In DW, can I just disregard the 3-18 stats and just say “I have +2 STR and -1 DEX” or is there other rules that are tied to the 3-18 stat score?
In DW, can I just disregard the 3-18 stats and just say “I have +2 STR and -1 DEX” or is there other rules that are…
In DW, can I just disregard the 3-18 stats and just say “I have +2 STR and -1 DEX” or is there other rules that are…
Hit points, I believe. But that’s easily dropped too.
Only HP is tied to the full stats. You could modify it to be something like: Base + Level + Con Modifier. It’d make for a deadlier game.
The other important thing to note is that you will need to change how the “+1 stat per level” works. You might want to say something like… Add +1 at even levels, to a max plus of half your level (so you can’t hit +3 on a stat until level 6)
Advancement ties into the 3-18 score, since you get to improve a single stat by 1 point/level.
But really, they are there (in my mind) because 3-18 ranges for abilities are an old-school trope. Same thing goes for hit points.
I do agree that these notions can be dispensed with easily enough. You end up with a game that had less of a retro feel but there is noting wrong with that, if that’s what you’re after.
There are also a few prices for things in the equipment chapter that subtract the player’s charisma score from the cost, but that’s not really all that important 😛
Thanks a lot all!
Keith Martin Yeah that’s why I asked. I find it weird they stick to the old D&D tropes. Even D&D 5e wouldn’t have needed 3-18 stats, actually.
1) having 3-18 stats makes the passages from +2 to +3 harder than, say, +1 to +2, or -1 to 0. Strangely, 0 to +1 is the most difficult.
2) If you opt for having just modifiers, and you want to keep HP similar to the actual ones, you may go for this:
HP: 10 + actual base + 3 CON.
to keep the hit points pretty much like the actual ones.
World of Dungeons.
I think sticking to the old D&D tropes was part of the point, actually. Dungeon World is a bit of a love letter to D&D. Some of those choices — stats from 3-18, hit points, etc. – are just the perfume on that letter.
Which is not to say I wouldn’t play a DW game without those notions, I would. I just like it better with them intact.
The same problem comes up a lot in discussions of the post 3e editions of D&D, or at least they tend to in the circles I travel. Chock it up to the whole “d20+stat mod >= Difficulty” task resolution vs “Roll under your stat with the d20/3d6/whatever” method. The latter definitely gives the full number some bite.
A lot of OSR types have come up with ways of using the 3-18 range for other stuff: carry your Strength in encumbering items is popular, Charisma for number/quality of contacts at character creation, number of starting skills with Intelligence, DCC’s Luck stat, etc. Plenty of good ideas out there.
there is one fan-made character class, the Brute, that has a Load of 10+Strength rather than 10+STR
Addramyr Palinor Absolutely you can! You just need a little work, ’cause there are very few (and minor) things directly related to that oooold (and hated, by me) 3-18 range. Blame old D&D for that (OT: by the way, True20 was a good d20 based system that removed a lot of things I ever disliked of standard d20 system: 3-18 stats, fixed classes, vancian magic, standard hitpoints, finally it used just the d20, not the other dice that you used maybe just in combat damages).
I’m working on a full DW modding for my group that remove those (almost useless) stats, but I have no full good text to share, sorry about that. However if you like to thinker with the systems, you’ll find your way to address hit points etc.
You have my blessing ^____^
I’m finding this discussion helpful, too! Q: Several people have brought up getting rid of HP. What would you /replace/ it with, or, how else do you track near-dead-ness?
Fate uses conditions. You could try that?
I still use HPs, in Dungeon World, simply have a different formula (table) to calculate them, ’cause I removed the 3-18 COS.
I kept them because:
– I like them, for that specific kind of game (sort of videogame health bar)
– they are too diply integrated in the rest of the rules. If you want to use other systems (ie. AW harm, or Fate/Cortex+ conditions) you need to rewrite 50% of the whole book 😀 moves, weapon damage system, monsters etc. At that point, it’s better fully switch to another system, and try to import some nice DW feature (success with cost in mixed results, failure that has always a meaning, and bring the things forward however, bonds, etc.). I can suggest one of the Cortex+ iterations, like the Fantasy Heroic that you can find in the Cortex Plus Hackers Guide.