Every now and then I think it would be fun to run a DW game that didn’t have XP or levels, and all advancement was…

Every now and then I think it would be fun to run a DW game that didn’t have XP or levels, and all advancement was…

Every now and then I think it would be fun to run a DW game that didn’t have XP or levels, and all advancement was done descriptively. Like, you want to raise your intelligence score? Cool, how does your character go about becoming smarter? You want the “Smite” move? Cool, how does your paladin go about gaining the ability to deal more grevious blows when on a quest?

And of course, as a GM, litter the world with opportunities to gain new abilities, maybe asking the players what they’re interested in and working on the basis of that. (Maybe even replacing XP with some sort of ‘luck’ points that translates into finding opportunities for self-improvement along specific lines.)

How often has people seen or used descriptive-based advancement in their games? Like, the DM giving a player a move or a stat increase because it made sense in the fiction? How well did it work out?

A small moment that amused me:

A small moment that amused me:

A small moment that amused me:

So the dwarven cleric failed his Last Breath roll, and given that it was the very first session, I decided to have a bit of mercy and decided to have him come back, only his heart wasn’t beating, he wasn’t breathing, and he was cold to the touch. Y’know, obviously some form of undead.

A bit later they were fighting some skeletons, and one PC was like “Use healing magic! It will hurt them!” There was a bit of questioning whether it actually worked that way in DW, like it does in D&D 3.5, so I turned to the cleric, and asked “I don’t know, DOES healing magic hurt the undead?”

His reply: “Yeah sur…. wait. No. No it doesn’t.”

Little idea for Dungeon World one-shots I just had!

Little idea for Dungeon World one-shots I just had!

Little idea for Dungeon World one-shots I just had!

Take the first character who finishes everything but bonds, and use their alignment move as the basis for the quest. Like, if a neutral wizard finishes first, they’re investigating a magical mystery. Ask the PC what magical mystery they’re investigating (or the chaotic druid what symbol of civilization they’ve agreed to destroy, or something like that.)

Each PC that finishes after that, ask them why someone of their class is needed on the mission: like “Why do you guys think you’ll need a fighter when investigating those standing stones that mysteriously appeared overnight?”

And you’ve got, like, 3-5 data points on your mission right there. Throw in a twist or two of your own that seems interesting based on what you already know while they’re all doing bonds, and you’re pretty much solid, right?

So one thing I’ve noticed in running several sessions of DW is that moderate-to-high level spellcasting PCs are…

So one thing I’ve noticed in running several sessions of DW is that moderate-to-high level spellcasting PCs are…

So one thing I’ve noticed in running several sessions of DW is that moderate-to-high level spellcasting PCs are brutal about taking down solo threats. Between Charm Person, Sleep, Polymorph and Hold Person, it’s like you’re one 7+ from instantly incapacitating even the most dangerous of bad guys. And I mean, yeah, I could just always make sure every villain is part of a group, but that seems like an unfortunate dramatic compromise to me… I like final bosses, y’know?

Any thoughts on the matter? How do you, as a GM, both be a fan of the characters while still filling their lives with adventure in the face of such capabilities? (I have some ideas but I’m interested in hearing what others have to say regarding it.)

#WizardWeek

#WizardWeek

Originally shared by Ben Wray

#WizardWeek

Chronomancy. The Death Art. Far Summoning. Refraction.

Forbidden Magic.

As dangerous as it is tantalizing. As tantalizing as it is dangerous.

Let’s discuss.

Ideas for working within the system as is: When a wizard demonstrates mastery of forbidden magic, don’t forget to roll Outstanding Warrants whenever they return to said steading. However, this also counts as a useful reputation towards recruiting hirelings, for certain definitions of “useful”. (Depends on the type of hireling you’re trying to recruit, of course.)

Also, Rituals can always include a “You and your allies will risk the danger of anyone finding out that you’re performing this sort of magic” requirement at the GM’s option, as an easy way to flag the fact that they’re Dabbling In Things Of Which Their Peers Would Not Approve.

And with that in mind, a miniCompendium Class to get the ball rolling:

MASTER OF THE UNSPEAKABLE

When you take up the practice of the forbidden arts, the following count as class moves for you:

SINISTER MIEN: When you use the threat, or promise, of applying your forbidden magics as leverage to parley, roll with INT instead of CHA.

SHORT CUTS: When you perform a ritual, you may replace any requirement with “You and your allies will risk the danger of anyone finding out that you’re performing this sort of magic.” If you already have this requirement, you’re compounding forbidden means onto forbidden ends, and are risking a very high chance of a very strong reaction indeed.

FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES: When you use your reputation as a master of the forbidden arts to help recruit hirelings,  you may automatically set their loyalty at +3 (fanatically loyal if a bit bumbling) or -2 (skilled but treacherous) before the GM sets their skills.

#WizardWeek

#WizardWeek

#WizardWeek

PLACES OF POWER

– Inside the ribcage of an ancient dragon’s skeleton, covered in moss, hidden from the light of the sun by the thickest of canopies.

– A secret chamber of the Great Library, where runes and letters flow from the books on the shelves through the air towards a massive tome that floats just a few inches over the central pedestal.

– An ancient stone well in the ruins of Heliopolis, with a single weeping face carved into its side.

– Sinathel the Enchanter’s hidden Vale, constantly undergoing massive landscape reengineering (waterways rerouted, hills moved) to assure the best confluence of geomantic energies.

True Names #WizardWeek

True Names #WizardWeek

True Names #WizardWeek

When you hear your True Name spoken aloud for the first time, the next time you level up you make take this move:

TRUE NAMER: When you study a specific person or entity in an attempt to learn their true names, roll +INT. On a 10+, the GM will tell you a question about your subject you must find the answer to. On a 7-9, three questions. When you learn the answers, you know enough information to deduce their True Name. On a miss, you still get three questions, but they’re going to be hard ones.

True Names, on their own, are very useful in Rituals targeting that person or entity, even across great or even interplanar distances. Also, certain True Names are valuable and can be traded or used as leverage in dealing with certain classes of wizards or planar beings.

Once you have TRUE NAMER, the following moves become class moves for you.

NAME MAGIC: You may prepare any spell or spells with a specific target as if they were one level lower. If you do so, you may only cast these spells on targets whose True Names you know.

THE LESSER ART: When you make eye or skin contact with someone, you learn the name they were given at birth, as well as any other names, nicknames, titles, or epithets they recognize as their own. Take +1 forward to parley with them.

BY ANY OTHER: When you give someone a new (common) name, roll +INT. Take -2 if you do not know their True Name. On a 10+, choose two, on a 7-9, choose one:

 – Any other names they have had besides the one you have given them, including attempts to create new names, will be quickly forgotten, and any physical evidence of these other names will become lost or misplaced.

 – NPCs will instinctively call them by the new name, even if nobody tells them about it. It simply seems intuitively obvious.

 – If the new name is descriptive in some way (“Sven the Coward” or “One-Eye” perhaps) it will be perceived as accurate regardless of the truth of the situation.

Anywhere the old name is written down (character sheets, Bonds, GM notes), immediately cross it off and write the new name down in its place.

RHYMING SCHEME: When you learn someone’s True Name, ask their player what they identify most strongly as (perhaps race, class, or some personality trait). Take +1 forward to learn the True Name of anyone who shares that trait, regardless of how strongly they feel themselves defined by it.

At level 6-10, you make take the following move:

INVOCATION: When you forcefully speak someone’s True Name aloud, you create a temporary Place of Power which may only be used for Rituals which affect the person named, and which only lasts for long enough to complete a single Ritual. When you do this, the person or entity so named feels it in their bones and soul, and instinctively knows the location (direction, distance, and if necessary plane) of this Place of Power for as long as it is extant.

I know it’s not Wizard Week yet, but I want to share this micro-AP of Dungeon World while I’m thinking about it.

I know it’s not Wizard Week yet, but I want to share this micro-AP of Dungeon World while I’m thinking about it.

I know it’s not Wizard Week yet, but I want to share this micro-AP of Dungeon World while I’m thinking about it.

The party was raiding the Thieves’ Guild, with pursuit hot on their heels (being held only momentarily back by an immovable rod to bar the door.) They come to the final door to the vault, and there’s the obligatory giant grid of multicolored tiles where the heroes have to leap across the correct way (following the colors of the rainbow, making knight moves) to get to the far side. (And there’s swinging blade-pendulum traps complicating things as well.)

They manage to get to the far side, miraculously, and then the Wizard goes: “Wait! I cast prestidigitation. It can change the color of objects, right?” He rolls a 10+, and, with Empower Magic, swaps the color of two of the tiles, creating a false “correct” route.

They run into the vault, and a few moments later, hear the sounds of magical zaps and screams behind them.

Yes, the wizard killed a pile of dudes with an Empowered Prestidigitation.

That’s how you do it, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted and sundry others.