Charming & Open

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Jeremy

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Charming & Open
« on: June 07, 2012, 11:28:41 AM »
The "Mansion's Cavity" thread got me thinking about Charming & Open. Starting a new thread to avoid jacking that one.

Just ran a game with bard (full AP coming), and I think I totally misread Charming & Open. I assumed that when the bard spoke frankly with someone, the bard could ask the question and I had to answer truthfully.  I assumed it was a variant on Read a Sitch in AW. 

1) Why is the choice built in? My principles (be a fan, give monsters life/NPCs names, ask questions) would lead to me to pretty much always answer the questions.  I can maybe see the value of choice in PC-v-PC interactions, but even then I think it's more fun if the questions are flying.

2) Given that there *is* a choice, how should I, the GM, be making the decision whether to answer? Like I said, most of the principles make me think I should answer. But some (make a move that follows) make me wonder. If I'm considering things from the point of a view of my skeevy, devious NPC, making a move that follows would lead me to not answer. Should I be considering this from the point of view of the NPC being portrayed or the GM running the game? 

3) I also assumed that these questions are (or at least can be) player-to-player questions and NOT character-to-character.  Like, the bard doesn't have to actually ask "so, old chum, what would it take for you to look the other way while we slip through this door here?"  The player can just ask that of the GM (or the other PC's player).  Yes?

4) When I (the GM) choose a question to ask back, what should I be basing that on? What the NPC wants to know? What *I* think is interesting as the GM?  Does the NPC I'm running know the answer?  It's fuzzy to me.  Maybe the move needs some rewording or clarification. Maybe the answer is "all of the above, whatever's appropriate given the circumstances."  If so, I'd recommend addressing it in the Class Moves section.


Re: Charming & Open
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2012, 11:42:36 AM »
So, there's some interesting stuff that happens with Charming and Open, especially between PCs.  For that, the choice being there means that if you do lie, the other player knows it, right?  Because you don't get to ask.  It's not a trade.  The Bard asks, you lie, that's the end of it.  Well, not always.  Because sometimes lying to someone who trusts you and is being frank and open and earnest means you're Defy Danger - the Danger being "I lose this person's trust".  Something I've seen in play before.

As a GM, answering for NPCs, you can always lie, but it works the same way.  Often, I'll say "she tells you that, no, she hasn't seen your brother, but you can see the way she grits her teeth and won't meet your eye - she's lying to you, she has seen him, but for some reason won't admit it.  I wonder why?" and then you make your move, you snowball and push.  Use the lie to create additional drama.  Remember, there's no risk here, for the Bard, mechanically, it's just a part of the way Bards communicate, so you don't have to give them anything.  it's a trade if you do, and often that's really fun, but keep it part of an ongoing story.

The questions are character-to-character and player-to-player both in that by the end, they're things that get learned, but they don't have to be literally "WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?!" they can be surreptitious or sneaky, couched in hidden meaning, etc. Always ask questions; "how do you learn that?  Is it spoken or unspoken?  What gives him away?" and let the players guide the NPCs a little. 

As for asking back, the NPCs are your channel into the fictional world, so think both about what you want to know, as the GM and about what they want to know as the NPC, but keep it in-fiction if you can.  Think about what the NPC might learn from the tenor and tone of the conversation.  If it's a sultry conversation by candlelight, "whom do you serve" is going to be harder to learn than "what do you most desire".

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noofy

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Re: Charming & Open
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2012, 05:12:03 PM »
Goodness, I hope that it is in the final draft's 'Move Analysis' Chapter! Excellent Adam, so very helpful and wonderful examples of how to get the best out of charming and open (and just playing a bard in general), thanks!