me think of a character that happens to be old. What I had in mind was a person who is aged, yet more than what they seem and whose abilities suggest a mysterious past (best example I can think of is "Old Ben" Kenobi, or Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond).

I suppose one might split the difference and use one of those "describe what you want, and the MC will tell you the possible consequences" moves, which is somewhere between "roleplay what your character does" and "use a mechanic to get what you want". Something similar was also being used as part of Chris Goodwin's Supers hack.

What I had in mind was a person who is aged, yet more than what they seem and whose abilities suggest a mysterious past (best example I can think of is "Old Ben" Kenobi, or Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond).

Have you seen "The Coot" playbook?

Not sure if the link at the end still works or not, if not, drop me a pm with your email and I'll send you a copy.

Aw yeah, I totally forgot about that playbook! Thanks for reminding me, it actually has a lot of what I was thinking of. The moves that roll Hx instead of other stats are good, and also kind of reinforce the "mentor" thing I was going for.