When you ask AEGIS for help or official support, roll +Superior. On a hit, your request is granted, but with complications. On a 10+, choose one from the list. On a 7-9, the GM chooses two.
There’s an ongoing investigation or related case; you might have to deal with it too.
A senior hero will evaluate your performance and rate you at the end.
The matter demands deniability, so AEGIS can’t be visibly involved.
Jurisdictional conflict with other law enforcement, who will cause trouble for you.
On a miss, you’re either told why it won’t happen, or you’re lied to about what’s going to happen.
No matter how you roll, AEGIS will be keeping a closer eye on you from now on. You might also be called on for work down the road.
Actually, there are three levels of player-facing moves:
Easy moves where no matter what, the PC succeeds (it’s merely a question of at what cost).
Challenging moves (where a lot of moves fall) where it’s up in the air whether the PC succeeds (either leaning towards any hit being a success or just 10+).
And difficult moves where no matter what, the PC is always on their back foot afterwards.
It’s just that so many fall into the first two categories that it is a little surprising when you see one in the third.
I think of these as moves that serve a double purpose of providing color and context to the game world. The GM can SAY “working with AEGIS is always going to be a headache, have strings attached, and probably have a bunch of trailing complications,” but the move illustrates it really clearly.
Using the Doomed’s Sanctuary to solve problems is the same kind of “no clear success” move, in that it almost-nearly-probably always advances the Doom track. It doesn’t leap to mind because it’s one of those moves with no dice rolling and more choices involved. (And they’re GM choices, so probably not good - in any move where “GM Chooses” is spelled out, it’s usually intended to be ‘increase complications.’)
When you ask AEGIS for help or official support, roll +Superior.
On a hit, your request is granted, but with complications. On a 10+, choose one from the list. On a 7-9, you choose one and the GM chooses one.
There’s an ongoing investigation or related case; you might have to deal with it too.
A senior hero will evaluate your performance and rate you at the end.
The matter demands deniability, so AEGIS can’t be visibly involved.
Jurisdictional conflict with other law enforcement, who will cause trouble for you.
On a miss, you’ll regret involving AEGIS; they might push you aside and shut you out of the situation (due to alarm, disdain, classification level, etc.), take gross advantage of your need (GM chooses three from above), or something else.
On any roll, AEGIS is more actively aware of you, and will probably involve themselves in your business (or you in theirs) in the future.
I didn’t include Influence explicitly because adults already have Influence and that would inevitably mean a label shift almost every time. As it stands, you will almost always get one of those on the senior hero route when they evaluate you.
Actually, there are three levels of player-facing moves:
…
It’s just that so many fall into the first two categories that it is a little surprising when you see one in the third.
It felt justified here because you get the resources of an adult organization to help you on any success, but thematically you ought not lean on them. So it ought to feel like a deal with the devil.
For if we ever do things together, but not as a team or not on-camera…
When you and your teammates go “off duty” and have fun, you can use the opportunity to share a triumphant celebration, share a weakness or vulnerability, or comfort or support someone. If you describe a close call or risk you faced in one of the following areas, take +1 forward to that action:
Someone’s heroic or secret identity almost leaked
Property was damaged, destroyed, or vandalized
Trouble with parents or other authority figures
A brush with the law (police, Feds, AEGIS)
Paparazzi, social media, or someone else noticed the event and it’s trending
The event went south for someone (lost the game, food poisoning, saw a movie someone hated, etc.)
On a miss on the next action, the GM can declare that the risk materialized, or offer it as a cost where relevant.
Well, we could see a crossover move. “When you research paranormal phenomena while intoxicated…”
Oh, the move used in every “hey, let’s got to that spooky house on the hill, get drunk, and make out” teen horror flick? Yeah, that’s definitely what we need.
