DW is the Indie Game of the Month on /r/rpg today over on Reddit, and a commenter mentioned that they’d love to find…

DW is the Indie Game of the Month on /r/rpg today over on Reddit, and a commenter mentioned that they’d love to find…

DW is the Indie Game of the Month on /r/rpg today over on Reddit, and a commenter mentioned that they’d love to find an Actual Play where the GM went back and commented on the thought processes behind the Moves he made.  So, I did that!  Welcome to “Inside My Head” article 1.

Any thoughts on this item from the learned patrons of the Tavern?

Any thoughts on this item from the learned patrons of the Tavern?

Any thoughts on this item from the learned patrons of the Tavern?

Elemental Rapier

The blade and tang of this sword have been altered by exposure to the raw elemental forces that power the world.  The sword acts as a conduit between the physical and elemental planes, and has the capacity to channel energy between them.  Those who master the control of elemental magic are said to be able to shape the power that flows through objects such as this.  It’s hard to say what’s more dangerous though: an elemental conduit in the hands of a master or the raw uncontrolled power that flows through the conduit in the hands of the ignorant.

When the sword is in contact with a source of magical elemental energy, roll +Wis:  

On a 10+, hold 3 Charge, and the elemental energy source is muted, blunted, or somehow otherwise reduced.  

On a 7-9, as above, but hold only 1 Charge, and the GM will explain how a portion of the channeled energy escapes your control.  

The wielder of the sword can, at any time, spend 1 Charge to unleash a stream of elemental energy (of the type of his choosing).

========Notes===========

– I’ve left the part about unleashing the energy very vague on purpose.  I intend to let the wielder experiment with different ways of using it, perhaps leading them to some kind of further learning, advanced moves, or even compendium classes.

– mechanically I’m thinking this is somewhat like the druid moves, where you get the “usage” part for free (no rolling to unleash thge energy) because the risky part is actually charging the thing.  I imagine that the charging is:

 A) sort of rare in that magical elemental energy sources aren’t common, and

B) pretty dangerous and prone to very bad consequences on a 6-.

what do you think?