Basic Moves
On any 10+, cure a Feeling. On any 6-, incur a Feeling.
Analyze / Research
When you try to learn about something, say why it's dangerous or what it may cost, then roll plus Biology or Engineering.
What are the tools? What are you doing with them? How does it get you messy? What are you like, mid-study?
10+: Take three rewards.
7-9: Take two, at a small cost.
6-: Take one, at a terrible cost.
A reward can be a chunk of info, like:
- This puppet is controlled from behind the curtain
- Alice has you trapped in a simulation
- The Trilobiter once had a tryst with The Breathalyzer
- The alligators will part for a gift of meat
- Expeditions have been getting swallowed by the woods for decades
- The lab's radiation has been mutating the butterflies
- It favors its left flank
- The baby was last seen in the narcotics district
or an Asset representing some technical knowledge, like:
- Data on the plankton migration
- The current knowledge on organ printing
- Mental map of the reef
- Communication cues for the dire beefalo
- The history of war ration production
- All future weather
- Fae Court etiquette
- Inner workings of her mech
Invent / Repair
When you build or fix something, say what could go wrong, then roll plus Biology or Engineering.
What are the materials? What are you doing with them? How does it get you messy? What are you like, mid-creation?
10+: IT'S ALIVE! Choose one flourish:
- It works doubly well
- An ally gains a knowledge Asset
- Take +1 forward to Invent / Repair again
- Your off-hand makes an extra invention with the scraps
7-9: IT'S PRETTY GOOD! But choose one cost:
- It depletes a resource
- It worsens a danger
- Someone gets hurt
- Take a Feeling
6-: IT'S A DISASTER! Choose two disasters...
- It explodes
- It goes haywire
- It hurts your rep
- It drives someone mad
...or decide that it seems to work now, but will betray you.
Dominate the Room
When you demand attention and influence people with your force of personality, state your exact goal, then roll plus Sociology.
What kind of people are here? Do you let loose or calculate carefully?
10+: Choose two:
7-9: Choose one:
- Command aid
- Command fear
- Command rage
- Command nausea
- Inspire joy
- Change opinions
- Deceive
6-: Achieve the literal opposite of what you wanted.
Befriend the Strange
When you try to connect with a freak, say what you have in common, then roll plus Sociology.
What do you reveal, or what facade do you give?
10+: You form a true bond. What is the biggest problem in its life?
7-9: You make a good impression. How is it conditional?
6-: It becomes your enemy or you have an awkward moment, whichever is worse.
Stunt
When you attempt a physical feat, describe the shot, then roll plus Athletics.
What personal flourish do you add? Do you up the risk or hedge your bet?
10+: Far out! Everyone claps and you choose a bonus:
- Flat-footed foes
- Awed onlookers
- Inspired allies with +1 forward
- Deep personal satisfaction
7-9: Gnarly! How did you almost beef it? What minor injury did you get?
6-: Bogus! You ragdoll down the stairs and choose a punishment:
- Go Mad
- Get an injury Burden
- Enemy succeeds at the same thing
- Everyone is nice about it and that's worse
Sabotage
When you seek to get in the way, take someone down, set a trap, break someone's stuff, or muddy someone's name, say what you risk, then roll plus Biology, Engineering, Sociology, or Athletics.
What personal flourish do you add? Do you twist the knife or blunt the blow?
10+: Kick their ass and choose a bonus:
- Inflict a permanent disadvantage
- Steal something
- Boost your rep
- Learn something juicy
- Gain an ally/minion
- Just fucking kill them
7-9: Make it work but choose a cost:
- Be exposed
- Get injured
- Break an Asset
- Hurt someone else
- Make an enemy
- It doesn't feel good
6-: Horribly miscalculate. You incur your stated risk, and the enemy chooses a bonus against you.
Work Together
When you use any Move, you can work with an ally and add both your stats to the roll (or +1 from an NPC). This is deeply intimate and risky.
How can people tell you're eerily in sync? How can they tell you're polar opposites?
9+: Form a bond. Choose one together:
- Each treat the bond as an Asset
- Each gain a knowledge Asset from the other
- Each take +1 ongoing to help each other for the rest of the session
8-: Form a loathing. Both Go Mad. Louder player chooses one:
- Each treat the loathing as a Burden; -1 to anything that benefits the other
- Each break one of the other's Assets
- Each gain insight into exactly how to threaten the other
On either result, each player fills in: "X is the only person in the world who Y."
Go Mad
When you mark all 5 Feelings, or you get a shock or trauma, you enter THE MADNESS PLACE. You can also turn any 6- into a 10+ by choosing to enter THE MADNESS PLACE.
How does your manner and appearance change? How do you speak to people? How are your abilities supercharged? What meaningless details fall by the wayside?
While in THE MADNESS PLACE, clear all your Feelings and don't incur more. You must act on your Mania immediately. You get +2 to rolls that serve your Mania. On a 10+ success, also answer how you hurt someone or something less important to you.
Leave THE MADNESS PLACE when you have taken drastic action for your Mania, or when something from your Grounding snaps you out of it.
Stroll Right In
When you know what you want to accomplish, but don't know why it should be difficult, choose or roll for a prompt:
2. Why is this deadly?
3. What followed you?
4. What problem is coming home to roost?
5. What history do you have here?
6. How does this put your Grounding at risk?
7. Who stands in your way?
8. Why has no one achieved this before?
9. What don't you know?
10. What mistake is coming back to bite you?
11. What tempts someone to betray the mission?
12. Rocks fall everyone dies