"Bend Bars, Lift Gates" and Replicating Class Moves (Plus a Barbarian question)

  • 16 Replies
  • 12806 Views
*

noclue

  • 609
In a nutshell, if the player has a clever idea that can drive the story - why not use it regardless of his class and set of moves? I tend to think that the idea of a Cleric calling his god and bending the bars exerting himself and trying not to give a roar from the incredible strain his unadopted muscles feel is pretty cool. But if it's a roll for the sake of a roll with some rule lawyering involved there is really no need for it and GM just goes with what he envisions for such a situation, yes.
I'm not sure what I've said that would lead you to believe that I don't think a Cleric calling on his god and bending some bars is cool. It's incredibly cool. It's so cool I want to know what it looks like when his god answers him. It's so cool, i want lurid descriptions of the vitality rushing through his limbs and the god's booming voice in his skull. It's so cool, those bars are toast and that thief has a clear shot at the keys.

I just don't think it's defying an imminent threat and if I've already established that bending the bars is going to be noisy, I think it's still noisy.

EDIT: and that doesn't mean that clever players might not find ways to deal with noise issue. Heck, that might be one Discern Realities away.

But we should be careful not to conflate a rules call "cleric bending bars does not trigger a DD in the absence of a danger" and a difference in style. I dont think the rules are going to inform the decision of whether trying to be quiet can be a strength challenge. That's more a difference in taste.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2013, 01:20:01 PM by noclue »
James R.

    "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
     --HERBERT SPENCER

You could let the cleric use a less-optimal version of Bend Bars, Lift Gates as a custom move.  On a 10+, choose 2.  On a 7-9, choose 1.  (The fighter's move gets to choose 3 or 2.)

I run it as this, except the GM picks 2 and if the player rolls 7-9 they get to pick 1 of those 2. So it's not going to go nearly as well for the non-fighter.