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Lemon-Lime
Aug 6, 2009

aldantefax posted:

Honestly, kind of disappointed that Inverse World doesn't have anything to do with Slayers. Animeeee

No, fax! Don't tempt the Mikanimé! You'll doom us all!

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NinjaDebugger
Apr 22, 2008


Lemon Curdistan posted:

No, fax! Don't tempt the Mikanimé! You'll doom us all!

I would be all over this like you wouldn't even believe. Slayers is the best adventure.

Ich
Feb 6, 2013

This Homicidal Hindu
will ruin your life.
@Gnome7

I recently was reminded of The Mage's indestructible arcane treasure.
The Mage playbook says:

quote:

...Gear
Your Load is 7 + STR. You start with dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight) and an indestructible arcane treasure through which you draw power (such as a wand, crown, or book) describe it (1 weight).

Considering the recent update, I thought it mildly strange that it wasn't mentioned elsewhere in the playbook or additional material. Is its current inclusion in the playbook intentional or an overlooked artifact of history?

gnome7
Oct 21, 2010

Who's this Little
Spaghetti?? ??

Ich posted:

@Gnome7

I recently was reminded of The Mage's indestructible arcane treasure.
The Mage playbook says:


Considering the recent update, I thought it mildly strange that it wasn't mentioned elsewhere in the playbook or additional material. Is its current inclusion in the playbook intentional or an overlooked artifact of history?

The latter. You used to need it to be able to Cast a Spell, but now it's just kinda there. Keep it or not, it makes no difference and has no powers itself.

madadric
May 18, 2008

Such a BK.

gnome7 posted:

The latter. You used to need it to be able to Cast a Spell, but now it's just kinda there. Keep it or not, it makes no difference and has no powers itself.

I actually am using it as a central focus for my character. he's infatuated and obsessed with the statuette of some long forgotten goddess.

Ich
Feb 6, 2013

This Homicidal Hindu
will ruin your life.

madadric posted:

I actually am using it as a central focus for my character. he's infatuated and obsessed with the statuette of some long forgotten goddess.

Hmmm... My next Mage will MC The Fighter's Signature Weapon that is an ancient indestructible artifact, just because he can!

But seriously, that's cool to have an indestructible effigy.

Ich fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Mar 28, 2013

Golden Bee
Dec 24, 2009

I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.
I played an open-box, level 1 encounter with Pathfinder. The only thing I remember was my character had tons and tons of buckles on her outfit, and she wore the crown of the goblin king as a little tiara.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Crono S. Magnum
Feb 29, 2008
Okay, so this is a system that is

1) Free, but open for donation
2) Highly modular
3) Simple and focuses on narrative as opposed to pure powergaming


I'm reading the core book and already I'm kind of in love. Add in the Artificer class and I can already tell this would just be the best drat thing ever. Dwarven Power Armored Inventor going all mad scientist on some poor dragon.

Is there any word as to when they will be making a print version available?

Lemon-Lime
Aug 6, 2009
gnome, I'll write that Druid post tomorrow, since someone just pointed out that tomorrow is a bank holiday and I had no idea. :confused:

Crono S. Magnum posted:

Is there any word as to when they will be making a print version available?

Already available in the US via Amazon but not currently shipping worldwide (this is a glitch they're trying to fix). After that, they don't have a specific distribution channel for outside the US so it will be up to your local FLGSes to sort themselves out.

Lunatic Pathos
May 16, 2004

I shouldn't tell you this but you're the only one I can trust...
I work at an FLGS and was able to reorder (after selling out our backer copies) 10 copies directly from Sage and Adam via email. they're shipping in waves, or were at the time, so it took a couple weeks, but it was no problem and we got them at a fair wholesale after showing we were a brick-and-mortar.

So just tell your FLGS how awesome this game is and that they need to order from them direct via email. I've sold at least 10 copies so far.

Impermanent
Apr 1, 2010

gnome7 posted:

The latter. You used to need it to be able to Cast a Spell, but now it's just kinda there. Keep it or not, it makes no difference and has no powers itself.

Was this put there purely so it would be easy to make a Dungeon World version of the Ice King? Because if so, awesome.

Shamblercow
Jan 5, 2006
Moo.
You guys are great! Thank you so much for your feedback on the Necromancer!

That Rough Beast posted:

I'd tweak the verbiage on the 10+ result for Thrall Seeker so it reads "The thrall executes your instructions to the best of its ability." If it just "attempts" it, it sounds more like a 7-9 result. I get what you're going for, just a minor quibble.
Good catch. I like your wording better, as it does suggest more what I was going for.

That Rough Beast posted:

It may be me, but I don't understand Lend Me Your Strength very well - the triggers are pretty wordy and esoteric. Plus, it's problematic that you can screw an ally over with this but can't use it on an enemy - does it require the consent of the target? If so, make that explicit. Plus, how big is it? What is it intended to do? Why does breaking it kind of gently caress you up even if you roll a 10+? It just reads as a kind of weird power to me, and not really iconic to the Necromancer. All things to consider, though you may have already.

I went back and forth on this one. The idea is that the Necromancer can use the life energy of his allies or himself to protect/shield things, but I never really got it to work or sound like I wanted. I think I'm taking this one back to the drawing board and making it more like a healing skill where the Necromancer can trade life between allies:

Lend Me Your Strength... posted:

When you take the life force of a nearby willing ally and transfer it to another nearby creature, you may transfer hit points from the willing ally to the creature. This cannot reduce an ally to 0 hit points. The transfer leaves the willing ally shaken; they take a -1 ongoing until sunrise or sunset.

That Rough Beast posted:

The Good and Neutral alignment moves seem like they should be switched to me.
Agreed. Switched.

That Rough Beast posted:

Phylactery is cool conceptually, definitely keep it in some form. That said, I'm struggling to figure it out. You're a thrall? So you give a three word command to yourself? Do you have to roll +Con to do anything? Can you get revived from an undead state?
I made this simpler - you now just become undead and gain some advantage from that (don't have to eat, breathe, or sleep and can keep fighting), and use CON for all your rolls. So it is a bit of a power up, but the trick is that if you die while undead, you die for good. Any hit point gain or healing will eliminate your undead status.

That Rough Beast posted:

When your class damage is d4, Corpse Explosion is a pretty useful, but not broken ability. If someone takes it with multiclass dabbler, it can be a hell of a lot more powerful. You might consider just making it a flat d4, and perhaps include a move to upgrade it later.
Great point. I hadn't thought about multiclassing at all. I changed this to a flat d4 to each creature in the blast.

quote:

Bloodhound has an unclear trigger. How far away does it work? What do you have to do to "channel necrotic energy"?
I tried to simplify this. Basically, I want the necromancer to be able to track something by getting the signature of the life energy from the blood and being able to track the creature that shed it. Does this make it easier to parse?:
When you track a creature by using its blood, the blood will point towards the creature like a compass.

That Rough Beast posted:

I'm really not fond of the choices on Healer's Poison or From the Brink which allow you to choose to do damage to an ally. It's one thing if the GM does it, it's kind of a dick move if the player constantly is. So, either you'll do it and people will be annoyed, or you won't do it, in which case, why have it? If it's going to be there, make it the GM's choice.
I'd not thought of how a disruptive player might take advantage of this and make trouble for others, so I went ahead and eliminated consequences for other players like that.

That Rough Beast posted:

Possession has a very unclear trigger. Crossing the streams is kind of a mess too. With both of these moves, I'm not sure exactly how they're triggered or what the fiction should look like. Remember, simplify, simplify.
I traded Possession for an upgrade to the Corpse Explosion damage, and I rewrote Crossing the Stream to make it clearer. Now it requires willing allies.

Crossing the Streams posted:

When you attempt to channel the life forces of yourself and nearby willing allies into a necrotic blast, roll+INT. On a 10+, you do 1d4 damage per willing ally (plus yourself) to a single enemy you can see and you and each ally take 1 damage. On a 7-9, you still successfully target the enemy, but you and each ally take 3 damage. On a miss, the blast is successful, but you and each ally take 4 damage and are thrown back in a blast of necrotic energy.

That Rough Beast posted:

Death Knell seems really good and potentially overpowered to me.
I tried to downgrade this one a bit.

Death Knell posted:

When you focus all your necrotic energy into draining the energy of a single target, roll+INT. On a 10, choose 2. These effects last as long as you concentrate your necrotic energy and end immediately when your concentration is broken. You cannot move or take any other actions while concentrating your death knell. On a 7-9, choose 1.

*The target takes an extra 1d4 damage from every successful attack.
*The target is weakened, the DM tells you how.
*The target becomes confused and disoriented, lashing out madly.
On a miss, you suffer from one of the DM’s choosing until sunrise or sunset.

That Rough Beast posted:

Death is a Disease needs to be re-written. There are no turns in Dungeon World.
Right you are! Jeez, that's a silly mistake...

Death is a Disease posted:

Death is a Disease
When you touch a living creature to infect it with withering necrotic energy, the creature begins to age rapidly, slowing it down. The affected creature deals half damage. If the creature dies while still afflicted, it collapses into a cloud of dust. Anyone who inhales the cloud of dust within a few moments of the creature’s death also suffers the effects of the disease. The disease can be cured with an hour’s rest under the moonlight and a mouthful of holy water.

That Rough Beast posted:

I Bring a Mighty Bounty, My Liege is another move that needs a more elegant trigger. Like, try this instead: "When you deliberately shatter your phylactery..." The earlier issues with Phylactery also apply to this move.
Agreed. I love the change because it allows for a 'heroic' sacrifice type deal. I also made the damage dice 2d4.

djw175, Benly, and sentrygun posted:

Ideas and advice on how to fix the equipment section
Thank you for your help here; I made a few equipment changes that seem to make it line up better with other casters.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help with this. Here is the Necromancer v2.0. As before, any comments or questions are welcome!

gnome7
Oct 21, 2010

Who's this Little
Spaghetti?? ??

Impermanent posted:

Was this put there purely so it would be easy to make a Dungeon World version of the Ice King? Because if so, awesome.

Yes, actually. The Ice King was a heavy inspiration for The Mage as a class.

sentrygun
Dec 29, 2009

i say~
hey start:nya-sh

Shamblercow posted:

Thank you for your help here; I made a few equipment changes that seem to make it line up better with other casters.

The robe's not supposed to weigh anything because unless the player gets really creative it's not worth anything. It's an exchange to not have any weight instead of taking armor and weight.

Shamblercow
Jan 5, 2006
Moo.

sentrygun posted:

The robe's not supposed to weigh anything because unless the player gets really creative it's not worth anything. It's an exchange to not have any weight instead of taking armor and weight.

Gotcha. Removed the weight there.

ritorix
Jul 22, 2007

Vancian Roulette

Lemon Curdistan posted:

Already available in the US via Amazon but not currently shipping worldwide (this is a glitch they're trying to fix). After that, they don't have a specific distribution channel for outside the US so it will be up to your local FLGSes to sort themselves out.

Got mine from amazon today in the mail. :black101:

Awww yeah! It's nice.

With size comparison:

ritorix fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Mar 28, 2013

jivjov
Sep 13, 2007

But how does it taste? Yummy!
Dinosaur Gum
I searched for Dungeon World on Amazon and didn't turn up this game. Anyone have a link?

ritorix
Jul 22, 2007

Vancian Roulette
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-World-Roleplaying-Game/dp/0988639408/

Currently sold out.

TalonDemonKing
May 4, 2011

You can still order a PDF online though, it was like 10$ from RPG shop

Shamblercow
Jan 5, 2006
Moo.
There are also print+PDF copies available at Indie Press Revolution: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/product.php?productid=18774&cat=0&featured=Y

quote:

This package includes the entire game in both portrait and landscape PDFs as well as .mobi and .epub files compatable with the Kindle and other ereaders.

jivjov
Sep 13, 2007

But how does it taste? Yummy!
Dinosaur Gum
I bought a PDF from DriveThru already. I'm looking for a hard copy now.

Shamblercow
Jan 5, 2006
Moo.
The book by itself is the same price, so if you get it from Indie Press, you might as well get the Print+Play and get a print copy and the other files. You never know when they might come in handy.

dwarf74
Sep 2, 2012



Buglord

ritorix posted:

Got mine from amazon today in the mail. :black101:
Me too! I love having a hard copy! Weirdly, Amazon let me post my review before the game was actually "released" through them.

madadric
May 18, 2008

Such a BK.

Shamblercow posted:



I tried to simplify this. Basically, I want the necromancer to be able to track something by getting the signature of the life energy from the blood and being able to track the creature that shed it. Does this make it easier to parse?:
When you track a creature by using its blood, the blood will point towards the creature like a compass.



I made a move for a player's custom item called Heartseeker you could borrow from if you want.

When you taste the blood of a living creature, you can track the sound of it's heart as long as it's heart still beats.

Evil Mastermind
Apr 28, 2008

Dungeon World is now available on IPR as a Print & PDF bundle, and I think they do international shipping.

gnome7
Oct 21, 2010

Who's this Little
Spaghetti?? ??

Evil Mastermind posted:

Dungeon World is now available on IPR as a Print & PDF bundle, and I think they do international shipping.

I just placed my order. It'll be so cool to finally have a physical copy to lovingly caress read.

FrozenGoldfishGod
Oct 29, 2009

JUST LOOK AT THIS SHIT POST!



So I ran my roll20 DW campaign tonight. The Druid wasn't quite as heavily involved in events, it being an urban environment, so whenever not having the most :3: conversations with another PC's horse, he was sketching pictures.

Here's the best one:


The first one is a picture of a surprisingly helpful and friendly necromancer they encountered - the second one came up after they decided they had to break into a goldsmith's shop to find out what the religious icon he was carving was. This game pretty much owns them all.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
Everybody wants to know where the gold at.

Still plugging away at the Warlord, scrapping Wolf Pack Tactics as it stands for something else. Is this suitable for an advanced move in the 6-10 range or is it too under/overpowered, too complex, etc?

quote:

When you plan and execute an ambush with your allies roll +Int. On a 10+ all enemies caught in the ambush take 1d8 damage and are surprised and disorganized. On a 7-9 all enemies caught in the ambush take 1d8 damage and you choose two:

* You aren't dangerously exposed.
* You judged the enemy's numbers correctly.
* There are no exploitable flaws in your formation.

On a 6- all enemies caught in the ambush take 1d4 damage and you choose one.

vulgey
Aug 2, 2004

Covered in blood and without any clothes. Where is my mother?

Evil Mastermind posted:

Dungeon World is now available on IPR as a Print & PDF bundle, and I think they do international shipping.

Looks like their site is getting hammered :(

Lemon-Lime
Aug 6, 2009

Kai Tave posted:

Still plugging away at the Warlord, scrapping Wolf Pack Tactics as it stands for something else. Is this suitable for an advanced move in the 6-10 range or is it too under/overpowered, too complex, etc?

Actually, I like the concept. The d4 damage on a miss seems a bit piddly and therefore out of place (then again, it could kill some weaker creatures outright).

The problem I have with this on a conceptual level is roughly the same as my problem with Bend Bar, Lift Gates from the Fighter: an ambush is something everyone can do. Making a move where a partial success means not failing implies that all other ambushes not done via this move will misjudge enemy numbers, leave people exposed, etc. (basically, be generally disastrous).

The way you fix this is by changing your options to be a list of good things, so that the Warlord is obviously the expert at ambushing people but anyone else can still have the ambush narratively succeed.

quote:

Wolf Pack Tactics
When you plan and execute an ambush with your allies roll, +Int. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose two. On a miss, choose 1 anyway:
* Your opening salvo catches your prey unaware; deal 1d6 damage to all enemies caught in the ambush.
* Your prey are surprised and disorganised, allowing you to close with them unopposed.
* Some of your enemies panic and flee.
* Ropes and nets incapacitate a powerful enemy (perhaps a mage or champion or beast of war) for a little while.

Or something like that, anyway.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib

Lemon Curdistan posted:

The problem I have with this on a conceptual level is roughly the same as my problem with Bend Bar, Lift Gates from the Fighter: an ambush is something everyone can do. Making a move where a partial success means not failing implies that all other ambushes not done via this move will misjudge enemy numbers, leave people exposed, etc. (basically, be generally disastrous).

The way you fix this is by changing your options to be a list of good things, so that the Warlord is obviously the expert at ambushing people but anyone else can still have the ambush narratively succeed.

Okay, I get what you're saying. I'm still wrapping my head around the way DW interweaves mechanics and, for lack of a better word, narrative. I like choosing from a list of positives better than a list of prevented negatives better now that I've sort of got my head around that.

Lemon-Lime
Aug 6, 2009

Kai Tave posted:

I like choosing from a list of positives better than a list of prevented negatives better now that I've sort of got my head around that.

There was some talk in the old thread about the differences between the two, and essentially it comes down to how you want to present the move in terms of tone. A list of negatives you prevent is less upbeat than a list of positives you choose from. Negative lists are better suited to moves about stopping/mitigating things than they are to moves about acting on the world.

It's just a question of picking which one is appropriate for your move.

(There's a third type, which is "choose X bad things to happen," but it's a bit more complicated.)

Lemon-Lime fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Mar 29, 2013

Benly
Aug 2, 2011

20% of the time, it works every time.
So I came up with a compendium class, more or less. I feel like The Collection could be worded better, though. Also, I'm waffling on moving Sharp Dealer's selling move to Everyday Hustle. edit: Honestly it probably needs a better name too.

The Looter:

When you act on your love of wealth directly contrary to your better judgment, you may take the Knack For Looting move at your next level up.

Knack For Looting
When you ransack a store of wealth, be it a bank vault, an ancient tomb-hoard, or a private home, roll +int. On a 10+, you've found some good stuff and a particularly valuable item; hold 1-precious and the GM will tell you what unexpected valuable you've found. On a 7-9, hold 1-precious and there's a valuable there, but pick one from the list below. On a miss, hold 1-precious.

* It's unwieldy; it will require unusual measures to remove and transport
* It's distinctive; trying to use or sell it will lead to trouble
* It's unreasonably well-protected; trying to get at it will be risky

When you hold precious, you have valuable trinkets, gems, small goods and so on stashed about your person. You may spend 1-precious at any time to produce a bribe of sufficient value to qualify as leverage against anyone who isn't independently wealthy or to satisfy a hireling with a cost of "money", "treasure", or similar.

If you have the Knack For Looting move, you may take the following moves at level-up.

Sharp Dealer
When you sell a valuable object, you can choose to get only half its coin price and hold 1-precious, or gain no coin and hold 2-precious. When you try to barter with your goods and trinkets, spend precious and roll +precious spent. On a 10+, you've made a deal. On a 7-9, they want you to sweeten the deal somehow. On a 6-, no dice; it's hard cash or nothing.

The Good Life
As long as you hold precious, you can afford high-quality food, drink, and lodgings. You may spend precious to Carouse in place of coin, with each precious spent counting as 100 coin. You may spend 1-precious while Recruiting to qualify as "generous pay", and precious may be used to satisfy hireling costs of "debauchery".

Everyday Hustle
When you spend some downtime in a civilized area, gain 1-precious.

Always Holding
You're hard to separate from your stash. If your belongings are taken away, you retain your store of precious. Even after an intensive, full-body search, you can scrounge your way back to your previous value within 24 hours.

The Collection
When you have at least 1-precious and dig through your stash looking for a particular sort of item small enough to carry in one hand, roll +precious. On a 10+, either you've found an acceptable approximation, or you've found just what you need, but it's a expensive piece. On a 7-9, you can approximate what you need with an expensive piece. In either case, using an expensive piece to meet your needs will cost you 1-precious in lost value.

Benly fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Mar 30, 2013

Evil Mastermind
Apr 28, 2008

Adventures on Danger Planet has just been released.

quote:

Adventures on Dungeon Planet is a science fantasy supplement for the award-winning role-playing game Dungeon World. It has all sorts of cool stuff in it:
* Four new character classes: the Earthling, the Engine of Destruction, the Mutant, and the Technician.
* Three new PC races: aliens, androids, and white apes.
* Four new compendium classes: the Alien, the Scientist, the Sniper, and the Visitor.
* Futuristic gadgets, special equipment, and robots.
* New rules for spaceships.
* New dangers and two example fronts that use them.
* Procedures for creating alien planets and cultures.
* More than 30 new science fantasy monsters.

It is also full of really old pulp science fiction art from the early part of the 20th century!
And a few pieces from the Prismatic Art Collection.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
Okay, so with the list of names finally added to it and the changes to Wolf Pack Tactics taken care of, I'm ready to say that the Warlord playbook is ready for final revisions. Anyone who has any feedback on this version I would love to hear it because I'd like to polish this sucker off and get it in the queue for .pdf layout once I'm done.

Also gnome, would you please give Lemon Curdistan co-credit for this playbook in the compiled list as he's essentially responsible for about half of this thing by now.

PublicOpinion
Oct 21, 2010

Her style is new but the face is the same as it was so long ago...

I decided to go ahead and buy this, when I get it (I went ahead and got a printed copy, I think I have to wait for someone to manually send me a pdf link?) I can do a short review for anyone on the fence. The author posted the playbooks at the link above, though, if anyone wants to take a look.

Evil Mastermind
Apr 28, 2008

PublicOpinion posted:

I decided to go ahead and buy this, when I get it (I went ahead and got a printed copy, I think I have to wait for someone to manually send me a pdf link?) I can do a short review for anyone on the fence. The author posted the playbooks at the link above, though, if anyone wants to take a look.

It's a Print & PDF bundle, but for some reason it takes Lulu a long time to actually put the PDF in your downloads. I'm still waiting on my PDF.

e: Ah, you'll get a separate email for the free PDF.

Evil Mastermind fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Mar 30, 2013

madadric
May 18, 2008

Such a BK.

Kai Tave posted:

Okay, so with the list of names finally added to it and the changes to Wolf Pack Tactics taken care of, I'm ready to say that the Warlord playbook is ready for final revisions. Anyone who has any feedback on this version I would love to hear it because I'd like to polish this sucker off and get it in the queue for .pdf layout once I'm done.

Also gnome, would you please give Lemon Curdistan co-credit for this playbook in the compiled list as he's essentially responsible for about half of this thing by now.

This looks pretty cool!

The only suggestion I would make is perhaps make the good alignment more interesting and in line with the class, a reversal of the evil alignment:

Good
Show clemency to a defeated foe.

Lemon-Lime
Aug 6, 2009
Let me know if this is too long or too complicated.

The Druid Shapeshifter FAQ

This short FAQ covers the intricacies of the Druid's Shapeshifter move, as it's a topic that comes up often.

Dungeon World, page 105 posted:

Shapeshifter
When you call upon the spirits to change your shape, roll+Wis. * On a 10+ hold 3. * On a 7–9 hold 2. * On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.

You may take on the physical form of any species whose essence you have studied or who lives in your land: you and your possessions meld into a perfect copy of the species’ form. You have any innate abilities and weaknesses of the form: claws, wings, gills, breathing water instead of air. You still use your normal stats but some moves may be harder to trigger—a housecat will find it hard to do battle with an ogre. The GM will also tell you one or more moves associated with your new form. Spend 1 hold to make that move. Once you’re out of hold, you return to your natural form. At any time, you may spend all your hold and revert to your natural form.

Do I need to roll do to things while Shapeshifted?

There are three types of actions you can accomplish when you're Shapeshifted (versus two normally):
  • Do any action that would normally require a roll, as long as your new form would make it reasonable for you to do so. For example, if you Shapeshift into a sparrow, you won't be able to Hack & Slash - you simply can't hurt most enemies.
  • Do any action that doesn't require you to roll, as long as your new form would make it reasonable for you to do so. You still can't do your damage to a surprised enemy as a sparrow, but you can fly around as well as you can walk in human form.
  • Spend some of your hold to trigger one of your new form's monster moves without rolling. You do whatever the move says you do - if you turn into a giant snake with a "gobble them whole" move and you spend hold to trigger that move, you gobble someone or something whole. It just happens.
What constitutes a "move" in this case?

Unfortunately, the terminology used here is confusing, so let me make an attempt to make things a bit less ambiguous.

When Shapeshifter talks about spending hold to trigger a move, it's not actually talking about Defy Danger or Hack & Slash. Instead, it's talking about your creature form's monster moves (we'll call these MMs from now on).

If you take a look at the monster list in the rulebook, you'll see a format like this one:



The MMs Shapeshifter refers to are those two lines at the end of the monster's profile. If you turned into a Black Pudding, you'd have access to those two MMs. You could spend 1 hold to trigger any one of them and it would just happen, no rolling needed.

So can't I just have a monster move that lets me dodge or attack without rolling?

Generally, no, unless it makes sense in the fiction.

Shapeshifting won't let you automatically Hack & Slash or Defy Danger without a roll. What it might do is give you a MM that lets you automatically attack in certain situations. Does it make sense for something like a panther to be able to effortlessly dodge a trained warrior's sword? Not really, so that would require a Defy Danger roll - if you were turning into a blink dog or something small and hard to hit, though, sure. Similarly, being a python might let you swallow enemies as a move (and thus without rolling), so you could attack that way instead of Hack & Slashing.

Does this mean the GM can never introduce complications or force me to roll for anything when I make a monster move, since they always happen without a roll?

Not at all! The "without rolling" in this case is for doing exactly what the animal move says. It doesn't suddenly cancel out every other roll that might happen in the process; you might still need to Defy Danger if the fiction dictates that you would need to do so in the course of performing the action described by your monster move, but if you spend hold on "slam them into a hard surface" then an enemy is getting slammed into a hard surface no matter what.

The GM isn't allowed to make a consequence of the failed Defy Danger roll "the enemy isn't slammed into a hard surface," but they can still do any other move in response (reveal an unwelcome truth, show signs of an approaching danger, use up their resources, etc.).

What makes a good monster move?

A monster move is not just anything that a creature can do, it's something that is special or unique to that type of creature. Every animal can attack you; attacking is not a monster move, it's just a thing the Druid can do in that animal form by rolling just as they would normally. If you want to make animal moves for the Druid, remember this: what thing can this animal do that few or no others can?

Flying isn't a monster move, but "outpace any land-based creature" on a cheetah would be a MM. Attacking isn't a MM, but "poison them with your stinger" is a MM that a scorpion would get. Seeing things isn't a MM, but "see dangers way before they can see you" would be a MM for an eagle. Also, remember that Shapeshifting gives you all the inherent abilities of your new form

Since the book doesn't actually contain monster entries for mundane animals, here are a few I could think of:

Bear
  • Bat them aside with your paws
  • Crush them beneath your weight
Boar
  • Gore them with your tusks
Cat (or rat, ferret, etc.)
  • Move about soundlessly
  • Squeeze through a tight space
Cephalopod
  • Drag them below the waves
  • Release ink to mask your movements
Dog (or wolf)
  • Track their scent
  • Howl loudly to alert others
Eagle (or other bird of prey)
  • Spot danger way before it can spot you
  • Swoop down before they realise it and carry them off in your claws
Gazelle (or additional move for a cheetah)
  • Outrun nearly any land-based creature
Gorilla
  • Slam them into a hard surface
  • Crush them beneath your weight
Horse
  • Carry a passenger swiftly across many miles
Mole
  • Tunnel around a problem
Monkey
  • Swing from tree to tree
  • Howl loudly to alert others
Ox
  • Drag a great burden many miles
Scorpion
  • Poison them with your stinger
  • Skitter about below-foot, avoiding notice
Sparrow (or other small bird)
  • Escape danger by flying out of the way
Tiger (or other big cat)
  • Stalk them silently
  • Strike, then disappear back into the underbrush

Lemon-Lime fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Jul 14, 2013

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gnome7
Oct 21, 2010

Who's this Little
Spaghetti?? ??
Thank you, Lemon! Added to the OP under Player Tips.

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