GM's Guide

teaching the game

GM'S GUIDE

MECHANICAL OVERVIEW

You always set a difficulty before an action roll. Sometimes the difficulty will be noted by an adversary, other times you’ll have to make it up. Use the information below as guidance: 10 - Easy | 15 - Medium | 20 - Hard Remember that when PCs roll with Hope, they gain a Hope, and when PCs roll with Fear, you gain a Fear. You can always give advantage or disadvantage to a PC on a roll, if it makes sense in the situation. If a player has advantage, have them roll a d6 and add the value to their roll. If they have disadvantage, they instead subtract that value. When you have advantage as a GM, you roll an additional d20 and take the higher result. When you have disadvantage, roll an additional d20 and take the lower one. You can always make a GM move when the players roll a failure or with Fear, the narrative provides a golden opportunity, or the table looks to you for what happens next. Additionally, you can always spend a Fear to make a GM move when you normally wouldn't. When you make a GM move, you should create a complication, signal that a new threat is on its way, reveal a new danger, spotlight an adversary, have the PC mark a Stress, or anything else that seems narratively relevant in the scene. During combat, you'll often use your GM move to spotlight an adversary. This means it is their turn to act, usually to move and/or attack a target in range of their weapon, or do something else important in the scene. Remember that you can always spend a Fear after spotlighting an adversary to shift the spotlight to another adversary, or make an additional GM move of your choice. You can typically only spotlight each adversary once per GM turn. When an adversary attacks a PC, you’ll make an attack roll. Roll a d20 and add the adversary’s attack modifier, then ask if the total meets or beats the Evasion value on the PC’s character sheet. If it does, you’ll roll the damage dice and tell the PC what the value and type is. “That’s a 5 and a 3, so that’s

While in battle, keep an eye on quieter players or those who are more hesitant to jump in on their own, and if needed, shift the spotlight their direction by asking them what they are doing in the scene.

cont'd

Ranges in the game are abstracted to common language and at your discretion, but if you’re playing with maps and minis, the list below is a good place to start:

• Melee is when two creatures are next to one another.

• Very Close is 5-10 feet, or anywhere on the map within the length of the short side of a playing card (about 3 inches).

• Close is 10-30 feet, or anywhere on the map within the length of a standard pencil (about 6 inches).

• Far is 30-100 feet, or anywhere within a letter-sized piece of paper’s longest length (about 12 inches).

• Very Far is anywhere beyond that, while still in the scene. Movement during a player’s turn is only restricted if there is danger present in the scene. During combat, PCs can move anywhere within close range when they are making an action roll. If they want to move as their only action, or get somewhere beyond close range while danger is present, they should make an Agility roll to see if they get there safely. Adversaries can move within close range and act (make an attack, etc.), or spend their spotlight moving anywhere else. Below is a stat block for an adversary in this adventure.

Thistlefolk Thief

Tier 1 Leader Serrated Blade: Melee - 2d4+3 (phy) Thresholds: 7/14 ATK: +3 HP: O O O O Difficulty: 14 Stress: O O

FEATURES

Back Off - Action: Spend a Fear to make an attack roll against all targets within melee range. Any they succeed against are blasted backwards, dealing 2d6+3 magic damage and pushing them into far range. On the left side are their standard weapon attack, attack modifier, and the difficulty to hit the thief. On the right are their damage thresholds, hit points, and stress. On the bottom are their features, special moves they can make. Actions are moves the adversary can make that while in the spotlight, and Reactions tell you when to use them but often happen when an adversary is not already in the spotlight. Some features also require spending Fear. Fear Guide

• Spend a Fear to interrupt the scene with a GM move.

• Spend a Fear to make an additional move during a GM turn.

• Spend a Fear to use an adversary's or environment's Fear move.