I’ve been tinkering with a Dungeon World playbook based around the idea of an intelligent animal/magical beast, such as Red XIII et al. It’s not finished (for instance, the move Pack Alpha still needs actual rules, and Killer Instinct still needs something to make it interesting), but I’d love to get some feedback/suggestions, if you have them.
I’ve been tinkering with a Dungeon World playbook based around the idea of an intelligent animal/magical beast, such…
I’ve been tinkering with a Dungeon World playbook based around the idea of an intelligent animal/magical beast, such…
I skimmed over it just so you know,
An idea perhaps for killer instinct -you can change it to have a similar instinct: to eat, to discover, to befriend etc. taking a +1 forward when acting on it. If you keep it I’d suggest taking out playfuland sulking as I don’t see much use from those. Also, the difference between ferocious and vicious? Defy danger what? Wisdom, losing complete control of the character for a time might not be fair. Perhaps 3 hold when you make camp that can be spent?
The inherent defense hmm maybe choose all that apply I’m not sure. Wouldn’t be fair for some animals but a snake shouldn’t have poison but no armor. Add more to the list and choose two maybe.
Nature’s child is too powerful and should probably be 2d8 as when players make camp they typically get hp from a night’s rest.
Lastly, what is happening with size. Because fictionally a tiny spider or rat with 16+ hp as well as an alligator…
Sorry if I sound harsh, just trying to help improve and good work!
Overall I liked this. Some issues / concerns:
Feral feels kind of like you’re trying to do a lot of things at once. I suggest splitting it up:
– Bestial Origins (Why are you like this?)
– Tongue of Beasts (Parley with other animals)
– Feral Form (You can’t use most items proficiently)
The bit about fighting savagely with tooth and claw seems superfluous; I think the playbook communicates that you’ll most often hack and slash with the weapons of your body.
Maybe Killer Instinct could have a start-of-session establishing move instead of the defy danger bit, like:
At the start of a session, roll to see what you’ve been up to since we saw you last. On a 10+, you didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. On a 7-9, choose 2. On a miss, calamity.
– You didn’t give in to your instincts in public.
– You didn’t hurt anybody.
– You didn’t leave anything behind.
– You and your friends know where you are.
The class has a lot of Bonds which seems weird given the source material; Red XIII wasn’t particularly social, for example.
Clever Monkey strikes me as a 6-10 move.
Dog’s Best Friend is okay, but I’d like it better if it weren’t diluted by the class’s large number of Bonds.
Tongue of Man implies something about Animals without it; you should make that explicit in the class’s starting moves. In Tongue of Beasts you could say, “You can’t speak human languages, though.”
I don’t think Dire Beast needs the “when you make camp” bit since you have to use downtime to level up anyway.
True Love’s Kiss feels like it could be written better somehow.
Thank you for your responses & feedback. Making some changes now.
The first option for Nature’s Child now heals +2d8 instead of 3d8.
I removed the part about growing when you make camp in the Dire Beast move. I did add a small drawback though; it felt appropriate.
Splitting Feral up into multiple moves is an interesting idea. And that wouldn’t be too cluttered, you think?
The Bonds I wrote down as I thought of them. I guess one or two could stand to go. Probably the one about someone smelling intriguing; I more or less lifted it from the Werewolf in Monsterhearts. Red XIII is just the first example that comes to mind for the Animal. I was also thinking of the Rhy from Blue Rose when making up the playbook.
I like your idea for Killer Instinct, Shreyas. I’m thinking of taking it and modifying it a little bit into something like:
When drawing on your animal instincts (chosen from the list), roll plus WIS. On a 10+, hold 2 instinct. On a 7-9, hold 2 instinct, and the DM holds 1 instinct. On a miss, hold 1 instinct, and the DM holds 2 instinct. You can spend instinct to (give yourself some sort of advantage related to your instinct). The DM can spend instinct at any time to cause you to act in accordance with your instinct right then.
The size thing comes from the fact that hit points in D&D-like games have always been a bit of an abstracted mechanic. I’ve always considered them to represent a number of things in relation to the fiction: your ability to endure hits, your ability to dodge hits, even luck to a degree. So, what hp means to a spider here is supposed to be different than what it means to a bear.
Quant à inherent defense, I think it would depend on the snake. A constrictor would choose massive body, while a viper would choose toxic venom. I think choosing more than one if appropriate wouldn’t be too unbalanced. I’ll add a clause. I’ve also added a new defense: spiny barbs. I don’t think there’s already a tag for its effect, but I might be mistaken.
Does Dog’s Best Friend seem better now that there are fewer Bonds?
Why does Clever Monkey strike you as a 6-10 move? I was thinking 2-5 since it’s more or less an inversion of the Druid’s starting move, and also because it fits with fairy tales about shapechanging animals (hence its connection to True Love’s Kiss).
I’m glad you liked the Changeling stuff, Other J.T. The Beast Seeming in general was a big inspiration for the playbook (hence also the reference to the Contracts of Fang & Talon in one move).
I’ll work on this more now, think things over, see if I can make it all official-like. Thanks again for the help!