Sora Crescent's page

It looks like you're attempting two different moves - Cast a Spell and Aid/Interfere - with one roll. I don't think you can do that. That said, you can aid or interfere with someone with magic, it's just more fiction based instead of working on the mechanics of the Aid/Interfere move.
In this case, spooky noises when you're on about spirits? Helpful.

Sora's eyes light up as she hear the cracks. Yeeees! Just a little more! As she continues to pull, she listens to Ys's direction, and notes that Guttrek isn't looking particularly impressed. Idly tugging at the wind for a little assistance getting out, she smiles at the orc. "Listen I know this is-"

The roar sounds. Sora jumps. "Seriously, that thing just causes dead things to get noisy! You heard that! Gahh...as I was saying, this is all probably a little ridiculous to you. We came out of nowhere, we started bothering you about the device you think will fix your leg - I don't know where you got that idea, but some scepticism is warranted there - and now she's telling you to head off far away, to a place you won't have visited to meet people you won't know. But we want to stop something bad happening because of that thing, and she's actually trying to help you with your leg. We're being honest with you here, so will you listen?"

Aid Ysolde: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1) + 1 = 7

"Thanks, Himnon." Sora starts trying to pull her leg out of the ice now that it's thawed some, still wondering just what Ys was playing at. She puts the force of her wings behind it, hoping it was enough to get her out.

DD STR: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 6) = 10

Come on! She was not having cold, immobile legs!

Frozen legs. Can I get my questions answered?

After the flash dissipates, she feels something cold, and looks down. Come on! I shouldn't have asked...and why lemons? Why do I smell lemons? Her wings begin to flap, but she's stuck fast. She looks up to the group brandishing weapons. "I...wish I could tell you what just happened here. But I think I'm stuck here now?" Her voice wavers a little from the stress, and she grins nervously. Of ALL the times for this to happen! "So umm...are any of you magicians of some kind? Because if you are, this isn't funny. Could you help me out here? Please?"

Note: Sora does not understand these powers well enough to know what just happened. All she knows is that she asked her god to protect her sister, and got frozen for it. Ice isn't exactly Auhra's typical domain.

Still. You did fire.

I just wasn't sure what to do here. Things were going nowhere, and I didn't feel like resorting to more violent means was something that Sora would do here. As it is, I have to get used to the character again.

Thankfully, Ys is getting trigger-happy, which deals with the issue for us on things happening.

Reno's currently out of commission by the way, Ys. Personal stuff. Hope they're feeling better soon.

...it might just be because I just rolled a miss, but do you want to hear a couple of things about miss handling, Mini? It's just on my mind right now. Just in case you haven't heard the things I have in mind.

Sora blinks a couple of times, leans in next to Ys, and whispers "What are you doing?! You don't just go around shooting at people, even if he isn't listening! What's gotten into you, Sis?!"

She looks around. This...this could go very badly. She wasn't feeling so confident about what would happen next. With her sister starting to go off the deep end, it was her turn to be the rational one. What was going on around here right now?
Triggering IGABFAT - What can I see that no one else can? What here is the biggest threat to me?

Internally, she's praying, reaching out. Auhra, protect my sister. Please. Make sure she won't be hurt, even if she did escalate this.

Weathermantic Empowerment - Shield of Ice: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5
What's that? This XP is lemon flavoured? Delicious!

Shy, I'm sure Ys told you he's a necromancer...though I'm sure the necromantic energy is from the statue myself, it was said pretty clearly that the energy is coming from the device so I don't know why she said that, but that's another matter. I didn't hear her, she said it to you, so I'm no place to interject.

Sora blinks at the orc's outburst. "I have to wonder how many times someone bothered you about that to get that reaction right away. She only asked if you sang. Your voice is pretty good, at least by the standards of most people, so she asked. Doesn't have to do with being an orc." She sighs, and visibly gives the device a good looking over. "What even are you...is that the thing Dirastratus made?!" Sora acts like this scared her...which to be fair, it did. "Are...are you sure you want to mess with that? I'm sure people would very much appreciate not being torn apart and driven to insanity by the voices of the dead!"

She starts to stretch out her wings nervously. She couldn't know how they'd react to this, and she wouldn't be caught unprepared.

"I don't know. I could try and take off, maybe you could go with Shy, but that leaves everyone else even if it does work. For the moment, just go along with things. Doesn't seem like he's immediately hostile. We might be able to manage this alright. If we have to, we bail out, or fight." Keeping an eye out, Sora steps forward, gently catching Shy so she doesn't go ahead of Ys's shield. "Do you mind letting us know what's going on? My friend has someone here we'd meant to see. I don't know if that's you or someone else, but they were meant to be here. Is there a problem we might be able to help with?" Sora's stance is neutral, but she's wary. This wasn't right.

What's going on here?

Untyped DD, if warranted: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7

Don't think Ys really can, right now. Better to try and keep things moving. Besides, I already missed a roll, that's my time done in my mind!

Missing a roll is the cue for a GM Move, hard or soft as you like. There's my biffed roll, and Himnon's too, so we're waiting for the moves that accompany them. Letting it be is not making your designated move...besides, it's a bit boring if nothing happens. Like a knowledge check in D&D - if all that happens is we get XP, what's to stop us rolling till we hit the mark?

You have a nice list of moves to work with if you're short on ideas. Also remember you get to make a move when "everyone looks to you to see what happens" - I think this is the PbP version of that.

We don't know what's going on. You only responded to Ys, who's a bit busy.

"Come on Shy, don't talk about him like he's not right there...but yeah, that's an orc." Admittedly though, with the state of the town and what he's doing, there's some questions raised here. All she could hope is that he was better than the Tunnel-Keep at least...Sora looks around the area. Maybe by seeing how people were looking, what was going on, she could figure out the circumstances here.

Discern Realities: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
For some reason, she tastes blueberry. It's kind of distracting.

"Welcome to the world at large, Sis. Most people aren't like this, but there are more people like this than I'd like. Not everyone can be as nice as back home." Sora sighs, unhappy with this, but puts on a smile and looks back to her sister. "Suppose they have a reason to be like this though - the place is a mess. Conditions don't seem so great here. Bet we can help do something about that though, right Ys?"

I'll take a stab at what they're renowned for.

Orcs - your best friends, and most dogged foes. Whatever the matter is, they commit hard. You made friends with one? He's going to stand by you even if the world comes down around him. You betray him? He'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth. You challenge him to a drinking contest? Either you back down, or one of you will be unconscious before you know it.

They're pretty much the embodiments of commitment, perseverance and determination. It takes a lot to dissuade one of these guys from their course.

Hmm. What's the general stance on orcs in the world? What are they like, as a rule of thumb? Nice? Nasty? Surprisingly skilled salesmen? Or should we answer that ourselves?

To say what specifically I'm interested in here - is there any sort of "general knowledge" reason we might attack him off the bat?

"I gue- ohhhh, no. No way." All of a sudden, Sora seems quite agitated. Her wings flutter rapidly. "That statue is bad news. You ever heard of Dirastratus? Guy botched up a ritual to speak to the dead. Dead talked too much, lots of stuff got wrecked across his homeland due to the noise level reached. That manor's where he lived, and that statue is a copy of the thing that made all the bad stuff happen."

"That thing needs to be destroyed. No doubt. I hope this contact of yours wasn't planning to USE that thing." C'mon, think! How do we break it? How can it be destroyed or permanently neutralised or whatever without setting it off?
Spout Lore: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 1 = 6

"Shy? One place here is bigger than the others, opposite side of town, but not in any less terrible a state. There's some statue on it I don't quite trust. I think that's the place you want, though I doubt it's what you expected. Something's up here. The vagrants here are worse than normal too. Be careful."

That statue hangs in Sora's mind. What is with that thing? Think...
Spout Lore: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 2 = 10
It's +2 due to +1 forward from DR, if anyone's puzzled.

Sora shrugs. "As I understood it, we were only looking for a place to go. I didn't think there were any plans beyond that yet."

"Also, building stuff is Himnon's idea, not mine! When I say 'rebuilding the Church', I don't mean it literally! Speaking of which, Himnon, we don't even know what exactly whoever this is deals in. I don't get the feeling that they're the type suited for what we're trying to do."

Just a reminder: You're assuming they've even HEARD of Auhra. She was already a god mainly known by skyfolk, and now she's near entirely forgotten. Very few know her, let alone as more than a story.

...Thoooough, Himnon? Are you interested in joining the church? I'm sure that's the sort of thing you'd have brought up earlier when I gave everyone the invitation.

"Pretty sure bringing up that you know someone in a place isn't the same as saying that we're all going to see them...not that you should be deciding that on your own, anyway." Sora sighs. "Come on Shy, it's not fair to go about assuming we're all here to go along with what you want to do. At least ask us, you know?"

...it couldn't hurt to take a look for her. Shy's vulnerable as it is - it'd be bad if she found her way into a messy situation because she didn't know where she was going. Sora begins to take to the air. "Give me a moment. I'll take a look." With another wingflap, she's off, cruising over Nibelheim. This was as good a chance to see what was going on here as any. From above, she scans the city.

Discern Realities: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 1 = 11
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
What here is not what it appears to be?
Mainly, I'm looking for Shy's destination/the way to Shy's destination, and and general things about the city worth being aware of while we're here.

"Shy? Care to fill us in here? Because as I was aware, we aren't looking for a particular manor house. In fact, it seems that only you are. Is there something you haven't told us?"

Just to be sure - is this supposed to be Balderdale, or Nibelheim?

"Hey, guys? Can we check out one of those beat-up houses? I mean, as far as I've seen, usually when someone sets their place apart from all the others, the make more of an effort to...well, set it apart. And anyway! If I'm going to be building the Church, then I should make an effort to make sure everything's alright and do what I can...it just, well, feels like the right thing to be doing. No point building a church of good if the people in it just lounge about."

"The wind doesn't stop. We shouldn't either. Right, guys?"

"If you're handling that, then I'm going to be the one on watch. I get a pretty good view up there." When the group gets moving, Sora is overhead, scouting for trouble.

Winged Scout: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 1 = 6

Dammit! Eye in the Sky can't save me from uncooperative dice.
It can get me in aid range though, it seems.

I think I'm mainly concerned with the "Deity" move as book-keeping, since it does nothing on its own. Plus, it means I have it ready for when I do have any moves that rely on it.

I understand, though. As long as I'm able to "Find a way to commune" with Auhra, I should be fine. As the first goal, and the one the basically lets me ask what she wants me to do, it's something I have to manage.

Whenever you wish to preach, it's important to know what you're preaching. You're trying to convey something, and if you don't know what that is, that's going to cause issues.

Even to Sora's lightning enhanced self, Cuddles' speed still manages to earn a reaction of "HolycraphowdoyoudoTHAAAAAAAAT!" as she's spun about, forgetting for a moment to control the rate at which she speaks. Her words come out fast enough to potentially cause confusion about what she said.

She takes a moment to gather her wits. It doesn't seem that way to everyone, but everyone isn't filled with lightning at the moment. Might have to change that. "Well. I'll take that as a yes then. Welcome, Cuddles. Us four will get this done together."

Smiling happily, Sora's attention goes back to Shy. "Let's do that, then. If it's in the same direction, there's no harm, right?"

Actually, quick question: I got a load of copper back there. What's the conversion rate to gold? Or is copper the denomination everything is based off instead of gold? Worth asking, since we're headed to a town.

So...would I have Deity as a move, but not Divine Guidance? Or neither? I'm a little confused.

If you want to compare notes, I have a spoiler below. I'm sure Ys can make any clarifications themselves on what they meant and whether they agree with this.

I'm sure it'll be fine, Sora. What could go wrong?

Everything. But more specifically, lots and lots of fire.

Can I just say that the name Nibelheim sets off red flags in my mind? I don't know if that's deliberate, but I'm going to put that out there.

Sora smiles, touched to her heart. That they would join her in her cause so easily...they really had faith in her, didn't they? Even Ys was offering advice, one saint to another...no. Sister to sister. She can't help but tear up a little. "Thanks...all of you. I...I won't let you down. I promise. We'll do this. Together." She wipes her face, and stands up. "Reno. Ammy. Thank you, so much. I already said it, but...it's worth saying again." She looks over everyone else here. "Would anyone else like to join us? It's going to be a journey, but we'll do this. You're all welcome...well, Ys is already dedicated to Alphine, but that means we can start building relationships between my church and hers. I doubt there's a problem there."

"What about you?" Sora extends a hand to Cuddles. "We may have gotten off on a rough start, but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome with us. Will you join us?" She wears a friendly smile, and her body language is welcoming. Armour that tried to dismember her or not, she was as good a person as anyone here. Not being a conventional
flesh and blood being didn't stop Ammy from being one of the best people she knew. It wasn't about to stop them.
She'd probably have to ask if they even considered themselves to have a gender, though. Also, get them a better means to communicate. Being mute had to be frustrating sometimes.

When she gets her response from Cuddles, she chimes in after Shy. "Reno mentioned Balderdale earlier too - it's somewhere nearby here, to the south." She looks like she's thinking for a moment, then her attention returns. "Where is Nibelheim, exactly? I mean, it's one thing knowing it's a place, but just how far from here is it? This going to be a long trip?"

Gotta say, "has a hat" is a pretty vague clue all on its own.

Hey, we've already had one Nathan. Careful now.

You seem to be missing a bunch of stuff, actually. Everything that got taken off you, for one. That's at least some better armour and a nicer weapon, in addition to your other choice and the loot you found. You've even still got a bond with Elena. You keeping track of everything off-site or something?

Might be worth describing what you mean here.

Also, not so sure about Divine Guidance, but Deity doesn't really work here, at least with the given choices. None of these domains map to Auhra.

"Where is your body? I want to burn it after I'm done with the mutilation."

"Tell me where your closest living relative is. I need a blood sacrifice, and it works better when someone related to them stabs them in the back."

"Does this make my butt look big?"

Seriously though, I don't have any ideas right now.

Sora takes a moment to get used to the feeling. "Well. I think I got my miracle." As it turns out, she's having to make a bit of an effort not to speak too quickly. Man, this feels good.

Sora sighs as Ysolde starts defending those bastards. "Come on, Ys. About a third of the people unfortunate to need taking there get their healing bungled and labelled 'divine will'. I asked about. Hell, the other churches actually TRY when it doesn't go right the first time. They investigate why it didn't work. They try again. The last time that happened locally was...oh wait, never. Honestly, the only reason people put up with it is because the people that need them wouldn't survive the trip to anywhere that WOULD help."

"Don't pretend that having these talents has anything to do with how well the healing works either. There are so, soooo many clerics that, you know, chose to join the Church after being helped in situations like yours. The stuff they do at that church would get people excommunicated from any of the others if it was found out."

"The diet was for your appearance, but NOT your health - you're frail, and you fell ill all the time...hell, you still did when I left. You stared hungrily whenever I brought in anything edible too. If you'd been fed properly, you wouldn't NEED those sandals. Hell, Alphine scorns the use of physical punishment as discipline. Kind, nurturing, and hits people that dare question them don't really fit together, do they?"

"Ys, I love you dearly, but you don't have a clue how bad those bastards are. They let you believe you didn't have a family till I finally managed to find a way in there. You remember when I snuck you out? Mum and Dad cried. They thought they'd never be able to see you again, let alone talk to you. They tried to see you, and got turned away each time. I'm pretty sure the main reason you don't question any of the crap that happened there is because they were able to pretty much dictate your life entirely before I actually managed to find a way to see the sister they stole from me. You didn't exactly know how things went in the world at large, and you probably found that out pretty quickly when you left."

"I'm just glad to have my sister back right now. One day though, I'm going to make sure that damn church gets cleaned up. It's a disgrace to all the others. It's a disgrace to the very IDEA of a church."

Sora looks away. "...I don't want to talk about this anymore. We're both going to end up miserable." She sits quietly for a moment. After a bit, she looks back to Ysolde. "Hey, Ys? you'd know about this, being a saint and all. Seems I've gotten some gifts too. You saw the lightning. Back when we were dealing with Drazhu, I was able to wield the wind itself as a weapon. Really are sisters, aren't we? Hah...anyway, that's not the important bit. I want to start rebuilding the Church of Auhra. Start welcoming other people into the faith. So...what's the best way to start?"

Please. Reveal the Way to me, sister.

Well, Reno wants to learn a bit about the churches, Reno will learn about the churches. Guess which one Sora follows.

"...I...I don't know how to respond to that." Sora shakes her head clear. Not thinking about that, she's talking about something else. "Anyway, trust me on this one - Drazhu is to a god as a pebble is to a mountain. Might seem pretty bad when it's somewhere inconvenient, but they're pretty much nothing."

"Alright. I don't have too much knowledge, but there are three major churches back home, to three different goddesses. There's the Church of Alphine, the Lady of Sun. From what I've seen, Alphine sees wider worship, most commonly associated with healing, light, and of course, the sun. Ys could tell you better. The Church of Alphine back home is a bunch of bastards though - we got the misfortune of a radical church. When Ys was brought to them, sick and with stunted wings, they deliberately bungled the healing, called it 'divine will', and stole her away. Didn't even feed her properly just to keep the appearance. Got more than they bargained for when it turned out she ACTUALLY had a major link to Alphine - my favourite saint was really cleaning up their act before she left..."

She pauses, realising she's ranting, and stops. "Erm, anyway, yeah. Lady of Sun. Big name. Let's see, who's next...oh, yeah! There's the Church of Xielia the Starkeeper. She's mainly worshipped by Skyfolk, as I've seen. We have her to thank for being able to get around well at night. Well, if you're paying attention." She laughs a little to herself at that. Not that you've had much chance to notice before, but Sora seems to be the happiest you've ever seen her. In general, she seems to be in a better mood then she always used to be in. You don't know what it is, be it dealing with Drazhu or finally getting outside, but whatever it is it's noticeable.

Her face falls a little as she continues, though. "The last one...I'm going to be honest, it's not much of a church. There's only one person that really ever went there and looked after it. Well, two, if you count me." She looks thoughtful. Like she's remembering something. "I found it one day when I was younger as I was exploring. Testing my wings at the time and got a little lost. There was an older guy cleaning the place at the time. Asked me how I got here, where I came from. I told him, and asked about the place. It's dedicated to Auhra, goddess of wind and weather. Apparently she used to be a major goddess among the skyfaring species before. At some point, people started pulling to the miracles of the other churches, and she fell out of worship. Most people now don't really remember her, let alone take her seriously. Maybe some scholars, but they don't really follow her either. She's just something out of the books to them."

"Maybe I could find some people I could get to join the church. Bring Auhra back into the world...hah. Yeah, going to be a bit of stretch without some miracles of my own." She looks up to the sky, hopeful, and mentally reaches out her environment. "Think you could do that for me, Auhra?"

Weathermantic Empowerment: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8
I think it's reveal time for me too. Can I get a bolt of lightning for myself, please?

Sora watches the event with Amaranth. "Well...that was unexpected. You feel alright? I don't know what that's like for you."

Sora looks over to Ysolde when she shouts. Seems she was busy with something. It was good that she'd found a friend after she got stuck...hmm. That reminds her. "Hey Ammy? How much do you know about the gods? The different religions out here? I doubt much, with Drazhu and all, but I'm curious."

Am I ok to swap alignments?

Kara left too, remember? More XP.

Perfectly fine with the bond, though the ones on your profile haven't been updated since the start. Those ones still have Nox there.

The only XP tied to being in a fight is when you manage to botch a roll during the fight. Murderising is not how you gain XP as standard, though the GM might still give you some for the fight if they feel like it.

The group questions for EOS grant XP to everyone if they're answered with yes, so that's 3XP. After that, alignment and bonds are an individual affair.

You ought to resolve your bond with Nathan for another XP, since he's left. If anyone has bonds with Nathan or Kara, they want resolving.

And finally, I can get to my EOS.

Questions: Well, apparently it's +3. Let's see - +1 for glorious loot, +1 for religions in the world, glitter being the ultimate revenge, and learning that animate suits of armour do not like the idea of turning into a dragon, and +1 for Drazhu.

Alignment:...nope. Noooope. Not really happy with it anyway. I feel like it only became such a motivator due to Drazhu, and he's gone now. Do you mind if I change to "Explore the World: Go somewhere you've never been before and check it out?" It feels like what she would have had pre-Drazhu, and the Whipmaster's journal has made her want to try and become more...joyful? Than she once was. It's about time she started enjoying herself more.

Bonds: +2 for Nathan and Kara. Too bad about them.
Resolving my current bond with Amaranth and replacing it with "Ammy's been stuck underground all this time. I can't wait to show her what she's been missing out on!" That's another +1.
Resolving Reno's bond and replacing it with "I seriously owe Reno for everything he's done. Now we're out, I need to do something BIG for him." +1 again.
No ideas for Himnon, though I'd love to make a bond with Cuddles.

Think that adds up to 7 more XP, taking me to 9. Resetting to 0 XP takes me to level 3. I'll bump wisdom to 9, and take Weathermantic Empowerment, which should be fun.

I just realised Reno was with us too. I think he needs loot as well.

I'm sure there was something I was trying to say here, but I've honestly forgotten what it was. Spent so much time being concerned about whether I said what I intended to that I forgot what I intended to say.

Can we have loot now? I need shiny things. They're good for you. They make you feel better.

...I was trying to say the writing was unclear. You had a damage option, a -1 ongoing to attacks which hadn't been given an end condition, and an option that required you to "Defy Danger" until you took moment to get your footing, the problem being that you didn't know what danger you were defying. For all they knew, they had to Defy Danger just to be allowed to get their footing, or do anything at all really. Though, any time spent getting their footing would likely invoke a Golden Opportunity by virtue of not trying to defend themselves in a combat situation, if they didn't presumably defy danger even more to get into a safe position, giving them a choice between vulnerability or being temporarily removed from combat. It doesn't avoid the issue.

We aren't trying to state you're out to get us. This is going to get miserable though, if you start getting defensive if we try to say there was an issue somewhere. You're edging to a point where we're not allowed to question the handling of something without you starting to throw accusations at US of trying to make you out as being a malicious GM. We've been shown we're allowed to ask for explanations thus far, but not re-evaluations.

As much as it's uncomfortable being told we don't like the way you handled something, these are the sort of concerns that want to be listened to. Less so when the complaints are stemming from a single source, but a lot more when they're more widespread.

===

We aren't trying to accuse you of anything. You're being more accusing than we are right now. Perhaps a bit condescending at this point? I don't know.

Tone is not something you can really put into words very well. For any given sentence, the tone intended when written and the tone received when read are two different things, and the received tone has a lot to do with who's reading. Can you give us the benefit of the doubt here? Please? I really don't like how this is going.

You received an option of damage or -1 forward for failing your move, you chose damage.

d4 damage or -1 ongoing on attacks or Defy Danger until you take a moment to regain your footing

As written, that's 3 choices. Take damage, take -1 ongoing (not forward, which would only apply once instead of forever) on trying to attack with no stated endpoint to the effect, or have to keep ambiguously Defying Danger until you take a moment to get your footing...which would have been yet another golden opportunity when done, and was honestly far too confusing an option anyway. There was only one option that wasn't an utter mess, as written.

Not trying to be rude here or anything. It's just that the options you say now aren't the ones that were said before, and really the damage was the only decent option from the writing. The others were just painful and confusing, for differing reasons. Probably worth a proofread, next time.

It's worth being careful with roll modifiers anyway, especially ongoing ones. A -1 or a +1 can make a significant impact on your rolls.

"Wait a minute...guys, look! Our stuff! And some other things too! Can you help me sort through it all? I'm feeling pretty rough."

Loooooot!: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 5) + 3 = 11

Reminds me - we didn't do any looting, did we? Can we do that, or...I just want my lightweave. Binoculars and Compass if I can find 'em, too.

Ys hasn't really had much to do. Her player hasn't really been as active across the board anyway, as far as I can tell.

Shoot over a PM and see what they say?

EDIT: And the moment I say that, they make a post. Man, the timing on that.

Sora weakly gets herself off the floor. The burns from the hug with Ammy are quite apparent, since she has nothing to hide them with. She's still pale from Drazhu and the Circle. "Hey...I said we wouldn't kill him. He's still an utter bastard that wants punishing. If he gets roughed up a bit before we get there, I'm not going to feel bad."

I'm fine to go on, and I'll try to be careful about what I say...but maaaaan, I need healing.

I really think it'd help your thinking if you'd stop using "fails". It adds a certain bias to the approach.

================================

Regarding the language stuff...I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it's quite that simple. People are saying these things to air their grievances, and they want to be clear when they do that. It's kind of cathartic to do so. Sure, the punishment talk might be a bit far there, but they need to communicate clearly if they're feeling hurt or upset, and the wording you're putting forward doesn't quite do that. If people don't get across how they're feeling, that's just going to add to tension.

I think there's a in-between point in the language between the language we've been using and the language you're suggesting. It's generally fine, but it doesn't quite address the sorts of things going through people's minds when they say how they feel like they're being punished. You understand what I'm saying? We need to figure out the upper limit for these circumstances, when someone needs to say they feel hurt or upset. It's fine language for general use, though.

The important thing is that nobody's being a dick.

================================

Overall, I think most of this stems from communication issues, really. There's a disconnect between what someone is doing and its impact. It makes things a lot worse in the minds of people.

Also, being maybe being a bit less jumpy with "Golden Opportunities" and the stuff. Going back to Amaranth - Drazhu might have been able to do something, but even if the circle isn't massive, I think 15ft across means it's big enough for her not to need to be in arm's reach, or even within a step. Besides, Unstoppable Force means she is in motion and coming like a truck. You do not reach out and slap a truck if you want your hand to be fine after.

...well, I think that's an example of something else. Since you didn't understand the move at the time, you issued the damage as a consequence of the miss, and she didn't get what she wanted. With the move explained, you change the thing so she does what she was supposed to, and add the complication...but you don't alter what happened before. She had to suffer the side effects of her bad roll twice, and when she complained about it, you changed the reason for the damage to justify having both things happen. That's not cool, man. That damage came from a bad roll, not as a Golden Opportunity the way you said. When the circumstances change, it's not fair to attach a different reason to it so it doesn't need changing. Don't be afraid to retcon something when new information comes in.

I think a lot of "why are we being punished" comments are going to be as a side effect of the side effect of misunderstanding the soft regarding soft moves. Note - Moves, not Fails like you wrote. It's the complication, the added cost if you want to do it, the "almost how you wanted", the "bad stuff coming"...but not a failure. On a 7-9, it's still essentially a success, but not a grand one.

As for 6-...well, that is a miss. Fail still isn't a given, but you're damn well going to feel the consequences.
Thing to pay attention to though - certain moves constrict GM behaviour on a 6-, simply because they say how it plays out. It isn't common that this is the case - most moves don't specify what happens on 6-, or have a line that means "GM makes a move" - but it does happen. Taking "Unstoppable Force" as the example:

On a 6-, hold 1, but when you spend it, the GM will add a complication.

As written, any consequences from the move come when you spend the hold, but not before. That's the rule here. The move still behaves as normal - when they spend that one hold, they do the thing they spent it on - there's just a complication. I think this instance ties back into understanding the moves. Amaranth spent her hold to "Do great damage", but by the information given, she only managed to activate it. Yes, she wiped away a bit of the pentagram, but it feels superficial. It doesn't feel like it impacted the effectiveness or function of it, just when it went off. There's no gain. I say "feel like" because I don't exactly have your level of info, but there's still an issue when it appears you haven't done something when you're supposed to.

If you want a core example of moves that specify their 6- results, look at Carouse and the Druid's Shapeshifter.

On a miss, you still choose one, but things get really out of hand.

On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.

These ones are a little different - They both invite the GM to create consequences right away from the 6- - but they're alike in that you still get something. Carouse still states to pick a benefit from the list. Shapeshifter still gets a hold to use on one of the animal form's moves. Both of these things happen - the Carouser gets the benefit of their choice, and the Shapeshifter has the form move go off as it's supposed to when they spend their hold. There's just added badness from their 6-. Carouser befriends a useful NPC, but a bar fight breaks out. Shapeshifter turns into a bull, and spends their hold for a charge, but when they revert afterwards they're REALLY aggressive, and have to defy danger not to immediately bear down on anything moving about a lot.

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Oh, and the rest of the "Why are we being punished" stuff? You've proven pretty opportunistic when it comes to opportunities to do badness on us, at least by comparison to what we're used to. I mean, I understand the logic you use when that happens, but you really go for it.

The worse bit of that though, is not making clear just why exactly these things are happening. Say, earlier, when I took the attack from trying to parlay with the Tunnel-Keep - You stated everything I did happening, and then Drazhu doing a bunch of other stuff, followed by him just nailing me outright. Which was a REALLY bad way to do it if it was because of me ordering the Tunnel-Keep.

If I'm being attacked because of my attempt at parlaying with the Tunnel-Keep, then I should be able to see that. Attack me mid-parlay attempt - the cause and effect chain is clear there. He's interrupting with an attack because of the Parlay attempt. Have a few lines basically going "Really? Order MY minions about right in front of me? Who do you think you are?" Then the other stuff happens - the wind, the sconce, the walk, etc. Making everything happen, and then having him do a load of other stuff before hitting me with the consequences...it breaks the sequence of cause and effect, and it's just confusing. See what I mean?

There might be something else, but this is all I can think of right now.