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A. Making Moves

Moves help you decide what happens when you do something risky or uncertain, and they resolve various fictional and mechanical situations. There is a move for most common actions and scenes you will portray in Chalksworn. When you do something or encounter a situation within the scope of a move, refer to the move and follow its instructions to see what happens.

When a move is referenced within this rulebook or within another move, the move’s name will be italicized. When you see italicized text, it’s your prompt to make that move.

Move Outcomes

Most moves use an action roll to resolve the outcome. Roll your action die and challenge dice, add the relevant stat to your action die along with any values provided by the move or your assets, and check the result.

A progress roll is a variation of the action roll used to resolve an extended challenge. When you make a progress move, you won’t roll your action die. Instead, roll the challenge dice and compare to your progress track. Then, check the result for a strong hit, weak hit, or miss.

Other moves leverage an oracle roll  to help guide the fiction. You’ll roll two ten-sided dice to generate a number between 1 and 100, and check your result against a table.

Some moves don’t use dice at all; don’t roll unless the move tells you to.

Best Practices for Moves

Fiction first, then move

What are you trying to do? How are you doing it? What complications might you face? Envision it. If you’re playing co-op or guided, talk it out. If - after thinking through the fiction - you decide you are doing something or encountering a situation that falls under a move, make the move.

Depending on the scale of the current action, you might be visualizing a montage of days (a journey, for example) or the passing of a mere second (an intense fight). Always think from the standpoint of the fiction - even if it’s obvious what move you’ll make. Then, translate the fiction into the mechanics of a move, and back to the fiction again as you play out the result.

Not everything is a move

Don’t let your session jump from move to move without any roleplay, worldbuilding, or storytelling. If you’re doing something safe and certain, it’s probably not a move. If you’d rather gloss over something, do it.

Many moves offer a potential benefit and cost, and it’s ultimately your decision whether to risk the move to gain the reward. If you happen across a community in your travels, and decide to roleplay some low-key interactions with the locals, that’s not necessarily a move. However, if you are wounded and low on supplies, Sojourn gives you an opportunity to recover.

Moves are also used as a pacing mechanism. Moves leading immediately to other moves make the situation feel more intense and dangerous.

Make Moves Matter

Let your moves flow organically out of the narrative. Don’t make moves purely for a mechanical benefit without some support in the fiction. Don’t repeat a move trying to get your desired outcome. A move, hit or miss, should always result in a change to the current situation.

For example, you are trying to Compel a faction leader to agree to an alliance. You roleplay how you attempt to reason with him. Then, you make the roll, and fail. They refused. Why? What else do you learn or what do they do to make your situation more complex or dangerous? Whatever happens, something happens. You shouldn’t try to Compel him again unless you bring a new approach or leverage to bear.

However, there will be times when you make a move multiple times in sequence. In combat, you’ll often Strike or Clash with consecutive rolls. When you Undertake a Journey, you may make the roll several times to gain progress. That’s fine as long as the rolls don’t get too mechanical. Break up the flow of play with other actions, narrative beats, and events that cause you to rethink your approach. When in doubt, follow this guideline: If you’ve made the same move three times in a row, switch things up. Make something happen.

Making Group Moves

When you are adventuring with allies (other player characters), you will often make moves to resolve a challenge for the group. This represents your character taking the lead in a particular scene. You might serve as the spokesperson as you Compel an enemy to negotiate a surrender. Or, you might guide your party through a dense wood as you Undertake a Journey. Unless a move specifically offers benefits for your allies, any mechanical bonus you gain from a hit is applied only to the character making the move. For example, if you represent your group as you Swear a Chalk Vow and score a strong hit, you take the mechanical reward (per the move, “take +2 momentum”). Everyone else benefits from the narrative success.

The exceptions are moves such as Make Camp and Sojourn, which provide specific options for your allies to improve their status tracks or clear debilities. Also, your supply track is shared when you travel together, and any change (positive or negative) affects everyone in the group.

Allies can contribute to your action by making the Aid Your Ally move. On a hit, you gain a bonus you can leverage to improve your chance of success. If more than one ally makes this move, bonuses can be stacked.

When you make a move for your group and face a negative outcome, you should apply mechanical and narrative costs as appropriate to the current situation.

Making Progress Moves

There are four progress moves: Reach Your Destination, End the Fight, Fulfill Your Vow and Continue a Legacy. These moves represent your attempt to act decisively and resolve a challenge or complete a narrative arc. When you make these moves, you won’t roll your action die and add a stat. Instead, you tally your progress score by adding +1 for each fully filled progress box. Then, roll your challenge dice, compare to your progress score, and resolve the move as directed. You cannot burn momentum when making a progress move, and you are not affected by negative momentum.

Move Glossary

There are several common phrases, terms, and prompts you’ll see as part of moves and assets. They are summarized here (in alphabetical order).

“Add +X”

Add this number to your action die. This is in addition to any other bonuses you otherwise receive, such as your stat. Your action die + your stat + adds is your final action score.

“Allies / Ally”

An ally is a character controlled by another player.

“Ask the Oracle”

When you seek inspiration to decide the outcome of a move, resolve what happens next, or get details about your world, you can Ask the Oracle. This move lets you ask questions to get a yes/no result or use random prompts for brainstorming. When you are playing with a GM, they are the oracle. Ask them what happens, or talk it out.

“Companion”

A companion is an NPC asset.

“Choose”

The move will provide a list of options and the number you may select. You may not select a single option more than once.

“Endure Harm (X Harm)”

Make the Endure Harm move, reducing your health track by the indicated amount of harm.

“Endure Stress (X Stress)”

Make the Endure Stress move, reducing your spirit track by the indicated amount of stress.

“In Exchange for”

Adjust the appropriate tracks by the amount indicated in the move. Typically, you will trade +1 in one track for -1 in another.

“On a Hit” / “If You Score a Hit”

Act on these instructions if you score a weak or strong hit on a move (your move score beats one or both of the challenge dice).

“On a Weak Hit” / “If You Score a Weak Hit”

Act on these instructions if your move score is greater than one challenge die, but less than or equal to the other.

“On a Strong Hit” / “If You Score a Strong Hit”

Act on these instructions if your move score is greater than both challenge dice.

“On a Miss” / “If You Score a Miss”

Act on these instructions if your move score does not beat either of the challenge dice.

“Pay the Price”

When you roll a miss on a move, you’ll usually see a prompt to Pay the Price. This move helps you resolve the outcome of failure. If you’re playing without a GM, you make the most obvious or interesting bad outcome happen based on the current circumstances, roll on the Pay the Price table to see what happens, or Ask the Oracle. If you’re playing with a GM, they can decide what happens, ask you to roll on the table, or talk it out with the group.

“Progress Move”

This is a special type of move to resolve the outcome of a goal or challenge. When you make a progress move, tally the number of filled boxes on your bonds progress track as your progress score. Only add fully filled boxes (those with four ticks). Then, roll your challenge dice, compare to your progress score, and resolve a strong hit, weak hit, or miss as normal. You may not burn momentum on this roll, and you are not affected by negative momentum.

“Reroll Any Dice”

After you roll your move, you may pick up and reroll your choice of any dice, including either or both of the challenge dice and your action die. Set aside the dice you intend to keep. You may only reroll once, using a single throw for all dice you choose to reroll. Choose carefully, because the new result for all dice must stand.

“Roll +[Stat]”

Add the value of the indicated stat to your action die. This is the basic action roll. Most moves indicate the stat you should use, such as “roll +iron”. If it doesn’t, or gives you a choice, use the most appropriate stat.

“Take +X”

Add this number to the indicated track. For example, “Take +2 momentum” tells you to add 2 to your current momentum track.

Some assets may offer additional bonuses. Unless stated otherwise, this bonus is added to anything else you gain as a result of your move. If you take +2 momentum as part of a move, and you are using an asset which gives you +1 momentum on the same move, you take +3 momentum total.

“When You…”

This is the move trigger. When you do this thing, or encounter this situation, make the move. Only you, the character, makes moves. You or the GM don’t use moves for non-player characters or creatures. If you’re just checking to see if something happens or how someone acts, you can Ask the Oracle.