I have started digging into PbtA games and am loving all the discussions on reddit and G+. I’ve not run or played any of the games, but come mostly from a D&D background. I’ve been intrigued by Yochai Gal ‘s “One Shot World” and am excited to play with my buddies.
Questions though … when dealing damage, are there different dice rolled or harm points depending on the weapon? And also how does a PC’s armor impact the damage dealt by an adversary?
Damage values in DW (and its variants) typically come from the playbooks. However, some weapons will add damage points (like +1) as well as a tag (such as messy or piercing).
As for armor; all you do is subtract it from the damage dealt. For example, if a monster does 3 damage to a PC, and the PC has 2 armor, the PC loses 1 HP. However, if the monster has a tag like piercing, you’d ignore the equivalent PC armor; the aforementioned PC would only have 1 armor they could absorb damage with. So for example if a monster does 1d8 1 piercing, and rolls a 3, and the PC has 2 armor, they would lose 2 HP.
Take a look at the DW Syllabus if you can; a lot of this stuff is in there!
I highly recommend Jeremy Strandberg ‘s Homebrew World (partly based on OSW). I think it’s even easier!
docs.google.com – Dungeon World Syllabus
Oh, I see it (them) now. Right on the playbooks. Must have been paying more attention to the Moves and other stuff, not the d# in that box! Thanks for the explanation.
One more question Yochai Gal! Do the NPCs and Monsters roll to attack and then damage, like in D&D, or do they only really attack when a PC rolls low on Hack and Slash or Defend moves? (and then they roll twice: 2d6 for their Hack and Slash, then whatever Damage dice e.g., d8 for a Ghoul).
Scott Spera PbtA is a conversation; the GM describes the situation (“The Ghoul swings a nasty claw at you!”) and the players react (“What do you do?”). The player might Defy Danger (or whatever the appropriate move to that trigger) and go from there. The players still attack, when fictionally appropriate. The monsters only deal damage to the PCs when the results of the player rolls dictate to do so, or if it’s part of a GM Move.
Also, there are two rolls between the attack and damage in stock DW. If it interests you, I made a damage hack that combines the two rolls… https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ETl9wLyVmo3fjwHP44h4IrA9w-JlDt5Nh3AapJzFwoM/edit?usp=drivesdk
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ETl9wLyVmo3fjwHP44h4IrA9w-JlDt5Nh3AapJzFwoM/edit?usp=drivesdk
For a really great explanation about how Dungeon World works at the table, read through the Dungeon World Guide, available to download from the official DW site.
dungeon-world.com – Downloads – Dungeon World
Good references, Robert Rendelland Yochai Gal, thank you!
Scott Spera Definitely take a look at the Dungeon World guide first and then follow up with other resources on the Syllabus. A lot of them use very good examples to illustrate all types of situations. They are very handy and help elaborate what is in the main Dungeon World book.
Jim Jones is right; the way the Syllabus is organized is that first three articles at the top of the first three categories are all “must read”; I should perhaps write that somewhere…
Yes, having some essential references in the One Shot World DOCs would be good. And, while I understand you don’t want to fully replicate the longer references in a “lighter” version of DW, it might be good to spend some space on basic mechanics. That way OSW could be more stand-alone. Just a thought.
Either way they both are really cool options for me and my buddies!
Scott Spera Do you mean examples of play, or more fundamentals like “here is how combat works?”
I could crib from the DW Guide, I suppose.
I was thinking more of the “how combat works” with a quick example or two, like the good content in your world building and adventure hook sections. Or maybe it gets explicit mention in your GM Moves section and/or the Defy Danger section in the How to Play page in the playbooks.
I definitely think you should encourage using the DW Guide. It turned on a lot of light bulbs for me!