I am a new GM in MG. During our first session, I had an exchange that went something like this…
Player: …and I’ll add +2d from my Flood-Wise 2.
GM: You only get +1d from ‘help’.
Player: …Then what’s the point of having a wise at a rating any higher than 1?
I found that I had no good answer for him.
I was going through my book for information relevant to this, but I could not come up with anything. I have suspicions, but I want to be sure.
My lead guess goes something like this:
Wises can be used to roll for tests like regular skills to get information from the GM (higher scores = better chance to get information)
You’ve about got it. See the Wises entry under Abilities and Skills, page 255. Wises can be used both for helping oneself and others (pages 92 and 94), and for allowing characters access to information about the setting. This can be either information you have as the person in the GM role, or a detail the player defines. The Wise test determines if the assertion is true or false.
Edit: I wanted to add that there should be a specific circumstance on which the test is hung; the characters shouldn’t be testing Wises simply to find out more information about something. If there’s no conflict, tell the player what he or she needs to know and move on.
They can also be used by players to set truths about the fiction, taking narrative control from the GM about something.
One player, during the player turn after another player’s failed roll lead to an encounter, used “rebel wise” to change the nature of the oncoming encounter from one of neutrals (my plan) to them being the rebels they were seeking as part of the mission. The Ob I set was about 5, and she made it by use of 3P and 1 F, and help from another player’s “Darkwoods Wise”…