Actual Play - Bloodstone Idol (1/7/2011)

[seannittner]

MC: Sean Nittner
Players: Alex Miller, Charles Stone, Meghan Miller and Brendan McGuigan
System: Dungeon World

I was really excited about running Dungeon World for Alex and Charles. Specifically because I had a good experience playing it with Shaun Hayworth and I hoped that maybe it would be THE system we ended up using to pick back up a D&D campaign

Comments

[anonymous]

You articulated my biggest problem (which I brought up at the time) well in this: the cost/benefit disparity that comes from having two random rolls stacked, and leads to a risk averse 'best move' scenario that is both not fun as a game, and antithetical to what they're obviously trying to do with the system

[seannittner]

Thanks for fleshing that out Brenden, I knew I wasn't doing your argument justice. I think that being stifled by the moves came up for other players as well (how to I just throw a guy off a ledge, how do I sneak in, how do I make an offer of something when the something is a lie, how do I trick someone into drinking my water) but I totally get that as a Wizard you expect to be fairly weak with it comes to physical altercations but expect your "Shazam" to help you solve mysteries and move the story along on a mystic level.

Like we talked about your most interesting move was "Spout Lore" which was sufficiently diverse to do both of those, so I think was some success there. The game just needed more moves that were broad enough to cover all the actions the players wanted to take.

[ext_976182]

As for the bit about not being sure what move to use -- well, I definitely would've used Parley for the thief trying to trick the goblin. He's making an offer, right? That implies he has something the goblin wants, which means he has leverage, which means... Parley

[seannittner]

Hey Mike, regarding the scouting, yeah I think you're dead on. Use the move that achieves the end they want, that has the most interesting results, and that focuses on the moment of danger.

As for the edge, yep, in retrospect I should have made the move Defy Danger and said if you make it he goes off, if not many other fun things could happen.

The lie was trick though. Because the thief didn't know if he had something he could offer the goblin, so he started making stuff up and lying... when he rolled a 7 (which he did) it was time to show what had, which he was lying about it's worth. Thinking on it more, when he couldn't I should have just said "he eyes you for a moment, pinches his nose at you and says "no gold, no bridge" and then cuts the rope bridge out from under you." It would have actually made for more fun from that point on.

[anarchangel23]

Twice my players tried this move. “I’m standing next to the edge, when the goblin charges as me, I step out of the way and throw him over.” They succeeded, rolled damage and I described him landing on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Not thrown over the edge. Why not? They didn’t do enough damage. On a 10+ he should have gone sailing, but my interpretation of the rules told me otherwise. That resulted in a very unsatisfying resolution for the players.

I would have had the player roll Defy Danger for this; 10+ the goblin goes flying.

DW tells players to be great heroes and is written as though they have the competence of their AW counterparts, but they don’t. So not only is it foddering a risk-averse play style, it is lying to the players and the MC.

I see what you're saying, but my experience is the opposite. I feel hyper-competent in DW and not in AW.

When the thief tried to make an offer to the goblin, but lied to him, I thought Parley was the move to use, but Parley assumes that you are offering something they want or

[anarchangel23]

Generally, this sounds like an expectation mis-match (It's not just a setting re-skin, AW = drama, DW = action/adventure), but you raise some interesting points. I'll have to think on this further.

[seannittner]

Yep, in general I forgive DW for the lack of scarcity, specifically because of the design intentions (action/adventure vs. drama), but in practice I found myself striving to create the dramatic tension anyway. Which just ended up meaning more work for me to create the play environment I wanted. So, I get that is my own personal preference rather than any flaw with the game.

[judd_sonofbert]

Sean,

Your thoughts on DW very much mirror my own. I couldn't figure out what I did't like but it was something to do with the way the moves used in combat worked in play.