Exactly! "Mistake Potential" is a great way of looking at it. I've been trying to gel on similar thoughts in this direction, but that sums it up very concisely.

So, to riff on this a bit, HP could maybe be considered something like luck or fate. When you're luck runs out, you're open to a fatal mistake.

Of course, taking a hit to your "luck points" is probably not very satisfying for players or GMs.

Hi all,

I've modified the basic DW character sheet PDF, removing the Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling races and re-labeling their moves as human life-path moves, and adding new moves to fill in the holes where Race moves had to be cut. The intent is to re-focus the character sheets on Humans for game worlds where the pointy-eared folks don't exist, or are not available as PC's.

PDF Link:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B12bB1b9dQX8Z2lLTUFaQjZ5dEk&usp=sharing

So...  Why dump the elves, dwarves, and halfings? Here are a few reasons:
•  You want elves and dwarves to be mysterious, aloof, elder races with hatreds, desires, and agendas beyond mortal ken!  Just like in those weird old fairy tails!
•  OR   You want to play a Conan or Kull style game with barbarians, crazed cultists, strange beasts, and dark sorcery. But, notably, no elves dwarves or halflings.
•  OR   You want to play a Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser style game. OR  Arthurian legend style game. Etc. No pointy ears in sight.

The primary change to the character sheets is the conversion of RACE moves to PATH moves
PATH (as in life-path) moves are meant to help fill in a character’s background. Many of the Race moves have simply been re-named as Paths. The moves that could not be easily re-worked as Human moves were cut. Many new moves have been added to fill in the gaps and flesh out the Path options so that each class has three to four Paths to work with.

Some Path move examples:

FIGHTER Path moves

WEAPONMASTER (the Elf move re-named):
Long years of practice have made you a master of your art. Choose one weapon—you can always treat weapons of that type as if they had the precise tag.

MERCENARY (the Human move re-named):
A strong arm, a keen blade, and a bit of luck have kept you alive thus far. Once per battle you may reroll a single damage roll (yours or someone else’s).

SOLDIER (new move added to flesh out  the Path selection):
You’ve trained to fight alongside others in battle, using teamwork to drive your foes before you. Once per battle, when you fight shoulder to shoulder with someone, you may choose one move from the Defend options as if you had one hold.


And the more extensively re-worked CLERIC Path moves:

SACRED CULT (same as Human Race move)
The mysteries of your cult reveal many things. Choose one wizard spell. You can cast and be granted that spell as if it was a cleric spell.

PROPHET (new)
At the start of each session, you may make a prophecy regarding an unusual or unlikely event. If it’s interesting or crazy enough, the GM will make your prophecy come true. If it does, mark experience.

INQUISITOR (new)
You are the keeper of the faith, chosen instrument of divine justice.
In civilized lands, local authorities respect or fear you. Gain +1 when Parleying with authorities.

Dwarf Race move didn't make much sense as a Human move and was cut.


So that's it.
This all started as a PDF tinkering project for my own game, and snow-balled a bit. If you're looking to run a Human-focused game, hopefully these modified character sheets will be useful to you! If you're interested, would appreciate your feedback on the modifed/new Path moves.

You may want to check out the old Metamorphasis Alpha RPG for inspiration (unless that's already your jumping off point, in whch case, ignore this). It's basically Gama World on a derelict world ship. There are old hardcover editions floating around, but you can probably soak up the good story/setting details with a thorough google search.

And there's a Kickstarter for the new edition:
 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamiechambers/metamorphosis-alpha-roleplaying-game

Just started a low-magic game with my group. So far we're addressing it purely with game fiction and things are going well. The most important thing we did to achieve this was discussing the fictional world we wanted up front and agreeing to play to that fiction.

What came out of our discussion was basically this:
-Magic is rare; those who can bend magic to their will are rare
-Magic is powered by dark, difficult to control, and ultimately corrupting forces
-Practical magic items are non-existent; relics and strange artifacts of power exist but are rare and dangerous
-Those wielding magic are feared and distrusted by ordinary folk. It's not a respectable thing to dabble in at best. At worst, it's torches and pitchforks time.
-And we decided to not have any clerics. Plenty of weird gods, shammans, cults, etc. But no walking hit point battery in chain mail. This required a small mechanical tweak. So far I'm going with "At the end of a Scene, you heal equal to 1/2 your Constitution." Still testing this mech out, though.


So far the party has one wizard, and he's role-playing the hell out of how and why his magic works. His magic missiles are invisible mental blows that batter his targets minds. When he casts a light spell, he must pull it down from a true light source and "capture" it. Casting fails have unpleasant consequences, due to the source of his power. He's constantly scrounging for strange spell ingredients, creeping out the other members of his party. And, most importantly, he's not hurling spells left and right. He keeps a low profile, because... pitchforks and torches.

The party also has a Paladin. He has yet to lay on hands. When he finaly does, I'm sure it will be interesting. I doubt he will select any of the Paladin casting moves, but if he did, I'm sure we could work it into the fiction.

So that's all a really long winded way of saying "follow the fiction." It really does work well. Just discuss the world you all want to play in up front. The more everyone feels like they had a hand in laying the foundation, the more enthusiastic they'll be in building on it.

All that said-
If you want a solid mechanical fix for spells, then noofy's suggestion to use the Monster of the Week magic rules would be a good start. That's the direction I was headed initially, but laziness prevailed. If you want to develop some custom low-magic char sheets, I'd love to see them!