I’ve been tinkering a little again, this time about swarm type creatures of a slightly larger format, like kobolds and goblins. Not at all dangerous to an adventurer by itself, you’re much more likely to get killed by slipping and hitting your head on a rock.
I like making scenes epic by throwing in lots and lots of mobs. DW handles that nicely since there’s almost no book keeping, but a hundred goblins are likely to kill an entire party because of the damage modifier.
I wanted to take swarms an extra mile.
How would you model monsters that were only truly dangerous when facing hundreds of them? I was thinking of actually not even give them monster status, but just treat them as terrain, making it a Special Move.
Move through swarm
When forcing you way through a swarm of creatures, roll+DEX. *On a 10+ you move through them otherwise unhindered. *On a 7-9, choose one:
– Critters crawl up your body as you go, weighing you down. Take -1 forward.
– Take 1d6 damage, ignoring armour.
Thoughts?
Defy Danger is your friend !
Yeah, I thought about it, but I thought making a move or monster tag just felt better
Yeah, sounds like your heroes would be defying danger then. I’m imagining a bard now, who uses his CHA to defy danger. Music can even soothe a horde of ravenous kobolds, I guess…
Maybe he is terrifying them with his awesomeness?
Elven songs can produce such effects vs orcs, goblins, dwarves and me.
It seems unlikely to me that a player will very often choose damage (long-lasting, risks death) over -1 forward (a mild and temporary disadvantage). Not saying it could never happen, but it doesn’t seem like a very interesting choice.
I’d consider options like:
* the mob delays or diverts you from getting where you want to go
* the mob steals your stuff (GM says what)
* the mob does its damage
Why not actually have the mob giving you extra weight? Imagine some pesky crawlers getting into your bags, pockets and even your loinclothes! That should give you at least 1 additional weight.
I love the adding weight idea, used with the Encumbrance move.
Off the top of my head:
If you attempt to move through the swarm, roll+DEX.
•On a 10+, you make it where you are going unimpeded. •On 7–9, you get there but the creatures pile on, adding weight to bring you up to your Load+2. •On a miss, they increase it to your Load+4.
If you plow your way through the swarm, roll+STR.
•On 10+, choose 3. •On a 7–9, choose 1.
• You inflict your damage to the swarm.
• You don’t take damage from the swarm.
• You don’t take on +50% of your max Load in weight.
• You reach your destination.
I love that idea – having the swarm all over you weighs you down.