Dungeon World continues to be the awesomesauce. Here’s a question that came up last night, though: when you have hirelings and you use one as a warrior/man-at-arms, then roll a partial success or failure on your hack and slash, and the man-at-arms takes the brunt of the monster attack, what happens to the hireling? I assume it’s just the GM deciding what’s appropriate, but being that they don’t have HP, I just wanted to make sure. Or should it be like the protector/sentry ability that reduces the hireling’s skill until they can heal up?
For the record, the ruling I made in the moment was just to kill the hireling outright. He was just a thug (1 skill, 1 other skill, 0 loyalty), and one of a dozen, so no love lost there.
Depends on how expendable the character is to the group, imo, I played some D&D games where an NPC was such and integral part of the group that killing him like this would be a major crime.
That said, it can be a way of emphasizing the danger of the opposition too.
Putting your hirelings in the direct path of attack? That’s a golden opportunity right there. That hireling is totally dead. Any hireling that lives is going to be crapping their hench-pants, too.
That’s what I thought, and it’s certainly in keeping with the rest of the moves. Thank you, sirs!
There’s a reason why Hench Person and Hit Point have the same initials.
Hehe, I like that reasoning, Ralph Mazza.
Depending on the game, I might not kill the guy outright. I might just say “That goblin knife totally opened up his belly and there’s guts all over the place. He doesn’t have long. What do you do?”
I mean, if they were an important and/or tough person and there’s magic cleric healing around, I don’t see a reason not to let the PC’s TRY to save their henchmen.
Dylan Boates speaks true. I am not always the best example, I am a Hard Move kind of GM.
Hench Pants
These rough leather trousers have seen a thousand battles. While you wear them, you feel much better about your low pay and appalling working conditions.
Oh god, Colin Roald what happens if a REAL PC dons the hench pants?!
We’re playing a converted Gygax adventure. THERE ARE ONLY HARD MOVES! EVEN ON SUCCESS!
But yeah, more seriously, I would think actual loyal hirelings might survive the partial successes more often, depending on the situation. That’s the way I figured it would be anyway.
Well, they feel comforted, and oddly passive while their companions make lunatic battle plans.
Don’t think about the value or importance of the Hirelings as much as the actions of the PCs. Did the Hireling get put in this spot by PC choice and ill-advised behaviour? Kill the poor sucker. Was it just bad luck or a dangerous foe that did it? Give them a chance to step in.
Remember, always with hard choices and tough decisions. Self-sacrifice for a hireling is always an option.
Oh man, I’m totally an Adam GM. >_>
Be a fan of the characters. Do you want to see them mourn the hireling or struggle to save him? Seriously, both sound fun.
Firebrand Wife Family, Intelligent
Damage d2 (Open palms) HP 2
She’s lost her husband and she knows loudly who’s at fault. Instinct: To chastise
-Dole out blame
-Parade weeping children
-Make threats
-Demand compensation