Seek-Insight
Seek Insight triggers when a character does something to gain insight. Don’t call for the move just because a player asks what they see or hear. Call for it when they look to you to put the pieces together, or to reveal more than what’s obvious.
The PC must actually study a situation or person. If the player just says that they Seek Insight, ask what that looks like. It could be subtle (“I scan his office while they talk”) or overt (“I toss the room—taking books off shelves, looking in those pots, tapping the walls, etc.”), but it has to be something.
On a 7+, the player asks one or more ques- tions from the list. The list drives players to ask meaningful questions, ones that grant insight rather than just detail. No need to be a stickler about it, though. If they ask a good question that’s not on the list, feel free to answer it. Or, accept their question but answer a question from the list.
Answer honestly, generously, and helpfully. Rely on your prep and sense of the fiction to guide you. You’ll often need to make up details on the fly. These details become true parts of the fiction!
If you’re unsure how to answer, ask the player for guidance. “Well, the old coins are obviously valuable, but what sort of thing were you looking for?”
Begin and end with the fiction! Don’t just say that Siowan is about to betray them; describe how Siowan’s acting nervous, glancing at the door like someone’s about to burst in. Alternately: give them a direct, simple answer and then ask them what details led them to that conclusion.
Adjust your answers to reflect the fiction. The move isn’t magic; it doesn’t let PCs know things that they couldn’t. A quick scan of the room from the entrance should give less-specific and less-useful insights than if they get in there and interact.
The best answer is often the obvious one. “What’s valuable? The coins. Everything else is junk.” Sometimes, the only honest answer is “nothing.” “There’s nothing to be on the lookout for. This place is quite safe.” “No one’s in control. It’s a damn free-for-all.” Such answers remove doubt and clarify the situation (and the PC still gets advantage to act on the answer).
On a 10+, the player gets advantage on only one roll, the first one that acts on any of the answers. If they ask three questions, they get advantage once, not thrice.
On a 6- during a tense, dangerous scene, your move will often involve the character getting interrupted or surprised as they study the situation.
When they get a 6- to Seek Insight in “safe” situation, you might use your move to announce trouble that wasn’t there before. You might reveal an unwelcome truth or advance towards impending doom, deciding that something bad happened off-camera before they got here. Or you might use up their resources and say how they learn nothing but their torches are running low.
Don’t remove a player’s agency on a 6-. You might turn their move back on them and feed them false information or a bad idea, but only do so if the player is onboard and enjoys the dramatic irony. Likewise, don’t presume that the PC acts contrary to how the player triggered the move. If they said they were scanning the room, don’t say that they stepped inside and sprung a trap.
Example
The PCs are staring up at a crinwin nest. They ask about its size (“big as a house”), the tree it’s in (“like a sequoia redwood”) and if there’s movement in the nest (“nope”). Then Rhianna asks “Any recent activity? We’ll look for tracks and whatnot.” That’s looking for insight, so she triggers Seeking Insight.
She rolls +WIS (with advantage from her crew Aiding) and gets a 10. “Is the nest still active? Any signs of recent activity?” she asks. I direct her to ask a question from the list.
“Oh, yeah. Um, what should I be on the lookout for? Like, are any crinwin still around?” I say no, nothing to be on the lookout for. The nest is unoccupied, damaged even. Garet (from her crew) calls her over and shows her the crinwin bodies he found, rotting away in the brush.
“Whoa. Uh… what happened here recently?”
They find more crinwin corpses, and some that look like they killed each other. “A few weeks old, at least. But not enough corpses for a full a nest. And you find signs of crinwin dragging off other crinwin, in the same general direction they carried off Pryder.”
“What the hell?” spits Rhianna. “Um… who or what is really in control here? Like, who or what is behind this?”
I know that Sajra the swyn (a giant, hypnotic, monkey-headed snake) is behind the attack, but I don’t see how Rhianna could deduce that. I give her as useful of an answer as I think the evidence could allow: “Down the path, you find a… drake scale? But bigger, flatter, with a golden shimmer to it.”
She asks if she recognizes it. “I don’t know,” I say, “sounds like you’re Knowing Things?” And she agrees, and rolls with advantage for following up on an answer.
Example
A fae named Thornthumb is telling them about the swyn’s lair, but his eyes linger on Vahid’s pack (where the Mindgem is). Vahid doesn’t like that one bit. “I size him up, trying to figure out what he’s up to.” That’s Seeking Insight, but he gets a 3.
I turn his move back on him, revealing something valuable to the fae. “You, like, go to pick up your pack, but drop it and the Mindgem falls out!” But Vahid’s player isn’t having it. He wasn’t touching his pack, and the Mindgem is packed at the very bottom.
“Shoot, you’re right. How about this? Before you can get a read on him, he like bounds off through the brush, beckoning you to follow. ‘Show you the way, safe and secret,’ he says!” But something about his smile still unnerves you, Vahid. What do you all do?”