Threats

A threat is an ongoing problem that will cause trouble for the PCs if left unchecked.

When you recognize or decide that something—an NPC, a monster, a situation—is going to be a worsening or recurring issue, it's probably worth writing it up as a threat.

Writing up threats is not strictly required, but doing so will make things easier to manage as the world of your campaign grows more complex. Your GM playbook includes pages designed to help you keep track of threats.

Not every NPC, monster, or situation needs to be (or should be) a threat. The giant spiders between the PCs and the old Maker-ruins? If they're not going to get worse as time passes, they're probably just a danger to be faced if the PCs want to explore the ruins.

In other words, don't bother writing up a threat unless you know it's going to be a big deal.

Here's an example of a fully written threat:

NIA (wildcard)

Instinct to befriend spiders

Young girl, spider-touched after her ordeal with the Mother-of-Spiders.

Blodwen's niece; daughter of Cadoc (see Town Council).

• Talks and plays with spiders
• Sets up a spider "shrine"
• Brings home a baby nailadd (giant spider)
• Impending doom: It kills someone Stakes: How will the town react to her? Can her link to the spiders be broken? Can it be used for good?

Nia is an example of an NPC who has become a threat. She's not a villain or even a danger—she's a little girl, Blodwen's niece, someone the PCs rescued—but her link to the Mother-of-Spiders makes her a source of future trouble. She's a threat.

Here's another example:

THORNTHUMB (magical entity)

Instinct to acquire

Dwelt in the Green Lord's Tomb.

Tried to steal from PCs, but they caught him. Helped them kill Sajra.

Grudgingly promised Vahid not to try to steal from, harm, or trap them.

Lusts after the Mindgem. Scared of Rhianna. Thinks Caradoc is an easy mark. Blodwen owes him for the flower he gave her.

When you send word to Thornthumb via spirits, birds, or beasts, say when and where in the Wood you'd like to meet. At the appointed time and place, roll +INT: on a 10+, he shows; on a 7-9, he shows, but the GM picks 1:

• He's insulted by the summons
• You are now beholden to him
• A debt he owes you is now fulfilled

Thornthumb was a monster that the PCs met in play. They captured him, allied with him, were betrayed by him, and extracted a promise from him to let them be. But he's still out there, and he's the type of guy to hold a grudge.

He's a threat.

And one last example:

ANWEN (villain)

Instinct to maintain order at all costs

Exiled from Stonetop years back, after poisoning folk (weak ones) during a harsh winter (less mouths to feed). Runs a bar/brothel in Gordin's Delve; fingers in lots of pies. Ropr (beast, to keep Anwen's favor) is her

#2. Soft spot for Iona (wildcard, to live comfortably).

GM moves:

• Find someone's weakness
• Sacrifice another to advance a goal
• Have someone killed

Anwen hasn't shown up on screen yet. She was a player's answer to "Who's the worst person you know of in Gordin's Delve, and why are they so scary?" She's not a problem yet, but the PCs are headed to Gordin's Delve, and she sure will be. She and her minions are threats.

Writing up threats is a way to track loose ends and simmering conflicts, which helps you portray a rich and mysterious world.

Threats provide problems and bad outcomes to spring on the PCs, making it easier to punctuate their lives with adventure. And a threat's write-up makes it easier to portray that threat with integrity, helping you play to see what happens.

When to write up threats

Threats are prep: you write them up between sessions. When you write up a threat, you make real, binding decisions about it that require thought and care.

Don't do this during play.

Specifically, you should write up threats…

After introductions

Review your notes from the first session, looking for problems established by the players. Write these up as threats at whatever level of detail makes sense.

During introductions, the players told me about a recent raid by crinwin, about Blodwen's overbearing mother, Tegwen, and the Mindgem. I add them to the threat trackers (as a rabble, a wildcard, and a supernatural entity), but wait to flesh them out until I know more.

When Seasons Change

The Seasons Change move sometimes tells you to introduce or worsen a threat, or that threats abound. This might prompt you to create a new threat, one that the PCs haven't encountered before. The threat's type, instinct, and grim portents will help you to flesh out the hook of any related adventure.

Vahid rolled a 7-9 on the first Seasons Change, which means their first adventure will involve a threat. I decided that the crinwin have come under the sway of a swyn (a big, hypnotic, monkey-faced snake) and they are stealing children to add to the swyn's collection.

The swyn is the real source of the trouble, so I write it up as a threat (a villain).

After a session

If someone introduced an element (NPC, monster, situation, etc.) during a session, and it might cause trouble later, write it up as a threat while it's still fresh in your mind. Or at least make note of it, and write it up in full later. This will serve as a reminder to bring it up in future sessions.

After their first adventure, the PCs returned to explore the ancient tomb and Blodwen disturbed the spirit of the mummified Green Lord interred within. While it mostly keeps to its blissful, constructed afterlife, it could definitely cause trouble for the PCs later.

I write it up as a threat (a magical entity).

When preparing an adventure

When you just know that a new threat is going to show up, and you already have a notion of what it looks like, it's a good idea to write it up before your next session. This could happen when the players tell you that they're going to do X, and you know that doing X will mean encountering Y, and Y feels like trouble. Or it could happen when you end a session on a cliffhanger (like with a missed homefront roll, or with something scary approaching) and between sessions you decide that you'll introduce a new threat.

At the end of the last session, the PCs (well, Vahid) talked about going to Three Coven Lake to find part of the Mindgem's body. I think it'd be cool to have a group of Hillfolk devoted to keeping folks away from the lakes, and to keep the horrors of the lakes contained. I name them The White Hand and write them up as a threat (an institution).

Writing a threat

To write up a threat, follow these steps.

The most important steps come first; the later steps are optional.

1) Give the threat a name and type.

2) Add it to the appropriate threat tracker.

3) Give it an instinct, if it doesn't already have one.

4) Write a quick description, including related threats and NPCs.

5) If it has momentum: write out its impending doom and grim portents.

6) Optional: write some stakes questions.

7) Optional: pick or write GM moves to further define its behavior/capabilities.

8) Optional: write custom player moves.

1 Name & type

Give your threat a straightforward name, that easily distinguishes it from any other threats you're already tracking.

Every threat also has a type, which describes its fundamental nature, its place in the world and in the ongoing story. There are eight different threat types, described on the following pages.

It will usually be obvious which type a new threat belongs to. If its not obvious, skim the moves for each type and pick the type that fits best.

Threat types in play

Each threat type comes with a series of GM moves, which reflect how that type of threat typically causes trouble. You can use a threat's special moves whenever the threat is involved, on screen or off. You're not limited to those moves—you can, of course, still use all your standard GM moves like reveal an unwelcome truth or put them in a spot—but the threat moves are a great inspiration for how that type of threat acts.

For our first adventure, I've decided that a swyn has moved into (or emerged from?) some Maker-ruins in the Great Wood. It's brought the nearby crinwin under its hypnotic control, and they've been abducting children for the swyn's collection.

The swyn were originally creations of the Green Lords, whose names all have a Slavic feel to them. I start with "Tajra," tweak it a little, and write down "Sajra, the Swyn" as its name.

Sajra the Swyn is a big, hypnotic, monkey-headed snake, narcissistic, a collector with exacting tastes, capable of turning the weak-willed into fawning servants. Looking at the list of threat types, I briefly consider making it a magical entity, but that doesn't feel right. No, it's pretty clearly a villain.

threat type

Affliction

Afflictions aren't people or monsters or tangible things. They're behaviors, circumstances, or conditions that make people suffer, bring them into conflict, or just make them worry and fret.

Afflictions can affect just an individual or two (even a specific PC), a group, a population, or even an entire region.

GM moves for afflictions:

• Worsen or quicken
• Spread to others/suck others in
• Mutate, take on a new form/aspect
• Eat away at something/someone
• Strip someone of honor/dignity
• Drive someone to desperation
• Justify selfishness, neglect
• Drive a wedge between people
• Cause delusion, stubbornness, foolishness
• Sow panic or despair
• Trigger shortages, hoarding
• Prompt violence, hatred, blame

Example afflictions:

• The black pox (Instinct to infect and spread)
• Braith's feud with Thecla (Instinct to make people pick sides)
• The drought (Instinct to deplete resources)
• Quicksilver taint (Instinct to cause delusions)
• "A woman's place" (Instinct to place limitations, on everyone)
• Resentment toward the Hillfolk (Instinct to prevent cooperation)
• The slave trade (Instinct to deny humanity) threat type

Beast

Beasts are monsters, animals, or NPCs driven by basic need and instinct.

Most often, they're literally beasts (natural or not). They might be smart, maybe as smart or smarter than most people, but they go around following their stomach or their loins or their big stupid ego.

A beast threat could reflect a single, specific creature, a family/pack/herd, or even an entire species.

GM moves for beasts:

• Show up where it's not wanted
• Stalk or pursue prey
• Protect its home or family
• Make a show of strength, aggression
• Build or expand a nest/den/lair
• Modify its environment
• Flee or panic or rage
• Consume something (or someone)
• Grow or diminish, in size or numbers

Example beasts:

• The cave bears (Instinct to fill their bellies, protect their young)
• The wisent herd, protected by a pact with the PCs (Instinct to act with impunity)
• Grigor Rocksplitter (Instinct to make sure everyone knows how great he is)
• The frythrancs (Instinct to dominate their territory)
• The nailadd swarm (Instinct to breed and spread out)
• Orub the Hagr (Instinct to compulsively shape his environment) threat type

Institution

Institutions are people, groups, or positions that have power within a community (or multiple communities). They could be formal things, like a cult or a government, or just positions of respect (like a council of elders). An institution often has a specific leader, but not always.

An institution transcends the individuals who comprise it, and its instinct reflects the purpose or behavior of the institution as a whole. But it acts via individuals, usually ones invested in its continuing influence.

GM moves for institutions:

• Sway public opinion
• Put someone in their place
• Change a rule, law, or custom
• Acquire leverage, resources, influence
• Denounce something or someone
• Support a course of action
• Recruit new members or minions
• Squabble amongst themselves
• Change leadership
• Negotiate a deal or treaty
• Send someone else to do their dirty work

Example institutions:

• Aratis's priesthood (Instinct to preserve civilization, at all costs)
• Marshedge Town Council (Instinct to maintain the status quo)
• The Cult of Azm Har (Instinct to hoard knowledge, power, people)
• The nascent town council (Instinct to keep the PCs in check)
• The Ferrite Union (Instinct to undermine the Bosses' control) threat type

MacGuffin

MacGuffins are things—objects, places, even secrets—that stir up conflict. A MacGuffin might have power to cause trouble itself, or it could simply be something valuable that gets people fighting over it.

If there's a thing in your game that you think is a source of trouble, it's probably a MacGuffin.

When choosing an instinct for a MacGuffin, focus on how it causes trouble rather than what it does. The aetherium weather vane adjusts the weather, but it's a threat because others covet it.

GM moves for MacGuffins:

• Reveal a secret
• Draw attention to itself
• Point to something else
• Generate envy/fear/discord
• Weigh heavily, become a burden
• Be the target of theft
• Go missing
• Perform its function, heedlessly
• Fail at the worst possible moment
• Leave its mark on someone or thing
• Become something greater, or lesser

Example MacGuffins:

• The Chronicle's vault of artifacts (Instinct to harbor badness)
• The Lore Tree of Yevena (Instinct to reveal dangerous secrets)
• The Blood-quenched Sword (Instinct to encourage violence)
• The aetherium weather vane (Instinct to inspire jealousy) threat type

Magical entity

Magical entities include spirits, many

Fae, the Things Below, even gods or their agents. They are beings that live and breathe magic and power, for whom mundane concerns like food and shelter are alien or superfluous.

Magical entities are often bound by strange, seemingly arbitrary limitations and laws. They must often act on the world subtly or through intermediaries.

GM moves for magical entities:

• Spy on someone, unseen/from afar
• Sense powerful longings/emotions
• Appear in glimpses, dreams, visions
• Offer service, secrets, power
• Demand an oath or sacrifice
• Lay a curse
• Twist a bargain to its favor
• Send forth minions to do its bidding
• Shape its environs, per its nature
• Pursue alien goals
• Foster rivalries with similar powers
• Grow or diminish in strength

Example magical entities:

• Hec'tumel, Slithering One! Pale Serpent! Death Is Its Eyes! (Instinct to smother life, hope, and light)
• Mother-of-Spiders (Instinct to see her many children spread)
• False idol spirit (Instinct to break free of its bondage)
• Blush-of-Dawn the Fae (Instinct to be adored)
• The shade of Nikalor (Instinct to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh)
• Yevena, mummified Green Lord (Instinct to preserve its glorious afterlife) threat type

Rabble

A rabble is a group, with or without a leader, united by emotion, blood, or circumstance rather than by of any sort of common purpose or goal.

A rabble's instinct represents how the group as a whole behaves. Any given individual within the group might not share the instinct and might even oppose it.

GM moves for rabble:

• Grow or gather in numbers
• Claim territory or resources
• Fall under a (new) leader's sway
• Undergo internal turmoil
• Make a show of strength/numbers
• Declare an enemy or an alliance
• Turn on one of their own
• Overwhelm a position or a weaker group
• Despoil, loot, pillage, burn
• Refuse to be controlled/contained
• Disperse, scatter, flee

Example rabble:

• Hillfolk refugees (Instinct to not fit in)
• The slave rebellion (Instinct to throw off their shackles)
• Daedre the Red's bandits (Instinct to do whatever the hell they want)
• The Seven Brothers, Fae revellers (Instinct to drag others into their wanton excess)
• Heledd's family (Instinct to close ranks and protect their own)
• The secret cult of the false idol (Instinct to pursue power, fortune, and respect) threat type

Villain

Villains are just the worst. They are individuals with the ruthlessness, drive, and power to make life awful for any number of other people.

Villains often act via minions or intermediaries. When they get involved directly, they always try to act from a position of strength or personal safety.

They often have a backup plan or two.

GM moves for villains:

• Grasp power, recklessly
• Gain followers or allies
• Find someone's weakness
• Make an offer, with strings attached
• Demand concessions, obedience, or respect
• Make threats, veiled or not
• Outmaneuver their enemies
• Attack cautiously, holding reserves
• Attack ruthlessly, with little warning
• Reveal preparations made in advance
• Sacrifice another to advance a goal
• Betray an ally or a trust
• Take a prisoner
• Do the unthinkable

Example villains:

• Brennan (Instinct to maintain or increase his power)
• Marc, Hillfolk slaver (Instinct to glorify himself and his clan)
• Iwan, schmuck-turned-sorcerer (Instinct to get what he thinks the world owes him)
• The Eyeless Crinwin (Instinct to set free the Living Darkness)
• Mozairog Mind-on-Fire (Instinct to return the Fomoraij to glory) threat type

Wildcard

Wildcards are individuals who cause trouble because they're a mystery.

Or because the PCs care about them but can't trust them. Or because they're opposed to the PCs, but aren't necessarily bad people. If you feel like an NPC is a threat, but none of the other threat types seem to fit, make them a wildcard.

Make "triangles" between wildcards and the PCs. Play up the old friendship between the Heavy and Esylt the town busybody. Then have Esylt undermine the Judge's authority, sit back, and watch the sparks fly.

GM moves for wildcards:

• Aggressively pursue their instinct
• Show their worth, or lack thereof
• Display the contents of their heart
• Provide advice/aid, wanted or not
• Reveal a secret, or keep one closely
• Draw attention to themselves/others
• Appear unannounced
• Act strangely (for them)
• Bear witness
• Tell stories (true or not)
• Make/keep/break/demand a promise
• Force an issue or a confrontation
• Stand resolute and refuse to budge

Example wildcards:

• Esylt, the town busybody (Instinct to cling to how things "should" be)
• Afon, Fae-touched Initiate of Danu (Instinct to act impulsively)
• Andras (Instinct to try to impress Rhianna and Blodwen)
• Muirdoc, the pretty boy (Instinct to toy with hearts)

2 Threat tracker

Your GM playbook has three spreads for tracking threats:

• Homefront threats, for NPCs or groups that live in town, for afflictions that directly affect them, or for anything else located there.
• Nearby threats, for threats that dwell within a couple days travel of home.
• Distant threats, for anything further than that.

Pick the corresponding tracker. Add the threat's name, maybe a quick descriptor (e.g., "Sawyl, disgruntled hunter"), followed by its type in parentheses. Draw a line from the name to its location on the threat tracker's map.

As you continue to write up this threat, you might find it useful to add key details to the tracker (like its instinct or maybe a stakes question). Keep it short and simple, though. You won't be able to fit the full write-up for every threat.

Sajra's lair is a Maker-ruin about a day and a half from town in the Great Wood, so I add it to the Nearby Threats tracker, on the right hand side. I write down "Sajra the Swyn (villain)" and draw a line to a likely spot in the woods.

3 Instinct

Every threat has an instinct, written in the format "to <do something>."

This is the primary behavior that makes it a problem, that causes it to come into conflict with or harm others. If it didn't have this instinct, it wouldn't be a threat.

Many other game elements (like dangers and some NPCs) will already have an instinct assigned. If such an element becomes a long-term threat, then either use its existing instinct or write up a new instinct to reflect how its typical behavior has changed or become more problematic.

If you're writing up a threat that doesn't have an instinct yet (like a curse, or some NPC you just made up), decide on its instinct now. See the descriptions of each threat type for examples.

Whatever instinct you chose, write it down in your notes, under the threat's name type.

If you think it'll be helpful, and you have space, add it to the threat tracker, too.

According to the bestiary, a swyn's instinct is "to indulge its ego." That's perfectly horrid, and can lead to all sorts of villainous behavior (like collecting children). I reuse that for this specific threat's instinct.

Instincts in play

Use a threat's instinct to guide how it behaves and reacts. If you're unsure what a threat would do, look to its instinct. Have it do that.

When doing prep, use a threat's instinct to inform the sort of trouble it causes and to help you frame your adventure hooks.

4 Description

Jot down some notes, including any or all of the following that seem important:

• Who or what the threat is.
• How it came to be a problem for the PCs, or how they first encountered it.
• Its relationship(s) to NPCs, monsters, points of interest, or other threats.

These notes are for your benefit, so write only what's useful to you, what you want to remind yourself of later. Don't waste time or space on stuff that's obvious (to you).

Sometimes, you'll be writing up a threat and realize that it's made up of (or commands) lesser threats. When that happens, either...

• fully write up that other threat, as its own entry on the threat tracker and in your notes; or…
• pick a type and instinct for the lesser threat, and include them (in parentheses) as part of the main threat's description.

When writing a threat's description, you might identify blanks—details that haven't been established yet. When you notice such a blank, either fill it in now (with whatever makes sense) or choose to leave it as a blank that will get filled in during play.

I know that Sajra is a swyn, and I know what a swyn is, so I don't bother putting that in its description. I do note that it's dwelling in an old Maker-ruin, that it commands the crinwin, and that it collects children (including Caradoc's nephew).

As I make notes, I realize that I have some blanks. What is the nature of the Maker-ruin? Why has Sajra become a threat NOW, when it wasn't a threat just a few months ago? What other children does it have?

I decide that it's already abducted one or two other children, but I'll ask the players who has been taken. As for the Makerruin, I really like the idea that it's a mummy-tomb for one of the Green Lords. So, either Sajra was in stasis in that tomb and recently released, or it just moved there from some place further in the Wood. I can't imagine a Green Lord choosing to spend eternity with such a foul, overbearing creature, so I think Sajra must have moved in recently. Which prompts another question: what drove it here? I don't feel a need to answer that just yet, so I leave it as blank.

I had already established the crinwin

as a threat (a rabble, instinct: to covet)

when reviewing my notes after character creation. They're subservient to Sajra, though, so I don't think they warrant a full write-up (yet).

At this point, my write-up looks like this:

SAJRA THE SWYN (villain)

INSTINCT to indulge its ego

Recently moved into a ruined Green Lord's tomb about 1½ days from town (from where?). Has dominated a few nests of crinwin (rabble; to covet); they've been stealing children for it.

Has Wynfor (Caradoc's nephew) and another child (who?).

5 Impending doom

If the threat has momentum—if it's changing, pursuing an agenda, or getting worse—then ask yourself: what irrevocable bad thing will happen if it proceeds unchecked? That is its impending doom.

An impending doom doesn't have to be world-shaking or terrible. It could be as petty as "Elios leaves Dilwen, and Dilwen never forgives Rhianna."

Of course, an impending doom can be world-shaking and terrible: "The Fomoraij rise and wage war on the Fae." Or: "Barrier Pass falls and the hordes sweep south."

The key thing about an impending doom is that it's irreversible. Once it's happened, there's no going back. It will fundamentally change the threat and the things it affects.

The PCs might convince Elios to return, but the relationship is broken now and Dilwen still won't forgive Rhianna. They might end the Fomoraij-Fae war, but the Great Wood has still been ravaged by the conflict.

Don't overthink it! Just ask yourself: "Where is this going?" and write that down. If you can't think of something, that's fine! Not all threats have an impending doom. If a doom occurs to you later, you can always come back and add it to the threat.

Sajra is newly arrived to the area, and it's assembling servants (the crinwin) and collecting children. It's driven by its terrible ego, and wants to be adored. If left unchecked, Sajra will eventually try to take control of Stonetop. And if the PCs don't stop it, Sajra will succeed. So its impending doom is: "Subjugates the people of Stonetop."

Grim portents

Once you've established that a threat has an impending doom, and what it is, come up with 2-4 grim portents. These are milestones, steps along the way that will demonstrate the threat's progression. Grim portents should be concrete, observable things: things the PCs can see, or get word of, or feel the effects of. And—crucially—grim portents should be something the PCs can react to and possibly prevent.

Just to be clear: grim portents are things that happen in the world around the PCs.

They are NOT things that the PCs do.

"Townsfolk form a cult" is a solid grim portent; "the PCs learn who the cultists are" is not. It presumes that the PCs care enough to investigate the cult, that they investigate, and that they succeed. That's not a grim portent—that's a railroad.

Similarly, a grim portent can be an event that involves the PCs, but it should never dictate an outcome. "The cultists attack the PCs in their homes" is great. You can safely assume the PCs will at some point be home, and who knows how the attack will play out? "The cultists capture the PCs" is not okay, because it assumes that cultists succeed at capturing them. Again, that's a railroad.

Writing grim portents

If you're having trouble coming up with grim portents, look at the GM moves for the threat type. If the threat is a monster or a follower, look at their moves, too. Those moves represent what the threat does and how it causes trouble. Use them—along with the threat's instinct—to inspire your grim portents.

Here's another trick: work backwards. Start at the impending doom, and ask yourself "What discrete, observable event would happen just before this? What would the situation look like?" That becomes the last grim portent. Then, what would happen before that? That's another grim portent.

Keep working backward until you have a grim portent that's visible from the current state of things.

As you write your grim portents, you'll probably find yourself changing your mind and maybe even rewriting the impending doom. That's fine! But try to keep things loose; a high-level outline is way more useful and flexible than a detailed plan.

Dooms and portents in play

Grim portents and impending dooms are your plans. They're what will happen unless the PCs intervene.

One of your basic GM moves is advance towards impending doom. Look at the grim portents for one of your threats, check the next one off, and show the PCs some sign that it's occurred or occurring.

You might make this move when…

• the Seasons Change, and their roll results in a threat getting worse or threats abounding. In the next session, or during an upcoming scene, show them that a grim portent or doom has come to pass.
• the players roll a 6- and this is the hard move you want to make. You'll often do this for moves made during loose play, but not always.
• the PCs have spent time away from the area where a threat is active, and then they return to that area. Show them how things have gotten worse.

The first grim portent for Sajra is obvious to me: more children go missing! But I'm not quite sure what comes next. What are steps between "having crinwin collect children" and "Sajra subjugates Stonetop?"

Working backwards: what would happen just before the town being subjugated?

Looking at the GM moves for villains, I see demand concessions, obedience, or respect and think: it would give the town an ultimatum! Accept it as their master, their god even, or be destroyed. This lines up with its instinct (to indulge its ego). It can turn the weakwilled into fawning servants (one of its monster moves) but it wants the bulk of the town to recognize its beauty and magnificence and serve willingly. Okay, what would it do before making such an ultimatum? It would gain followers or allies in town. How would it do that? Possibly by finding someone's weakness and then making an offer, with strings attached. But how? Villains usually act through minions or intermediaries... the children! It will send some of the stolen children home, thoroughly under its influence, and have them spy and recruit followers.

That gives me the following grim portents and impending doom:

O More children go missing

O Some of the (entranced) children return

O Children recruit followers

O Reveals itself, demands servitude

O IMPENDING DOOM: Subjugates the town, killing or mesmerizing any opposition

6 Stakes (optional)

Ask yourself some questions about the threat and the people affected by it.

What do you wonder about? What do you want to discover in play? These questions become your stakes.

You can ask stakes questions about PCs or NPCs, about groups or places or things.

They can be about big things, or small, personal things. Whatever you ask about, it should pique your interest and you should be genuinely curious about the answer.

Stakes questions should be about the future, not the past. What will happen, not what has happened. You might have questions about the past to fill in later, between sessions or during play, but those aren't stakes.

Some examples of good stakes questions:

• Will Vahid convince Eira to trust him?
• Will Elios rise to the occasion?
• Who will Mabyn end up with?
• Who will die in the coming battle?
• Will Tiwlip find her missing dog?
• Will the Claws accept Kiran's authority?
• Can Ergben be redeemed?

Stakes questions shouldn't boil down to, "Will this grim portent/impending doom come to pass?" You've already answered that! A grim portent or impending doom will come to pass unless the PCs prevent it. Ask about things that are uncertain, that haven't been decided.

Not every threat needs stakes. When you first introduce a threat, you might not know (or care) enough to ask them. That's okay! You can add stakes questions later, as the threat evolves or as you become interested. Or a threat might never develop stakes. That's fine, too.

For Sajra the Swyn, I wonder:

* Will Brynfor's parents forgive

Caradoc?

* What will become of the stolen children, the ones brought under

Sajra's control?

* What brought Sajra to move into the Green Lord's tomb, anyway?

That last one, though, isn't a stakes question—it's a detail about the past. I add the first two to my threat write-up as stakes, and add a question about why Sajra arrived to the description.

Stakes in play

By making something a stakes question, you are resolving not to answer it yourself.

Instead, you are disclaiming responsibility, letting yourself be surprised by how things turn out. Here's how you do that.

First and foremost: put your stakes on screen! If you wonder whether Nia's link to the spiders can be broken, have Nia's mother show up on the Blessed's doorstep begging her to "cure" her daughter.

Then, do any or all of the following:

• Put it in the PCs' hands. Tell them the consequences or requirements, and see what they do about it.
• Play NPCs with integrity. If a stakes questions boils down to "what would this NPC do?" then base your answer on the NPC's instinct, their past actions and relationships, your sense of who this person really is. Yes, you're making the decision, but you're basing it on how the NPC would act, rather than on how you want the story to go.
• Follow the moves and the dice. If the PCs trigger a move, and that move can answer a stakes question (or get you closer to an answer), then let it happen. Make the obvious move, the one that moves towards an answer.
• Let it simmer. If you put a stakes question on screen and it doesn't get resolved, it's okay to move on and leave it unanswered. Don't force it. Come back to it later when it makes sense.

So there we are, Blodwen's sister at her door, begging Blodwen to "cure" Nia of her link to the spiders. I wonder how it'll turn out!

I start by putting it in the PC's hands. "Blodwen, you could try to Suck the Poison Out. It might cleanse Nia's connection to the spiders, but… it'd be like if someone took away your Spirit Tongue. What do you do?"

Blodwen is willing to try, but not without Nia's consent. She follows her sister home and finds Nia in the corner, playing catscradle with a spider, her big tough-guy dad glowering on. Blodwen explains to Nia that the whole spider thing is upsetting her parents, that the link can be broken but she won't do it without Nia's permission.

Nia's instinct is "to befriend spiders," and I think that she likes playing with them. So I play my NPC with integrity and say "But I don't want to lose my friends," all sweet and innocent. "Her mom sobs and her dad chokes up and bites down on his finger."

I'm thinking the issue is settled, but Blodwen presses on. "Your mam and pappy are scared of spiders, Nia, really scared. And it makes them sad and scared when you talk to them. Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

The point of this process—writing stakes that you're interested in, putting them on screen, and letting the PCs and your NPCs and the dice resolve them naturally—is to make the game more fulfilling for you. It's a reward to yourself, to say "I wonder, can they break Nia's bond to the spiders?" and then let yourself be surprised by the answer.

Blodwen's Persuading, so I follow the moves and the dice. She rolls a 7. I have to reveal how Nia could be convinced, but it'll be tricky, costly, or distasteful. "She doesn't want to, but the way her eyes go to her dad, you're sure that if HE said how worried and scared it made him, she'd go along with it. Good luck with that. What do you do?"

Blodwen pulls the parents aside, whispering that they should be honest with Nia, tell her how scared they are and how much they care about her, eyes on Nia's dad the whole time. She's Persuading again, but she gets a 5. Nia's dad loses it, starts yelling at Nia, ordering her to agree. The girl starts crying and runs out of the house and goes to hide some place dark (probably with a lot of spiders).

I still haven't answered the question decisively ("can the link be broken?"), but it won't be answered now. I decide to let it simmer and we'll answer the question later.

7 GM moves (optional)

If you want to further define how the threat behaves or what it's capable of, pick or write 2-4 GM moves.

Start by looking at the GM moves for the threat's type. If any of them seem particularly appropriate for this threat, add them to its write-up. Likewise, if the threat is also a monster, identify any monster moves that help you understand how it causes trouble over time, and add those to the write-up.

Finally, ask yourself if there's anything that you think this threat can or will do that isn't clearly defined, and that you want to remind yourself of or give yourself permission to do. Write these as GM moves, so that they complete the sentence: "the threat can/will __."

8 Player moves (optional)

Sometimes a threat will suggest a unique player-facing move, one that's only triggered when interacting with the threat, its minions, or its domain. For example, "When you remove a canopic jar from the sarcophagus, roll +CHA…."

If a threat is also a monster, a hazard, an artifact or arcanum, it might already have some player-facing moves associated with it. Add these moves (or a reminder about them) to your notes if you think it'll be helpful.

Not every threat calls for custom moves. Don't bother writing one up unless it adds value.

See the Writing Moves & Love Letters chapter for guidance on writing custom player-facing moves.

As a monster, Sajra already has GM moves and even a player-facing move for "When the swyn compels you to act against your will…." Most of these will be relevant only when the PCs face Sajra directly, at which point I'll have its monster stats handy. But a couple of its GM moves describe its capabilities as a big-picture threat, so I add those to my write-up. My threat now looks like this:

SAJRA THE SWYN (villain)

INSTINCT to indulge its ego

Recently moved into a ruined Green Lord's tomb about 1½ days from town (from where?). Has dominated a few nests of crinwin (rabble; to covet); they've been stealing children for it.

Has Wynfor (Caradoc's nephew) and another child (who?).

O More children go missing

O Some of the (entranced) children return

O Children recruit followers

O Reveals itself, demands servitude

O IMPENDING DOOM: Subjugates the town, killing or mesmerizing any opposition

STAKES: Will Wynfor's parents forgive

Caradoc? What will become of the stolen children brought under Sajra's control?

GM MOVES

> Plant a suggestion in another's mind

> Turn the weak-willed into fawning servants

Example threats

The threats here and on the following pages are more examples. These threats might not exist in your game, and if they do, they might look very different. Use them as inspiration, nothing more.

TEGWEN (wildcard)

Instinct to undermine others' worth

Blodwen's mother, jealous of her importance to the village and her relationship with Gwendyl and Seren.

Resents Rhianna. Distrusts Vahid.

Thinks Caradoc is a fool.

Stakes: How far will she go to control Blodwen? How much will

Blodwen put up with?

GM moves:

• Provide (unwanted?) advice or aid
• Force an issue or a confrontation
• Wield guilt like a weapon

GARET'S WOUND (affliction)

Instinct to keep Garet in danger

Garet's leg got mauled by feathered drakes; Blodwen patched him up but he's still walking on it. Could get bad.

• Wound isn't healing well, Garet is weak and slow
• Wound gets infected, needs to be amputated
• Garet becomes feverish, delirious
• Impending doom: Garet dies

Stakes: What decisions will Rhianna make? How will Blodwen handle it?

MUTRA THE TEETH (villain)

Instinct to acquire

A boss in Gordin's Delve. His crews mine, salvage artifacts. Bought Green Lord stuff from Vahid, Rhianna; wants to know/acquire more.

• Pays merchants, travelers to scope out Stonetop
• Embeds agent(s) in Stonetop
• Agent(s) identify key treasure(s)
• Mutra demands treasure(s) for a pittance, or else
• Impending doom: Agent(s) kill someone, steal treasure(s)

GM moves:

• Interrupt trade with Gordin's Delve
• Turn old allies against Stonetop

CRINWIN (rabble)

Instinct to covet humanity

Free of Sajra's control, they'll become more obsessed with Stonetop.

• Reestablish nests, numbers
• Attacks on folks in the Wood
• Nighttime raids on village, stealing stuff and killing livestock
• More/bigger nests nearby, anyone in the Wood is attacked/abducted
• Impending doom: Full on invasion, with intent to move in, take over

When you Deploy the village militia against crinwin raids, add this to the list of choices for a 7-9:

• The crinwin steal 1d4 Surplus
• An important item goes missing

THE PALE CRINWIN (wildcard)

Instinct to learn more and more

A curious, "friendly" crinwin somewhat exiled from its peers. Vahid communicated with "him," sort of. It's fascinated with writing, drawings.

Stakes: Will the PCs figure out how to reliably communicate with "him?"

Will the villagers accept crinwin as anything but vermin or monsters?

When you try to communicate with the pale crinwin through noises or pantomime, describe what you're trying to convey and roll +INT: on a 10+, message received; on a 7-9, he gets the gist but not the details; on a 6-, hoo boy does he get it wrong.

NAILADD SWARM (beasts)

Instinct to breed and spread out.

Giant spiders, spreading out via the waystones at the behest of the Mother-of-Spiders.

• Nearest waystone is infested, nailadd hunting near Stonetop
• Game is scarce, hunters/trappers are attacked, stay in town
• Spiders raid Stonetop, killing some, dragging off others
• Impending doom: Overrun and infest the village!

Stakes: Will Blodwen bring herself to help kill them? Will Andras overcome his fear of spiders?

FARMERS GUILD (rabble)

Instinct to improve their lot in life

Idealists led by Dermos and Tierney, maybe 100 backers. Want a spot on the Marshedge town council to start.

• Council refuses to recognize them
• Guild organizes a strike in protest
• Brennan has Claws/new recruits break strike, kill Dermos/Tierney
• Resentment grows, loyalists from the watch side with farmers
• Impending doom: Riots, looting, killing, Marshedge in flames

Stakes: Will Dermos and Brin get together? Will Kiran follow orders or his conscience?

THE MARSHEDGE COUNCIL

(institution)

Instinct to preserve the status quo.

The head of each guild (including the fen-walkers) and a rep from each of the Old Families. Brennan isn't on the council but he surely influences it.

GM moves:

• Cut off Stonetop's supply of something
• Stall, bicker, refuse to make decisions

THE WHITE HAND (institution)

Instinct to contain the evil of the lakes, no matter what it takes

A holy sect of Hillfolk who patrol the Steplands.

Stakes: How will the PCs react to them, if they learn of their purpose?

GM moves:

• Denounce trespassers as unclean
• Sense the taint of corruption
• Spread word among the Hillfolk
• Outmaneuver their prey

THE MINDGEM'S HEART

(MacGuffin)

Instinct to empower, ignite, awaken

A chunk of makerglass that burns with terrible heat, recovered from Three Coven Lake. Currently kept in Vahid's hearth.

Stakes: What will Vahid do with the Heart? How will Maire react to its presence in Vahid's house?

GM moves:

• Perform its function, heedlessly
• Draw attention to itself
• Catch something on fire
• Provide a potent supply of magical energy

TRADE EMBARGO (affliction)

Instinct to punish Stonetop

After the PCs sided with the Farmers Guild, Brennan had the council cut off trade with Stonetop.

When you Outfit from Stonetop, start with 1 fewer small item than normal, and supplies each have 1 fewer use.

When you Recover using supplies from Stonetop, you or your patient recover 1 HP less than normal.

When you Trade or Barter for anything that would come through Marshedge, you have disadvantage.

THE SHADOWY PRESENCE

(magical entity)

Instinct to devour life, light, warmth

The wraith of a Green Lord. Bound beneath that mound the PCs found near the spider ziggurat. It tasted Caradoc's blood, so he's tied to it.

Awakened by the Mindgem's Heart.

• Earthquake sets it free
• Rampages through Great Wood, mindlessly stalking/feeding
• Catches "scent" of the Heart, moves towards Stonetop
• Starts attacking villagers at night
• Impending doom: Devours the Heart, becoming a permanent vortex of death and darkness Stakes: How will its link to Caradoc affect what happens?

Updating

Threats change over time. Between each session, review your threats and update them as needed. For each threat, if…

• it's no longer a threat (because it's dead, it's left, the conflict has been resolved, etc.), then cross it off the threat tracker;
• its threat type no longer rings true (because you got it wrong, or because its nature has changed), then pick a new one;
• its instinct no longer rings true or has changed, then revise it;
• there's something new that you want to remember, then add that to its description;
• any of its grim portents have come to pass, then tick them off;
• the PCs foiled it or changed its course, then update its grim portents and impending doom appropriately, or cross them off if the doom has been completely averted;
• it's moving towards something bad (but it wasn't before), then write an impending doom and grim portents;
• any of its stakes questions were answered, or are no longer relevant, cross them off;
• there's something new that you wonder about and that interests you, then write a new stakes question;
• its behavior or capabilities have changed (or been revealed), then write some new GM moves for it; and/or
• it moved closer or farther away, then move it from one threat tracker to another.

Consider also: did you introduce any new threats in play? Were there any new enemies or rivals? Any monsters that might return to cause trouble later? NPCs who the PCs can't trust? Groups in conflict, with the PCs or with the status quo? Did you introduce any difficult circumstances that will worsen or at least persist? Did the PCs acquire anything that others really want, or that will draw attention, or just cause trouble by itself? Write them up as threats.

We just finished our first session of actual play. Rheinal stumbled home. The crinwin abducted Pryder. The PCs organized an expedition to rescue him. There was a fair bit of interaction with the NPCs in town, and no small amount of drama.

I had previously written up Tegwen, Blodwen's mother, as a wildcard threat ("to nitpick and snipe"). But in play, I found myself portraying her as much nastier, more abusive and manipulative. Blodwen's player was on board with that, so I update her instinct to be "to undermine others' value," I make note of her attitude towards the various PCs, and I write some stakes questions ("How far will she go to control Blodwen? How much will Blodwen put up with?").

During that first session of play, we also met Owain, whose daughter disappeared the previous winter. He and Glenys (Caradoc's aunt and mother of Wynfor, who was abducted in the late-winter crinwin raid) were bitter and nasty towards the PCs, especially Rhianna.

I start writing them up as a rabble threat, but when I look at the threat moves, I realize that no, the parents aren't the threat. The threat is "Distrust of the PCs," an affliction, and the parents are just wrapped up in it. I write it up as a threat (Instinct to fester). I don't have a sense for where this is going just yet, so I don't write an impending doom. But I am curious: Can Rhianna regain Owain and Glenys's respect? Will Glenys ever forgive Caradoc? I write those down as stakes questions.