I’ve yet to play or run DW, though I really want to. This, though, has been a big question for me. Some things are obviously the province of the class in question, such as spellcasting. There are a lot of gray areas, though. I’m good with the notion of specialized talents, such as picking locks or breaking chains. It’s the fringe cases that are tripping me up, especially when the fiction and weaving a good story are top priorities.
The part I’m not quite getting is rolling for these fringe areas. The fighter has a move to beat down a stubborn door. Let’s say there’s no fighter and a paladin is the best option. Does he just roll, without a specific move? If so, does the GM interpret the roll on the fly?
This is really the last stumbling block I’m having with fully engaging with DW. I want to resolve it, because I really want to engage with DW (and the Apocalypse Engine in general). So, my big questions are:
1) Are moves the only thing that trigger rolls, or can a roll just be called for in response to the fiction
and
2) If rolls can be called for outside of moves, how is this adjudicated without invalidated established class moves
Any player with a basic grasp of the D&D paradigm will know that only a paladin can lay on hands, or only a druid can shapeshift. It’s things like tracking (I’m a long way from being a ranger, but my grandfather taught me to read animal signs and tracks.) that beg the question. Would Discern Realities work for rudimentary tracking? Would Defy Danger work for some other things?
I could possibly see those working, but with less of a “best case” result. In other words, a non-ranger tracking wouldn’t get additional details about his target. I could also see an unadjusted roll. Like saying if you want your wizard to batter down the door, roll but don’t add STR.
This question also applies to more or less ordinary things that may not be so automatic. I can’t think of specific examples right now, but we all know that there are fairly common things that come up in a game session in which the outcome might be in question.
I hope this isn’t too disjointed, as you can see I am somewhat vexed by this. I have some ideas, but I really want to hear from people that have actually played and what has worked for them. Thanks for any help.