Request for opinions
I’ve been playing with the basic idea that a 7-9 lets me do a soft move against the player, and a 6- lets me do a hard move. Most of the moves have their own description of what happens; but how fudge-able is that? If someone botches a Hack & Slash, am I in the clear for playing something other than Deal Damage? I don’t want to give the impression that there are no rules at all and I’m just making up everything as I go, but one of the things I love about this game is the narrative options on failure (if I’m doing it right, that is).
6- is GM makes a move. Doesn’t have to be Deal Damage, even from a failed Hack & Slash. Knock away their weapon, break their shield, or have them thrown to the ground.
Usually for a fail on a H&S, there’s already been a soft move that the player responded to with H&S, so go as hard as you want. 🙂
For instance, I had a paladin who got in the final hit on an earth elemental. He was down to a couple hit points, and he rolled a 7-9. He dealt damage to the monster and killed it. If the elemental dealt damage in return, the paladin would have died, which is no fun. So instead, I did Use Up a Resource by having his weapon break from the mighty swing. Correct call?
The players all liked it, and it felt right at the time, so ultimately I think it was ok, but is that the way the rules are intended?
That is exactly Rules As Written. 🙂
But what’s this about not killing PCs? Then you don’t get to use one of my favorite mechanics from the game, the Last Breath! >:)
Oh, I’m all for killing characters, but this didn’t feel like the right time to do it. I was working really hard to make the encounter not play like some other games, where combatants just stand toe to toe and beat on each other until someone drops.
But Last Breath is definitely one I need get into play. 🙂
Last Breath only indicates death on a 6-, about 42% of the time. Even then, if you look at the wording of it, the fail condition doesn’t indicate that the player dies at that instant. On average, I’ll have a player use a Last Breath every 2 or 3 sessions.
Just in case it isn’t clear, I think Joel is pointing out that non-damage causing attacks are allowed on 7-9 Hack & Slash roll. From the Dungeon World Guide (which is awesome):
Do More Than Deal Damage
Obviously, you get to deal damage when the player misses on a Hack & Slash. But that’s not all you get to do: the rules say “the monster makes an attack,” not “the monster deals damage.” Deal Damage is just one of many options, look at the GM Moves and pick one. Knock them over, grab their weapon, threaten an ally, put them in a spot, damage their armor, grapple them, surround them. Dungeon World is awesome because cinematic fights thrive under these rules, so go crazy.
Most of the time I feel like I’m making it all up as I go along. In retrospect I have a hard time identifying anything I’ve done as being outside the rules as written.
I certainly have the same feeling, Chris. I am trying to play intentionally to the RAW, as I find it’s helping me break out of ruts.
Alan De Smet I was going to write the same when I saw the post, the thing about a partial on H&S is not just damage, but rather an attack.
William Keller Remember this; everything a monster can do to the players, can be considered an attack. Deal damage when you feel that you have to, not every time.
I love to deal damage, but I know when it gets to be dull. 🙂
How about looking from a slightly different angle. On 7-9, Volley hits, but then the player chooses from the list of consequences. Sort of a static Tell Them The Requirements Or Consequences And Ask. Is it ever appropriate to do a different soft move? I’m thinking of a situation like an archer hits a goblin on a 7-9, and the goblin is killed, but as it falls over, it alerts the other goblins that something is going on and riles up the whole tribe (Reveal An Unwelcome Truth). I don’t want a player to say “Hey, that’s no fair, I just wanted to mark off a resource”.
William Keller I kind of dig the moves that allow the player to direct the story, so would be loathe to remove those results from the game. If you want to modify the Volley though, I’d just make sure my players were aware of the changes before the game begins. I’d save the Goblin alert for a different GM move. 🙂
William Keller: And to follow up on Joel Watkins’s point, you can also (if this is a planned second-plus session) have a Custom Move. When you attack the goblin on the parapet, roll+DEX.
Ok, so based on all the comments and rereading through the moves chapter, it looks like 7-9 should be as written in the move, and 6- is a GM move. Whether it’s a hard or soft move depends on context, not on how the player rolled.
The only real “exception” is Hack & Slash, where it specifically says that a 7-9 can be any GM move, as long as it is made directly with that creature. That can be a creature move or a custom move specific to that creature.
Does that sound about right?
I should point out that we’re all loving this game, and haven’t had any problems. I’m mostly trying to head off any possible future problems.
William Keller remember that the move must be an attack from the monster, and against the guy who rolled H&S. It’s not any arbitrary GM move. 🙂
Thanks guys! Big love for this community!