Bargains with Death
Here are some ideas I had for •7–9 on the Last Breath move. Some I really like (the Bard’s) and some could probably use a tweak.
Bard – Whenever you learn a secret, you can tell no one, starting with this bargain.
Cleric – Your deity thinks you dead and will no longer answer your prayers. However, Death will. Death is his domain, and you now have Petition: Offering.
Druid – You must kill a wild animal once per week, and burn the carcass. You cannot eat any part of or otherwise make use of the body.
Fighter – Add this bond with a party member chosen by Death:
When the time comes, I must kill __ without hesitation.
Paladin – You must always be on a quest, or praying and cleansing in preparation for a quest, and one of your boons is automatically “Death stayed his hand, but will not do so again.”
Ranger – Death takes your animal companion instead. From this moment forward, animals will shun you and may even attack if they feel pressed. They sense your betrayal.
Thief – If some asks you about a crime, you must confess —whether you are guilty or not.
Wizard – You must burn or otherwise destroy the next scroll or spell book you find, without reading it first. And the third. And the fifth. And the seventh. And so on….
Small change: The druid must kill and burn a Domesticated animal every week. More discord that way.
Dang, those are some pretty harsh deals, especially the Ranger since his companion is a pretty big chunk of the class’ identity. As a player, these would all be tough choices (live but gimped or start fresh with a new character) although that’s probably the point!
You’re right, it does take away an important part of the class’s identity. Maybe Death takes the companion, and animals of that type shun the ranger? So no more bears, but he could still take a wolf companion. Also, bears will definitely attack him now.
Oh, I really like that modification Ryan.
I like a lot of these! The Cleric and Thief ones are way awesome!
I agree that the Ranger one is very punitive. What if Death took your companion animal… and then gave it back?
Ditto, the Wizard. Instead of requiring them to destroy knowledge (and potentially valuable stuff for the character), how about if Death twisted your magic forever. And that, Timmy, is how necromancers are born.
Man, I don’t know when or how but, somewhere along the way, my creativity and imagination wasted away (probably from lack of use). Dungeon World has me constantly drawing blanks and then I pop on here and find all kinds of awesome ideas. I’m definitely “borrowing” these ideas.