MOVES FOR THE GAME MASTER


Otaidokan has a pending expansion with more options  and a GM Agenda. I will possibly give a good wash to The Forge of Tokurenkai and expand it with images to keep all things together. 

I first thougt of using Dungeon World's DM Agenda as a base, then went for Urban Shadows' as the tone is more for intrigues and politics. I might still use Urban Shadows as a base but I have found as well Thousand Arrows, another Samurai-themed Pbta ttrpg which, with some adjustments, could work well.

Here is my first draw:

GM AGENDA

  • Fill the Sapphire Island with war and intrigues.
  • Make the players’ character choices matter 
  • Play with a mind unfettered 
  • Always say what your rules, honesty, consistency, and principles demand

PRINCIPLES OF THE GM

  • Paint the war in blood and ink 
  • Address characters, not players 
  • Cloak moves in the fog of war 
  • Draw maps, leave blanks 
  • Give everyone names, pasts, and objectives.
  • Treat everyone according to their status 
  • Ask questions and build on the answers 
  • Be a fan of the players’ characters 
  • Sometimes, let someone else decide

GM MOVES

  • Separate them. 
  • Spring a trap. 
  • Harm them. 
  • Dishonour them.
  • Drain their resources. 
  • Threat something precious. 
  • Show them their gear’s limitations . 
  • Turn nature against them. 
  • Shift range (fists, spears, arrows …) and/or scale (strategic, tactical, personal …). 
  • Tempt an individual to betray the group. 
  • Question their loyalty 
  • Question their training. 
  • Reveal their liege’s weakness. 
  • Reveal their subject’s strength. 
  • Put all the attention on them. 
  • Announce an unwelcome truth 

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