Good god, ghosts are awesome.

Good god, ghosts are awesome.

Good god, ghosts are awesome. One monster, a two hour encounter and one player even says “that was like being in a horror movie, in the good way.”

The narrative aspects of DW move so smoothly between combat and psychological thriller. It never would have worked in, for example, d&d.

Do you have any great scenes with just one monster? Tell me about them.

6 thoughts on “Good god, ghosts are awesome.”

  4. It was long, I’ll try to hit the highlights. The party was in a long-abandoned Dwarven temple. The first indication of the supernatural was when an axe “fell” out of a statue’s hand and almost hit the Paladin’s foot. A voice said something like “why are humans here” (group had decided earlier that evening that a human plague had destroyed dwarven civilization, maybe on purpose?)

    The Paladin tried to be nice and even shook the statue’s hand. By losing her gauntlet she was able to not get her hand crushed to powder.

    The party asked what the voice wanted, I think at this time they were assuming a ghost. It said “human blood.” Negotiations led to a clarification of that meaning more like four pints each than a few drops.

    At this point the lava-fueled forge began to fill (something the party had been unsuccessful at before).

    With a combination of spells and divine insight the ghost was “seen” to be standing by the entrance.

    The Paladin (with the cleric spell multiclass) created a circle of Sanctuary. Everyone tried to get in it. I really had to slow them down. A lot of “you said you were over here” ensued.

    The ghost sealed the entrance. More lava.

    The wizard tried to telepathically contact the ghost. The (non-human) druid still tried to negotiate from outside the circle.

    The afore-mentioned axe flew up from the ground and started spinning. It almost took the Wizard’s head off as he dove into the sanctuary.

    The druid wanted to help put the ghost to rest. The rest of the party decided to get rid of it.

    Ritual to exorcise it? Sure, it’s a place of power. But first you’ll need to wrest control from the ghost in psychic combat. And you can’t do that from inside the sanctuary. Also, the lava has over-topped the forge and is slowly flowing across the room.

    Team “just kill it” steps out. The axe keeps flying and attacking and the giant altar/anvil rings like it’s being worked on, but nothing can be seen. The Druid tries to negotiate through the terrible din.

    The Paladin and Rogue take turns Defending the Wizard in his mind duel (hack and slash with Int) from the animated axe, which has now deployed an armor-penetrating ghost-edge.

    As the Wizard’s nose bleeds and his brain is turning to jelly, and the Paladin and Rogue are getting whittled down by the ghost axe, the Druid looks around trying to glean something about an alternate cost the ghost might accept.

    The statue has a ring.

    Through the sound of steel on steel and the Wizard screaming the druid can be heard “who was she? I can take you to her.”

    “Put on the ring, and keep your promise… or else.”

    The Druid runs across the room to the statue. Team just kill it cries “no!” The Rogue, giving up defense of the Wizard, tries to pin the Druid in place with an arrow. (We deployed the interference and the aid rules simultaneously). The lava is now feet from the party.

    At this point anything could happen. Dead-again ghost, dead party members, whatever putting on the ring does.

    The dice said the Druid got the ring. The lava instantly recedes, the axe falls to the ground, the entrance unseals.

    Then the party shouts at each other while I plan the next encounter, which will apparently include another ghost, or maybe something worse.

  5. Ray Otus​ has told me some great stories of cinematic encounters he has run that show how the mechanics of Dungeon World can just sing. And, coincidentally, convinced me to pick up the rules.

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