Has anyone made any playbooks or dungeon starters that are earthsea like. Do you think you would need to change the game or the GM principles or agendas?
Has anyone made any playbooks or dungeon starters that are earthsea like.
Has anyone made any playbooks or dungeon starters that are earthsea like.
I like the idea! Curious about whether game mechanics would change anything so much as GM attitude.
Everything would have to be different, I think (stats, core moves, playbooks, magic, GM-side stuff). Earthsea is about very different themes than DW. Definitely possible, though.
Ok what would change – start with the agenda and principles?
Reading them ip through the ones in the book I don’t see any real changes for these. Maybe an add for the agenda:
-showcase hard choices and the impact on the balance
Um, hmm…
– Make the world seem ancient and troubled, carrying the weight of past peoples and their choices
– Make magic seem dangerous, fickle, and emotionally and physically exhausting
– Make safeguarding or sharing your true name to be of utmost importance
– Emphasize the bonds of family and close friendship as the only safeguards against being totally alone
– Emphasize the wisdom that comes with age
– Create many places and objects of great power, but make nearly all of them cursed or double-edged
– Question the motives of those who seek power and the righteousness of those in power
– The best possible existence is farming one’s garden in peace and self-sufficiency, but make characters driven by their yearning for something more
Those sound more specific than many of the analogs in DW. But I don’t disagree with many of them except the last. For example if he’d had not sought out the magic he wouldn’t have been able to save his village.
Sure. Earthsea is a much more specific design goal than straight DW, though, which is meant to allow you to play a pretty broad swath of “D&D fantasy.” If you want to emulate a specific writer, like LeGuin or Tolkien or Lieber or whoever, I suspect you’ll add some more specific principles and agendas, either “officially” (writing them down) or “unofficially” (just bringing that style and tone to your GM role).
I’ve only read the first book, but I’ll give it a shot…
Here’s a Principle: Everything has a true name (in essence, the more a character knows of the lore of a thing, the more power he or she has over it).
Here’s an Agenda: Upsetting the Balance has consequences (players should expect some fallout from the use of unnecessary or disproportionate use of magic).
Jarad Fennell I like those two. What about play books though?
Village Conjurer, Kargish Pirate, Sailor of the Archipelago, Wizard of Roke… I should read the rest of the series, but those seem cool to start.
Hmm. “Maybe I’ll work on this for a game with my daughter,” he said, knowing he had no time for another project.
If I do, I’ll be back. This is a fabulous idea. I love Wizard of Earthsea.
It isn’t DW, but Beyond the Wall cites Earthsea as inspiration, and packages classes up in very-nearly DW compatible playbooks.
Do you have a link for it?
Found it!
http://www.flatlandgames.com/btw/
Inspired by Ursula Le Guin AND Lloyd Alexander? Sold!
Sounds like a mix of DW and OSR with some earthsea. I have some pretty good OSR earthsea rules I like about true names and alternative spell casting. The trick will be to port over to Dungeon World.
I think there is more in changing the agenda, principles, moves, and playbooks than just the “magic system”. Also not sure how to handle a player being the “one”. There are lot of wizards in earthsea. Will have to cogitate for a while.