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Messages - The Ice Jester

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Dungeon World / Re: BloodStone Idol, AP2
« on: April 29, 2012, 06:26:00 PM »
First off, I had so much freakin fun with this game. It just felt so pure and awesome. I can't wait to play again.

As with the first game, I struggled as the GM with the issue below. I'm sure 90% of it was inexperience, but as Donbaloo says, after nearly a dozen 7-9s seemingly in a row, what can you do? I felt like I could manage a combat scenario. But when the guys would try to defy danger to escape and 7-9 their rolls repeatedly, I felt a little lost with where to take the fiction.

After considering this today, I think I've come to a few conclusions that likely would've helped. Typically, on a 7-9, I didn't really give the guys a 'difficult choice'. So, in retrospect, I could've allowed them to escape, but at a heavy cost...like maybe the Thief's treasured Rope of Tricks is taken with the creature, but they get away. Or the Thief can stay with the rope, but risk the danger that comes with that.

So I really think allowing the same scenario to replay itself was probably my fault. I could've used the 7-9 as an out (with a cost) instead and moved along to the next scene.

The first game was fantastic, and this one was even better. So I think we're all getting a better feel for the mechanics and how to use them to drive the fiction. I really look forward to our next one!

So, all of that to say yes, it was a terrifying and exciting scene. But, we had a TON of weak hit defy dangers and hack slashes there. That scene really stretched out and we were having real difficulties coming up with good weak hit tradeoffs. After about 10 or so, you start getting a little worn down creatively and then 7-9's start just becoming status quo results as you wait for that next roll to hopefully just succeed or fail outright. Anyone else deal with this?

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Sounds like Donbaloo covered pretty much everything. As he said, this was my 2nd GMing experience ever....the first might not even count considering the players were limited to a total of around 10 words, grunts, and hand motions (Og). But I really had a blast.

Considering that this was our first play, things were naturally a little rough. But I can certainly see how the mechanics and the back-and-forth lobbying of moves work really well.  I think the part I struggled with the most was my reaction to 7-9 rolls. Especially when they were consecutively rolled. I found it difficult to come up with ways give a little, but take a little. Donbaloo and I discussed this a bit and we came to the conclusion that we needed to push those situations a little harder...put the characters in more difficult situations that force them to make tougher decisions. My traditional RPG mentality struggled with this during play, and I really didn't know beforehand to prepare for those types of situations. I think, going forward, I'll have some preconceived ideas for various scenarios in the adventure.

I also found that I was overly cautious with the characters at first....unsure of what they could handle and what they couldn't. Without any battles under our belts, I really went soft on them in the Lightning Bug room. Specifically during their multiple 7-9 Defy Danger rolls. :-/ I just didn't want to see the guys bite the dust so early on. I'll know better for next time... :evil grin:

Donbaloo and I also discussed how we could all provide better detail regarding our actions and intents. We found that, the more detail we give, the better we can react with appropriate moves. Throughout the course of the game, we could actually see this improving as we played, which was pretty neat. Initially one of the players would call out a move he'd like to perform instead of telling us his actions and letting me attach a move to it. Again, this is likely our traditional background shining through...but I really felt we got into a better grove as the game progressed.

Overall, I had an absolute blast, and I think the players did as well. The Moves mechanics are so elegantly simple and they enable the story instead of getting in the way. After a few more games under our belts, I'm sure the mechanics will all but disappear and the stories will really shine. I look forward to that!


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Dungeon World / Group attack damage in Basic
« on: April 10, 2012, 02:27:11 PM »
Hi all! As you can see, I'm brand spankin' new here. Although I've been lurking for at LEAST 3 days, so I feel like you guys are family. ;)

So...I'm planning on running a game this Friday night using the Basic redbook ruleset. (Donbaloo who has posted a few rules related threads here will be in that game).

I feel like I have a pretty decent grasp of most things. As I was listening to the Walking Eye podcast, I noticed that they made some references to group attacks, but the rules they used were never really clear. I assume they may be using the Hack or the Beta set, but I'd like to stick strictly to the RedBook and tweak afterwards if needed. Is there a standard group attack methodology for the Basic set?

Thanks guys! I'm really looking forward to seeing this play out.

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