Barf Forth Apocalyptica

powered by the apocalypse => Dungeon World => Topic started by: iserith on May 27, 2012, 06:59:53 PM

Title: +Messy
Post by: iserith on May 27, 2012, 06:59:53 PM
What are some good examples of a player taking good advantage of the Messy tag for their weapons that have it? What sorts of good fiction have you seen in your game with this?
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: skinnyghost on May 27, 2012, 09:08:13 PM
Mostly for terror effects.  Messy is one tag that varies REALLY heavily depending on how dark your game is.
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: noofy on May 28, 2012, 12:09:02 AM
In a one-shot I ran of my Underdark 'bartertown', the [dark]elf fighter Saraseth had as her signature weapon as a 'butterfly' axe that was huge and had hooks and spikes. It was forceful, messy and dealt significant damage. She named it Venom.

We used the custom move that allowed carry-through damage for 'big' hits. One one particularly successful 10 up Hack and Slash that dealt extra damage against a clutch of vicious  orb spiders, she managed to evercserate one spider and have a handful of left-over damage to pass on to the next arachnid. I asked Yarmani (the player) how her forceful, messy weapon would deal such horrific damage.

She described the crumpled form of the spider being flung into the sorrounding stalagmites, ichor spraying across the cavern and splattering everyone nearby as the follow through sweep embedded deeply in the remaining spider. This segued into the cleric loosing hold of his holy symbol on a missed prayer move, as it was covered in the re-incorporated spider guts from previously. This also allowed for my impending dooms to escalate as the doppleganger tracked them solely on the base of smell, since no-one seemed interested in a bath to wash off the gore.
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: watergoesred on May 28, 2012, 08:09:13 PM
We used the custom move that allowed carry-through damage for 'big' hits.
What's this move? It sounds interesting.
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: noofy on May 28, 2012, 08:30:13 PM
Oh its nothing original or that dramatic!
 When you kill a foe with damage to spare:   Any extra damage dealt by the fighter(above and beyond killing a foe) can pass on to the next available opponent.

This has the neat fictional effect of positioning during melee, and giving the fighter that 'cut a swathe' persona.
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: watergoesred on May 28, 2012, 09:46:15 PM
Nice! Cheers! I'm sure Hob will make bloody work of it.
Title: Re: +Messy
Post by: iserith on May 30, 2012, 12:13:28 AM
I like that custom move. Thanks for the examples as well.

I have a player that wasn't sure how far he could go with his fiction when describing the effects of Messy and was being a little timid as a result. I'm okay with things being somewhat dark (It's not TV. It's HBO.) so I said just go for it and we'll see what happens. If he hacks one of my NPC's hands off, I'll just beat him down with the stump. Or scream, run, and inevitably recur with a hook and a grudge. Or pass out from shock if he's a mook. It makes for good story.