Hello there
Looking for a bit of feedback on a move. I have been revising a recover move for a hack I made for the game Glitter Hearts. The reason for the revision, is that I feel that the current version kinda makes the flow of the game “stumble”. So I tried to make a simplere version, but fear that it might be to “mechanical”.
The general idea of the move is that the characters gain Stress (basically damage), and can clear it by spending time with Bonds (people, places and groups), that is important to them. But doing so risks the Bond somehow.
===== OLD VERSION =====
Reconnect & Recover
Whenever you have downtime and hang out or spend time with your normal life, decide which Bond you want to focus on and roll+Bond. *On a 10+, choose one below:
- Clear all Stress
- Clear a Debility
- Raise the Bond by 1 (max +3).
*On a 7-9, as above but something problematic, dangerous, or inconvenient will make the Bond unavailable for some time unless dealt with. Start framing a scene and play out things that happen. The GM will jump in and add the element when they so choose.
*On a 6-, things go very wrong, potentially damaging or destroying the Bond. Describe the scene and what goes wrong. Then Check your Bond.
===== NEW VERSION =====
Reconnect & Recover
Whenever you have downtime and hang out or spend time with your normal life, decide which Bond you want to focus on and roll+Bond. *On a 10+, choose one below:
- Clear all Stress
- Clear a Debility
- Raise the Bond by 1 (max +3).
*On a 7-9, you clear half your Stress (round up), and choose one below:
- The Bond becomes unavailable for some time
- An obstacle/problem appears for the Bond
- Its opinion of you or connection to you, changes
… then describe how that looks in the fiction.
*On a 6-, things go very wrong and the GM may make a hard move involving the subject of the Bond.
Not sure if I explained how it “stumbled” (not good at explaining hunches and feelings). But it is like the story has to stop, create the scene which can risk taking quite some time, leaving the other players with nothing to do.
But moving the “scene” aspect to a miss sounds like a good idea. After all, it is basically what GMs already does on a miss. So maybe there is less need for wording a miss?
But would making it unavaible feel like a hard move? Usually hard moves mean “no way to prevent it”.
*Note: “Check Your Bond” is a move that is made to see if a Bond changes. It might also be the “lead in” to this move that is tripping up the flow.
I get what you mean. There is value in keeping the momentum up. Read the drivethrough page for Glitter Hearts and I get the feeling bonds are really important and central to the fiction. In a way having less complications with them takes away something important. The rules are made to be hacked though.
What I imagine the move’s outcomes looks is something like this (with my hacks)
Strong hit: they have time for you, they can listen to you and dupport you
Weak hit: they can be there a bit for you but there are other things going on in their complicated lives that takes their attention. Nothing major.
Miss: they aren’t in a place where they can offer you support for one reason or another. More likely they need your support.
This also means that hits can be done with a wuick framing if a quick scene (you get coffe and talk, ypu get coffe but Jim has to pick up the kids from school as his ex have gone on an impromptu vaction with her new boyfriend). And misses can be done later and possibly spark a small sidestory as the characters set out to humiliate the ex infront if the new boyfriend so the ex gets unceremoniously dunped in paradise.
Something I also thought of was the possibility of spending 1 Bond to get a better success level representing the character treating the relationship way too onesided
Considering the genre, Glitter Hearts should have something like Bonds. But for some odd reason, it doesn’t. It is something I added to my hack of the game. But as I mentioned, I wanted to revise the move.
But what you describe is basically how I envision it looking in the fiction. Except for the miss. The thing the move is suppose to imitate from the genre, is when the characters hangout, trouble/problems will some times show up (mystical happenings, strange dangers, meddling parents, etc.). Which I have realized after writing this reply to you, sounds an awful lot like a hard move XD
You also made me think, that maybe the stumbling sensation stems from: to activate the move, the character has to do it. AKA, go to the park, spend time with the Bond, etc. Trigger it through the conversation. So they are essentially already setting up the scene and having to do so again might just be repetitive.
I considered allowing spending of Bond (burning them). But my hack already had mechanics/resources that plays with rolls. So adding another one seems like it would be way to much.