44 thoughts on “#DruidWeek Hard moves when a Druid get’s a 6- on his Shapreshift roll…”

  1. I really need help with examples of this as well.  I really dislike making the characters look incompetent, so the idea of “I want to turn into a bear” and then making them turn into a bear cub instead because of a bad roll doesn’t jive with me.  Even if you go that route, what do you require to allow them to change back?  It seems especially harsh to take them out of combat effectively for one or a few bad rolls, but maybe I just don’t get it 🙂

  3. While shifting into a bat: After his hold was used, the bat spirits were angered and he must first commune with some bats before being allowed to turn back into a bat.

    While shifting into a horse: Couldn’t shift back for 2 days (spirits said he needed to learn ot be humble).

    While shifting into a falcon: His arms changed into falcon-sized wings as he jumped into the air… and promptly landed on his face. He took damage as he hit the ground and had to spend a moment to realize what happened and fix it.

    While shifting into a humming bird: He attracted the attention of a mean giant eagle that got in a shit-talking fight with him. The bird now stalks him and still sometimes causes him trouble when he shifts into birds or small prey.

    While shifting into a deer: He was shot by a hunter.

  4. -They shift but the animal spirits are angered. Once you shift back to your regular form, you can no longer use Shapeshifting until you appease the spirits.

    -You shift but the animal spirit is fighting you for control of your physical shell (body).

  7. When you shift back or Shed, the animal spirit separates from you and becomes flesh, right here and now.  It is not pleased that you have called upon it’s gifts.

  11. Jeff Johnston Awesome.  I really like hard moves based on Shed or the assumption of since it is a such a popular move.  It would probably really make a spirit mad =)

  12. A predator species to the animal species he shifted into is attracted to your scent now, and will hound you and your group while you remain in the area. 

  13. For all of the ‘you can’t shapeshift back till X’, how do you handle them taking moves for that form?  They’ve used up all their holds, so can they just no longer do the moves or do you let them?  Actually these types of ‘hard moves’ against the player for rolling a 6- are the hardest ones for me to make.  It really penalizes the player, moreso than I think other hard moves I’d make.

    I feel the same about not allowing them to shapeshift anymore until they do something.  That’s one of the biggest powers of the druid, and taking it away unless the situation was really relevant seems harsh.

    I like the idea of not allowing them to change back into a particular shape because they’ve angered the spirits – seems bad enough, without overly penalizing the players.

    Awesome ideas though, keep’m coming!

  15. Either one.  Big archetype Bad version of the animal.  OR a spirit version.  Hell, or BOTH. Depends on the GM and the kind of fight they want and spirit shenanigans have been established in the fiction so far .  

    A Big Bad Dire Wolf is scary.  A spirit wolf that they need some kind of special weapon or something to fight is something else.  Consider it two different shades of the Hard Move =)

  16. The real use of Hold is a pacing mechanism for how often the Druid needs to make the Shapeshift roll.  When our Druid got stuck as a field mouse, I didn’t give him any hold, I just let him do things that a field mouse would naturally be able to do and judged accordingly.

    If he had been shifting to a more capable shape, I probably would have chosen a different hard move.

  19. When my Druid was stuck in Horse form for 2 days, they worked out a system where stamping his foot meant yes… and pooping meant no.

    I know… mature, right… lol.

  21. Jim Schmitz So when your Druid was stuck in horse form for 2 days, was he allowed to use the Moves associated with that form, even though he had likely used up any ‘hold’ he had?

  22. Michael Barrett Not really. He could still run and pull the cart (lol) but I didn’t let him do anything that I would have required a Hold for when the action was going on.

  23. Jim Schmitz Gotcha – that seems a little tough for something that can happen every 1.6/10 rolls (http://anydice.com/program/252e).  It effectively takes the character out of the game in a lot of situations.  I guess they could still do ‘hack & slash’ in that form and do their 1d6 damage though, or even discern realities or any of the standard moves, so maybe it’s not so bad after all!  I’ll have to think about using something like that 🙂

  24. Michael Barrett  Ya, it was very harsh. Not all of my Hard Moves are that harsh, but sometimes you got to pepper them in there. It keeps things from getting predictable. 🙂

  25. PC shapeshifted into a spider as the guards dealt with the rest of the party. One of the guards spots the spider, traps it in a cup and takes it back to the mind flayer city!

  26. Lots of great ideas here, thanks.  Some I’ve used:

    Partial transformation: you get a sort of human-animal hybrid with some but not all of the benefits of either.  And you’re stuck with it for a few minutes (the duration of the fight in question).  If I used it again, I think I’ll go with “You get hybrid forms for all animals you go to for the rest of the day.”)

    Residual effects: When you go back to human form, you look a lot like the animal you just were.  People look at you funny and gain Scarred for a day.

  27. On a roll of 3, I had my druid turn into a “lamb” rather than a “ram” and I gave him one move “bleat helplessly”.

    It was harsh, but it was his 5th or 6th transformation of the evening and his first miss. He still managed to ram a zombie in the legs on an assist.

  28. I tend to play up the animal nature overwhelming the druid’s rational mind, or have the physical nature of the new shape screw things up. I’m not overly keen on partial or failed transformations; I don’t want the druid to be a laughing stock. I can see the occasional use working, just not as a regular thing.

  29. Your claws and fangs are brittle, and break off in the monster’s hide when you attack.

    That animal smell won’t come off of you–more than usual.

    You go into a frenzied bloodlust and attack friend or foe indiscriminately on your next turn.

  33. The transformation hurts. Take 1d4 stun damage/damage depending on the narrative.

    The transformation takes time.

    The transformation is painful. Take -1 ongoing on future transformations.

    The spirit form is overwhelmed by your human logic. You cannot call upon that particular animal form til your next night of rest.

  34. If everything else fails;

    Use a monster, danger, or location move Reveal an unwelcome truth

    Show signs of an approaching threat

    Deal damage

    Use up their resources

    Turn their move back on them

    Separate them

    Give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities

    Show a downside to their class, race, or equipment

    Offer an opportunity, with or without cost

    Put someone in a spot

    Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask

  35. I didn’t read this entire thread, but Sage LaTorra mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago, that a 6- on a shapeshift doesn’t have the same rules as other moves.  The logic was that since the act of changing shape doesn’t do anything to change the situation. You still have to attack the baddies, or sneak past the guards etc. Therefore the downside to a poor role on shapshift was that you didn’t get much use out of your new shape. 

  38. James Savko that interesting.  I missed that.  I still like hard moves based on shifting back and more trouble happening.  The whole bear cub thing (and moves like it) seems like it makes the Druid seem like a bumbling fool.

  39. I have to agree that I like having the option to still allow shapeshifting to work, but at a cost.  Sort of like how the 7-9 stuff work for others.   So in a sense: 10+ is 3 hold, 7-9 is less hold, and 6 below is sort of like 7-9 result but with a cost.

  43. After all the discussion, I put together a list of what everyone said. I tried to include everything everyone said… but I changed some of them a bit to my taste and style. I hope this helps!

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