Progressing on my vision of #DarkestDungeonWorld , which is ending up being a somewhat deeper hack than some might want (I’m now working with different Stats), but I decided to start rewriting the basic moves and further solidify the wording of new moves I’ve been thinking about.
I’ve made some clarifying comments on many of them, and note which are definitely works in progress, and I think its in a state where I could use some feedback.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VNyyxwDeJ7BQ5rUtw-0EzdU09GP2phXkR9z_bEuF7UQ/edit?usp=sharing
Also, here is the Character Sheet I’m working on: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJJd4E1LM_qD0qSrswIylzQm8C-_9yE8eTry-RpznpI/edit?usp=sharing
tobia dh!
Bunch of comments added.
I think my biggest overall critique is the death spiral. You’re doing a lot with stat damage, which means the more harm you suffer the more likely you are to suffer more harm.
I think you’d be better of with some sort of accumulated harm, stress, and/or condition mechanic that largely left your stats unchanged.
Here’s an example from a different thread. I’m not actually suggesting this, but maybe something like it?
When you first encounter a cosmic horror, roll +WIS. 10+, pick one:
– Lash out violently to destroy it
– Recoil in horror, making every effort to flee
– Freeze up until someone snaps you out of it
– Gain 1 Crack, but remain as calm and as rational as you wish
7-9, gain 1 Crack, and choose 1 from the 10+ list.
6-, mark XP, gain 1 Crack, and ask the GM what you end up doing
Now, Cracks accumulate (like Weight). And you’ve got a stat, let’s call in Stability (analogous to Load).
And you’ve got a move something like this, analogous to the Encumbrance move…
Descent Into Madness
When you make a move while bearing Cracks, you may be affected by madness. If your Cracks…
…do not exceed your Stability, you suffer no penalty.
…exceed your Stability but by no more than 2, take -1 ongoing until you have time to get a few hours of rest without having to think about the horrors you’ve seen.
…exceed your Stability by 3 or more, perform some irrational tick or behavior and roll at -1, or automatically fail.
Thanks for all of the comments! I’ll have to go through them later today.
Jeremy Strandberg I didn’t see any comments addressing the Recovery moves. Do you still have concerns about the Death Spiral given those, and the unmentioned fact that most expeditions will likely be not as long or ambitious as the typical DW delve (not to mention players always have the option of returning with their goal unfulfilled, though there are consequences for that as well)? We can also tweak the numbers for the recovery moves as necessary.
As a big fan of Darkest Dungeon, I just want to say this is shaping up to be pretty cool.
To be honest, some form of Death Spiral would be genre appropriate. Although the sanity as encumbrance thing is nicely elegant.
Yes. I see it as a Death Spiral that players can escape long enough to get attached to a character that falls in in the next session.
📌
David Perry Yeah, I looked at them but I didn’t have much input. They don’t really resolve my concerns about the Death Spiral, though, because they’re all long-term recovery.
There are short-term ways to recoup Steel, but as soon as my Meat is harmed, I’m rolling -1 on all future H&S rolls. Which makes you more likely to suffer trauma, which (given that you’re fighting) will quite possibly impose mean I’m rolling Meat (at a penalty), and getting another -1 Meat, etc.
Hmm… one of the tricks I used in my own heartbreaker was to have harm be a number (1-6, say), assume PCs would have 1-2 armor (maybe 3), and give them the option to “choose 1 of the following to reduce the harm by one; if you like, you ask the GM to pick another and reduce the harm by 1 more,” with choices like:
– Lose your footing or position
– Drop whatever your holding
– You’re out of it for a moment: dazed, winded, etc.
– You miss something important
– Something important (on you or nearby) breaks
– Mark a condition (miserable, enraged, panicked, exhausted; confused)
You could do something like that, and have the GM apply any remaining harm as stat damage. That way, you have fictional, situation-generating outcomes of the harm (which are scary, and make players react), but as the player you have decisions you can make to avoid/mitigate it. Plus, then you’re not rolling the stat to determine if that stat is harmed.
How does this sound?
When you sustain injury, roll+MEAT, SINEW, or STEEL, the GM will tell you which, plus Armor, and plus 1 if you attempt to block with your weapon or your pack. ✴On a 10+, you scrape by or shrug it off. ✴On a 7-9, Choose one. ✴On a miss, choose two.
– Lose 1 from an Ability of the GM’s choice
– Reduce that Ability’s Max by 1
– The weapon or pack you blocked with is flung aside
– The weapon or pack you blocked with is ruined
– Your armor is ruined
One thing to point out is that the GM is able to scale how horrible things go for the character by choosing to damage different Abilities.
Also in case it wasn’t clear, I don’t see Recovery moves as all that long-term. I’m aiming for a typical session to cover 2-5 weeks, with 2 to 4 short expeditions during that time, or 1 for more involved, deeper ones. This should mean that most characters would go through a recovery cycle once per session.
I’m not that experienced a GM however, so I may just be utterly wrong about what’s possible in a single session.
Howdy! Are you still working on this project? I playtested this with you last year, while I was tooling around with my own Madness mechanics with the help of the amazing G+ community here. I have a short working document that I’m planning on starting to playtest with my ‘home’ group in a couple of weeks, and I’d be happy to share notes with you if you’re interested. Cheers.
Joshua Faller Hmm, I’ve never run or participated in a playest of this yet, so I’m not sure what you’re remembering, unless you’re using the term loosely! But you are totally free to use anything there for a game and I’d love to hear any feedback on any aspects, or the docs you’ve cooked up.
I’m not actively working on it, and likely won’t return to it for a while, but I do have intentions of polishing it a bit more.
David Perry my apologies! I played in another person’s hack that came up at the same time. With disparate internet handles it can be hard to tell who’s who!
Joshua Faller NP! Doesn’t help that DDW is such an obvious name.
It’s such great source material though! I certainly understand the impulse. It’s funny I was trying to put a date on DD for my own campaign and my first thought was early industrialism because of the general technological level, or Edwardian because of the New Age flavor of the Occultist, the house, and the Ancestor but then the Plague Doctor (and hell, the village itself both suggest late middle ages/early modern! Now while I know it’s impossible to parse the technological dates of swords and sorcery fantasy, I’m curious what time period you set your hack in.