Category: The Dungeon World Tavern: Base Classes

Bardic Lore question

“…you can ask the GM any one question about it; the GM will answer truthfully.”

On Monday, a new player—a veteran Pathfinder player and GM—came to my DW game and he picked the Bard sheet. Overall, the game was a thrill ride, but something new came up that I wasn’t prepared for.

For “Bardic Lore” the new player picked “A Bestiary of Creatures Unusual”. But when it came into play—he met an unusual creature—the question he asked was “what do I know about it?”

It took me off-guard, but it was a creature from my prep, and I shared some general info about it: how it lives, what it does, and a brief description visualizing the monster’s tags in the fiction. Per the move, we also established how he learned about this creature.

It took me off-guard because I was expecting a more specific question. “What do I know about it” seems like a “wishing for more wishes” approach to the move: Instead of asking a definite question and getting a limited answer, the question suggests that it includes any and all more specific questions, like “What is it’s weakness?” or “What is its most common form of attack?”

It occurs to me now as I re-read the move text that his question wasn’t technically about the monster but about him. “What do I know about it?” seems like it might trigger Spout Lore instead; then he could have used Bardic Lore to ask a specific question. That way, he might feel less bewildered about what question to ask, since Spout Lore could have already given him general info giving him a basis for further questions.

I’m curious if anything similar has ever come up for you, and what your thoughts are.

Thanks!