Thread by @BuzziEdoardo

#ttrpg
#PbtA

Moves and Skills: a thread

Premise: as a gamer, I started playing trad games such as VtM (mostly) and D&D (sometimes).
In time, I found out about PbtA and, later, FitD and I fell in love.
Everything that follows, comes from a person who enjoys every kind of rpg

1/

So, who knows me know I am a sucker for new games. I am always reading new stuff to bring on our table.

So my group of friends is quite used to try out several new games every year (and yes, 2022 won't be different guys, sorry about that).

2/

The first PbtA game we tried was MotW (lovely game btw). Thanks to that I, as the GM, had finally clicked with this approach. What about my players though?

3/

After MotW we tried more and more PbtA games. Some we enjoyed more, other less, but I felt I had finally mastered this kind of games. Some of my players though, in variable measure, depending on the game, always felt off foot. Why?

4/

I kept repeating myself things like "PbtA are lighter", "They are more focussed and straightforward". I was really struggling to understand why people able to wield really complicated games were not comfortable with some PbtA ones. So I had a great idea: I asked them.

5/

"Personally, I don't know what I can do in these games".
This was one of the answers.

You can find pages and pages of answers to this point, but here's my thoughts about this.

Why skills are easier to use for some players? It is all about fictional positioning. Whaaaat?

6/

Yes, because skills are quantifying a specific aspect of fictional positioning that is key to some players to act: skills anwer the question "Is my character capable to do this in the fiction?"

So, there's why! I think I finally found my answer!

7/

Don't get me wrong, I love moves. They are clear about what you need to do in the fiction to trigger the mechanics, they are spot on with regard to the kind of story you will tell with that game, they clearly state the goal you want to accomplish. And all of this is great!

8/

But they leave players to establish how their characters will do their things and why they are capable of doing what they do. In this light, no wonder some players struggle to fill the blank between their intent at the table and the fictional actions they have to do.

9/

Skills guide players, because they are a measure of that minimal level of fictional positioning everyone needs to decide they want to do something.

They are answering the question: do I know how to do it in the first place?

10/

Sure, with skills players need to figure out what they want to do and how to use that skill to accomplish their goal. To some players, this is hard. To others, nonetheless, I think this can be easier than solving the issues raised above.
Wow, I typed a lot. I should stop!

11/

So this is it for me. This was my breakthrough. Maybe it is old stuff. Maybe it is all wrong. But you know how it feels when you think you figured it all out 😁

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Feel free to add your opinion and enjoy the rest of your day 😊

Edo