Splatbook*

Fictional positioning

The actions that your character takes and the moves you trigger are informed by your fictional positioning—the sum of established fictional details about your character and the world around them. This includes (but is not limited to):

  • Your established traits (age, height, weight, experiences, skills, habits, instincts, personality, etc.)
  • Your equipment, what you have in hand vs. stowed away, what's on your person, what's within reach
  • Your position, relative to your foes, your allies, hazards, cover, features of the environment
  • What you can realistically see or hear or otherwise sense, given the light, your position, the weather
  • What you're doing, what you're looking for, what you're focused on
  • Your momentum, your footing, your balance, your emotional state
  • How you describe doing something, your approach to the challenge at hand

Your fictional positioning determines what actions are feasible, whether your action triggers a move, and which move that action triggers. It affects the range of possible outcomes for a move, both good and bad.

In many role-playing games, your fictional positioning results in bonuses or penalties to your rolls, or changes the number you're trying to roll over or under. It adjusts the probability of a roll succeeding or not. That's not really a thing in Stonetop. You don't get a +1 bonus or -1 penalty just because the GM deems a task to be "easy" or "hard."

Instead, your fictional positioning might be reflected by…

  • … how much of a spot the GM puts you in before asking, "What do you do?" "The drake hisses and tenses, like it's about to charge, what do you do?" vs. "There's a rustling to your left and something big bursts out of the brush, coming right at you, what do you do?"

  • … whether your action is even feasible. "The cliff is pretty sheer, and wet, and your fingers are already numb from the cold. I don't think you can just climb it."

  • … whether a move is triggered, or if you just do what you wanted. "No, don't roll to Clash, you've caught him flatfooted. Just deal your damage."

  • … whether a move even can trigger. "You can stab it with your spear, but that won't trigger Clash. It's made of solid stone. You won't hurt it, you'll just put yourself in danger. You sure?"

  • … what's required to attempt an action, and/or to trigger a move. "No way you can make that jump right now. You need to drop down to a light load first, and even then you'll be Defying Danger."

  • … which move is triggering. "No, I don't think you're Seeking Insight, I think you're Defying Danger with WIS to spot them in time."

  • … the risks being lesser or greater. "In this case, suffering his attack will mean he just gets inside your guard." Or, "Just to be clear, if you roll a 6-, you're gonna miss the jump and you'll be rolling for Death's Door."

  • … the scope of what a single move can accomplish. "Cool, a 10+? Yeah, you get to Andras, arrows whizzing past you, and manage to drag him to cover." Or, "Okay, cool, but I think that's two moves—Defy Danger to duck inside its guard, and then Clash if you manage to pull that off. Do you still do that?"

  • … rarely, whether you make a roll with advantage or disadvantage. "Oof, with the gusting wind, I don't think the shot is impossible but it'll be particularly hard. You can Let Fly, but you'll have disadvantage on the roll." The GM should do this rarely, though, because it diminishes the impact of moves and other mechanics that specifically apply advantage or disadvantage.