Been a while since I wrote anything. Seemed like people lost interest for a while. Anyway, since I’m running my DW/PBtA hack, I thought I would write up a new creature that randomly came to mind. Warning: based on 15 year old faulty memories. http://codex.dungeon-world.com/monster/5631655708459008
Been a while since I wrote anything.
Been a while since I wrote anything.
I didn’t lose interests; always follow your posts.
Thanks. You’re aware steelsmiter is a “brand account”?
I don’t know what that means.
it’s the other me.
Oh, yeah – I mean I knew you were the same.
Would it make more sense to have the attack range as “hand”? It’s been a long time for me, too.
Deep Six Delver yeah, but I didn’t know which option to click would give it hand, and I thought close was “close enough”
Interesting concept, but i don’t know that i care for giving it 25 HP and 7 armor. High HP just means it’ll take repeated successful damaging attacks to destroy it; high armor just hedges the bet in its favor and/or focuses the PCs on armor piercing/ignoring solutions.
Is the fun of an encounter with this thing in seeing it turned into a slog-fest?
Isn’t the fun bit, that anything it touches gets annihilated? I’d think this thing would be just as good at 1 HP, no armor, and let’s play to find out how to harm the damned thing!
“Your Magic Missile requires a target; normally when you cast it, you simply focus your thoughts on the thing you want to hit. As you conjure forth the magic missiles, your mind slips around the sphere, as if it is oiled… no.. as if if simply isn’t. Isn’t tangible; isn’t there. Your missiles plunge into the darkness with no effect. Don’t worry about casting the spell, worry instead about how the thing quivers excitedly and reaches out for you.”
“You hit it with your sword? Uh… your sword is gone… just the hilt in your hand, and a straight line across a couple inches of steel that used to be the blade. Hack-and-Slash? No.. you don’t trigger it, since trading harm isn’t really on the table. You apparently can’t hurt it with a sword, and you’re pretty certain looking at your sword that it would simply unmake any part of you that it touches. In fact, while you’re staring dumbfounded at your sword and thinking of the implications, the thing lurches at you. What do you do?”
I like the instinct. This would be a great thing for a PC caster to control. How would they handle it logistically? How would they use it creatively?
Then, of course, I would enjoy thinking up ways to challenge them as NPCs want to destroy it or steal it.
High HP means it can be destroyed, not that it needs to. it has no (immediately) aggressive instinct. The only reason it would have for being an immediate threat to players is if someone else is controlling it. Kill the controller and you just have this random black ball sitting there. Why is it there? Sounds like an interesting Play to Find Out.
And it has a damage score to indicate that trading damage is on the table. Arguing that people (especially the players) aren’t distinct from other categories of “things” goes against the spirit of having a damage score at best, and takes away player agency at worst. I’ll probably put something about souls in the description to exempt sentients and magic objects.
The source material often used them as a trap or means to get rid of an obstacle that was hard if not impossible to destroy without some scheme related to creating some means of dimensional transversal.
Josh C we have a few fundamental disagreements here. Which is fine! I respond not to push for “right or wrong” but to pursue dialogue about what may be interesting differences of opinion.
25 HP or 1 HP both indicate that it can be destroyed, if you can figure out how to harm it. The difference is that 25 HP would likely take more successful attempts, which is why I suggested it would turn into a slog-fest. Neither HP value indicates that anyone needs to destroy it.
As for it sitting still when not actively controlled, I didn’t get that from how it is written. It has the Intelligent tag. It also can presumably interpret dominance between competing casters. I like this about it, but think it makes it more interesting than an inanimate object awaiting commands.
When it is not actively commanded, I may be interested to find out what it does. Follow the last commands it received? Seek out a new master? Attempt to destroy everything?
I’m fine with it inflicting a high damage range. If a pc touches it, part of them would be annihilated, and that would be reflected with high damage. Damage isn’t always an interesting option, but having a section of your body annihilated could reasonably be a big hit to HP.
I asserted that trading damage wasn’t on the table in a specific example of striking the sphere with a sword. The pc wasn’t in a fictional position to give damage, only to receive it. I don’t follow how this denies player agency; perhaps I misunderstand your point.
Finally, why exempt sentient and magical items? Hell, if something is hard or impossible to destroy, like in the source material you cite as the reason this thing exists, isn’t that thing likely magical?
If an important person or thing is destroyed, perhaps we pursue a way to restore it, or find it in some alternate universe, wherever this thing connects (otherwise, why mention the multiverse, eh?)
I did it as a means of appeasement. It didn’t work. And that’s fine! However you went into a great deal of unacknowledged detail that will remain unacknowledged, which is a very odd thing to do after something is declared to be “fine”.
Josh C , I apparently misunderstood your intention in posting to a discussion forum.
Have fun.
No, the intention you missed was me posting an entity from another game, that accurately represents how the entity in the other game plays out (except for being more destructible).