Defend
This move can trigger proactively or reactively.
Proactively: there’s danger afoot but no imminent, in-process attack. They ready themselves to receive and repel danger: planting their feet, raising shield and spear, eyes sharp, etc. Maybe they step near/in front of the person they mean to Defend]]. Maybe they dig in to hold a position or protect some valuable item. Maybe they’re just Defending themselves.
Reactively: you’ve made a move that establishes a specific, imminent attack against one character, and another character’s player says something like “I step in front of them!” or “I tackle them out of the way.” This version only works when they protect someone (or maybe something) else. If they’re reactively protecting themselves, that’s Defy Danger or maybe Clash.
A character can jump in to Defend another after you’ve already described an attack landing, as long as everyone agrees that, yeah, they could have done that.
On a 7+, the player holds Readiness and can spend it to do one of the listed options, no roll required. Players can spend Readiness multiple times in response to a single attack, but can only pick each option once against any given attack. Remember to begin and end with the fiction—ask the player what it looks like when they spend their Readiness.
Players can spend Readiness only in ways that make sense. They can’t interrupt an attack that they can’t perceive, or strike back at a foe that’s out of reach.
Halving an attack’s damage/effects reduces the damage before applying armor. Work with the player to determine what halving the effect means. Maybe they stagger instead of falling, or maybe the tentacle grabs just one arm instead of fully ensnaring them.
If they strike back at an attacker, any tags on their damage (like forceful or messy) apply. This option won’t, by itself, stop or prevent the attack, even if they drop the attacker. They’re spending Readiness in response to the attack, not before it.
Players can trigger other moves while they hold Readiness, and spend it in response to those moves’ outcomes. That’s the point! But if they get aggressive or give up their defensive stance, the Readiness is lost.
When someone Defends proactively and rolls a 6-, escalate the situation aggressively. If they Defend reactively and gets a 6-, well, your hard move will probably be pretty obvious.
Example
Rheinal (an NPC) gets pounced on by a nailadd, and Vahid tries to save him. “I grab him and pull him behind me.” That’s Defend! Vahid rolls an 8, and spends his 1 Readiness immediately.
“It’s going to tackle him, do 1d8 damage, and pump him full of poison,” I say. “If you want to save him, you could either take the blow, or halve the damage/effect.” He asks if he can roll the damage before deciding and I’m like “Of course!” He rolls a 5, and chooses to suffer the attack in Rheinal’s place, poison and all.
Example
Caradoc trips while running from a drake, and Rhianna turns and starts yelling at it, getting between them. “Sounds like you’re Defending Caradoc, yeah?”
“Yup. I promised his ma I’d bring him home safe.” She rolls a 7, spending her Readiness to draw attention from her ward to herself. “I’m yelling, clanging my spear and knife, and circling so it’s not looking at Caradoc.”
“Cool! Caradoc, that drake was right on you, but it just turned to hiss at Rhianna. You’re able to get to your feet, what do you do?” He, of course, decides to stab it (and Rhianna curses under her breath).
Example
Blodwen approaches Wynfor, who’s got this creepy, beatific look on her face. Vahid’s hanging back, guarding the door. He rolled Defend, and is holding 1 Readiness.
When Wynfor stabs Blodwen out of the blue, Vahid is like “I spend Readiness to halve the damage!” But I don’t think so. He’s by the door, 3 or 4 paces away, and she knifed Blodwen with no warning. “Keep your Readiness,” I say, “but you weren’t in position to protect Blodwen from Wynfor at all.”
Example
Blodwen is tending to Pryder’s wounds when Caradoc hears a strange motley of animal noises approaching—crinwin! He gulps, moves to the entrance, and hoists his shield and spear. That’s a defensive position, for sure, so he rolls +CON to Defend. He gets a 10+, and holds 3 Readiness, +1 for his shield.
“The first two crinwin rush you, one bounding at your face and the other going low! What do you do?”
He holds his ground, shield up, stabbing as they get near. That’s fighting in melee, so a Clash. “Do I keep my Readiness?” he asks, and yeah, I think he does—he’s fighting, but defensively. (If he’d rushed out to meet them, then no, his Readiness would be gone).
Alas, he rolls a 4 to Clash so I put him a spot, and hard: “The first one bowls you over while the second grabs your leg and bites down, hard! That’ll be d6+1 damage.” He rolls 5 damage, but spends 1 Readiness to halve the attack’s damage and effects. That becomes 3 damage, less 1 for his armor. “What’s this look like, then?” I ask “How are the effects halved?”
“I think I keep my feet, but the first one is hanging on my shield while the other one chomps my ankle. And, yeah, I’ll spend one more Readiness to strike back, bashing the one on my shield against door frame. Cool?”
Very cool. He deals his damage (with disadvantage), and he’s still got 2 Readiness left.
“Okay, Blodwen, while this is going on…”