Barf Forth Apocalyptica
powered by the apocalypse => Dungeon World => Topic started by: Kid Twist on July 27, 2011, 10:42:02 PM
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For my birthday, I'm going to be running Dungeon World. I'm a new dad, and my opportunities to RP right now are really limited, so this is something of a birthday present for me. =) I've decided to run the game in Zork, but with a huge re-imagining of it in order to blend it more cleanly with the feel of Dungeon World.
To that end, I've made a special move that I'd like people to look over and critique. I'm trying to make my Zork feel a lot like the Tin Man adaptation of the Wizard of Oz, darker and more complex. It's a more serious Zork, and to that end, I think this special move helps highlight both Zork and Dungeon World. I would appreciate feedback.
The Might and Curse of Quendor
Quendor was a land of high magic, capable of feats that no one has yet been able to replicate, and some of that might still lingers in the areas of what was once the Great Underground Empire. While in the Crumbling Empire, you may call upon the Might of Quendor to assist you in a task. You must specify how you’re owing this—invoking the name of the Flatheads, rubbing a lucky zorkmid, saying “xyzzy”—and it doesn’t need to be the same each time. However, once you do, your next roll is assumed to be 12—one for each of the Flathead siblings at the time of the curse—and you mark an experience point. Note how many times you do this.
Every time you invoke the Might of Quendor, you roll+Wis once for each time you’ve called upon it, including this time. On a 10+, nothing happens. On a 7-9, pick one from the list below. On a miss, pick two.
- Your eyes become sensitive to light (can see in darkness; -1 ongoing to any move made in anything more than torchlight.)
- You grow long, stringy fur all over your body (1-armor; ?1 ongoing to Parley when you aren’t threatening the other party. The armor is cumulative with other armors.)
- You grow sharp, slavering fangs (Hand, 1 Piercing, Messy; ?1 ongoing to Parley when you aren’t threatening the other party.)
- Your body grows used to living in the Crumbling Empire (When Making Camp in the Crumbling Empire, you never need to consume a ration to heal and you always hit on your roll in dangerous territory; -1 ongoing to Saving Throws against any threat not from the Crumbling Empire.)
- Grues do not attack you in the darkness (moving in darkness in the Crumbling Empire is safe; you take 3 damage per condition on this list per move in any light brighter than candlelight, and any light is uncomfortable to you.)
If you have obtained all of the conditions and need to pick more, roll your Last Breath. On 10+, you continue as you are. On 7-9, Death’s bargain is “Become a grue or die.” On a miss, you become a grue.
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I like the move, powerful but with hard consequences. I like the last one wherein you are incentive to have less light, thus putting you at odds with the rest of your party. Unless your players have already played the game, you might consider ways of letting players know about the tropes from the world that might constitute invoking the move. Will they discover those in play? Perhaps a note in the mailbox will clue them in (which, by the way, would be an awesome prop - you could even leave it in your mailbox and ask them to go look there right off the bat).
You might also consider a custom move for fights in the dark as, I imagine, that's when the grue will come into play. I imagine that hack'n slash would be almost useless, thus making defend your primary move in the dark. I can see many situations wherein everyone is defending one person who is frantically trying to relight a lamp.
If you wanted to blend a little Advent into your game, you might also consider the small crawl space wherein you must leave most of your equipment behind, the harrying dwarf, and the troll that demands treasure to cross a bridge.
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I liked the idea of making a flyer for the group to find in the mailbox, so I did. Let me know what you think.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B84aiZYw73fvYWJlMTkxMjYtYjVkZC00ZDU1LTkwMWItNjMzNzc0MjFlMWNi&hl=en_US (https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B84aiZYw73fvYWJlMTkxMjYtYjVkZC00ZDU1LTkwMWItNjMzNzc0MjFlMWNi&hl=en_US)