tldr; need to design a custom move for fishing
I’ve started GMing a campaign for friends of mine that I’ve played other rpgs with in the past and I know from those games that they love fishing. I don’t blame them; I know when I played World of Warcraft I spent a lot of time fishing too because it allows you to linger in the world and in the character without the pressure of “doing”. When we’ve played D&D, the DM allowed this to turn into people rolling for fishing until patience ran out, the end result being a few fish for dinner around the campfire. Dungeon World doesn’t naturally incentivize fishing because it doesn’t provide an action for it. They say they fish, I say they successfully catch something, and we all move on.
I’d like to surprise them by making fishing more fun. Does anyone have ideas for a custom move? I’m thinking of something along the lines of “When you’ve fished for a period of time…” with 10+ being the finding of a magical item in a fish, 7-9 being some kind of selection of rewards and dangers, and 6 being… I don’t know what yet. I need to make it so that there’s enough risk involved that players don’t fish from now into infinity and end up with so many items that each becomes less unique and valuable.
Ideas?
Are they going to be fishing in lake or river type setting, or deep sea fishing?
Ooh good question. In general fishing only occurs to them if there’s a river or a lake.
Why not base the move around the conversation the characters have while they fish? Off the top of my head…
Roll +bonds
On a 10+ choose 3
On a 7-9 choose 1
> A companion knows someone you’ve been trying to meet.
> Take +1 forward to any move you do helping them.
> A companion knows something useful about your current goal.
> You learn a secret from them about someone you both know.
> A companion agrees to help you with one of your personal goals.
I personally like the “bonding” options (see the Bard move “charming and open” for inspirations), but I’d like to notice that, a part from magical items, there are some myths about magical fishes… the Irish salmon of knowledge, and, uh, something about a golden talking fish that grants wishes, maybe? Just saying…
I like the suggestions about talking and/or gaining insight about something. That allows me to find hooks back into whatever the main quest is that they are on and keeping the fishing somewhat relevant rather than some filler dragging the game out.
Here’s my suggestion, combing some of the suggestions from above. a couple of the the options have more of a fairy tale feel, cross them out if they don’t fit your world.
When you spend some time fishing in a spot where the fish are biting, roll+WIS. On a success, you take in enough to feed yourself and your companions; these count as rations if you Make Camp in that same day. If you roll 10+, choose 1.
• You find a mysterious item as you clean your catch – an engraved ring, a crystal key, a treasure map, or whatever the GM tells you
• One of the fish you reel in speaks your tongue, and offers you a boon if you will spare its life
• You gain a new understanding of a companion that fishes with you – you can rewrite a bond you have with them, or they can rewrite a bond they have with you
• You attract the attention of a curious and mostly benign creature or spirit.
• One of these fish swam through the Well of Wisdom in the land of Faerie; the next time you Spout Lore, treat a 6- as a partial success.
• You become familiar with the countryside and wildlife around you – take +1 ongoing to whichever role you choose when you Undertake a Perilous Journey in this locale.
• Tell the GM what person, place, or thing you recently encountered and are spending your time thinking about, and ask them one question from the Discern Realities list about it.
Never forget you can catch a babelfish 😉
Dylan Knight, your fishing move, my friend, is nails.
I think it’s a glorious example of how Dungeon World encourages both players and GMs to create and build according to their wants and needs.
My player wants to do something that isn’t covered under the ‘rules’? Bam! Just follow the fiction, or author a move that brings that action to life!
It’s so refreshingly liberating.
that’s beautiful… most def had to make a babelfish a possibility too because one player would get a HUGE kick out of it
Since some of what players do with fishing can be covered by other moves, like being the quartermaster in a Perilous Journey, or as a roleplay device in Make Camp, might I suggest that a fishing rod use up a charge of the adventurer’s kit and that you create an item called “bait” that’s something like this:
Bait:
Use one charge of your adventurer’s kit to create Bait (5 charges). Each fish caught depletes your bait!
And maybe you can require “Special Bait” for special types of fish (1 charge per use of an adventurer’s kit).
And of course, as a soft move for a failure on the fishing skill you create you can deplete bait.
You could even create a special “Fishing Kit” item for them to use similar to an adventure kit but containing bait, tackle, cleaning equipment etc.
This way they can’t just create rations without cost.
Dylan Knight My compliments and a hearty yoink!
I’ll work on something to have ready on Sunday and then I’ll report back with the results…
This is Awesome! I’m totally going to push for this in my group!