Category: The Dungeon World Tavern: Compendium Classes

Demon in the shadows compendium class

The summoning

When you summon a shadow dragon into you, your flesh and bones are transformed into shadow dragon flesh and bones. You now possess the body of the shadow dragon, even if its mind still fights you.

Demonic possession

When you possess the body of the shadow dragon, you are its demon and use its body as your own. Now when you trigger a move, before you roll say how you:

• breathe darkness upon a foe

• command slaves

• take and hoard all the gold and jewels

• kidnap someone

• rip and tear with savage claws

• strike from the sky.

For each option you describe in fitting detail, the group may grant you +1 to your roll. Then make your roll as normal. Do as the move instructs, but on a 10+, you also subdue the dragon. On a 7-9, one of the shadow dragon’s impulses is too strong; the GM gains one hold to activate an impulse. On a miss, there’s trouble, double trouble.

When the GM spends hold to activate an impulse: terrify, hoard, mock, butcher, betray, the shadow dragon regains control of its body for a moment. The GM will tell you what unwelcome things it does. 

Darkness

When you gain Darkness, the GM will tell you to roll 1d4 or more. Add that to any Darkness you already gained. 

When you have Darkness equal to half your Charisma, the GM gets 2 hold when you get a 7-9 on Demonic possession. 

When you have Darkness equal to your Charisma, the shadow dragon breaks free from your possession.

Fronts

Add to Grim Portents of Danger: Shadow Dragon

– The shadow dragon breaks free from its possession. 

Dungeon World Hypothetical 

What can you offer a character, short of death, whose players accepts the total and permanent annihilation of their character’s body? 

BACKGROUND

Picture the ancient halls of a long entombed temple, deep within Death Mountain. Imagine the Druid whispering-muttering-speaking-SCREAMING the stone awake. And then assume a dozen or so elemental stone demons and monstrous heathen idols of murder and death emerge from their engravings in the walls. The Stone Demons of Death Mountain easily fulfil their menial task (clear a few rocks from a tunnel) and then demand a favour in return, which the adventurers decide not to fulfil. Unfortunately for the adventurers in this scenario, assume the Stone Demons of Death Mountain are blocking the exit of some adventurers and blocking all of the copious loot they piled up. Also assume the Stone Demons of Death Mountain are very patient and very willing to wait the adventurers out. Assume the adventures wait a day or so and then hatch the following plan. 

PLAN A  

Assume fighting is Plan B but the adventurers commit to Plan A. Plan A is making a deal with the Fae Lord of Shadow and using a strange unknown artefact to perform a ritual to summon a being of shadow into the body of the Bard. Assume the adventurers believe this will give the Bard the ability to Smash and Destroy All Stone Demons Of Death Mountain that Stand in His Way. Now assume the adventurers fulfil the ritual’s conditions. They have:

– prepared a place of power on a narrow precipice on a sheer face of Death Mountain

– sacrificed someone and collected the requisite quantity of blood

– waited till night fall, and

– accepted the total and permanent annihilation of the Bard’s physical body on completion of the ritual.

RESULTS

Assume the summoning works and destroys the Stone Demons of Death Mountain. Assume the Bard is not annihilated with his body (I know this is a test of your resolve). Now how do you follow the fiction yet give the Bard’s player the opportunity to continue playing the Bard, in some form or other? What compendium classes, moves or other outcomes would you create?