So I GM’d my first game of DW last weekend, and it went quite well. We ran the Slave Pits of Drazhu as a primer, just to learn the system, before I intro my setting next session. There’s one thing that I was definitely confused about though, regarding combat. The notes for the baddies in that area all say things like D4, D6, D8, etc. I remember reading that the GM never rolls for damage for monsters, but I assumed that these numbers referred to the monster’s damage dice. Did I have this wrong? Does the Orc Whipmaster for example, just hit for 8 damage by default when he lands a hit? If so, then I made the monsters WAAAY too easy, because I was rolling terribly, and it felt the whole time like the PC’s weren’t ever in any real danger.
So I GM’d my first game of DW last weekend, and it went quite well.
So I GM’d my first game of DW last weekend, and it went quite well.
If the PCs take damage from an enemy, THEY roll that damage.
The default is damage is still rolled, but not by the GM, rather the GM tells the player how much damage to roll and inflict to themselves. In practice, you’re not going to break anything by rolling the damage yourself.
I actually usually call out other players and make them roll it – it’s a good way for me to make sure all the players are engaged even if they haven’t acted in the past few minutes.
One thing to remember with damage is that groups combine; you roll the highest damage die, +1 damage for each extra monster in the group. So if a goblin does 1d6, half a dozen goblins does 1d6+5.
OH! That makes so much more sense… Thanks guys!
Hey, I just ran my first DW game last weekend as well. Welcome to the awesome club! 😀
Dylan Knight I really like the idea of having the other players roll the damage for make the roll when a person gets hit to help keep everyone engaged. Seems like it would add to the chaos and fun in an interesting way, and make for some fun “blaming” each other. “Oh man, why’d you roll a 10?!” “Sorry, man!” Good stuff.
I’m running again tomorrow, and I’m pretty freakin’ stoked for it.