When you spend a day exploring a region in search of adventure…
This is a set-up with a lot of possibilities for groups just looking around for trouble in a new land they haven’t fully explored yet. The goals I have in mind would be:
* Give everyone a chance to contribute
* Generate points of interest on the fly (q.v. Perilous Wilds)
* Make some random encounters/introduce dangers
* Set-up future adventures
So, how would you write such a move?
Have you ever looked at a Dirty Dungeon (ala John Wick)?
Long story short, have a map of the area with a lot of blank spaces. Ask the players to help you fill it in. If they give you a good, solid piece of information (“A tribe of ogres lives there.”), then let the party hold one. If they say “There’s a mountain ridge over here, (drawing it) and the watershed supports these three villages (drawing them). Rumors of gargoyles in the mountains,” then they’ve given info and created a content artifact. That’s worth two hold. If they just knock it out of the park, (“There’s a holy city of gnolls there! Here’s a map of the city, a description of the sewers underneath, and a list of five NPCs!”), that’s worth at least three hold.
The players have that hold, and can spend them one-for-one for a +1 forward after the roll has been made. Reward them for initiative and for their contribution to the campaign world.
The kicker: for every three of the players’ hold, you hold one. Spend that hold, one-for-one, to make some of the information wrong. The ridge is actually like this, the ogres are actually trolls, the gargoyles got driven out by the manticores, a chunk of the sewer description is in error, whatever. Don’t make it too big of a change, but enough that the PCs have to shift on the fly to deal with the new information.
Try it. The players like the additional agency, and you have to do less work. Bonus. If your group likes it, thank John Wick. Cheers!
Yes, I’m familiar with Dirty Dungeons. I’ve written moves for them before, perhaps I should revisit them.
Owen Kerr Thanks for this! I just watched John Wicks video describing this idea (https://youtu.be/dsnvANYBRWo) and it sounds really good. I like your DW specific tweak with the hold. I’ll be trying this after my next campaign wraps up.
youtube.com – Play Dirty: The Dirty Dungeon
If you did make a custom move to generate content like this, I feel that the way that you as the player trigger the move would have a big effect on the results.
(the below aren’t attempts at actual custom moves, they’re just the basic idea)
* If you spend the day asking around town, roll +CHA. You’ll learn rumours, local folklore and perhaps be directed to someone who saw something.
* If you spend the day researching records at an archive or library, roll +INT. You’ll find historical tracts, intriguing references, maps (perhaps out-of-date) and cryptic messages.
* If you spend the day exploring the wilderness, roll +WIS (or perhaps +CON). You’ll come across signs of activity (tracks, chopped trees, the aftermath of a battle), find ruins or lost roads, or hints of natural wonders.