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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  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.
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Mar 29, 2013 06:52
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EscortMission posted:Wait a minute. I literally did that in one game I ran. The players were fighting a bad guy whose body was literally an entire plane of existence. So first they confront his various component beings. I wrote it up as follows: Front: Holy Tyrant's Ascent First Portent: The Barrier weakens as the god-monster touches it directly, making summoning extraplanar creatures easier. - When you summon a magical being, it appears without fail, but is extremely difficult to bind or control. (This was one that both antagonists and the PCs exploited a lot, but that's ok. I wanted them to think that this wasn't a bad thing initially.) Second Portent: War of the Kings breaks out, as literally every ruler who didn't have someone above him in his society's hierarchy declared war on someone. - When the locals become suspicious, they will send for the local ruler's soldiers. Third Portent: A World of Brass and Pitch - the world starts to become more like the plane that is the big bad. - When you undertake a journey into an area where summoning was common, the landscape slowly becomes the hellish cityscape of the Holy Tyrant's inner world. Fourth Portent: The Proclamation of Conquest - the King of the Gods descends to the mortal world to offer a magical crown of corroded brass to anyone who can claim it. - When you hear about the Crown of Glory, you instantly know who currently is your greatest rival for it. (Again, actually useful for the PCs, but that's OK.) Impending Doom: The Holy Tyrant's Ascent - At this point, the big bad appears in the real world, and it starts to rapidly become the World of Brass and Pitch. Note that this is the only point in this Front's progression where the Big Bad can be interacted with as a character. This section, too, has a move: - When you act to assert dominance while the Holy Tyrant is in the world, take a +1 to that action.
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Jun 25, 2013 13:36
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RSIxidor posted:I rather like this. I literally wrote up Malfeas from Exalted as a Front, so I'm glad you liked it. Now we'll find out if that Impending Doom move ever comes into play!
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Jun 25, 2013 23:45
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Hi, guys, I think I have a Bad Opinion. Having played/run a lot of Dungeon World with the Mage playbook, I have rediscovered a fondness for the Vancian Casting ideal - that spells should be a resource to be managed. I don't particularly like the idea of spell lists, as they seem to inhibit creativity with magic systems, and I do understand a complaint that a lot of my Wizard players have had with it - e.g., "I signed up to play Magic Man, not Archer In A Dress, but after a few bad rolls, that's basically what I'm stuck with." Accordingly, I've been tinkering with a new mechanic that will probably end up as a proper playbook someday, but I wanted to try it out as a free-standing mechanic first. Spell Charges When you rest and refresh yourself in a place of relative safety, gain 5-charge. You may spend charge 1-for-1 at any time to: - Treat a roll of 6 or lower as a 7-9 roll instead. - Gain an extra +1d4 damage on any magic-based attack - Give an ally +1 forward to a Defy Danger roll against a magical peril What do you all think? Workable? Terrible?
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Jul 19, 2014 22:28
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So my players are nearing level 10, and I've been talking to them about what happens then. Basically, their options are 'pick a new playbook, pick a compendium class, or just accept that you're done levelling up' - none of which really seem to satisfy them. I could just let them keep picking moves off of the lists on their playbooks, but that (to me) removes one of the fun parts of DW levelling: having to actually decide how their character is going to evolve based on what additional stuff they do or do not unlock - for example, a Mage who chooses 'Enchanter', but never takes 'Ritualist', is going to be a very different type of Mage than one who makes the opposite choices. So I looked back at the source material that inspired DW in the first place. I'm pondering writing up some 'advanced' classes for them, based on the parts from original D&D where the PCs go from being intinerant murderhobos to being lords of their own keeps/hierophants of their own temples/wizards in their own remote towers. Accordingly, I have some basic moves nailed down: Found A Temple When you build a temple settlement, roll+Wis. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2. On a 6-, choose 1. - You attract many worshippers - You attract particularly skilled worshippers - You attract famous individuals to settle there - Your location is easily secured and defensible - Your deity gives a valuable token or artifact to your temple The reason for the 6- not being a proper 'failure' is that I feel that in this case, failure shouldn't outright prevent the move from happening; if they've bothered to assemble the resources and so forth, they deserve to get it, just with less of a starting 'boost' than they would had they rolled well. (And of course, with a 6- I can still make as hard a move as I like against their new settlement.) Build a Keep When you build a keep in the wilderness, roll+Str. On a 10+, pick 3. On a 7-9, pick 2. On a 6-, pick 1. - Your keep draws in many loyal retainers. - The locals swear to your service willingly. - Your keep draws famous heroes. - Your keep is easily secured and defensible. - Your keep is situated on or near some important resource. - The nearby kingdoms are friendly and amenable to your presence. As above, but I've altered the parameters for the Keep slightly, to reflect that this is a secular institution (and not, more than likely, an outgrowth of an existing organization; unlike a temple, there's no particular reason those likely to choose this option should be connected to an existing secular authority, though they certainly could be if they wanted.) I'm thinking that further moves would likely involve controlling or manipulating their followers, in between their own jaunts into increasingly dangerous locations - after all, no need to postpone your trip to the Frozen Hells of Lethargis to clear out that gnoll den when you have an order of knights in your keep that could easily do it for you! In essence, everyone gets to be a uniquely-flavored Hardholder as their Level 11+.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:47
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Babe Magnet posted:True. "Level up" could be representative of a good deal of time spent plying your profession, or doing something important with that profession. Like, if your dude's been going out of his way to make more and more elaborate meals over the course of your adventure, sure, take another move from the Chef list. Or if you dice up a dragon and feed an entire town this once-in-a-lifetime meal, that'll get you another boon as well. I just wanted to ask if it was all right if I yoinked your alien generation stuff for my Star Trek hack, because honestly, even if I wrote up my own, it'd look pretty much the same as yours - and it does a fantastic job of giving the GM a tool for quickly coming up with a framework for an alien race.
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Sep 19, 2014 00:41
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So a thing happened in my RL Dungeon World campaign; the players started reaching the upper levels, and several of them have asked me about advancement options once they start hitting Level 10+. None of them are particularly keen on starting with a new playbook or retiring their characters, and multiclassing doesn't really offer the personalization options they want. What they basically want is to keep advancing their characters in a manner appropriate to their playbook archetypes. So I've started writing some campaign-specific, character-specific compendium classes, designed around the kind of poo poo that they've been doing this whole time. Has anyone else run into this particular problem? Is there another way to deal with this situation that might be better? I'm not worried about the work involved, I just was wondering if there is a more fun option that I'm not seeing.
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Dec 5, 2014 04:36
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PerniciousKnid posted:I actually get to play a one shot instead of running one this week, and I'm leaning toward wizard. Does anyone have cool ideas for places of power to inspire me? The tower of the vanished artificer-lich Deyra Jarh. The ancient menhir where humans and elves first met in peace. The antiquated spire that marks the skyline of the bustling city of Karamorran. The Wellspring of Coruscating Light. The place where the shattered moon's remnants landed. The tomb-library of the dead god of secrets. The place where the bones of the first dragon are scattered. The ash desert that marks where the first demon set foot in the world. The hidden caves of the long-extinct ice dwarves.
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Feb 17, 2016 20:45
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So, let's talk about mind control effects. They're a staple of the type of fantasy fiction that Dungeon World does well - evil wizards seizing the minds of the heroes temporarily, until their heroic wills (or staunch allies) can break them free of the effect, dark gods that corrupt the perceptions of those who oppose them, and so on. How do you all handle them? I usually handle them by turning to the player afflicted, and saying, "Okay, with a sudden start, you realize that those people over there -" pointing to the other players "- are your true enemies, and must be destroyed." That's more fun for everyone involved, in my opinion, than me simply saying, "Okay, now I play your character until the effect ends." It also allows them more agency, in that they can try to use their Bonds (which I generally treat as a stacking modifier each time they're resolved - i.e, if Spanked Monkey the Fighter has resolved two bonds with Five Finger Shuffle the Thief, then Spanked Monkey has a +2 to any rolls involving his past relationship with Five Finger Shuffle. It caps at +3 for the bonuses, but they can keep forging and resolving bonds to get that sweet, sweet XP.) However, the question has arisen about the other players' efforts. Suppose that Five Finger Shuffle is trying to stop Spanked Monkey without actually hurting him. Hack And Slash is the go-to 'Attack' move, but I've been using Defy Danger, since the Danger here is either 'You accidentally inflict actual damage on Spanked Monkey' or 'Spanked Monkey brains you with his mace'. One of my players, damaged by long years of D&D, actually apologized to the mind-controlled character's player when he rolled well (14), and thought I was 'softballing' it when I said, "Okay, you disarmed him and got him on the floor - now you've got to keep him there." It arose from his confusion - in D&D, a higher roll generally means you hit harder, but as I explained to him at the time, the rolls don't measure how hard you hit necessarily, they measure how well or poorly you do at accomplishing your goal. Since his character wasn't actually trying to hurt the other character, his high roll just meant that he achieved his goal of disarming and disabling without harm splendidly. So, how do you all handle mind control/mind-influencing effects in your games?
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Apr 19, 2018 10:08
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Dr. Clockwork posted:Anew RPG group met on Thursday at my shop and I complimented the GM when I saw him with the DW book. But apparently they discussed and took a vote and the players wanted to do Pathfinder. Audience wants what the audience wants, I guess. Though as the post above yours said, there's a lot of DW stuff you can port back into other systems.
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Apr 21, 2018 14:40
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Pollyanna posted:I forgot to add a potential topic - how to determine the beginning of a one-shot or a new campaign, i.e. the starting situation. What "cut to the action" means, how to be as immediately engaging as possible, how to make them in light of the character's backstories, etc. I can actually offer some advice on this one: I have three 'standard' openings, and I pick one more or less at random, tailored to what the players choose and what we've already established about the setting. Opening 1: "<Player 1>, you're standing on a gallows/at a headsman's block/under a tree with a noose over one branch. Around you, the crowd is silent, waiting for the big moment, and beside you, your executioner stands ready while the local priest reads out what you're accused of. What are they accusing you of, and are you guilty of the crimes they accuse you of? <Player 2>, where are you in the crowd? What's your plan to get <Player 1> out of this? (Rinse and repeat for further players)." Starts the players out in the middle of things, and makes it clear Bad Things will happen if they do nothing. Also gives them a reason to engage with the setting, but lets them show off how badass their characters are right from the word 'go'. Opening 2: "The warlord scowls, and grips his axe. "You lie, outsiders. And for your lies, you will die." He draws the axe, and gestures to his followers, who grab their own weapons. <Player 1>, what was your mission here? <Player 2>, what kind of weapons are they pointing at you? <Player 3>, what is going to be the biggest threat here once things get going?" Another good one for opening with an action scene, and it lets the players show off and define the setting a bit more. Also good because it immediately establishes that unlike many RPGs, in Dungeon World, the PCs are not shitfarmers with sharp objects, but already competent and somewhat proficient adventurers who were given a task to complete. Opening 3: "At long last, you stand before the Tomb of Belimicus. A crudely-carved stone structure, its appearance belies the dangerous threats it contains. <Bard/Cleric/Wizard player>, what do the legends say about Belimicus and his end? <Bard/Wizard/Thief>, what do the rumors/legends/ancient scrolls say about the threats contained within the Tomb? <Fighter/Ranger/Thief>, what special preparations did you make to plunder the Tomb?" A classic dungeoneering opener, good for a campaign or adventure focusing on some good old-fashioned 'go to the edge of civilization, murder the marginalized indigenous population, and take their poo poo to enrich yourselves' adventuring. Less showy than one of the other openings, but it again cements that they are competent and ready adventurers. Obviously, if the party and setup suggest another opener, than go with that, but these three are pretty solid if there isn't another good one suggested by the setup to go with.
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Jun 16, 2018 15:35
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