Does anyone happen to know if there is any rule anywhere for things like dismemberment in DW or any World Engine…

Does anyone happen to know if there is any rule anywhere for things like dismemberment in DW or any World Engine…

Does anyone happen to know if there is any rule anywhere for things like dismemberment in DW or any World Engine game?

16 thoughts on “Does anyone happen to know if there is any rule anywhere for things like dismemberment in DW or any World Engine…”

  2. Of course there are mechanics for dismemberment, it can be caused by Deal Harm as Established “The blade devil cuts through that iron door like it was nothing and now its coming towards you, what do you do?”, by Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask: “The key’s floating inside that gelatinous cube, but so is the goblin it just ate, flesh dissolving. Sure you can grab it, but you wont have much of a hand when you’re done, what do you do?”

    As for already having a missing limb, its a Golden Opportunity “Sure you can run from that pack of Gnolls, no trouble. Except you Fighter, your prosthetic leg ain’t going to make it easy, might even break on you if you tried to run on it. But you could always stand and fight, what do you do?” (this is show a downside to their class, race, or equipment/Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask)

    But its also a chance to be a Fan of the Characters: “What’s that Barbarian, you want to bludgeon the orc with your metal hand? Fuck yes you can! Roll Hack and Slash”

    DW isn’t the kind of game which has explicit rules for every situation. However the GM moves are still mechanics that fit practically any situation!

    (as an aside, Apocalypse World has details on how to create prosthetics:

    Strengths (choose 1 or 2): fine-tuned, responsive, comfortable, formidable, easily maintained, interchangeable components, integrated with the meat, strong, untiring.

    Looks (choose 1 or 2): handbuilt, mechanical, smooth, utilitarian, grotesque, ornate, straps & buckles, showy, scars, startling, fragile, organic.

    Weakness (choose 1 or 2): slow, heavy, itchy or hot, complicated harness, needs constant tinkering, slips, locks up, insensitive, requires fuel, loud, whispers to the world’s psychic maelstrom.)

  4. Dismemberment is fictional damage, not mechanical. If you lose an arm, you can’t use that arm – this is the sort of thing you usually don’t need rules for.

    One example I keep using to explain fictional positioning: In almost any traditional RPG, someone has cut through rope with a blade, but I cannot recall a single rule specifically about the ability of a dagger to cut through rope. We all know that a blade can cut rope.

  6. Jeremy Strandberg

    Dagger Rope Speed Chart

    ————————————–

    Strength / Weapon / 1″ Rope Cut Speed

    …

    12-13 / Dagger / 2 rounds

    14-16 / Dagger / 1 round

    …

  7. Aaron Griffin so much worse! There are technically rules for

    1) determining the rope’s AC (hint: low)

    2) determining the rope’s HP, based on width of rope

    3) rope could have hardness, or damage reduction 10/slashing (I forget)

    Roll to hit rope. Roll damage. Reduce damage by DR. Does rope run out of HP? No? YOU DIDN’T CUT THE DAMN ROPE.

    Josh C sorry for the thread jack. What Aaron Griffin and Patrick Schenk and Tim Jensen  said: it’s all fiction, with the messy tag being a strong indicator that it’s possible.

    Are you looking for guidance on how to handle it DW, or wondering what other games have done in order to do a hack?

  9. On a semi-related note, slicing through a 1 inch rope in one go with a knife you just made is a bladesmithing Journeyman requirement, so I’d probably nitpick anything d20 had to say on the subject

    Also, are the prosthetic rules in 2nd ed or something?

  11. Ok. The reason why I was asking is because I”m writing a hack, and I want modern resuscitation as a means of escaping death. I then expanded on that to create a privilege (something like a Compendium Class) of Emergency Medical Training. The setting has an optional switch for Magic and Big Magic as well, so I was thinking limbs could be replaced with either a Surgical Theater or Big Magic (along with actually performing the surgery). I’m probably going to put most of your first response (Elliot) in the book directly.

  13. Well, I will be using what amounts to DW Debilities already. I have different Attributes, and different names for the debilities. I could sort of extend the debilities into “certain circumstances make them lasting or permanent”

  14. Thanks Josh, that’s really flattering.

    Since I’m never quite done pushing Apocalypse World: one of the AW playbooks is The Angel, a medic/doctor/butcher with painkillers. They’ve got a few different moves for healing people, depending on how messed up they are. One of them lets you choose 2/1 (10+vs 7-9) of these:

    • They fight you and you have to narcostab them. How long will they be out?

    • The pain and drugs make them babble the truth to you. Ask them what secret they spill.

    • They respond very well to treatment. Recover 1 of the stock you spent, if you spent any.

    • They’re at your complete mercy. What do you do to them?

    • Their course of recovery teaches you something about your craft. Mark experience.

    • They owe you for your time, attention, and supplies, and you’re going to hold them to it.

    These are really great ways to deal with healing, because they give the Angel some game, fixing you up gives the Angel some (narrative) power over you.

    Honestly I’d recommend reading AW to anyone trying to write a hack, because it does some real smart things with game design, it makes you question certain assumptions you make. And it has an entire chapter dedicated to writing hacks (its called Advanced Fuckery, what more do you need?)

  15. I have already incorporated bits from AW1, DW Core, Class Warfare, Inverse World, Monsterhearts, Monster of the Week, and No Rest for the Wicked. I will probably not use that Angel move as is because of implications it might have in a Visual Novel, but I’ll look into it once I get my hands on AW2 (or if it’s in AW 1)

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