So…movement and wire-fu.

So…movement and wire-fu.

So…movement and wire-fu. My nephew and I have a love of wire-fu and crazy acrobatics, but Dungeon World doesn’t seem to have any movement related moves for any of the classes.

My first thought is to tinker together a class and give it an acrobatics move. I’ve seen a few out there, but the ones I’ve seen (at least the ones my old brain cells remember) seem too concrete for Dungeon World, at least to me. They are the sort I would have more than likely built on my own if I hadn’t seen them out there.

Crazy Jumping! When you need to make a crazy jump. Roll+Blah 10+=Leap +20 feet 7-9=Leap+10 feet.

It works to give the character the whole jumping thing, but does it really work? The concrete distance doesn’t seem to jibe with the DW aesthetic. Weapon distances aren’t handled in feet, yards, meters or any of that. So should a movement ability be handled with them?

Whacky Jumping! When you need to jump really far: Roll+Blah

10+ You totally make it! You rule! 7-9, You make it, but there’s a problem

That seems better, but it is super nebulous, which makes my eyeballs itch, but is probably better for DW in general. But now I wonder if this should be a move at all, as you’ve already got Defy Danger.  So maybe it should be more like

Insane Jumping! You totally can jump insane distances! 

Then it is just rp, and when necessary, the gm will throw in Defy Danger rolls as appropriate. Or I suppose you could even skip it being a move at all. Just tell the GM you want to be able to jump around like a Kung Fu movie and then RP the heck out of it?

So…there’s some rambling thoughts. How do people handle this stuff? Is the perfect move out there and I’ve not found it yet? 

6 thoughts on “So…movement and wire-fu.”

  1. Your second option is likely the most appropriate. There is a playbook called the Dashing Hero that has a flourishing jump move that might be what you’re looking for. Otherwise, instead of “but something else happens” on a 7-9, you can narrow that down with actual choices for the player to pick from or explain something specific that happens, such as, “you make it, but you cut yourself off from your party.”

  2. My Flow Monk class has an advanced move that just states “You can jump two floors straight up, twice that forward with a running start.”  It works – if they expose themselves while using it, that’s covered by Defy Danger.

    I like Jankowski’s note – most of the very ‘strong’ moves have a list to choose from.  Check out Baker’s various *World works (including the father of them all, Apocalypse World) and you’ll see a whole mess of pick-and-choose lists. 

    Do you want wire fu to be a thing they can just do, or something that invites danger and drama?

  4. Can any PC (and many NPCs) do this kind of insane wire-fu?  If so say that they can do that, and describe your NPCs doing that, and encourage the players to do that.  Sure, trigger Defy Danger if they use it to defy a danger. But otherwise, don’t treat it any differently than, like, running.

    If it’s something only some characters can do, then I’d still be tempted to do with your general “you know wire-fu” move.  And if a PC has that move, they can leap amazing distances, balance on willow branches, skip across water, etc.  (Or maybe you break it out into two moves, one basic for jumping and another advanced for walk-on-water stuff.)

    If using wire-fu is dangerous and dicey, then you want a move with a roll.  Or if it involves spending chi (or whatever), then come up with some sort of hold-and-spend mechanic.

    But if they can just do it, let them do it.

  5. Thanks Damian Jankowski and Sean Fager. If I was actually going to write that move up, I would definitely include choices instead of “Trouble” The choice moves are probably the strongest selling points to DW.

    Michael Guerra  and Jeremy Strandberg I’m thinking of it being a class specific thing at the moment, but the thoughts of putting a twist on a DW campaign by introducing campaign wide crazy action skills does interest me.

    Michael and Alberto Muti I’ll add Class Warfare and Inverse World to my gamer shopping list. Currently I don’t want to make any purchases until Gen Con. 

    And lastly, I think I’m in agreement with you Jeremy. A general descriptor move like my “Insane Jumping!” example seems like it is the one that would work best for me. Plus, it seems a natural  extension to offer up other nifty additions like you mentioned. 

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