Hi, everyone! I’m a novice Dungeon World GM, but I haven’t let that stop me from thinking of how to make it more immersive and fun. To which end, I came up with a pretty simple food-centric expansion for the game (Note: I haven’t tried it out in real play yet). I’d appreciate constructive criticisms!
https://medium.com/@melvin_charles_o_dy/when-you-tire-of-dungeon-rations-55adc153d528#.di5lnue4x
That’s a lot of +1s in there… Can you come up with some more flavorful benefits to eating something besides the standard rations? (No pun intended.)
Granted, +1 to a stat is kinda simple-minded, but its straightforwardness is its appeal, I think. It’s pretty easy to track, and doesn’t require too much in-fiction explaining.
Of course, we can think up items that are useful in certain situations. For example, Ünderbrau is a drink that makes you more charismatic towards dwarves. Or pasta aglio e olio gives you +1 on close-combat actions against vampires. Or maybe dishes that allow timed access to metamagic tags, say Flash Newt Tarts which allow you to add blinding tags to your spells.
Melvin Charles Dy a +1 to a roll might be straightforward, but it is also very powerful in Dungeon World (far more powerful than it is in something like D&D).
Hmm, point taken. I thought that limiting the period of efficacy would offset it enough, but if you think it’s too much, I’ll take that into consideration. The fluid nature of time in DW can also make determining the periods somewhat complicated to determine.
Of course, as GMs we can try throwing more dangers at the buffed PCs. 😛
DW gets its “immersive” feel from describing the fiction through back and forth conversation between the GM and player, not from tracking more mechanicical effects. That would have the opposite desired effect in game.
Instead consider creating a list of questions that the GM can use/get inspired by.
Heres a few ideas:
What is it about this stew that makes you think about your tribe in the whispering plains?
How did you survive the cold nights in the War and what taste will you never forget?
What smell makes you want to fall asleep near a fire with the sounds of friends and family in your ears?
And so on…