OK, so I’m reading through my PDF for the first time now, and I have a stupid question. For the bard, there are three multiclass advanced moves (dabbler, initiate, and master) but the text is identical for all three. What am I missing? Is it just indicating that you can take up to three moves from other classes?
OK, so I’m reading through my PDF for the first time now, and I have a stupid question.
OK, so I’m reading through my PDF for the first time now, and I have a stupid question.
You can take up to three moves from another class, yes.
Yup. That’s it. Compare it other classes and you’ll see that they don’t get as many multiclass options.
Best if the moves are from a class in the group for storytelling, either the bard gets tips from another class on doing their move or practicing at trying something new which is essentially a move one of the other classes doesn’t know yet.
It’s totally personal taste Darren Priddy. But if you take a move from a class that someone in the group is currently playing, it might feel like the Bard is stepping on that player’s toes.
Definitely talk with them beforehand.
Christopher Stone-Bush with the classes being not duplicated in most groups, just because the bard for example knows 1-3 moves, he/she can’t replace the other class very well. Also with picking up a move from another class, they will have to learn it somewhere & picking up tips or practicing with the other people in the group during the travel if not leaving to go train in some town.
how do you teach someone to be the chosen one? Or to have an heirloom weapon with ancestral spirits in them? Better: if the wizard said you’re either born a magic-user, or you can’t learn magic… How can he teach the bard?
What I’m trying to say: a lot of moves have nothing to do with teaching/learning. If the bard discovers himself to be the chosen one, or to actually have been born a magic-user without knowing until he touched that magical artifact that awakened his latent powers…
Darren Priddy I’m with Christopher. In future, I’d be tempted to flat disallow moves from other character’s playbooks. In my group, both the Cleric and the Bard took the Wizard’s ‘Cast a spell’, and I feel sorry for her. Though she didn’t complain.
Well it’s the dm choice on how to run things they want. If it’s that bad just disallow certain moves but I’d bet that just because a bard picks up how to cast a wizard spell, doesn’t mean they will use the same spell in the same way. Maybe the bard needs to play a certain instrument for the spell or the bard is apparently a genius at mixing music & magic now where they get job offers or wizard schools wanting him/her to quit adventuring to teach. Same thing for the cleric, how does the temple/diety feel about a representative of the temple learning wizard magic?
Conversely let the characters discuss it, if the wizard feels like they will get replaced they might want to leave or get more power or only teach them approved spells. If you put the classes in situations where they shine, they should work out fine.
The great thing with DW is how much story & fiction is flexible with the world.
Two thoughts are bouncing around in my mind, thanks to this conversation.
1. A Bard who mimics others in the party could be interesting in all sorts of ways. He or she may even have almost no sense of “self” other than what he “borrows” from other members of the party. It might even be “fun” to have a GM rule of pretty much the exact opposite of what I’m hearing others say, and require (or at least encourage) taking others’ Moves as part of this copycat style Bard.
2. One of the things that Bards are known for is passing on the legacy of mighty heroes who have fallen. With some Bards, it may even be the case that in their constant re-telling/re-enacting of their fallen companions’ deeds, they become proficient in some of their past friends’ mighty powers. It could be interesting for this type of Bard to have a limitation of only taking a Move from the class list of a fallen companion. And, in the case of things such as Signature Weapon, it may just be that the Bard kept the fallen companion’s weapon (assuming it was not lost as well).
Just some thoughts. 🙂
Darren, your story points are fine, and indeed, the Bard’s approach was on your lines. But the Cleric player, although clearly justifiable by his background, took the “cast a spell” move because it was/is the obvious powergamer choice.
Maybe you won’t have any of those sort of players
/Edit It’s just a warning. I think my game was more fun when it didn’t have three Wizards, and I wouldn’t let it happen again.
Well there are good & bad ways the story can go for any of the three classes. You could have the wizard now seen as a genius at teaching two non-wizards how to do spells & sent off to retire early to teach or now is seen duplicating the same mistakes done in the past when priests were the ultimate magic using people in the land & started a 300 years war.
After playing with many games of Call of Cthulhu rpg (a system that the rules doesn’t help munchkin power gamers), you as the gm could deal with them easily. As your power gamer is doing good until they fail the sanity roll & either goes catatonic or possible homicidal mania to anyone in the vicinity.
As mentioned before, go into the lore of the world for this priest:
* are they seen as someone special who gets a promotion for learning new magic
*a heretic repeating the steps of a magic war; someone their deity/temple does not want them learning certain (or all) wizard spells that contradict their teaching; what about other pantheons of magic, they might want this priest to serve them instead
*are they getting the wizard spells from something like a bad deity or necromancer sending them information that leads to their doom
*some extra-planar demon is sending wizard spells to make them the ultimate vessel for their new mortal body
*what if the wizards know how to funnel the magic inside them differently so the priest is now creating something inside that’s ripping away the connection to their deity?;
*the priest knows how to cast wizard spells but do they know all the magic theory classes the wizard does with casting certain spells or how to adapt them in a crisis?
Agreed it is a little sad to see this take a big foothold into the wizard’s territorial role but as the GM you have some freedom to play with it.
The core book says you should be a fan of the players but that doesn’t mean you should line every spike-filled pit with pillows. The priest wants ultimate power, so give it to them with all the consequences you can dream up.