19 thoughts on “The move Balance is one I have never had a druid in my games take.”

  1. I don’t think “allowing” is a thing the GM should be doing. It doesn’t say anything about losing balance, so then it’d be up to offering an opportunity with a cost.

  2. Aaron Griffin “Allowing” would then entail allowing an endless amount, which is how I read the move also.

    I would also assume as everything that has a finite amount in Dungeon World that the players use, any bad results could cause them to lose Balance just like losing adventuring gear or any other hold as a cost.

    Thanks for the comment!

  3. I don’t think having an Infinite Amount of Balance is Balanced. (Pun Intended). Though I never had a situation where the player didn’t need to use up his held balance quickly.

  4. It could also make sense that balance is lost within a certain time period after gaining it. I’d say that it probably can’t be kept for more than a day, and as was mentioned, the GM could rule that negative effects cause balance to be lost as well.

  5. I agree with you guys on the time period, though I guess that would be left up to your group and their answers to your question of “How long does balance last?” Nature after all, is all about the long term. I could see someone saving up balance since the start of a campaign, then having an awesome scene where they release all 30+ balance at once on a lich to end its unnatural existence with an ungodly amount of restorative magic. I’d be a fan of that lol

  6. Adding an arbitrary time frame or other bleed mechanic over-complicates the issue. It’s often easy to do that when you simply read a mechanic, without considering its context in the flow of the game.

    The move requires the Druid to deal damage as a trigger, to accumulate a Balance. If the Druid is running around dealing damage, presumably they, and their allies, are also at least at the risk of taking some damage.

    As the Druid deals damage, the job of the GM shouldn’t be to figure out artificial ways to put caps on Balance, but to find interesting opportunities where the Druid would want to spend it. Or, if the Druid wants to horde it, provide interesting scenes in which having a horde of Balance pays off.

    If the Druid is trying to game the system and accumulate ridiculous abundance of Balance, perhaps the move isn’t as flawed as the Player’s approach to gaming the system. In that case, if it affects the fun of the game for others, speak with the player. If everyone is having fun, though, then let the Druid proceed.

    Hell, i can think of lots of ways to poke and prod a Druid who has dealt a lot of damage and NOT had to use Balance to restore health.

  7. Andrew Fish exactly. I might even do a “Tell them the requirements and ask” thing like “You didn’t get to him soon enough, but you can spend all your Balance to give him a +2 forward on his Last Breath roll”

  8. Aaron Griffin Your suggestion of having the GM reduce balance as consuming a resource has me thinking in new, wicked directions.

    If a Druid is known for accumulating Balance, i can totally see creepy people hunting for that Druid soon enough.

    The decrepit wizard that wants a Druid bursting with Balance as the final component in their Eternal Youth spell. A group of vampires that find Balance-infused blood extra tasty. A holy warrior who insists the Druid come use their abilities to heal the sick and weary. Lots of ways to complicate the Balance Battery’s life!

    Instead of a one-time GM move, i’d consider developing dangers around it.

  9. I am on the side on not limiting it in any way. See, the move is called balance and requires them to deal harm to someone or something, storing or stealing their essence in the process. The implied balance is that for the harm they cause, they can heal others. It’s very ritualistic and druidic, imo. I also like the idea of allowing someone to cheat death or get a bonus to that roll with this. It’s a solid 7-9 move.

  10. I played a druid in a 1v1 game and used This move.

    My character took up an oath to revitalize the forest and bring civilization to its knees.

    My character took office in the the militaries ranks and caused pain and suffering country wide, from province to province. By his order, countly soldiers slaughtered and butchered civilians and combatants alike.

    The argument, which was agreed on later, was that each act of violence and damage was issued and thus dealt by the druid and racked up Balance.

    Latet that balance was used to rapidly regrow the forest and lands of the decimated civilizations.

  11. Why aren’t they players in the game getting damaged? Why is the Druid able to keep so much Balance and not use it? Are they steam rolling everything? I would feel I was doing something wrong if as a GM if Druid could accumulate a ton of Balance, not because I’m a killer GM but if no damage is being dealt where are the stakes, danger, risk and to an extent fun?

    I’ve had Druids take this move and “too much balance” was never an issue we had to deal with.

  12. Eric Lochstampfor I would only see this happening in a game where another healer is present (a cleric or bard for example). Also, I tend to throw lots of low hit point enemies at my group in order for them to feel really heroic. Half my group is all about the combat!

    I could see some games going where they never accumulate much Balance, mainly due to a druid never rolling damage sometimes (an elephant stepping on a goblin just kills it, though you could still argue they did damage it) or having a game be more roleplay heavy. But if a player took the Blood and Thunder line of moves or even just Balance, I would definitely let them deal lots of damage since that is what they are building for. Whether or not they horde it, spend it, or I take it from them as a GM move, depends on the game being played.

Comments are closed.