Showing posts with label NPCs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NPCs. Show all posts

Thursday, May 3, 2018

On Killing (Not by David Grossman)

In Dungeon World, the price of a typical murder is apparently 5 coins, and the price of a higher profile assassination is 120 coins. This seems awfully low. Given the price of "A Hearty Meal for 1" of 1 coin, I evaluated a coin to be roughly equivalent to 5 USD (given that McDonalds had as of the time writing this a 2/$4 deal where you could get two double cheeseburgers). This means a murder is 25 bucks and a higher profile assassination is 600. This is fitting with the standard DW status quo that prices are low, but also suggests that life is cheap. It also doesn't account for the mark's threat level. These factors should be considered when evaluating the price of an assassination:
  • The number of moves a target has that can be harmful to the assailant.
  • The maximum damage a target can bring to bear. This doesn't refer to the damage the target itself can deal, if it can order others to fight for it.
  • The HP of the target. or the highest HP of  its body guards. (3 minimum)
  • The Armor of the target or the highest among its body guards

For example, a Noble doesn't have any listed attacks, or HP, but they can issue orders and offer rewards to anyone beneath them (2 moves). Often, this is a Knight. which can bring to bear 10 damage, has 12 HP, and 4 armor. Therefore a Noble would be worth 2*10*12*4=960 coins. A King who has  A Whole Damn Army would use 2*19*30*4 would be worth 4560. A mere bandit has 3 threatening moves, can do 6 damage, and has 3 HP, which is 3*6*3  or 54 coins.

If you don't like these you can round to the first significant figure to get a price in tens, hundreds, or thousands. The above prices would become 1000, 5000, or 50. For the purposes of abstract coins, a significant figure 50 to 100 coins is A Chest of Riches, anything over 3 such Chests is a Giant Sack of Loot. 3 of those is "A Small Hoard" which increases the Resource statistic that armies use.

P.S.- It is noteworthy that just because you want someone killed, doesn't mean you're going to get it done by hiring some rando off the street. If you pay 120 coins to them (or 5, or 50, or 1000, or 5000, etc), they might go kill your guy, or they might pocket the money, go brag, and end up on a pike outside the city walls. 

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Hits like a truck driver

You ever wonder about that expression? Now you know. Anywho, this is a random joke monster I thought up. It might see use in the more tech savvy areas of my campaign, but not likely.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Drunken Debauchery, Stealing from Conan

The Drinking Contest introduces gobs of opportunity to get smashing drunk, and a rules-y way to handle it. This expands further on the drinking contests, and the aftermath. It goes beyond the Carouse move, but can often accompany it. I introduce to you (this rule is meant to be used with Abstract Coins): 

Drunken Debauchery
When you spent a night on the town, and got too smashed to remember, roll 2d6+ the number of drinks you had (if this is unclear, add your Constitution score). This isn't really hit or miss, consult the following table:

2: Behold My Grace! You boasted of your adroitness! Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Balancing on a Ledge/Beam/Rope; 3 = Bull-Leaping; 4 = Dancing; 5 = Five-Finger Fillet; 6 = Juggling Random Items.
3: Behold My Might! You boasted of your strength! Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Arm Wrestling; 3–4= Wrestling Match; 5 = Keg Tossing; 6 = Lifting Heavy Objects.
4: Behold My Stamina! You boasted of your constitution! Roll 1d6: 1–3 = Drinking Contest; 4–5 = Eating Contest; 6 = Long Distance Running / Swimming Challenge.
5: Big Business! You invested another 1 point of Wealth in a merchant’s caravan / ship venture! GM secretly rolls 1d6: 1–2 = It’s a con; 3–4 = It’s legitimate, and in 2d6 months you’ll have doubled your investment (if you’re still alive and around!); 5–6 = It’s legitimate, but the caravan / ship didn’t survive.
6: Brotherly Love! You woke up next to one of the other players’ characters (referee determines randomly)!
7: Brrr . . . Chilly! Someone stole your coat / clothes while you were intoxicated!
8: Dangerous Liaison! You bedded the son / daughter / husband / wife / temple virgin of someone who can make your life in this area very difficult! Roll 1d6: 1 = Local Crime Lord; 2 = Local Militia Commander; 3 = Local Sorcerer; 4 = Local Temple Leader; 5–6 = Important Local Leader / Noble.
9: Drunken Brawl! You started a drunken brawl! You must spend Wealth on damages and fines to avoid incarceration, or flee and be declared outlaw. Roll Wealth. If you don’t have enough wealth to pay the fine and do not flee, you will be incarcerated and your belongings will be confiscated and sold.
10: Fire! You accidentally started a fire in the inn / den of ill repute you were carousing in! You must spend an additional 1d20 × 10 gold pieces on damages and fines to avoid incarceration, or flee and be declared outlaw! Roll Wealth as #9.
11: Gambling! You gambled away your money on a game Defy Danger with +WIS (at -1 if you took a Debility for the drinking contest) vs. Wealth dropping to 0. Unlike normal Defy Danger moves, on a 12+ with this one, you gain +1 to your wealth level (if possible). Roll 1d6: 1 = Dice Game; 2 = Card Game; 3 = Cock Fight; 4 = Dog Fight; 5 = Arm / Wrestling Match; 6 = Pit Fight.
12: Go Directly to Jail! You woke up in jail charged with a crime! Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Drunken Disorderly; 3 = Lewd Conduct; 4 = Vandalism; 5 = Theft; 6 = Murder. You decide if your character did it or not. An escape may be necessary . . .
13: Have at You! You incurred someone’s anger (or were angered yourself) and have agreed to a duel, physical or sorcerous!
14: How’d I Get Here? You woke up in a strange place with no idea how you’d got there! Roll 1d6: 1 = Aboard a ship (maybe heading out to sea!); 2 = In a tree or on a roof; 3 = In the back of a wagon (maybe travelling somewhere!); 4 = In the nearest stable / animal pen; 5 = In the nearest temple; 6 = In the sewer / gutter.
15: How Embarrassing! You made a complete idiot of yourself in public! Locals snigger behind your back and consider you a complete imbecile. Roll 1d6: 1 = You emptied your bladder . . . unexpectedly; 2 = You exposed yourself; 3 = You fell flat on your face unconscious while attempting to seem intimidating / skillful / powerful; 4–5 = You performed the worst drunken song and dance . . . ever; 6 = You soiled yourself.
16: I Hereby Swear! You made a foolish pledge, loudly and in public to do something hazardous. Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Clear Nearest Monster Den / Ruin; 3–4 = Bring Down Local Bandits / Thieves / Thugs; 5–6 = Steal Valuable From Important Local (roll as in Dangerous Liaison! to determine who).
17: Just Married! You woke up to find someone claiming to be your new wife / husband! Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Attractive; 3–4 = Average; 5 = Ugly; 6 = Pass the bucket! GM also secretly rolls 1d6: 1–3 = It’s a con attempt; 4–6 = It’s true.
18: Love Never Dies! You woke up next to a corpse! Roll 1d6: 1–2 = They died of natural causes; 3–4 = They died of drug / alcohol overdose; 5 = You think you accidentally killed them; 6 = You think you murdered them. GM also secretly rolls 1d6: 1–3 = It’s a setup; 4–6 = It’s true.
19: Mooooo! You woke up next to an animal! Roll 1d6: 1 = Chicken; 2 = Cow; 3 = Goat; 4 = Horse / Camel; 5 = Pig; 6 = Sheep.
20: My Land! You gambled / spent your money and acquired the deed to something! Roll 1d6: 1-2 = Disreputable Inn; 3 = Nearest Ruin; 4 = Plot of Wildland; 5–6 = Run-Down Farm; You are eligible for either Householder, Merchant, or Shopkeeper as appropriate once any GM imposed restrictions are met.
21: My Precious! When you were passed out or otherwise engaged, someone stole your single most valuable-looking item! Track ‘em down and make ‘em pay!
22: Ooh, Shiny! You spent your money on a truly gaudy but otherwise unremarkable item. Reduce Wealth by at least 1. Roll 1d6: 1 = Armour; 2 = Garment; 3–4 = Jewellery Piece; 5 = Shield; 6 = Weapon. GM determines the item.
23: Robbed! As 21, but 1 Wealth instead.
24: Tattoo! You spent your money on a fantastic tattoo! Say what, and  roll 1d6: 1–2 = It actually is awesome; 3–4 = It’s fairly good;5 = It has an obvious flaw; 6 = It has an embarrassing flaw.
25: Unexpected Companion! You woke up next to a member of your preferred gender. Determine attractiveness as Just Married! entry.
26: Yer Mother! You seriously insulted someone who can make your life in this area very difficult. Roll to determine who as in Dangerous Liaison! entry.
27: You’re so Generous! You donated your money to a worthy institution. Roll 1d6: 1–2 = Local Poor; 3–4 = Local Temple; 5–6 = Orphanage / Urchins.
28+: Madman! Roll twice and apply both results!

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

A Whole Damn Army Simplified

I have discovered a shortcut for making Group/Horde monsters into A Whole Damn Army of its own
If two questions would grant the same tag don’t worry about it. If you like you can adjust damage or HP by 2 to reflect the tag that would be repeated, but it’s not necessary.
What I'm about to tell you is strictly not RAW... but it is simple. You ready for it? Here Goes:
Take any Core example monster of Horde or Group organization sizes and add 1 instance of Uncanny Endurance (+4 HP) for every multiple of the party's number. So a party of 4-5 members fights a horde of 50 whatever as if it had 10-12 levels of Uncanny Endurance.

If they number more than 50 or so, you should probably also add Huge since a platoon is roughly 4 squads of 10. That and 50 people probably don't fit into a house. This addition is optional though.

For the purposes of Damage From Multiple Creatures, add +1 per Uncanny Endurance (equal to +1 per multiple of the party's population) rather than one per individual monster. If the party has allies that make the ratio smaller, don't increase damage as much as normal (to reflect the fact that some of the damage goes to the players' allies). So for example, in the above 10-12 levels of uncanny endurance, the party would take the full +(levels) of damage if they were the only combatants. If they had 20 allies though, the ratio is 2/5 so players would take +4 damage instead of +12.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

A Whole Damn Army: Taxation and Upkeep

So I saw the following in Dungeon World

A hovel
20 coins
A cottage
500 coins
A house
2,500 coins
A mansion
50,000 coins
A keep
75,000 coins
A castle
250,000 coins
A grand castle
1,000,000 coins
A month’s upkeep
1% of the cost

Given how much I've written about A Whole Damn Army there's probably enough there to make some assumptions about what kind of fees are charged by legitimate road authorities, and The King's Tax Collectors. A good baseline is that the highest ranking feudal figure in the settlement's home determines the monthly tax based on a value roughly twice the amount of a month's upkeep (so a city supporting "A Grand Castle" has up to 20,000 coins in its coffers.) 

Resources
This article suggests that a "An orc warchief’s tribute” is reasonably 1 point of Resources." and that each extra point of resources is an order of magnitude (roughly a factor of 10). That means the Grand Castle settlement is worth ~3 Resource, the Keep or Castle settlements are worth 2, and the Mansion at 1000 coins is worth 1 Resource.

Taxation and Population
If we assume the majority of a population lives in cottages, and half of the upkeep is taxation, that amounts to a tax of 3 coins per person.  This means "A Grand Castle" needs a supporting population around 7,000 (6,666 to be more specific), a Castle needs around 900 (call it a thousand), a Keep needs 250, and a mansion 200. So...

A Village is less than 200 people
A Town could reasonably be 200-500
A Keep is probably 500-1000
A City is 1-10,000, with the largest medieval city ever being no more than a million or so (It would take less than 50,000 to make "A dragon's mound of coins")

Sunday, July 2, 2017

A Whole Damn Army Example: The Hellfire Imperium

Taking in the rules expressed in this, that, and the other entry, my Into the Heart of the Dragon game features a nation-state called the Hellfire Imperium, and I can stat out the nation-state's Capital City, called Dis. Dis is responsible for the creation of A Whole Damn Army of Imps. We start with the base stats of Dis.
  • Dis is a City
By default a city is Moderate, Steady, Guard, Market, and Guild (Iniquities). It also has Oaths with at least two other steadings (Abaddon, Sheol), usually a town and a keep. If the city has trade with at least one steading and fealty from at least one steading choose one (as a capital city, it does):
  • The city has permanent defenses, like walls: +Defenses, Oath (Ikisat)
The city has one problem
  • supernatural defenses: +Defenses, Blight (Is a literal Hell on Earth)
These upgrade Dis' Defenses to Battalion, thus the city has a force with these stats on hand:

A Whole Damn Battalion                                                       Horde, Huge, Organized, Intelligent,
Terrifying
Tridents and Fireballs (b[2d6+7] damage 1 piercing)                                                    24 HP 7 Armor
Reach, Forceful, Near, Far
Special Qualities: A Metric Shitload of demons!
  • Shatter Their Morale! (any)
  • Loose! (Archers)
  • Hold the Lines! (Pikes)
Because they are practically Hell on Earth, in addition to these base defenses, they can conscript enough Lost Souls to also field the following army (who are not inexperienced, even though they are conscripted from the general population).

All the Damned Souls                                                               Horde, Huge, Cautious, Intelligent,
Terrifying
Wall of Woes (w[2d6] damage* and heal the same amount)                                         32 HP 7 Armor
Reach, Forceful, Near, Far
Special Qualities: A Metric Shitload of souls!,
  • Surround them! (Infantry)
  • Their souls are forfeit!
*These souls are loathe to cause any more harm than they may already have for fear they will be further punished, yet they are still willing due to their inability to escape said punishment.

If they have several days notice of an attack, they can call for another Whole Damn Army from the combined resources of Abaddon and Sheol--which would have +5 HP and an extra move--and some Dragon Riders from Ikisat.

Resources
At Moderate Prosperity with a 32 HP citizenry earning the Wages of Sin, they have coffers no larger than 250,000,000 (6 points)

At 24 HP, the Battalion has roughly 2,500,000 worth of military supplies.(4 points)


Saturday, July 1, 2017

Spout Lore: The Steel King


The Steel King was once a mortal gone to the mountain of the gods to become a disciple of the dwarven god of smithing, Navanor Truestone. Around this time, the god's daughter Inebra Truestone was but a godling. The mortal attempted to woo her while under her father's tutelage, and when the father found out, the mortal was cast to the fiery underworld. The citizens of Towmyen think this has something to do with why the Blasted Wasteland is so large.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

A Matter of Honor or Blood


This G+ post asked how the community would handle duels not intended to go to the death (For those you should just go with Hack and Slash). It would be easy to just have the player roll hack and slash, and call it good, and that move even states that it is for attacking a prepared enemy.

But what if you're not trying to kill them? I present to you the following:

The Duel
When you cross swords for honor, roll +STR or +DEX. *On a 10+, hold 3, on 7-9 hold 2 and the enemy gains a touch on you. You may spend hold on the following:
  • Draw a small amount of blood, dealing 1 point of damage (2 hold).
  • Avoid the enemy's strikes (1 hold)
  • Touch the opponent without drawing blood (sometimes duels are to a certain number of touches, rather than blood)
*On a 6-, choose one of the following: 
  • You took the enemy's normal damage roll, and lost the duel.
  • You dealt your normal damage roll, and offend some witness for not showing restraint.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Dragging a Corpse

RPG characters die or are knocked out a lot. In DW, there isn't really much in the way of unconsciousness either. At 0 HP you roll to see if you take your Last Breath. If you win, you're alive, and if you lose, you die. So what happens if part of the bargain is that you're unconscious. and your friends have to drag you to safety? What follows is copied over from here but usable by people who don't care about wench vital statistics.

Ned's Head has Weight 1 (because DW doesn't care about lbs, this is somewhat abstract). After a bit of a wiki-walk, and some Google Fu, I find that there are a number of both medical and non-medical consensus that indicate a head weighing between 4500 grams, and 6500 grams. It would not be unreasonable to assume 10-15 lbs is fair (and wt 0 items are below 5 lbs). a study in 1983 said that the head itself was about 8% of a body's weight. 8% is about 1/12th, so we can assume humans are base Weight 12. Given that, we can assume the following: 

  • A dwarf is weight 12.
  • An Elf is weight 10.
  • A Halfling is weight 6. Though I haven't seen them, gnomes are fairly traditional in gaming, so if your game has them, a gnome is weight 5.
  • An Orc is considered to be 15 weight rather than 12.
  • Add +Str.
  • Multiply Weight by 1d6+9 (which is a number between 10 and 15) to get lbs.
A minor note on Load
I've noticed that using a normal range of Load scores (6-12 plus +STR) would make it difficult for even the strongest party member to carry back anyone who died and any gear if using the +stat rather than the score. With that in mind, a fighter would have up to 30 Load with 18 Strength. It's actually pretty standard in a great number of RPGs for a 18 STR equivalent to have a maximum carry weight between 300 and 450 lbs. If you use +Stat instead, Fighters max out at 15 Load, which is only 150-225 lbs. Use whichever you prefer, I'm gonna use Strength SCORE+x

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Expanding on Dwarven Stuff

There are a few things in DW that are already dwarven and have specific effects. First, let's talk about Dwarven Hard Tack
Dwarven Hard Tack
Requires Dwarf, Dwarves say it tastes like home. Everyone else says it tastes like home, if home is a hog farm, and on fire.
That one is mostly fluff, but the fact that it requires dwarf (racial trait) and is tagged as a ration suggests that it's a ration for dwarves, and trash for people who aren't (unless they have a move that lets them eat anything). Either that or they're unfamiliar with bacon.

Jokes aside though, there is something to be desired. I give you the dwarven tag:

Armor
Armor made to fit dwarves (i.e. has the dwarven tag) removes the Clumsy tag for dwarves, and adds -1 ongoing to Defy Danger with +DEX for anyone else. Price is increased by 50% for dwarven armor if you're outside dwarven settlements.

Weapons
Shorter than 6 feet, these weapons lose their reach tag. They are often very bulky though, replacing it with the Forceful tag. For weapons that don't have the Reach tag, they still gain the Forceful tag. Price is increased by 50% for dwarven weapons if you're outside dwarven settlements.

Next, let's talk about Stout
Dwarven Stout
When you open a keg of dwarven stout and let everyone drink freely, take +1 to your Carouse roll. If you drink a whole keg yourself, you are very, very drunk.
Nothing wrong with this tag, or with the notion that dwarves are the poster children for alcohol consumption in fantasy RP. But this is something that can stand to be expanded upon, and I will do so here.


The Drinking Contest

 So what does getting very drunk entail? Depends on the fiction. Just kidding, the reason you are here is because for you. there is no current fictional status quo. Here is mine: Whenever you engage in a contest of intestinal fortitude against alcohol, roll +CON

  • On a 10+, you survive the round no problems, and an NPC drops out. (if you want, you can use the Whole Damn Army rules and do 1 point of "damage" against the Tavern equivalent to a "green platoon", or 8 HP.)
  • On a 7-9, take a debility (other than Scarred since alcohol on its own is not disfiguring)
  • On a 6- take 2 debilities, and 1d6 damage
When you become Sick (when you gain the Sick Debility) you drop out of the round. The winner is the last person remaining. If a PC and an NPC are tied, the PC wins. If two PCs are tied, whoever has the better Con score wins. Alcohol based debilities go away at a rate of 1/hour.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Commanding a Whole Damn Army

So I recently made a blog and G+ post about size, tactics, and morale of military units in light of my Whole Damn Army creature. A question was posed "Do you see this as characters interacting with GM controlled armies, or allowing players to control armies as well?" in the context of me potentially making a book out of mass combats in Dungeon World. So I while I'm still not sure I want to create a whole book about mass combat, the idea was intriguing to discern the difference between a GM move and a player move as the distinction is relevant. Consider the moster as written, a pile of GM moves. Player moves are going to be based on different assumptions of GM moves.

Damage
As a GM move- Wall of Steel deals (b[2d6+7] damage, 1 piercing). This assumes a couple of things

1) a soldier deals 1d6 damage, so a group of them deals the best of 2d6
2) with enough adversaries at least one of them will get through for 1 piercing
3) The unit will be lead by a fairly reliable character equivalent in combat to a knight who deals (b[2d10] damage), so it's reasonable to attribute the +7 to the Knight. We can assume a knight probably has some score of 14 (reserving 16 for PCs), which means a modifier of +1. Because the knight swings the better of 2d10s, we assume an average of a 5 and a 6 and use that to come to +7. A leader that leads through fear and Intimidation could use STR, one who uses charm and likability uses CHA, one who uses superior memory of military history, and actively being educated uses INT, and one who has a "feel" of battle through experience with it uses WIS.

As a Player move- assumptions 1-3 above suggest that a fighter with a d10 should probably get STR of +3 ASAP to get (b[2d6+9] damage, 1 piercing). Other players could progress their optimal score to that point if it's one of the modifiers listed above. Each lower dice type reduces the 9 by a point (meaning d6+3 will hit the NPC Knight at even damage by virtue of taking the better of a 3 and a 4). GMs can also ignore the average and change the damage code for players to (b[2d6+2dx] damage, 1 piercing) where x is the type for your class if he wants really swingy combats.

Hold the Lines
As a GM move- Armies are not afraid of players, but they might be afraid of players' armies. Whether they are afraid of each other is a function of size (a smaller army being afraid of a larger one) and whether they are fanatic or frenzied. 

As a Player Move- Roll Defy Danger Subtract your army's HP from the other army's HP. if negative that means you have a bigger army and are more likely to Defy. Because you are a notable individual, you may add half of your HP to your army's HP for intimidation purposes.

Sound the Reinforcements
As a GM move- Since those reinforcement numbers count as HP, it would be reasonable to say that this recovers 1d8 HP, but a lot of people don't like rolling for GM stuff if they can avoid it so they can use 4 points. This move can be used as many times as appropriate to the fiction

As a Player move- Roll 1d8 to determine how many points each unit heals. You can do this once per unit of reinforcements you narratively have. Remember also that the default Whole Damn Army is 2-3 units, so if you know you have more on the field, HP can go over 30.

  • If you have Bardic Song, or can cast a Cure spell as a rote, you may use it on A Whole Damn Army.
  • Some moves may also effect healing rate

Racial Tactics
This section will cover a number of moves that players can earn to reflect their race's heritage for war. They are not like racial starting moves, because almost no members of a race are required to be born great tacticians. They can however be learned as starting Racial moves if you have a reason to have war in your background. 

Dwarves
Dwarven Turtle
Dwarf units have shields that can interlock, while also allowing their polearms to protrude slightly. In return for changing damage to (w[2d6+3] damage) they gain +1 armor and can negate Artillery Superiority. This means that a unit with this move can disregard the Ignores Armor and Piercing tags on their opponents' moves.

The Stonefist Gambit
When dwarves following a commander with this move fight with either mountains or a cavern ceiling looming overhead deal +2 damage.

Liquid Courage
When a commander with this move uses a Keg of Dwarven Stout to carouse with his men, he may also heal them for 1d4 HP.

Elves
Elder Guardians
When elves following a commander with this move fight within sight of The Great Forest, they may deal +2 damage

Treetop Striders 
When elves following a commander with this move do battle within The Great Forest, they count as devious, and negate both devious and Engineering Superiority of their opponents. If the commander also has Elder Guardians, that it applies as well.

Mystical Warpaint
There is a plant that grows within The Great Forest that bolsters elven morale. When a commander with this move orders his men to apply it, they are considered to have +4 HP for the purposes of Hold the Line. That is, they cannot be terrified by a unit whose HP isn't 5 more than their own.

Halflings
Don't Disturb the Shire
When halflings following a commander with this move hide in the hilly terrain surrounding their homeland, they are short enough they can ambush for +1d6 damage.

Can't Touch Dis
When halflings are fighting an army whose individual members are Large or Huge, or an actual creature that is Large or Huge, they gain +1 Armor.

Humans
Racist Bastard
Pick another race. Whenever you fight that race, you deal +2 damage. It's probably fair to allow you to pick multiple races for this one, but if you pick very many it may also be fair to assassinate you in your sleep.

Inquisitorial
When you fight an army whose leader's alignment opposes yours, you deal +2 damage. Alternately, if you are a cleric, you may take this bonus against people who are heretical from your god's point of view if the GM and group allow it. It's probably fair to pick multiple religions but if you pick very many it may also be fair to assassinate you in your sleep.

Pincer Maneuver
Whenever you have Engineering or devious units, you do not have to use your +1d6 damage on the first attack.

Orcs and Half Orcs
Berserker
Whenever orcs work themselves into a frenzy before battle, they are considered to have +4 HP for the purposes of Hold the Line. That is, they cannot be terrified by a unit whose HP isn't 5 more than their own. If you are their commander, and you order a retreat, you must Defy Danger to avoid becoming the enemy.

Troll Blood Stew
If a commander with this move has allied with trolls asks them to augment the rations with their restorative blood, he may roll +Stat for the stat used with Wall of Steel. On any 10+ over the course of the next battle, his unit heals 2 HP. (for NPCs, this occurs when the PCs roll 6-).

Race Trained
You may take a move not belonging to your race only if you either have a background of significant time with them, or spend enough in game time that the advance follows logically from the fiction. Statements within the move that refer to the race you chose refer to you.

Relevant Core Rulebook and Class Warfare Moves
Dwarf
When you share a drink with someone, you may parley with them using CON instead of CHA.

Halfling
You sing the healing songs of spring and brook. When you make camp, you and your allies heal +1d6.

When you attack with a ranged weapon, deal +2 damage.

Human
Once per battle you may re-roll a single damage roll (yours or someone else’s).

Monday, February 20, 2017

Inverse World Tags Outside of Hazards


Inverse world has a tag for Hazards called Social. (This hazard is human [-oid] in nature. Social hazards are often unable to be solved with violence, for one reason or another.) That book suggests that Social threats don't need the intelligent tag because they are assumed to already have it. I think it would be fair to swap "unable to be solved with violence" with "almost always solvable without violence." then add "Social creatures have sufficiently advanced societies that that some individuals pick up other skills. The GM can adapt the monster by adding tags to reflect specific training, like a mage or warrior." With these changes, the Intelligent tag can be removed entirely. 

By default, the Social tag otherwise doesn't give any incentive to be non-violent except players acceptance that you shouldn't kill certain people. combining it with Friendly (This hazard does not mean you any harm. This doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous, of course, but it doesn’t intend to be.) probably helps with that incentive, but I think it fair to offer players a chance to mark XP for a Social threat of any kind to be dealt with peacefully.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

The Peasant King

in GURPS fantasy, there's this concept of a king who is spiritually attached to his land. Apparently it's called a Fisher King on TVtropes, but somehow I like peasant king better, because it doesn't tie the character down to a particular profession.

So I asked the folks over at the DW tavern:  if there was an existing playbook. Someone suggested a compendium class. Surprisingly among the more helpful responses was "Just do it". They're also where I found out it was called a Fisher King in the first place. A very short conversation, and a cursory glance at DW Perilous Wilds and I got the idea that the book could almost write itself. I was basically right. 

Monday, August 22, 2016

All About Mooks

This post builds on a previous post I made about hordes and mass combat here: https://steelsmiter.blogspot.com/2016/08/on-subject-of-hordes-and-mass-combat-in.html it's inspired by the fact that in the Diablo series, there were creatures or fixtures that just generated and unloaded large numbers of low HP opponents. As mentioned in the link, I prefer to think a horde has one stat block, featuring one HP score for the entire horde, and that defeating this HP score doesn't necessarily annihilate the horde, but sends individual members scattering. That's sort of applicable in the Diablo series I guess, but I think it would be more appropriate to handle Diablo hordes entirely differently. Two moves are relevant to GMs of diablo based games:

Generate Encounter
When the party enters an undiscovered area, the GM rolls +nothing. *On a 10+, hold 3, *On a 7-9 hold 1. At any time in this area, you may spend 1 hold on the following:
  • +1d6 mooks in a horde per player
  • 1 normal monster
  • A hidden room or event (roll again)
*on a 6-, The party gains 1 treasure roll without any particular risk.

Fight Mooks
A slang term for the hordes of standard-issue, disposable bad guys whom The Hero mows down with impunity. Also called "baddies", "goons," "scrubs," "drones," "small fry," "flunkies," "pawns," "toadies," "grunts," "minions," "lackeys," "underlings," "henchpersons," and "cannon fodder". When you fight mooks, roll +STR. On a 10+ choose 2, and on a 7-9 choose 1:
  • you roll your damage normally, and take out that many mooks.
  • you suffer no injury or condition.
  • you are not slowed down, inconvenienced, or distracted from an objective on the other side of them.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Tavern Moves in Dungeon World

Someone suggested that NPCs don't make moves in the comments of my Tavern Characters Post but p. 18 doesn't corroborate this
The GM’s monsters, NPCs, and other assorted beasties also have moves, but they work differently.
In any case, I mentioned that I would write a new post on Tavern Moves. Partly to alleviate their concerns, but also partly because I've been thinking about other expectations players tend to have about tavern interactions. The two biggest expectations of taverns in fantasy settings are wenches and brawls. They will be addressed in that order.

Wenching
The aforementioned commenter suggested also that players do stuff that triggers moves. I gave the Wench a move called Sexual Healin', which allows the wench to treat patrons as if they had either taken Make Camp or Recover without actually resting long enough to do either. In that playbook, it was written as a Wench Move. Here it will be presented as a special move framed as if the PC is not the wench.
Special moves are moves that come up less often or in more specific situations. They’re still the basis of what characters do in Dungeon World—particularly what they do between dungeon crawls and high-flying adventures.
When you pay for a night’s “companionship”, roll +CON. *On a 10+, you heal as if you took a Recover action without the required amount of rest. *On a 7-9, you heal as if you chose to Make Camp instead. *On a miss,gain a Debility of the GM's choice

Brawling
One of the mainstays of a tavern brawl is the use of fists to deal nonlethal damage to your opponent(s). This often happens because you missed (6-) on Carouse or Parley. Pulling out a real weapon is a major faux pas in a brawl. 

Whenever you tear it up in a tavern, roll +STR. *On a 10+ you deal your normal damage as Stun Damage. If you have moves relating to dirty fighting, tavern settings, or unarmed combat that modify damage numbers they apply to your dealt stun damage. *On 7-9 you deal your damage as stun damage, and choose one of the following:
  • When the brawl is over, you are hit up for tavern repairs worth 2d6-CHA coins.
  • When the brawl is over, you must roll for Outstanding Warrants.
  • Someone cut you with a bottle, or real weapon. take 1d6 damage

On a miss you choose two, and don't deal damage. The brawl is over when the party outnumbers their opponents, or when all the party members have either been knocked unconscious or suffer the stunned debility as outlined below.

Stun Damage
Stun damage is non-lethal damage. A PC who takes stun damage is defying danger to do anything at all, the danger being “you’re stunned.” 
Dungeon World isn't particularly clear on this, but digging up debilities I find:
Stunned (INT): That last knock to the head shook something loose. Brain not work so good.
Stun Damage also states:
This lasts as long as makes sense in the fiction—you’re stunned until you can get a chance to clear your head or fix whatever stunned you.
It is weird to me that there are two different rules for the same thing. I prefer the debility rules:
Debilities are harder to heal than HP. Some high level magic can do it, sure, but your best bet is getting somewhere safe and spending a few days in a soft, warm bed (with recover, it's 3, or 2 with a healer BUT you can go Wenching to reduce the time using these rules). Of course, debilities are both descriptive and prescriptive: if something happens that would remove a debility, that debility is gone.
If a character manages to not become stunned, or take a debility they will be knocked unconscious when their HP would be driven to 0 by stun damage. This applies to GM characters too, because the default ruling doesn't make sense.