#WesterosDungeonWorld Last fall, I created a #DungeonWorld campaign setting inspired by the world George R.
#WesterosDungeonWorld Last fall, I created a #DungeonWorld campaign setting inspired by the world George R. R. Martin created for A Song Of Ice And Fire. My campaign setting is set on the continent of Westeros during the protracted struggle between the children of the forest and the First Men, a time when the singers of the songs of the earth and the magic they wielded were both significantly more powerful. All the base classes and compendium classes I wrote for my Westeros campaign are shared for everyone in the Google Drive link below.
Creating custom classes for my Westeros campaign took more time and energy than all the rest of the setting! I wrote 3 new classes ( #Shaper , #Shadowbinder , and #Warg ), modified the ranger base class to create the #Dragonrider , and fleshed out Sage LaTorra’s #Battlemind concept to make it into a playable class. I also wrote 3 new compendium classes ( #DarkRider , #Greenseer , and #AzorAhai ).
In the months since, my players and I have enjoyed exploring the northern forests of Westeros together. So far, my players have elected to play both the shaper and the battlemind, modified by a player to become a singer-specific shaman concept who consumes magical pastes to achieve physical prowess. One has also recently discovered he possesses the power of greensight.
I feel pretty good about how those two base classes and the compendium class have performed during actual play. If you would like details, we keep an ongoing log of our sessions on my wiki here:
The other classes are, I think, in playable form but have not yet been revised with the insight that comes from playtesting. If anyone plays any of these classes and finds them useful, I would really appreciate any questions or feedback on the moves and ideas.
Disclaimer: I think my campaign setting strays pretty far from what G.R.R.M. or his superfans would consider to be canonical, so if that sort of thing bothers you I would advise not reading any of this stuff.
The moment when you realise the PC background a player gave you (which you though you couldn’t use) actually ties…
The moment when you realise the PC background a player gave you (which you though you couldn’t use) actually ties the whole campaign together. I love #DungeonWorld today.
Hey guys, here’s my first-ever Base Class for Dungeon World.
Hey guys, here’s my first-ever Base Class for Dungeon World.
Can’t wait to have your feedbacks and even if I’m a newbie, don’t pull your punches!
A few notes on the character concept: it’s based on a setting I’m developing for something else (a comic book…) that I’ve been dying to play in/test for some time -and DW is perfect for it!
I adjusted the original concept for the D&D-inspired fantasy races (dwarves & humans) but know that the Soldier of Law is basically a “desert stormtrooper”, a mix between a Spartan warrior and a primitive Templar-like warrior-with-faith.
The Confederate Cities they usually come from are located in a rocky desert basin that generates a tough breed of warriors, DWARF warriors in this version. The humans are basically mercenaries that joined the Army of Law.
And yes, they worship the Law as a deity, and are ready to go at length to enforce it. If they ever leave the Army, some find work as “respected” Headsmen in the many courts of the violent province.
I have a couple players very interested in the Inverse World playbooks.
I have a couple players very interested in the Inverse World playbooks. Does anyone know if those are available for purchase beyond the preview anywhere? I’d be glad to snatch it up, but I came on board well after the kickstarter was over. #dungeonworld #inverseworld
Hey #DungeonWorld fans, can you help me fine tune a move I’ve been pondering for our next game?
Hey #DungeonWorld fans, can you help me fine tune a move I’ve been pondering for our next game?
When you agree to trade a memory for an item from the fey peddler, remove 1XP and roll+INT. *On a 10+, you feel like you might have been better off without it anyway. *On a 7-9, you can’t think straight for a bit. Take minus 1 to your next action. *On a 6 or less, you needed that thought or maybe he dug too deep. Things get dark quickly…
Such a great session. Five new to Dungeon World, one fresh player and one frantic DM. Ran Drazhu as usual, and it went so many new places. Ah, #DungeonWorld , every time is like the first time.
We just had a momentous DW session with my daughter and niece. New Sanctuary (the titular Keep on the Borderlands) is now under new management after a visit from a certain Bavarian Christmas spirit.
While another group is delving through the Caves of Chaos, and another is on Death Mountain fleeing the curse they unleashed in Death Frost Doom, this session focused on a war party from the north: centaurs led by Krampus—the Krampus that appeared here[1]—with a fearsome ettin. Sent by the Eldking, they have marched from the invisible elf kingdom beyond the northern lights, because the Eldking saw a grim portent warning him that the curse on Death Mountain would soon be unleashed.
Junior created Gwen using Adrian’s Fae playbook[2], a prisoner of Krampus, and Niece played Alice (her Druid) again, which she amended to be an elf. They created some interesting bonds between the characters, which established a cool artifact, the Ring of the Eldking’s Herald. Up to now, the campaign was human-only, with one dwarf raised by humans; also no Hogwarts or overt magical society, making magic and monsters truly weird and monstrous. My Keep on the Borderlands is basically part of 17th century Earth, more or less. This session gave us the first glimpse into an alien society, with some upsetting results for the humans.
At the beginning of the game, a senior centaur rode into camp to report to Krampus. Their scouts spotted a fort that would make a good base of operations. With their artillery and a three-headed living siege engine, it should be easy to capture. Gwen, locked in a wicker cage bound to Krampus’s sack, overheard the plan.
Alice fluttered in with the falling snow. While scaling Death Mountain in a previous session, she missed a shapeshift roll and the spirits turned her into a dandelion seed (it was the end of our game, and she couldn’t make it to our next game). Lighting on Gwen’s cage, they observed each other briefly, but Alice blew off as the war party marched downhill toward the Keep, resuming her elfin form.
Gwen managed to free herself from the cage, but her bone dagger got jammed in the lock. She didn’t want to risk the noise of breaking it free or the complications of openly flying off with so many potential onlookers, even with the snowstorm offering cover.
Alice tried following at a distance, but seeing the giant again she thought better of it and turned into an eagle. From on high, her keen eyes spied the fairy, and she swooped down to pluck Gwen from the back of Krampus, landing in a tree before shifting back into her elfin form. Krampus cracked his whip at them in a rage as they escaped, but Alice didn’t fare as well against the sharp-eyed centaurs who loosed a volley of arrows that struck her in her perch. Five arrows pierced her robes, even as she called upon the spirits to turn her into something small enough for Gwen to carry away.
Gwen took her insectified rescuer to the keep, to warn the folk there of the attack.
Landing in the inner bailey, outside the governor’s house, she immediately used her glamour to take on the visage of a seasoned human traveler, and persuaded the guards to take her to their master. Saying she spied out an enemy camp, and leaving out the fantastic details, the governor heard her out, and began preparing the keep for a siege at once.
That’s when the real hijinx began. I don’t have time to recount it all, but the keep residents were already hunkered down because of the blizzard, and now there was a military curfew with the garrison preoccupied. What would you do?
Finally, they took to the battlements at dusk, as the enemy force mounted the sole rode ascending the plateau. Gwen used her glamour to take the shape of the Corporal, who was the first person she bumped into up there. Having rolled a 10+, the real Corporal fell into a dead faint. Alice grabbed his helmet and sword for disguise, and Gwen surveyed the situation and began to shout orders.
The centaurs and the giant marched right up to the crevasse where the upright drawbridge barred their entry; there was no sign of Krampus. The musketeers on the battlements let off their first shots, but many were killed by the rain of enemy arrows while they reloaded. They heard a ruckus and shouts of terror in the entry yard, and Gwen sent Alice with a few soldiers to investigate.
There was a whiff of brimstone and Alice saw Krampus reveling in the terror of a dozen soldiers surrounding him, as smoke still billowed off his shaggy body. He was already stuffing a full-grown soldier into his sack, and he grabbed another by the neck with his whip, and with a yank… well, it was ugly. Alice advanced into the fray while everyone else was falling all over themselves trying to escape.
Krampus swung his whip back toward her, and Alice seized the chance to slash it in half, but it looped around her sword arm, surprising them both when he jerked it forward again and found her entangled. She tried to take the sword in her other hand, but fumbled when he jerked the whip again, cackling.
Gwen was still on the battlements trying to repel the attack outside with the soldiers under her command. One of the giant’s heads, the bearded one, began chanting, and the sky above the keep turned into a whirling maelstrom of blackened cloud flashing with lightning. “Take cover!” Gwen commanded, then daggers of ice began to rain down. A ballista fired from one of the towers, hitting the ettin. Soldiers on the battlements ducked under their shields, but many fell. Gwen dove under the shield of a crouching survivor, but her disguise melted away just as she made eye contact with him as a six-inch sprite.
Alice turned into a massive mountain bear and began mauling Krampus. The goat-man dug his horns deep into the bear’s belly, disappearing in a flash of fire while she reeled backward. Fiery hoofprints pointed to the gatehouse, where they heard a peal of merry laughter, as the drawbridge began to go down.
The soldier reeled back from Gwen as the hail of razors ended, “What are… what are you?” Another ballista fired, hitting the ettin again.
“I’m helping you,” she said, raising her glamour to pose as the Corporal again. Just then the portcullis groaned and the battlements shook with overwhelming force as the giant smashed into the heavy gate below. Gwen called upon some of the remaining soldiers and charged down into the entry yard. Another boom shook the portcullis as they stormed down the steps.
It was then that the governor rode into the courtyard on horseback with some reinforcements on foot, all wearing full plate armor. Seeing the disarray, with a wild bear in the center of a full panic among the garrison, he ordered his men to fire on Alice. Gwen’s men had arrows trained on Alice too, but Gwen commanded them down, telling the governor that they needed to focus their fire on the giant.
Alice returned to her elfin form, nearly collapsing from her injuries. All the archers fired on the giant as he charged the gate a third time, but he narrowly survived the onsloaght, barreling through the portcullis, and smashing the gatehouse. While the governor sat stunned on his horse, centaurs surged in over the rubble, firing perfect bullseyes into the remaining garrison, except the heavily-armored foot soldiers who had come with the governor.
The giant then plucked the governor from his saddle hurling him over his back, over the wall, into the night, and the armored men surrendered while Alice turned into a wolf and Gwen mounted her, fleeing the scene. Gwen put on her ring and commanded the Eldking’s servants to let her pass.
They heard a voice on the battlements singing, “Deck the Halls”, and at the song’s conclusion, ere they fled from the site, Krampus said “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
