From a conversation about stating up Beowulf over at the SA forums:

From a conversation about stating up Beowulf over at the SA forums:

From a conversation about stating up Beowulf over at the SA forums:

“You can make Beowulf easily in e.g. Dungeon World. He’s just a guy with a decent Strength score who’s allowed to use his strength in the fiction.”

“What is the mechanic in DW that would allow him to swim across the North Sea without allowing the wizard and thief to do the same?”

“Bend Bars, Lift Gates.

The obstacle is the North Sea.”

#mindblown  

I remember a lot of people saying early on how the Fighter got shafted on starting moves, since he just gets BBLG and a Signature Weapon. I think this shifts the paradigm a bit, if you’re willing to go a little more abstract.

15 thoughts on “From a conversation about stating up Beowulf over at the SA forums:”

  1. Realtalk:

    Bend Bars, Lift Gates

    When you use pure strength to destroy an inanimate obstacle

    The North Sea isn’t an inanimate obstacle you’re destroying, so BBLG doesn’t trigger.

    It doesn’t even make sense to use BBLG. BBLG is a specialised DD+Str that has pre-written consequences that apply to destroy inanimate obstacles. You literally just use Defy Danger (+Str or +Con). That’s it. That’s all you have to do.

  2. Meh, I’m okay with it myself. I don’t think it’s that much of an overcomplication.

    If anything it’d work for a hypothetical “epic level” DW thing. “Oh you’re 11th level? Now you can break the ocean or steal shadows.”

  3. I’ve considered writing a Constitution-based custom move for the 1st level Fighter.  I’ll have to revisit that.  Swimming across a sea is a good way to frame it.

  4. I think that, if you’re all on the same page tonally and can narrate your way to something awesome like hiding from sight under a guilty memory or cutting someone’s sadness off, all the more power to you. The game may or may not even need new moves for things like this. It’s just about respecting the tone and hitting the right notes in your description.

  5. I think there’s space to explore mythic or legendary attributes in games.

    Legendary Strength

    Your strength has become legendary, and you can attempt tasks no ordinary person could. When you attempt the impossible or metaphorical using your might, roll+Str. On a 10+ you struggle and strain! but manage it. On a 7-9, the GM chooses 1:

    Something important is irreparably damaged or destroyed.

    You are severely injured in the effort.

    Something acts against you while you perform the feat.

  6. uhm, I think that the answer to:

    “What is the mechanic in DW that would allow him to swim across the North Sea without allowing the wizard and thief to do the same?”

    Is: nothing in the classes’ rules specify what that specific character can do in such a scenario. It’s like: how much can I actually lift, expressed in pounds? You just decide on what makes sense.

Comments are closed.