I am thinking about changing the core roll of Dungeon World (Apocalypse World) to 2d20 to suit a Lord of the Rings…

I am thinking about changing the core roll of Dungeon World (Apocalypse World) to 2d20 to suit a Lord of the Rings…

I am thinking about changing the core roll of Dungeon World (Apocalypse World) to 2d20 to suit a Lord of the Rings game I’m designing.

My design purpose for making this change is:

o More fine tuned attribute scores, allowing smaller increases to have an impact

o No addition required, by rolling under the attribute and using D&D 5e advantage dice instead of bonuses

o No ‘bell curve’ of results, meaning that the chance of a ‘7-9’ result drops away more slowly as attributes increases

o Give the characters a difficult choice before the roll to increase their chances of success, and increase the ‘7-9’ results

o Cut the damage roll and link it to the degree of success

o Allow complications even when you have a great success.

I’d love some feedback on:

o Is the description clear?

o Does it work as intended?

o Any consequences I haven’t thought of?

o Any cool alternatives that meets my design purpose?

The core roll

When you undertake any action roll two dice:

o A White Die (or any light coloured die) that embodies the hope White Tree of Gondor and determines how successful you are.

o A Red Die (or any dark coloured die) that embodies the compromise of the shadow and determines if there are any complications on the roll.

Once you roll, first check if either die result is a 20, as a 20 on either die will affect the results of both dice. If one die result is 20, then the action is a failure and there is a complication than makes it even worse than expected. If both die results are 20, then it is a catastrophic failure and the GM will make a move as hard as they like.

Check the White Die to determine if the action succeeded or not, and how well.

o If the White Die result is equal to your attribute or less, the action is a success and you achieved what you set out to do.

o If action is a success and the White Die is more than 10, it is a critical success and achieves an even better result.

o If the White Die result is more than your attribute, the action is a failure and you did not achieve what you set out to do.

Check the Red Die to determine if there are any complications.

o If the Red Die result is equal to your attribute or less, there is no complication.

o If the Red Die result is more than your attribute, there is a complication that makes the situation worse whether it succeeds or fails.

The roll is modified:

o If you have advantage on the roll (eg: because you are taking advantage forward), you can swap the numbers rolled on each die. This can turn a complicated failure into a

o If you have disadvantage on the roll, you must swap the numbers rolled on each die if it makes the result worse for you.

o Before you roll either you can choose or a move can make the roll controlled, where the lowest number rolled on the two dice will be used for both dice. If you choose a controlled roll, there is always a complication regardless of the result of the roll.

o Before you roll either you can choose or a move can make the roll risky, where the highest number rolled on the two dice will be used for both dice.

Sample Moves

Attack [vs Strength]

When you attack an enemy in melee, roll vs Strength.

o Success 11+: deal maximum weapon damage and choose either:

o plus 1 damage per White Die over 10; or

o create an opportunity for a comrade to attack the enemy.

o Success 1 to 10: deal damage to the enemy equal to the White Die, but no more than the maximum damage of the weapon.

o Failure or Complication: the enemy makes an attack against you (which potentially causes opportunity damage).

o Failure and Complication: the enemy makes a very successful attack against you (which potentially causes maximum damage).

Level 1-5: choose one of these moves:

o Finesse

When you Attack with a weapon with the precise tag, you can roll the White Die versus Dexterity instead of Strength. The Red Die is still rolled versus Strength.

What I learnt from DW this week:

What I learnt from DW this week:

What I learnt from DW this week:

– It is possible to kill a warlord magically coated with 1cm of steel everywhere except his feet. But it isn’t pleasant.

– A Rangers “cat” can be called Mittens because it coughs up mittens rather than having different coloured paws.

– Stinky Pete’s house being mistaken for a privy is still funny after 20 years.

– A fat and ugly Barbarian is still fat and ugly after they don a shawl that appears to change their sex.

– Dragons are very bad news and can “kill” half a party.

– That I keep forgetting Resurrection is a 3rd Level spell that is easier to achieve no matter what the GM chooses if the players have just saved the kingdom from a Dragon.

– A charm of weather control can be very powerful in the hands of smart characters.

– That Barbarians can destroy anything once they put their mind to it, even ancient elvish artefacts.

A couple of months ago when the version of Number Appearing came out with pictures I planned to give a shout out to…

A couple of months ago when the version of Number Appearing came out with pictures I planned to give a shout out to…

A couple of months ago when the version of Number Appearing came out with pictures I planned to give a shout out to the artists, starting with a post about russ nicholson ‘s awesome Death Knight (which inspired me to write up the compendium class).

Today I want to give a shout out to Ed Heil for his work. Ed did lots of cool stuff for Number Appearing (and Goblin World), but my favourite is this cringing goblin that absolutely nailed the brief. Ed sought me out in the early days of this idea because he loves drawing goblins so much. It is always a pleasure to work with an enthusiastic artist specialising in B&W and indie games with experience right back to Vincent Baker ‘s Dogs in the Vineyard. Thanks Ed.

Very keen on some of the recent stuff that’s coming out for DW (Inverse World, Wicked Fantasy, Grim World, etc). When I was writing the original Number Appearing I felt I was rushing to the DW Kickstarter deadlines without a copy of the final DW to work from. Thinking about this and looking through the book the other day inspired me to start revising for a “new edition” with a digest layout (that will look better on tablets) and some additional rules drawn from my old Goblin World hack. Not putting a timeline on when this will come out, but feel free to let me know if you have any edits or idea suggestions.

Number Appearing free for all

Number Appearing free for all

Number Appearing free for all

Number Appearing is a supplement I wrote as a DW Kickstarter stretch goal that lets you play goblins, orcs, trolls, giants, werewolves, skeletons, liches, etc… It has cool art by Michael Wight, Ed Heil and russ nicholson  and was developed with the advice and support of some pretty cool people like Marshall Miller and Stras Acimovic.

Enough time has passed since the Kickstarter so I’ve agreed with Sage LaTorra that we’ll release this to everyone.

Number Appearing was never intended to be the final word on these races, just a jumping off point so you can think about a nasty Last Breath alternative and see where that Lycanthrope bite takes you. I’m always interested in feedback and ideas… (especially if there is to be a second edition.)

I finally had a free minute and I did a version of Number Appearing with only text by taking out the art (except the…

I finally had a free minute and I did a version of Number Appearing with only text by taking out the art (except the…

I finally had a free minute and I did a version of Number Appearing with only text by taking out the art (except the banner and maps). You can get it here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9r2UKkXhZtJWF9oWWt3SmRIUXc/edit?usp=sharing

Since this has been CC-BY the whole time anyone else could have done this at any time so I don’t feel bad for letting it out into the wild. Plus I reckon the missing Ed Heil russ nicholson Michael Wight etc art is damn good, so there is still a backer advantage.

Once Adam Koebel or Sage LaTorra let me know they think enough time has passed since the Kickstarter we’ll post the whole thing with the art somewhere convenient.

Anyone else backing the English PDF for The Last Ringbearer?

Anyone else backing the English PDF for The Last Ringbearer?

Anyone else backing the English PDF for The Last Ringbearer? I love playing the monsters (cf Number Appearing) and Tolkien, so really looking forward to this.

For the Eye!

http://www.ulule.com/le-dernier-anneau/