Barf Forth Apocalyptica
powered by the apocalypse => Dungeon World => Topic started by: bpm on September 17, 2012, 10:15:59 AM
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Hey all,
Just ran DW at NerdNYC's Recess event. It went great, thanks to many tips from this board. Something came up that I thought was very fun at the table, but now want to clarify ruleswise.
Our rugged Ranger got overrun by a rat horde after he rolled a 5 trying to Parlay with them to get them to move. Covered in pox-ridden rats and being bitten all over, the Wizard thought to cast Magic Missile. Now, he was casting it AT the Ranger. He stipulated that he was casting a dozen tiny missiles to hit the rats. The Ranger asked if he could Defy Danger by turning sideways so they would only hit the rats. I said sure, but if the Wizard doesn't roll a 10+ and if you don't pass your roll, you're hit too.
Well, the Wizard hit a 12 and the Ranger a 10. So I said, done! Smells like bbq rat in here, but no wound for the Ranger.
Does this seem like the right use of the rules? Or should that have be a Wizard only roll? It was fun, so I'm not overly concerned, but I am curious.
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That's an interesting case. I think you handled it fine, the only thing I might have done was put the onus on the Ranger to dodge the missiles. The Wizard is rolling to cast as normal, on a 7-9 he already has a list of hard choices. The Ranger, on the other hand, is the one Defying Danger- on a Miss or 7-9, he would be fully or partially hurt by the spell.
Tying his success to the Wizard's casting roll seems a little weird, but it sounds like it all worked out: you set some stakes and called for some rolls.
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I suppose you could also have said, "Sounds like you're turning away from the spell to defend yourself."
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what scrape said, and more over, if two characters are attempting at the same thing, then the best way to handle it is that one rolls the move and the other one rolls to Aid.
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You could totally make a case for the Wizard Aiding the Ranger, and on a miss he would be seen as a threat and also swarmed. I like the DW rules because you have so much leeway to interpret character actions depending on how they describe them. Defy Danger? Defend? Aid? All depends on the fictional trigger, it all works in practice. Neat!
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Cool situation! And these are all good ideas on how to handle it! My instinct would have been to say the wizard is casting and the ranger is aiding by turning to give the wizard a clearer shot. If the ranger doesn't hit big, he exposes himself to fire, retribution, or cost, right? But yeah, there's no one true way!
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Since the wizard is trying to fry the rats, I would have put the onus on the wizard and allowed the ranger to aid. Afterall, the Wizard is going for damage right? If the wizard was trying to scare the rats and drive them off the ranger, then I'd go with the ranger defying danger and the wiz aiding. But it's a stylistic choice at that point.
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I wish one of them had failed, the resultant 'tight spot' is filled with possibilities!
Though yeah, all the ideas given by folks are valid and cool interpretations of the narrative possible :)