When a GM Move lands, the player may attempt to soften or redirect it. The following tools are available, but not all may be combined freely.

• Invoke a Lens Aspect (Fate Point):
  • Guaranteed mitigation. Reduces severity by 3 shifts (or equivalent).
  • Mutually exclusive with Expressions or Statuses.
  • Represents certainty purchased with a scarce resource.

• Roll an Expression:
  • Risky mitigation.
  • Success → reduces or redirects the effect (usually 2 shifts).
  • Tie → partial reduction (usually 1 shift).
  • Failure → full effect, and may worsen.
  • May be combined with a beneficial Status.

• Use a Beneficial Status:
  • Automatic absorption equal to its value (e.g., *Warded 2* absorbs 2).
  • May be combined with an Expression roll.
  • Cannot be combined with an Aspect.

• Aspect: Stands alone. Most powerful but limited.
• Expression + Status: Allowed. Risk supported by prepped defenses.
• Cap on Resistance: No single resistance attempt may reduce more than 4 shifts total. Any excess carries through.

GM Hard Move: “The Feral Choir’s wail shreds your resolve. Take ‘Shaken 4.’”

• Player invokes Lens Aspect: Anchor of Hope → spend FP → -3 shifts → *Shaken 1*.
• Player rolls Expression: Endure the Unendurable (success) + has Status: Warded 2 → status absorbs 2 → *Shaken 2*. Expression success reduces 2 more → *Shaken 0*. (Cap reached.)

It is possible to completely avoid taking a status or consequence from a GM Move — but only by choosing the right method.

• Aspect Invoke: A well-timed invoke may reduce the effect to zero. The Move still happens in the fiction, but the character shrugs it off, evades, or nullifies it through narrative strength.
• Expression + Status: Together, these may cancel out the effect. A strong defense in preparation (status) plus skill in the moment (expression) can entirely blunt the Move.

Important: The Move always manifests in the fiction. The Choir screamed, the censer spilled, the ground shook. Complete mitigation means the PC emerged unharmed — not that the Move never occurred.