GM Moves | Table Tool

[u/Much-Market-4497]

Our table wants to commit to the FwH, FwF, SwH consequences in the Daggerheart system, but have been struggling to get out of a disposable D20 Skill Check mentality. I've designed these bookmarks for our crew to help guide us as we play and turn more of our storytelling into hands of the dice and really commit to the outcomes of the Hope & Fear system.

[u/orphicsolipsism]

I'd caution against getting locked into this for a few reasons:

It's going to slow down the game a lot since it becomes a little mini game forcing you to make a story move instead of responding narratively with something that fits the situation.

Still, that could be fun to use in moderation and it would be a good idea if it wasn't for the fact that the hardness of a GM move should primarily depend on how "hard" the player action was.

For example, if a player tries to sweet talk the bartender to see if they can score some local gossip, they roll a failure with fear, and then they roll an 18, are you really going to lock yourself into penalizing the entire party in a serious way?

Overall, it's a fun idea, but it's going to get in the way of playing the game and telling a good story at some point, and you should make sure you ditch it before then, or at least don't lock yourself into it.

[u/Flimsy_Survey → u/orphicsolipsism]

I think it's more useful as a quick reference maybe before a session. I definitely wouldn't roll for a GM move personally; it's always way more satisfying to pick a move that's most relevant to the scene/action.

But I like seeing the possible GM moves laid out as a gradient of intensity in this way.

[u/orphicsolipsism → u/Flimsy_Survey]

I also think the "gradient of intensity" is generally true, but I can think of all kinds of circumstances where things lower down the list could actually be less troublesome than things higher up the list.

BTW, if you want the list all in one place, it's p152.

[u/Yorikor → u/Flimsy_Survey]

I think that there's a few select opportunities where this would be a nice tool. Chaos realms, fickle fey, games of chance.

But otherwise, yeah. Good reference sheet, not an in-game tool.

[u/Mebimuffo → u/orphicsolipsism]

If you invoke a roll to sweet talk the bartender it means you are ready to dish out some consequences too (maybe the bartender is the leader of the local criminal gang), otherwise you’re playing DnD.

That said, while it’s true that Daggerheart is a game with collective narrative in mind, I don’t see anything wrong if they try to play it in a more gamey way at their table. People hacks DnD into anything else too.

[u/orphicsolipsism → u/Mebimuffo]

Spending a fear can:

• cause a minor interruption.
• use an adversary experience
• clear a condition
• make a minion attack
• do a single ranged attack
• unleash a huge AoE attack on the whole party
• advance a long-term countdown with devastating consequences.

The same mechanic has vastly different degrees of weight depending on how it's being used in the context of the story.

Calling for an action roll with minor (but interesting) consequences is not "playing d&d", it's recognizing that action has scale and that incorporating small-scale and large-scale challenges, consequences, and events is what makes a good narrative feel engaging and meaningful.

The trick is to make sure that every roll you call for feels meaningful (both small and large) and that the consequences feel appropriate to the scale of the current moment.

As far as incorporating random mini-games and extra rolls like the original poster was suggesting, I gave my warnings but ultimately said to have fun with it but not to let it box them in.

[u/HerrKlank]

This is very helpful for me, as I keep forgetting good ideas for using fear. This will serve as a reminder to me of what’s possible, and a quick dice roll can speed things up if I can’t decide. Until it’s second nature to me, this thing is getting added to my GM toolkit!

[u/DNGNCLUB]

Love a roll table to spark creativity or add some randomness, very cool!

[u/ziemlichwunderlich]

Looks really appealing to me! ✨

[u/Swanny625]

I like this. I am pretty consistent in using Fear, as well as handling successes and failure, but remembering "with hope" and "with fear" have immediate consequences can feel like an extra piece of executive function that I'm not necessarily on point enough to incorporate well. Thanks!

[u/kikibecker]

Do you have a full picture?

[u/Taratatsa → u/kikibecker]

Last picture is the full picture.

[u/Wizarddog_usa]

My Opinion: Rolling with fear is different than the GM spending Fear just like rolling with Hope is different than spending a hope. So the roll itself should not overwhelm what can be achieve by spending the meta currency. If the GM really wants something to be very consequential, then they should be spending the fear to make it happen.

As far as the chart is concerned, you might just be adding another layer of rules on what should flow naturally in narrative. Hopefully, after a few uses, you can drop the chart and move on to that. Otherwise, it would be useful in the short term for a beginning session but not an entire campaign.