Not a questions but a comment. I am shocked how the roll a -6 and gain XP rubs people the wrong way. Three out of the five players seem to really dislike it…and all due to the fact that one player failed more and has two more XP than the rest. In our group specifically I think it stems from the fact that we had always played Pathfinder and we all leveled at the same time when the GM said we leveled.
rdk
Well, reminding people that Level=/=Power, for the most part, usually helps.
Regardless, a possible fix might be to use total group XP to trigger level up for the group. With 5 players, 40 XP brings the team to level 2, another 48 brings to level 3, 56 for level 4, and so on starting from zero each time.
Yout might also want point out to the players, tha the 6- makes additional sense when considering, that a 6- usually actively put that character in a bad spot. Not always, of course, but very often. A 6- helps building tension, and that is very well a thing that should be rewarded.
If the players really dislike the others getting XP on a 6- remind the players that their characters could Aid the other character to bump that 6- up to 7-9.
The XP is supposed to be a consolation, not a reward. If your players are thinking it’s unfair, that’s a pretty good indicator that your not making your hard moves hard enough.
The consequences of a 6- should always pass that “Oh Shit” test. If the first thing your player says when rolling a 6- is NOT “Oh, shit!” then you gotta make some harder moves!
So, lets say our bard is standing in the back of the party looking pretty like he always does, he pulls out his lute, says he is playing a song to help bolster the fighter (+1d4 damage) and he rolls a 2. I usually without saying so, added a bad guy to the fight…should I instead maybe make a statement “your magic flows forth from your lute and seems to revolt…” and give the +1d4 to an enemy or maybe tie him up somehow…or is that not hard enough…maybe the music explodes and gives +1d4 forward to all enemies?
What do you think?
Doesn’t it also kind of depend on how much continuity you want in your group? And on your general style as a DM and your players?
If you don’t know, try it out.
Or maybe his distracting tunes cause the fighter to get disarmed, sending his weapon flying, ka-THUNK, embedding into the wall.
Or maybe just as he’s crescendoing, a string snaps bad rendering his lute largely useless until he can gut a cat.
Or maybe he strikes a fell chord, and the walls start shaking, and it looks like and earthquake is beginning.
I can keep this up all day 😉
Oh, but definitely don’t make your move “Without saying”. Make your move, make it immediate, and tell them in no uncertain terms what the consequences were. like “Incenced by your arcane music, there is a surge in the Orcs’ fighting, and it looks like one or two more have even joined in!”
Aaron Friesen that is a good point, I will need to make sure that they understand the backup etc is because they screwed the pooch.
When in doubt, cause damage. It’s pretty much the hardest move you have!
Well no. Damage is probably the lightest of the hard moves. I chopped a hand off the barbarian last time, and I can assure you that the player felt that much worse than some damage.
I gotta second Alessandro Gianni here. The way my Cleric looked at me when I stood up, looked down towards him and said, “For shame! Using your magics for such base purposes! You feel your god’s presence draining from you. Until you make peace with your Lord, your ability to cast spells is revoked” was friggin’ priceless!
Well I would qualify losing a hand as some damage. Not hit point damage, perhaps, but I certainly wouldn’t call it putting someone in a spot…
Damage is also relative to the character, I should concede. A Fighter on the front line expects damage, so losing his gear or something might actually bother him more. The bard in the back, though, is not expecting damage…
The bard who lost his voice completely disagrees with you.
Hm. I am reminded of the line from CheapAss Games, where they would put out that “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.”
Okay, wait, let me get this straight. I think that I am on board with how shocked you are. Your players don’t like that someone else gets more experience than they do? Have they noticed that experience is ALL that person gets? As opposed to, say, mechanical or fictional agency, which you get when you roll well?
Poor players! Getting to succeed and look cool and do what they want all the time.
As I have read somewhere else about this exact same issue, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” It is as simple as that!
I have been trying to explain it as such, that you learn from your mistakes. However , and I hate using this phrase, DW is such a huge Paradigm Shift for my/most groups coming from a d&d 3.5/Pathfinder background that it will take some time. Some of the players have really caught on to the freedom…but others still want to be in leg irons.
We will get from here to there.
rdk
Ryan Kruse patience on all parts will help, for sure. Remind your too-successful players that there are other means for XP gain, too. Exploration, battling monsters, getting treasure and acting in accordance with your alignment will all net you XP per session.
Alessandro Gianni “the bard who lost their voice…” will ultimately learn to love his God more… Or else it’s more than just his voice he’ll be losing next time 😀
My players all thought that XP on 6- rolls was the best idea ever. They started cursing their luck as they were succeeding at things. It was awesome.
You can try this houserule to encourage party cohesion – group failure. Whenever anyone from the party fails, add one to the group failure pool. When it reaches the number of PCs, the pool resets and everyone gets 1 XP.
Śanto Sengupta I like it! Will try the “official” rules first, but this sounds like a great alternative 🙂