I playing DW with my kids and I thought I’d share one way I’ve been using Undertake A Perilous Journey in our…
I playing DW with my kids and I thought I’d share one way I’ve been using Undertake A Perilous Journey in our sessions.
We do loosely connected one-shots as a rule. This allows me to plan lots of variety with regard to adventures. However, I start each session with a narrative hook that incorporates a UaPJ roll by the players.
Example: “You’ve been given a crude map detailing the location of the glowing caverns. Barrio the town blacksmith believes this is where you can retrieve his daughter who has been kidnapped by bandits. The journey will take 3 days and will take you into the Spearpeak mountains.”
Once the players decide on their UaPJ roles, I have each role. Then I invite them to help me create a narrative of the journey based on their rolls.
Then, when natively and mechanically appropriate, I add the following consequences to the players.
If Quartermaster rolls 6- = players are fatigue or sickened due to malnourishment. They begin the session with one narratively appropriate debility or complication (e.g. until you Recover in a safe environment, you have disadvantage on all of your damage rolls).
If Trailblazer rolls 6- = the group has wasted variable time and resources getting lost at key points of the journey. They begin the session with one narratively appropriate debility or the session’s enemies are slightly strengthened due to having extra time to fortify defenses, rest up, etc.
If the Scout rolls 6- = I introduce a single dangerous encounter that must be immediately resolved before arriving at the location. Narratively appropriate consequences are carried forward into the session.
On successful rolls I encourage my kids to tell me cool things they saw and the like, but overall we don’t spend now than 10-15 minutes on UaPJ.
So far this has helped us create a slightly more immersive narrative context than just starting the session entering the glowing caves. I think it helps my kids develop a sense of scope for the world and reinforces non-combat moves and their consequences.
Thought I’d pass this practice along in case someone else finds it useful.