Category: The Dungeon World Tavern: Discussion

The Barbarian and the halfling Thief have been descending a crumbling stairway that juts out into a vast, cavernous abyss. The stairs come to an abrupt end, and stone crumbling off under their weight and fall-fall-falling into the darkness. Out there, at the edge of their torchlight and maybe 5′ below them, they can barely make out the “next” stair. A gap of maybe 15′ lies between them.

As they take this in, they think the hear a scraping noise from above, then some rocks or pebbles clattering down into the abyss. The Thief shines his spotlight lantern in that direction, the Barbarian holds her torch high. They Discern Realities, the Barbarian aiding the Thief, and get a 7-9.

What should I be on the lookout for? “Oh, crap… you spot a a big winged demon-looking thing, perched on a ledge up above. At first you think it’s a statue but no, its eyes open, and quick as anything it’s diving toward you, what do you do?”

The halfling Thief flings his dagger at it, triggering Volley but rolling a miss.

“Your arrow flies wide and WHOOMP it just snatches you off the ledge, out into nowhere. Barbarian, you’re blinking after the gargoyle that just flew off with the halfling when you hear a another rush of wind and barely spot something diving towards you, what do you do?” (GM move: show signs of an approaching threat.)

The Barbarian’s like “I whip my broadsword at it, gutting it as it attacks me! Hack & Slash?” Yup. She rolls a 7-9, and 5 damage, forceful and messy, but it’s still up.

“Okay, you don’t gut it, it gets its arm up in the way, but you do cleave through its arm and check its momentum.” (Not really a move, just narrating what happened and including the Barbarian’s tags. NOW I make my move, the gargoyle’s attack with the element of surprise) “Unfortunately, whoomp another one lands behind, unexpectedly, and rakes across your back. Take d6+2 damage and you stumble forward on the stairs towards the first one, what do you do?”

The Barbarian lets herself fall forward and uses her momentum to gut the first gargoyle, getting out of reach of the one behind her. Hack and Slash again! She rolls a 10+, chooses to deal damage and evade the enemy’s attack. Rolls 7 damage (messy and forceful). it has 3 HP and 2 armor, so that’s plenty of damage to kill it.

You’re the GM. Let’s say you decide to stay on the Barbarian instead of flipping over to the halfling Thief. Do you say…

option A: “Yeah, just like you said, you run it through and stumble out of reach of the other other one. You even manage to get your blade free, flinging the dead gargoyle into the abyss. What do you do?”

or

option B: “Yeah, just like you said, you run it through and stumble out of reach of the other other one. You even manage to get your blade free, flinging the dead gargoyle into the abyss, then twisting around just as the other one leaps at you, trying to bowl you over the edge of that last stair. What do you do?”

The Ritual Game (Homebrew World edition)

How it works: I’ll say what magical effect I want to create. You reply with “Of course, but…” and then 1-4 of the following.

• You must draw on a place of power, such as __

• It’s going to take __ minutes/hours/day

• First you must __

• You’ll need help from __

• It’ll require the sacrifice of __

• The best you can do is __

• You/your allies will risk danger from __

When you give your answer, you must also describe a magical effect that you wish to create. Another participant will answer, tagging you and telling you what’s required, then posting the magical effect they wish to create. And so on, and so on.

Rules

When you reply, tag the person you’re replying to and copy/paste the effect they want to create.

If a ritual has already been answered, don’t answer it again (cross-posts are okay.)

No commentary posts! Just post the effect you desire, or the requirements for someone else’s effect.

(requirements above are slightly tweaked from standard Ritual, per my Homebrew World rules. Also, h/t to T. Franzke who first started one of these back in the day. EDIT: tagging the right Tim!)

The Thief, the Paladin, and the Cleric have followed the orcs’ bloody trail down the dirt-packed tunnel and into an old cellar. It’s dusty and cluttered, but the tracks end at the far wall, going right through it. Obviously it’s a secret door.

They spread out, looking for a way to open it. The paladin Discerns Realities, but even with the Cleric’s Aid, it’s a miss.

I put them in a spot and as they search, the door opens from the other side. Two orcs stand in the doorway. One blinks. The other snarls and draws his cleaver. What do you all do?

The Cleric starts casting magic weapon. The Thief draws his rapier. The Paladin’s polearm is leaning against the wall, and the quarters are too tight to use it, so he slams the door shut on the orcs.

I have the Cleric and the Paladin roll at the same time (Cast a Spell and Defy Danger with STR or INT, his choice). They both get a 7-9. The cleric chooses to draw unwelcome attention, and that lends nicely to a “worse outcome” on the Paladin’s Defy Danger…

“Paladin, you slam the door on the arm of the one who was blinking, cutting him off, but not before the other orcs spies you, Cleric, and barrels into the room growling “CASTER!” and swings his cleaver at your head, what do you do?”

The Thief interjects: “I lunge at him and stab him! Backstab?” No, not a backstab; the orc is hardly surprised or defenseless. It’s just a Hack and Slash, you still want to do it? “Sure!” Rolls. 7-9.

“Okay, deal your damage. How much? Only 2, huh? Well, it’s still up, and I think it checks it charge and twists back, your blades slices across its ribs.”

Then, for it’s attack, I choose to hurt them (the orc bloodwarrior does messy damage after all) and say “But as you spring back from your lunge it lashes out and just CHOPS into your forward leg, right above the knee and there’s a spray of blood. Take d6+2 damage and your knee buckles under you, not bearing your weight.” The Thief takes like 5 damage, ouch, but he’s got like 13 left so whatever.

You’re the GM. You turn the spotlight back to the Cleric. What do you do?

Option A: Cleric, you see this happen: the lunge, the chop, the spray of blood. The Paladin’s leaning against the door with the other orc’s arm sticking out. What do you do?”

Option B: Cleric, you see this happen: the lunge, the chop, the spray of blood. The Paladin’s leaning against the door with the other orc’s arm sticking out. This orc, though, doesn’t even slow down, it presses the attack on the Thief, stepping in going after him with the back-swing, and you can see the Thief stumble. What do you do?”

The Ranger, the Fighter, and the Wizard are holed up in a mostly-buried building, like an old cellar or something: sturdy, its one entrance covered by brush. Easy to defend. They’ve bound their wounds, eaten, and set watch.

During the Fighter’s watch, he hears something creeping about outside. Getting closer. They’ve been dodging the mutated inhabitants of this ruined city, and they’re on edge. The Fighter rouses the other two, quietly.

The Fighter and Ranger each notch arrows. The Wizard stands back a bit and gets ready with the magic. (It’s a small space… like a big closet.)

It’s getting closer, closer, closer. NOW! The Fighter shoots through the brush. Maybe we resolve it with a Volley, maybe it’s Defying Danger. Doesn’t matter. He rolls snake eyes, a miss.

So CRASH… this thing bursts through the brush and into the room! Tall and gaunt, eyeless, tentacles coming off its shoulders, creepy fine hairs all over its skin. HIISSSSSS!

One of its tentacles lashes around Fighter’s bow-arm, the other tentacle wraps around the Wizard’s throat, and it kicks the Ranger in the stomach and sends her flying back, gasping for air. In close quarters, this thing is awful.

The Fighter draws a dagger with his left hand and lashes down at this thing’s tentacle, hoping to chop it off and get free. He rolls Hack & Slash, gets a 7-9, does some crap damage (maybe 2 HP, and this thing has 8). For its attack, it flings the Wizard into the Fighter, hurting them both (d8 damage each) and dazing them for a moment. (using a monster move: perform a feat of terrible speed and strength)

You’re the GM. You turn the spotlight on the Ranger.

Option A: “Ranger, you just saw that happen, all in a blink. You’re slumped against the far wall, gasping for breath, bow in hand. What do you?”

Option B: “Ranger, you just saw that happen, all in a blink. You’re slumped against the far wall, gasping for breath, and you realize that those tentacles are like poking and prodding, about to piercing into the flesh of the Wizard and probably the Fighter, too! Your bow is hand. What do you do?”

These are your only two choices. Which one do you do?

Not necessarily the one you think you should do, but the one you think you would probably do if you were the GM?

(Assume using standard Dungeon World rules & moves!)

Putting my “initiative” based tweak to Hack and Slash through its paces.

This isn’t actual actual play, but it’s one of the ways I work through a rules change to see how it’ll play out. Despite objections that others have raised, I’m liking this quite a bit.

Even if you aren’t interested in my tweaks, you might find this a fun read. It’s a pretty extensive, brutal fight scene.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uaCkx9aJEuJwZdZPjj0qzrtbe292A5-VQogTBFrFlQQ/edit?usp=sharing

Another discussion of Discern Realities from the archives of the Tavern. Originally a discussion prompted by Gerke Bouma.

Discern Realities v. Spout Lore v. Just Describing Stuff

This is another retrieval from the archives of the Dungeon World Tavern. Gerke Bouma posted about how “I still struggle sometimes with when to use discern realities and spout lore, and when to simply provide information or make them do a different type of roll.” This was my response.