Quick “poll”: staying in the spirit of thinking dangerously and being a fan of the characters, what do you do when…

Quick “poll”: staying in the spirit of thinking dangerously and being a fan of the characters, what do you do when…

Quick “poll”: staying in the spirit of thinking dangerously and being a fan of the characters, what do you do when your players rarely fail at their tasks (even stuff outside their wheelhouse) — when the players are on a winning streak, do you just squeak in your soft moves and your off-screen dangers?

I love when my players win, but I always feel like I should be doing more to threaten them.

13 thoughts on “Quick “poll”: staying in the spirit of thinking dangerously and being a fan of the characters, what do you do when…”

  1. Just continue what you are doing. Make soft moves, ask what they do, respond with your next move. 

    They should be in danger most of the times anyway. Making it harder because they roll good is not part of your agenda. 

  2. Don’t stress about it; Dungeon World isn’t adversarial. You’re playing to find out what happens, if everything goes smoothly then great! You don’t need disaster to keep things interesting. The characters doing well definitely doesn’t mean the GM is doimg anything wrong!

    That said, I definitely do your second point. it’s a living world and just because they’ve slaughtered the mad crab king doesn’t mean that his empire of explosive lobsters is going to collapse (or if it does, what was it supporting and who’s going to fill the void?). Plus, while they were busy in hotpot cove, a raiding party turned up and sieged the local village.

  3. I like to think of ways I can (eventually) turn their successes against them; there’s nothing like a winning streak coming to a disastrous end thanks to unforeseen consequences!

  4. It’s against the rules and the spirit of the game to fuck with their successes. Just treat the results of that success as an asset that can be screwed with on a failure. Unless that’s what you meant, in which case carry on smartly.

  5. I would disagree with that. When they succeed in summoning the demo lord the. It will have horrible consequences. Don’t take their success away but show the. The consequences of their action.

  6. I would disagree with that. When they succeed in summoning the demo lord the. It will have horrible consequences. Don’t take their success away but show the. The consequences of their action.

  7. Yeah Joseph Le May, their successes remain as is, but if the PCs are on a winning streak I ask myself “how can this turn around and bite them on the ass?” – so when they eventually do fail, I can “reveal an unwelcome truth” that’s tied into their success…

    Like those hooded thieves that the PCs keep thwarting? Well, it turns out they were the lawful guardians of an ancient evil artifact that the characters have unwittingly unleashed!

  8. It depends on the game and the tone you’re going for. My favourite way to be a fan of the characters is make sure that they’re up against tough odds – that there’s always some danger hanging over their heads. Without tough situations to squeak out of, it’s hard to be a big deal hero, right?

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