This discussion started with the statement that the Druid was too powerful and could easily overcome any obstacle and the GM seemed powerless to do anything.

Strictly speaking, no, that’s not accurate.  I proposed that the Druid is able to overcome any PHYSICAL BARRIER AT LEVEL 1.  Pardon the screaming emphasis, but I’ve read too many posts suggesting that I add something other than physical barriers to compensate.  This is not a solution.  It is merely replacing a physical barrier with a different threat.

What I’m being told is: the druid IS that powerful.  Give up on physical barriers and do something else instead.

This is an oversimplification, but I break down most adventure obstacles into three categories: combat, social, and physical barriers.  A level 1 druid is capable of subverting everything in the last of those three with a single move.  Imagine if the bard had an ability that could charm all NPCs at level 1.  Or if a level 1 fighter could destroy all creatures.  Go ahead and play this game when all combat or NPC interactions are resolved with a single ability or even a single die roll.

When you boil it down, I suppose there are only two things that can be done: change the GM moves or change the class move.

Changing GM moves includes suggestions like spider webs, pigeon-eating orcs, twanging bows, and ACME DruidX-3000 anti-shifter land mines.  The GM makes a move to balance the ease with which the druid slips past castle walls, locked doors, chasms, and human guards.  It means the GM gives up on physical barriers and substitutes a different threat.  The idol isn’t an idol, at all.  It is a mustaschio’d evil twin that is poisoned, has it’s own personality, and leaves the seat up.  Getting past the trapped room is no longer the real obstacle.

None of that sits well with me.  If your answer is to make more moves, or make harder moves, then the concept of a broken move is not possible for you.  Players could start with god-like powers and it would not be a problem because the GM can “be more broken” in retaliation.

The other option is making a change to the class.  Making the transformation partial, as suggested by Lucacc, is one idea.  Taking the ability tiresome or time consuming were two others.

The best complication I’ve come up with is something like what happens when a wizard fails a casting.  Roll less than 6 and a wizard risks losing the spell.  Perhaps the druid risks losing that specific form until he levels up.  Or maybe the chosen animal loses abilities, or it gets mutated.  Give the player choices.  This doesn’t solve the problem, but adding risk reduces the potential for abuse.

Another option is to set a limitation.  Grant the druid three animal forms at first level.  Add more as he levels up.  This allows the GM to better plan the fronts and dangers around the abilities of a few animal forms, rather than the entire animal kingdom.

I’m not sold on any one of those options, but at least they address the real issue.

Who says the idol just becomes a possession? Who says the Druid can just transform to human and back again unmolested? "That's a lot of transforms in quick succession. Sounds tiring. Roll con to Defy danger. Lets see if you transform back to human before the cat gets there." Who says you can just transform into a housefly? why has the Druid spent time studying a housefly's nature? Its a religious pursuit and the housefly is its totemic animal? Where is the GM in all of this? He transforms into a bird? Foretell imminent threat with the twang of bow strings. Make a move. Any move.

That’s a lot of questions, Noclue.

Who says the idol just becomes a possession?

If I start making restrictions on what counts as a possession and what does not, I’ll need a consistent ruling for it.  I’ve been thinking along those lines, but things get tricky.  That the druid must be in contact with the item is a given.  I’ve already ruled that the item may not be a living creature.  If I rule that the item must be in the druid’s grasp, then something like a shield strapped to his body does not morph.  Not my intention.  Given the choice between brewing a complex set of rules for that one sentence and just fixing the class ability, I will probably fix the ability.

Who says the Druid can just transform to human and back again unmolested?

The dice.  If the druid rolls it, the druid can do it.  The rules say nothing about it not being possible.  They don’t even say that he or she needs to return to humanoid form before morphing into a new shape.  I’m a fan of the characters and I’m not going to say “no” just because the outcome doesn’t fit my vision of the story.

"That's a lot of transforms in quick succession. Sounds tiring. Roll con to Defy danger. Lets see if you transform back to human before the cat gets there."

Roll+CON is a nice soft move with -1Forward or -1Ongoing as consequences.  Where appropriate, I’ll try that.

The sudden addition of a cat or pigeon-eating orc screams deus ex machina in my ears.  If the area is a trapped room, there is no sensible reason for orcs to be nosing around in there.  Besides, this doesn’t solve the problem.  The druid is still the master of all inanimate obstacles.  The only difference is that I’m now piling on additional threats on top of my traps, cliffs, and locked doors.

Who says you can just transform into a housefly? why has the Druid spent time studying a housefly's nature? Its a religious pursuit and the housefly is its totemic animal?

The rules say he can just transform into a housefly, and I quote, “You may take on the physical form of any species whose essence you have studied or who lives in your land:”  My druid chose river delta as his favored turf.  While a housefly may not be a perfect fit, mayflies, dragonflies, horse flies, and other winged insects would all be fair game.  Heck, I’m waiting for the guy to morph into a microbe.

He transforms into a bird? Foretell imminent threat with the twang of bow strings.

Again, this does not fix the problem.  See pigeon-eating orcs above.  That is merely ratcheting up the threat level to compensate for an ability that does not scale well with the other classes.  This is what I meant when I wrote about the game devolving into DM vs Druid.  Sooner or later, the player is going to get annoyed that I am constantly thwarting or complicating a class-defining ability. 

I like Lucacc's idea.

My issue with the druid is not so much the flavor.  I just think that morphing into any animal at any time is too potent for a level 1 character.  The ability to transmogrify into a mosquito is not far from the ability to teleport.  Mundane barriers like castle walls, prison cells, and pit-falls become useless.  Gotta get that idol, but you're afraid the floor is rigged?  Just send in pigeon man.

Rather than being a nature-loving, free spirit of the forest, the druid in my campaign has become the thief, assassin, and spy.  Got a campaign based on political intrigue?  No problem.  The druid just takes the form of a house fly and finds the bedroom of the local baron.  The druid morphs back to human and slits the man's throat.  Alternately, he becomes the literal "fly on a wall" and listens to all the plotting and planning.

For every physical barrier in the game, the druid has an animal form to solve it.  So my players start every encounter by sending in the druid.  The rest are just along for the ride.

Are there creative ways to curb this behavior?  Absolutely.  But then the game devolves into GM vs druid.  Can I just ask the player not to be so opportunistic?  Sure, but if I have to go to those lengths, it suggests to me something is a little broken.

Another band of adventurous NPCs has obtained an object of power.  They plan to bind the dracolich with it.  Good intentions aside, this group clearly does not have what it takes to get the job done.  (They are too old, too young, too inexperienced, too stupid, too drunk, playing by d20 rules, or whatever.)  The PCs recognize this.  They fear these incompetent NPCs will be slaughtered and the magical object will instead fall into the hands of the dragon.

I'm working on my first DW campaign and have come away surprised there are no monster tags for speed or agility.

This came up because I'm creating three specific monsters that are more like NPCs.  All three are flesh golems, though not the zombie-lite creatures described in the core pdf.  The first is agile, he has three arms and is deft at moving through the trees in an almost ape-like fashion.  The second is a big, slow, dopey brute with far more strength than skill.  The last is armored, skilled with a sword, and lethal.  I picture the third as being something akin to the Kroenen character from the 2004 Hellboy movie, if that helps.

Anyway, as I was trying to transfer these characters from my thoughts into the language of DW, I was surprised to see no monster tags to describe speed.  I'm not the type who thinks that every concept needs a name or mechanic to support it, but I figure speed is a pretty basic thing.  I suppose it could be covered with a note in "Special Qualities", but it seems like it would show up in there an awful lot.

For the first two of my gruesome threesome, I was thinking of the terms nimble and ponderous.  I haven't come up with a single word to describe the third.  Dashing and mercurial have the right poetry, but not the proper connotation.

I figure if I'm having trouble describing it in my own notes, I may end up with problems during actual gameplay.  Or maybe I'm just anal about the details. 

Thoughts on the issue?