Has anyone ever tried to implement Resource Rolls (ala fate, etc.) in Dungeon World? Has it been done to meaningful success? Does it seemingly negate the loot grabbers? Dungeon World doesn’t seem to be predicated on amassing lots of loot as it is.
Has anyone ever tried to implement Resource Rolls (ala fate, etc.) in Dungeon World?
Has anyone ever tried to implement Resource Rolls (ala fate, etc.) in Dungeon World?
I hadn’t considered trying it, but I suspect it may be more trouble than it’s worth. There’s at least a few moves that would have to be adjusted (carouse, use up their resources, etc.), and it may interfere with encumbrance if you count coin towards it.
As for loot grabbers, I expect there’s simpler solutions. If a simple GM-Player chat can’t fix it, perhaps a roll-for-it or lottery mechanic is needed.
D&D and other dungeon crawlers have historically been games of accumulating wealth and bean counting. I don’t think that a Wealth roll would work very well. There’s the Barter moves from AW, which are pretty close.
I have found that Resource rolls are just really hard for plays to wrap their heads around. Almost like the Arrow mechanics. I like the abstraction, but DW is so hard for players to understand already that I don’t know if implementing Resource Rolls into a game from the beginning will be better or worse.
How do resource rolls work?
In the vein of a Fate game, I end up doing something like this:
Monsters, unless notable, don’t really drop Coin. Coin is something that players will ever really have like 2-6 of. If they want to buy rations, typical upkeep gear, bandages, I look at how much and if it is reasonable, I just say it costs 1 coin. If they are wanting to say buy an enchantment for their weapon, buy better armor, anything abstract that is more than what a small market might have i’d have them do something like:
10: You get the item for a reasonable price (GM offers)
7-9: It will cost a little more than what you wanted
-6: Cost way more or not available.
The other option is. Keep Coin/gold economy down and players will only ever have +1, +2, or +3 -ish Coin. They may a Resource roll when buying something, kind of like in Torchbearer:
‘When the adventurers stroll into town and use their status and wealth to purchase goods,
10: You get what they want, choose 2
7-9: You get the item, Choose 1
-6: Choose 1 and you don’t get what you want
-The transaction does not cost a Coin
-The seller is not in a bad mood after the deal
-You do not attract the attention of ne’er do wells when you flash your funds.
This system keeps players from being overly involved in looting everything that is not nailed down in a dungeon. I typically will tell players when they find Coin.
I’ve modeled wealth similarly in Uncharted Worlds (another PbtA game not really similar to DW, but worth mentioning). I used The Black Hack’s concept of a usage die and expanded it.
Bascially each character received a starting wealth die (1d6, or 1d8 for the big rich bastards). When they spent wealth, they rolled the die. On a 1-2 the die stepped down one die size. I would sometimes offer them cool options for -1 or -2 to the usage roll.
Similarly, when they sold things, they’d roll the die, and on a max result on the die would step it up one die size.
It worked… okay. They players weren’t super thrilled about it, though, and we only used it for a few sessions.
I love the Resources mechanic from Torchbearer. I think it works well because it still gives players tangible, countable loot, in addition to a Resources skill.
The Sprawl is also worth checking out. Depending on how you frame adventures, Getting the Job and Getting Paid could be easily ported to Dungeon World. A version of Hit the Streets could also be adapted to purchasing equipment in town.
Lo, beware of taking away their gold pieces!
I have been down that road and it was not well received. There just seems to be something cool about finding and looting a countable sum of treasure.
I’m kind of new in dungeon world so can someone tell me what’s the problem with loot grabber players and why isn’t the carry weight enough to deal with it?
Mario Morales some players may care more about progressing the story line than others, but everyone had to wait for the greedy PCs that check every nook and book case for something to steal.
Andrew Huffaker Maybe dissuade the behavior by not rewarding it. Handwave the searching process, and just give them the loot. If they keep searching and never find, eventually they’ll quit searching so hard.
Benjamin Kramer
That’s basically what I did. I told them that I will just give it to you and say you find it. Don’t ask me every 2 minutes. It’s not as pleasing to them, but I don’t get everyone fighting for who gets the ration or book this way.
Like an auto search function.
I feel like most of the attitude here is to tell the looters, “You’re fun is wrong.” I mean, two greedy/flawed people in a group of adventurers seems like the beginning hook to a ton of interesting story ideas. Will they betray the party for loot? Has someone of importance noticed their hauls? Does a collector want to use their services? Have they taken something important that someone wants back? Was that a cursed item that has to be dealt with now? Have they unwittingly gained the favor of a dark entity?
Maybe it’s because I come from video games but I have a hard time seeing dungeons or adventure without loot as desirable. Sometimes I just want a prize for all my work.
Mario Morales. I think those are all great hooks, but imagine it’s already in the throws of 2 or 3 other fronts. It’s hard to have meaningful items without diminishing returns. Imagine 4 people are hungry to catch the bad guy, they can hear him in the next room, they can almost hear him give his plans awayas he rambles to himsepf, they’ve been playing 6 weeks to build up for this moment and the damn rogue keeps breaking drama by asking to look under the couch for change. Haha.
Sounds like you should talk to your player if they’re being disruptive, as opposed to trying to mechanically punish them.
It’s more about trying to accommodate everyone with compromise. Everyone, including myself, just needs to give and take in this team sport.
On a side note, I’ll sure this sounds bad, but just as are bad GMs there are also sick things as bad players. I’ve been fortunate to not really have any, but I’ve seen more than enough players that only want to rape and hide behind ‘im just playing my character’ etc.
Whoa, that escalated quickly! There’s a line between the Nürenberg PC Defence in rape and loot-grabbing, and a pretty thick one I think. Anyway, both should be primarily discussed before the game or when it comes up and becomes disruptive – you wouldn’t probably expect to solve the first one by adding an abstract sexual violence and abuse roll… And the second is more about player buy in and stating before the game “listen, I’m tired of loot-hoarding, let’s play a game where the main focus lies somewhere else. Is everyone on board?” And take it from there. Adding mechanics should solve a mechanics problem – in this case, maybe add more exp. boosts for those interesting things you want to be the focus of play. It shouldn’t be about policing player behaviour, that’s the job of the (mostly unspoken) social contract of the group. Communication is key.
Haha thanks Krzysztof Chyla. My claims are mutually exclusive between the original post question and everything else I started to rant about. The underlying problem I see in these cases is exactly what you stated about understanding social contract. I play with groups of students whom all mostly suffer from social diagnoses or the like. I run a gamers club for them to teach social skills, so I have to pick and choose my battles carefully. Social contracting is a hard thing to teach in a room of with spectrum disorders, ADHD, ODD, and emotional disabilities, so I try to accommodate through quick game mechanics. Having a discussion up front is great advice, but difficult when the individuals are highly ridged be with low adaptive skills.
Thanks Krzysztof Chyla, Aaron Griffin, and Mario Morales and everyone else for the great advice. You gave some things to try and implement.
I hate counting coins.
All characters have an idea of their wealth. A street bum has nothing. The heir to the Sky Kingdom rolls in it. Just roll with the fiction.
Player: I want to buy a sword.
GM: You’re broke, but you can steal one.
GM: The best you can afford is a rusted crowbar.
GM: Sure. You can buy a second hand army issue.
GM: With your wealth, you can get one with a gold hilt, encrusted with diamonds and enchanted by Elendril herself. If you want it.