Splatbook*

Results

When a move has you roll, it will also say what happens based on that roll.

On a 10+ (meaning, a total roll of 10 or higher), you get a strong hit, the best you can hope for.

On a 7-9 (meaning, a total roll of 7, 8, or 9), you get a weak hit. You get only some of what you wanted, or you get what you wanted but with a cost.

On a 6- (meaning, a total roll of 6 or lower), you get a miss, which entails these effects:

  • You mark XP, unless the move says otherwise
  • The GM says what happens, and it will be bad

A 6- doesn't always mean you screwed up. It means something bad happens, something that your PC won't like. Your foe gets the jump on you. The branch breaks before

you can jump. You find the missing villager, but oh no, they've been dead for hours.

A few moves say what happens on a 6-, in which case the GM must abide by those results. But for most moves: on a 6-, mark XP and prepare for the worst.

If a move doesn't have you roll, then it will just tell you what happens.

Whatever the results of a move, work together to figure out what it looks like in the fiction. The GM has final say on how the world reacts to and is affected by your actions, but they are constrained by the results of your move and they might very well ask you for input.

You and your fellow PCs have entered the cave bears' den, hoping to harvest some much-needed meat during a long, hard winter. You're playing Caradoc (the Would-be Hero).

"Caradoc," says the GM, "your eyes are adjusting to the gloom when you hear snuffling, and the sound of something moving, something big. At the edge of the light, a huge form rears up and ROARS. It's a bear, what do you do?"

"Here we go," you say. "I yell and rush it, shield up, stabbing with my spear."

"That sure sounds like you're fighting in melee with this 10-foot-tall bear. Roll +STR to Clash!"

You get lucky and roll a 4 and a 5. With your STR +1, that's a 10! You (perhaps unwisely) choose to strike hard for extra damage, but suffer its attack in turn. You deal 6 damage total, not bad! You and the GM agree that this means your strike landed and you bloodied the big beast.

But you also suffer its attack. The GM says "As you connect, it just THWAPS you with its right paw. Take 1d10+4 damage. Roll it." You take 9 damage (almost half your hit points). The GM says, "I think you get your shield up but the force of the blow smacks it into your head, and sends you staggering back. Mark the dazed debility, as the world starts spinning."

If you had rolled a 6 or less, then the GM probably would have said that the bear thwacked you (as above) before you were able to stab it. But, hey, at least you would have gotten to mark XP.