The Dragon Breathes Fire! (Keeper Moves)

This is a bit of an exercise.  Here's the situation, the dragon has reared back to breathe fire on a character (Show Signs of an Approaching Threat).  The situation is very simple.  If the character doesn't do something, they will be burned to a crisp.  Assuming a character attempts to get out of the way of the fire, and rolls a result such that the GM will be making a move... what move should the GM make?  The goal of this exercise is to think about the options available.  Don't call out the move, obviously, but what can GM have happen in the game in response?

Keep in mind, if the character rolls a 6 or below, they're going to get hit with the fire AND the DM makes a move.  If the result is 7-9, the DM makes a move and, one assumes, the player avoids some of that damage.   The point is that the harm is coming... this is in response to whatever happens after the "what do you do?"

We're also assuming that what the character wants to do is jump behind a nearby piece of cover ad that the characters are in a somewhat urban setting.  They're in a city or village under attack by a dragon.

Here are the move options:

•  Use a monster, danger, or location move

  • Cast a Powerful Destructive Spell:  In the middle of breathing fire... I don't think it follows in the fiction.
  • Choose a Prey and Don't give it up:  This might have something to do with finding cover.  Perhaps this causes the dragons obsessive attention.  The dragon is willing to face threats in order to get "the one who got away." (Hard Move)
  • Turn a foe against his or her allies:  You are trying to find cover, but there's only so much room.  Who is going to get forced out into the open. (Hard Move)
  • Dive from up high:  It doesn't work with the fiction, really.  The dragon is on the ground and breathing fire.  It's not in the air.
  • Burn those who approach it:  This really does depend.  Did the character's move put them in a position to approach the dragon?  If so, the dragon lets fly!
  • Breath a cone of fire:  This is, technically, what the dragon is in the middle of doing as a soft move.

•  Reveal an unwelcome truth: The dragon can hit and run as needed.  If left unchecked, it will always control the battlefield from the air with the ability to react immediately to anyone who might represent an immediate threat. (Soft Move)

•  Reveal an unwelcome truth: You can dodge well enough but if the dragon lets loose its flames, it will engulf a nearby orphanage. (Soft Move)

•  Reveal an unwelcome truth: You're hiding behind a rum barrel.  This will not go well. (Soft Move)

•  Show signs of an approaching threat:  The nearby buildings are on fire and it's closing in. (Soft Move)

•  Show signs of an approaching threat:  The great red wyrm seems to have fixated on you above all other threats.  You have become its prey. (Soft Move)

•  Deal damage: This is going to happen as a result of an earlier move.  More damage seems egregious, but in keeping with the exercise.  The metal on the obstacle you are hiding behind is red hot to the touch, or the only available obstacle is on fire. (Hard Move)

•  Use up their resources:  Anything could be on fire because of the environment, but to be honest, from the description of the situation, using up the characters resources doesn't seem to follow.  If the characters were to try to duck beneath a shield, bye-bye shield. (Hard Move)

•  Turn their move back on them:  The character jump behind a barricade only to find themselves cornered (Hard Move).

•  Turn their move back on them:  After the characters jump behind cover, they lose sight of the dragon (Hard Move).

•  Separate them:  This seems like the most obvious GM move.  Jumping out of the way of the fire will require that some of the characters jump left and others jump right.  Now, a field of fire separates the groups. (Soft Move, sort of...the fire hasn't come yet)

•  Give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities: 

  • Spell that creates a barrier.  
  • Spell that gives resistance to fire.
  • The Dragon, in rearing back, reveals a chink in its armor.
  • The barricade is volatile.  If a character could throw it, you could cause it to explode in the dragon's face.

•  Show a downside to their class, race, or equipment: Obviously it depends on the class.  Maybe the Red Dragon has a thing against dwarves.  Perhaps the dragon can feel the mage hiding, or maybe it can feel the surge of holy power from the cleric.

•  Offer an opportunity, with or without cost: When the characters jump behind the barricade, the dragon loses its attention on them.  If they'd like, they can sneak around, but it's putting themselves in danger. (Soft Move)

•  Offer an opportunity, with or without cost: Across the square, the characters see the charred remains of a dead dragon hunter still clinging to his magic spear. (Soft Move)

•  Put someone in a spot: The fire is creeping towards an important NPC, or perhaps a beloved tavern is likely to get caught in the cone of fire. (Soft Move) 

•  Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask: At best, the barricade is a hiding spot.  It's not going to be good cover.  If the character wants to use it, they'll need a distraction before they can get over there. (Soft Move)

Dungeon Moves

•  Change the environment:  This seems like an obvious move.  The dragon unleashes fire across the battlefield.  Fires begin all over. (Hard Move)

•  Point to a looming threat: This is covered by another move, but... the encroaching fire is likely to become a problem very soon (Soft Move)

•  Introduce a new faction or type of creature: Little fire elementals jump out of the fire spray and head off into the surrounding town. (Hard Move)

•  Make them backtrack:  The fire from the dragon cuts off the characters approach to the great worm.  They're going to have to find a new way to get to it if that's what they still attend. (Hard Move) 

Monster Moves

•  Learn forbidden knowledge: Does the dragon learn something about the limits of the party that is stalking him or her?  Perhaps, watching them flounder as they try to get out of the way will help the dragon later on when it sets up its future death traps! (Hard Move)

•  Cast a spell over time and space:  I don't know how mystical you want to get with all of this?  I'm a fan of Excalibur, the movie, in which Merlin is constantly talking about the dragon and its slumber.  Is there something epoch shattering that happens now that our dragon is awake and firing away.  Is this the beginning of a new age?  The end of an old one? (Hard Move)

•  Recruit a follower or toady:  I like this move coming out of this situation.  As the great saviors of town and village prepare to eat the flames of the great wyrm, what if there's somebody sitting on the sidelines thinking, "hey, maybe there's a place for me in this dragon's organization."  Next time those characters try to recruit, there's going to be a ringer in the porter pool. (Hard Move)

•  Tempt someone with promises:  "I think we all know that this village doesn't want me to destroy it and I think we see now that these adventurers are ineffective.  Now bring me my tribute, I accept both gold and gems." (Soft Move)

•  Demand a sacrifice:  "Not all of you have to die, today, but one of you must come with me.  I'll give you some time to choose" (Soft Move)

Harm Moves: It kind of depends on how you use harm moves.  Are they always there to pull on someone who is hurt (that's what I do) or are they part of being injured.  In the former case, people get hurt trying to get out of the way.  They're hurt leg causes them to slip and fall when they are tested to get moving.  They feint from the pain.  (Hard move)

 

Bystander Moves (from Monster of the Week)

Go off alone:  "Where did our porter go?  He's always wandering off at times like this!"  This is a perfect time to put Jimmy Olson in danger.  (Hard Move)

Argue with the hunters:  I think it's perfectly reasonable that someone might blame the adventuerers for the dragon bearing on his or her town, and what perfect timing they have for picking right now to tell the adventurers their criticism, loudly, while the characters attempt to hide from a great fire breathing lizard. (Hard Move)

Get in the way:  The characters want to take cover... so does everyone else.  Not everyone can hide behind an wind-up animatronic band! (Soft Move)

Reveal Something:  Perhaps now is the time to reveal that there is a secret way to get behind the dragon or perhaps to let the characters know that the dragon has a favorite mortal from amongst the peasantry. (Hard Move)

Confess their fears:  I mean sure, a peasant having a freakout is likely in this scenario, but you can go with something more.  What if the peasant fears that the dragon has come back to revive it's old master who was hanged, dragged behind wild horses, and thrown down an abandoned well covered with magical symbols.  It's the kind of information that player characters tend to want to know about. (Hard Move)

Freak out in terror:  Yeah.  This is perfect.  Keep in mind, though, you still have all kinds of options.  Is the person screaming someone important?  A random nobody?  A child?  One of the character's loved ones? (Hard Move)

Try to help the hunters:  Hunters have bows.  One of the things I like about this move is that it doesn't insinuate that the effort is lame.  Maybe the townsfolk really can help.  Why not?  If a bunch of the farmers try to give the characters a hand and are useful at it, it's a much more interesting encounter next time when the characters are called upon to save the NPCs. (Hard Move)

Try to protect people:  Sometimes when our heroes are less than heroic, someone else has to step in.  Again, this is a great move to set up future drama.  If Grom, the strongman who works as a lumberjack manages to save the orphanage while the characters draw the dragon's fire, who is the town likely to remember for heroism. (Hard Move)

Display inability or incompetence:  A character attempts to dodge out of the way, and it doesn't work.  He or she falls, that's bad.  An NPC comes out, braving the likelihood of almost certain death to help... and falls as well.  Look, players already sort of think that NPCs are incompetent.  I wouldn't play into the bumbling idiot of an NPC.  It's nice, sometimes, that they try to follow the character's example of heroism and just can't live up to it. (Hard Move)

Seek help or comfort:  There's a dragon breathing fire on a village.  Peasants needing help is kind of already baked into the situation, and players are likely to ignore it.  Is it really forwarding the story?  But what if the peasant needing help will end up giving the characters an advantage or make more of the plot known.  Maybe a knight devoted to killing dragons is hold up in the peasant's barn, which is about to go up in flames, and the knight is part of the reason that the dragon is so angry, or maybe the knight is here to give information to someone on how to stop this beast.  The peasant thinks the characters will help because...they look like knights themselves (sort of).  The point is: move the story forward. (Hard Move0

 

Monster Moves (from Monster of the Week)

Hint at its presence:  The scenario is probably beyond this at this point.

Display at its full might:  Fire!  Fire!  Fire!  I think it's not going to forward the story that much if suddenly the attack doubles in intensity, but it will definitely put the fear of dragons into the players.  This might be like one of those scenes in a movie, early on, when the characters get soundly defeated by the bad guy and have to learn to work as a team.  I wouldn't pull this move just to deliver the beat down. (Soft or Hard Move)

Appear suddenly:  You hide, only to turn around to see that the dragon has hopped into a new position.  You are no longer hiding! (Hard Move)

Attack with great force and fury:  Really, all of this is already in response to an attack that we're in the middle of.  Does it make any sense to have another attack going at the same time?  Is the dragon going to stop mid-fire to claw someone?  

Seize someone or something:  The dragon grabs someone, maybe a children.  Now the characters can't just hide.  They have to save someone.  Or maybe the dragon grabs a cow and throws it at the characters, although, really, how is that worse than getting bathed in fire? (Hard Move)

Attack with stealth and calculation:  Probably not.

Order underlings to do terrible acts:  I'm not against this move generally, but I have a hard time thinking that a dragon is going to stop, mid breath weapon to order minions to do something.  I list it here only because it does, in fact, forward the plot.  Did the characters know that the dragon has minions? (Hard Move)

Destroy something:  That's going to happen anyways really.  I think it makes sense that, maybe, the dragon in preparing to spew fire on characters, and seeing the characters duck behind something, might move in and step on it and destroy it. (Soft or Hard Move)

Escape, no matter how well contained it is: the dragon isn't captured

Give chase:  It depends on how you run your game, but if it's me, I might tell the player that his or her character has broken and is running.  The dragon is not far behind. (Hard Move)

Return to home ground:  Maybe the dragon gets hold because of the characters failed escape to use for moving about (or away), but I think there are better moves. (Soft or Hard Move)

Boast and gloat, maybe revealing a secret:  I'm all for villains soliloquizing, but again, not mid-breath weapon.

Return from seeming destruction:  This wouldn't make sense.

Use an unnatural power:  Use of this move may require modifying the mythology of dragons.  Imagine, for instance, if the dragon is suddenly bathed in a fireshield or having the dragons roar cause geysers of magma to erupt around it.  Is that something dragons can do?  It seems reasonable to use this move now and again to keep everyone on their toes. (Hard Move)

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