Tag: T. Franzke

Repost – Ranged Skirmish Actual Play Example

Repost – Ranged Skirmish Actual Play Example

Repost – Ranged Skirmish Actual Play Example 

This was written to answer the question how two ranger fighters would engage each other in Dungeon World. If the player character just repeats volley, nothing really cool happens unless they fail. That is not how the game works. So i tried to write up this example to show how it could be done better. Please feel free to comment or continue the example or ask questions. 

Amanda the Ranger is enganged with a Gnoll Hunter in a shootout. 

Amanda, the Gnoll is covering behind a wall but now he looks up, and aims a shot at you. What do you do? 

now she could just fire back, but then she can’t dodge the arrow. Or she runs and dives for cover. 

First is rolling volley and getting damaged in return. 

Second is probably a defy danger. A 7-9 in my game then would be her getting to a place where she has cover but can’t fire back easily. 

So now she cowers for a while, waiting for the hail of arrows to die down. It does. Amanda looks up. 

“The gnoll is nowhere to be seen, what do you do?”  

“I look around and listen for the sound of its paw” 

“Sounds like you are discerning realities” 

rolls and asks questions. Maybe things like “what happened here recently” (as in where did it leave pawprints) or “what should i be on the lookout for?” (the gnoll trying to circle you). 

If she gets the position then she might be able to take a shot. But if that doesn’t take out the gnoll then it is your turn as the GM to make a move again. 

Maybe you go for the “Strike at a moment of weakness” move.  

“Amanda, you loose a few arrows but as you reach for the next arrow it gets stuck in your quiver. The gnoll realises this and despite the knife in its leg starts to run at you, spit dripping from its mouth. It’s to close to fire easily at it. What do you do?”

from here:

https://plus.google.com/106187865813020070665/posts/226bdQDrbMP 

Psionics in Dungeon World

Psionics in Dungeon World

Psionics in Dungeon World

I want to talk a bit about my thoughts on how a psionics based class could work/look in Dungeon World. A fair warning, most of my Inspiration for Psionic stuff comes from DnD 3.5/4, Comics and a tiny bit of SciFi movies. Also, all of these things are just my opinions and we can discuss these; don’t take them as unmovable facts. 

I want to talk about 3 things; 

#1 What Archetype would the class fill

#2 A short detour into hold/points mechanics for…

#3 How could you do psionics mechanically 

Edit: I will talk about part 2 and 3 on the coming days. 

#1 Archetypes

If we look at DnD’s Psionic Handbook; there are 3 major Archetypes of Psionic Users (and Lurkers and Soulknifes but those are Compendium Classes) 

The Psion; basically the Psionic Mage. You studied this stuff and can use it methodically and calm.

The Wilder; they can use these powers more like a Sorcerer. Intuitively and with little fine control. They can also push extra power into spells but fry their brains in the process.

The Psionic Warrior, in a way a Gish class that is Fighter+Powers but an Archetype that got expanded on in 4e. In a way it is also close to a Jedi/Sith. You win fights because you have MIND POWERS!

DnD4 kept the Psion but basically lost the Wilder, some of their aspects however got moved into other classes.

The Psionic Warrior got moved into the Battlemind. Same concept in a way but added some more elements of self transformation.  

The Ardent. They are a mix between Wilder and Psionic Warrior. They use psi abilities in combat to help themselves and their allies. In the fluff there was also a bigger emphasis of the link to emotion in your psi. 

(The Monk was also Psionic in 4e but it deviates to much from the main archetype for me here) 

So what of these fit Dungeon World? 

The Psion as Psionic Mage could come down easily as a Wizard but with different Spells. Also Mind Reading and Telekinesis are already on the Wizard Spell list. You might have a different casting system but how different are you really from a Wizard? 

The Wilder however… They represent a more intuitive connection to Psi/”Magic”. Something we don’t really have yet in Dungeon World. The Bard comes close but the link to music/art is really strong and they don’t feel as chaotic/free/inborn talent in play. Now you could play a Wizard like a Sorcerer in fluff but the way you prepare spells still is rather methodical. Let’s keep that in mind. 

The Psionic Warrior, a Fighter with cool abilities is a nice concept because the game doesn’t have as many “here is a cool combat action” moves (and doesn’t really need them if you ask me; but a lot of people miss these things i think). But between Fighter, Barbarian and Paladin the “cool fighter” niche get’s thin. Especially if you throw in more classes. Of course these classes would feel differently then a Paladin but i don’t know how good it would carry a whole class as it’s main thing. 

The same goes for a Battlemind. 

The Ardent. 

Now here we get close to a Bard. You might need to get in an hit things to activate powers but you are a beefier Bard. That would mean you could support less good probably, or at least differently then a Bard. That get’s you close to Gish again. However, they also have this emotional and uncontrollable nature to them in a way, something DW is lacking for most things but the Barbarian.

Other Concepts

River Tan/The Brainer.

Getting weird visions of the future, reading peoples minds, destorying their minds… All really cool things.  But maybe not as useful as an Adventurer. To use these things you need time and care, not something you always have in high dashing action adventures ala Dungeon World. You can have this kind of game but you are not playing to the core strengths of the game. (i think)

So what do you want in a psionic Adventurer?

They should be useful “in a Dungeon”. They will be Hacking&Slashing and Volleying and Defending and Discerning the Realities, Spouting Lore and Parleying. There should be a reason why the group is adventuring with this person. In short, they should be able to solve problems that occur. 

They shouldn’t make another class obsolete but play together with the other classes (in an optimal world, making a replacement class is an okay thing if you make it clear).

They shouldn’t feel like magic. If they are psi then they are psi and feel that way.  

To make them different from magic they should be in some way more wild, more spontaneous or more personal. You don’t have classified psionic powers but what you do is more personal. 

I also like adding the element of Emotion into Psi. “Psionic Energy” comes from strong emotions. And because you need these strong emotions to channel these powers you won’t be using them rational. A bit like the force really. Anger/Hate or Tranquility/Compassion make great channels for offensive or supportive maneuvers. 

Should they be great in Combat? Not without Psi. 

So, 

Emotional States give you power

No Spell List (but maybe a list of effects) 

Need psi to be excellent in Dangerous Situations but can get by without it. 

This still seems like a Force User to me. (but without the cool sword…) 

This is my conclusion anyway; what do you feel makes for a good Psionic based (vanilla) Dungeon World Class? 

I want to make this big (and awesome) post about psionics in Dungeon World but I am on my phone…

I want to make this big (and awesome) post about psionics in Dungeon World but I am on my phone…

Originally shared by T. Franzke

I want to make this big (and awesome) post about psionics in Dungeon World but I am on my phone…

Some late night musing about “move mechanics”

Some late night musing about “move mechanics”

Some late night musing about “move mechanics”

Originally shared by T. Franzke

I start to think of mechanics for moves in PBTA games like card game designers think about card mechanics. I don’t know if that is a good thing. 

Like let’s say I have this idea about a DW class that get’s a specific kind of ressource, let’s call it Moxy or Rage that they can spend after they rolled a move to increase it’s effect in some way. 

That is a cool mechanical tool you can use right? It makes a move more complex but might give you an interesting decision after you rolled. 

Anyway; let’s say i put this mechanic into a class and create  the whole class (like i ever would finish a Dungeon World class…) and then i call it the Hellhound. It’s about a guy that escaped hell and now fights demons. Because that is what i came up with at the time.

That is a terrible use of the mechanic! That is also a terrible class!

Because you shouldn’t make a class that is only about this one thing. But we know this.  

My problem however is this: I just “made” this cool mechanic that creates interesting gameplay. Unless you want to create a demonhunter from hell, you are screwed. You don’t get to play with that mechanic at all. 

When you create a “mechanic” with a lot of designspace, don’t put it on something highly specific because it wouldn’t see play and you did all the work with nothing to show for it. 

Then, when you put the mechanic on another class you have repeated yourself and that looks bad right? Also, most of your best ideas are probably in the hellhound and now you need to stretch to find new ways to use the mechanic! 

Vincent Baker pushed the envelope when he redefined how the different result levels play out in AWDA. But there is really little talk about that, what that means and what it does to a game. 

You can also go and link different classes thematically together by using the same(ish) special move mechanic on them. For the Dungeon World Psionic classes i did; they all got to hold psi and had moves that only worked while they hold psi. But psi could also be spend for effects. So you have a little bit of tension if you want to spend all your psi or still have access to some of your moves. 

See, this is me thinking like a card designer… 

Is it worth to think about different ways to make moves work like that? 

Because there is more room to make neat things with moves and hold. With choose 3/1. With asking questions probably. 

But we shouldn’t hoard them too! Give people access to that shit if you come up with something but can’t make anything with it. 

Unless you are really determined to do something with these ideas, talk about them! I would like that. 

Condensed Classes in Dungeon World

Condensed Classes in Dungeon World

Condensed Classes in Dungeon World 

Imagine a Dungeon World Class. But it has only 6ish moves. You start with 2 of them and can get uo to 2 of your class and 2 of another class. 

Basically the way an Apocalypse World Playbook works.

What problems would this create?  

Short debrief for Cleric Week

Short debrief for Cleric Week

Short debrief for Cleric Week

In short, i am not happy with how it turned out. I tried to kick things off good and maybe succeeded in that but fur sure it wasn’t enough to keep the ball rolling and get everyone exited to contribute. 

On the other hand i was really busy this week and couldn’t get a lot of the posts i wanted to do. That might be because i am getting a bit tired of Dungeon World. I don’t feel the same satisfaction with creating DW content as i did last year. 

I need to think if i want to continue doing the main facilitation for Class Week going forward. I still enjoy discussing things here and helping people that have questions but that’s about all i think i want to do for now. 

Cleric Racial Moves Story Implications

Cleric Racial Moves Story Implications

Cleric Racial Moves Story Implications

#ClericWeek  

Dwarf: 

You are one with stone 

Lets let us think about that first. Why are you One With Stone? And how? 

Is this a general dwarven thing you are just better at then other dwarves? Is it because of your Deity? A special gift to his/her/its Priests? So is a deity connected to Stone? Are all dwarven deities? Are they primordial forces of the earth? Or the stoneforged Dwarven ancestors, the first of the dwarves!

Or is it a glitch in the divine spell delivery mechanics? A twist of Fate that gives dwarves these gifts? 

Is it maybe only because YOU are THE Cleric and you were able to talk to stones since you were an Acolyte, proving to everyone that you are indeed destined/a chosen one.

It might be because you are literally one with Stone. A Soul of a perished dwarven saint, bound to a masterfully crafted statue and given new life through ritual. If so, are you that Saint, just reborn or are you a new person with the same soul? Do you remember what happened to you in a former life or do you see everything through fresh eyes? Why was this done? Is it an old practise or an act of desperation in the eye of the doom of all dwarves as the dragons reappeared. Maybe it was done by a weird sect? 

But you my friend, for whatever reason, are One With Stone. Make it something cool! 

On a related note, what does it mean that human faith is diverse? And why do they get to cast Wizard spells? Do they cast them like Wizards or is it seen through a divine lens? 

Please tell me how you think it works or other ideas about the Dwarven Racial move. 

What does Granite really want to talk about? And does it rock to speak to it?

Cleric Racial Moves

Cleric Racial Moves

Cleric Racial Moves

#ClericWeek  

We of course have the classics: 

Dwarf

You are one with stone. When you commune you are also granted a special version of Words of the Unspeaking as a rote which only works on stone.

Human

Your faith is diverse. Choose one wizard spell. You can cast and be granted that spell as if it was a cleric spell.

But then there are more kinds of Clerics out there right? 

Hit us up with your coolest Cleric Racial Moves! 

For Inspiration: 

Half Orc 

Your deity demands blood, when you butcher a powerful enemy of your faith after a one on one duel, immediately gain a boon from your deity

Dark Elf

Darkness and Shadow are the domains of your deity. When you stand in the shadows you can manipulate and form them into cloaks of darkness or even light cover against attacks.

Kobold

When you use a spell on an ally, you infuse them with draconic might, granting them +1d4 damage forward