Concurred!

The exact term is : "[...] or perhaps never to die."  I was hoping for clarification that that means "doesn't age to death" but doesn't include "does not die from violence, like the Necromancy enchantment"

2nd session is in the bag.  *May* post audio at a later date.  A few notes are within the writeup in blue.

To slow down/prevent the rampant thievery blamed on the Angyng refuges, the Peasant Beauty arranged for them to stay within the military barracks.  I didn't know the guards all stayed together when 'off duty' - it says a LOT about how their sub-society functions.  A few relatives of the Peasant Beauty were recruited to fill in for the soldiers out on mission in the watch towers so that a few soldiers could stand watch on the refuges.

War Captain opted to return early rather than risk the baby's life by staying in the field.  The Wicker Wise rolled snake eyes on a Weird roll and we decided the local gods were infuriated by his knocking over of their totem statues, and a supernatural storm came in.  (New potential 'front', the weakened, unworshiped angry gods.)  The peasants only gathered enough food to fill half a cart, not nearly enough for everyone to survive until spring.

The Temple celebrated the Wicker Wise's return.  (Our wicker wise doubles as a 'holy man', firstborne son of the Elder of the Faith within the Pike Temple.  I get the *impression* the Wicker Wise was designed to be on the fringes of their society, not a core member of it.  But it's working out well this way.  Is that counter to the setting as desired?)  Close observers will remember he was granted the right to claim first harvest the previous year, and that he took 'only enough not to inconvenience anyone'.... which is practically nothing.  The other temple dwellers / faithful don't know how limited his supplies are though, so there's a moment of great disappointment when he busts out the limited stocks.... immediately after bringing back practically nothing from his joint expedition with the War Captain.  On the way in to town the one Angyngian who spoke welsh, the town's old wise woman, ambushed the Wicker Wise to avenge her gods.  He put her down easily, but dealt enough damage that I felt she was likely to die soon without serious healing (a ritual, for example) which she didn't receive.  Do NPCs die if they're reduced to their last line towards Meeting Death like a PC will?  Their second-to-last?  Is that mechanically induced or situationally/fictionally induced?

War Captain grudgingly admitted that the Peasant Beauty's citizen/soldier plan for watching/housing the refugees was a good play.  Baby was handed off to a relative of the Peasant Beauty who had birthed a child recently.  The Peasant Beauty keeps using his relatives as minions of a sort, filling in important rolls that the party either can't or isn't interested in doing.  New front - they can start demanding things, risking all of those bits that rely on their support to fall apart.  But I should make some more NPC triangles with them first.

A lot of hunting took place during the seasonal moves going into Spring, bringing in stockpiles of meat.  Few died as a result.   

An investigation over who stole the Temple's golden incense burner was resolved without serious incident - Markus, the War Captain's head butler, had his hand publicly cut off.  The foreign ambassador, who had been wronged with accusations over the thievery, secretly poisoned him as well, so he died.  Everyone believes he passed from shock/blood loss except the ambassador, leaving his honor satisfied and the authority of the War Captain to dispense justice undisturbed.

A new, silent 'refugee' showed up in town, the other Angyngians avoiding her.  The ambassador tried to see within her to her true self, but rolled real low, so she sensed what he was up to.  Simultaneously, the warned-of army approached.  The town evacuated to the high wall, and the archers set up position, as the ambassador and the troll engaged in solo combat.  The War Captain had to decide - halfway up the hill to the temple, does he finish running up there to take command of his army or turn around and help the foreigner slay the beast?  He turned back, which saved the ambassador's life.  He wounded the troll but was overcome - she pinned him and ripped part of his soul out through his mouth before the War Captain could engage her.  She beat the War Captain as well through position, not harming him as badly as she did the ambassador.   The fiction demanded that they be overwhelmed by the approaching enemy army, considering where the fight was taking place, so she sucked part of his soul and fled before she could be overrun.  The War Captain succeeded on an Undertake Labor roll, stumbling up to the temple with the ambassador over his shoulders and the foreign army nipping at his heels.

The upcoming battle, in which the defenders were outnumbered 2 to 1, ended in a decisive victory for the Temple.  Bjani, the head 'non-com' of the military, was half slain in the battle.  Six of their people fell for good.  A lot of magical healing took place immediately afterwards.  The junior member of the military took it upon himself to kill the refugees who were staying at the barracks, seeing them as potential spies for the enemy army (they shared a common language), as associated with the monster who hurt his commander, and as non-contributing members of the town who were eating up their precious food.  This leaves just the two or three people sold into local households in exchange for food as the sole survivors of Angyng.

With a temple, animistic worshipers of the temple, and an apprentice it's super easy for the Wicker Wise to do 3-sacrifice enchantments.  Holy place, Mass blood-letting, One-Harm bleeding.  We also argued over whether the Wicker Wise could bind people through oaths to his gods without consent... but I think the wording ("Oath") is pretty clear.  The Wicker Wise can bind himself OR the recipient OR someone else, as long as the bound person consents... right?

The fallen allies were speeded on to their next lives.  The roll to banish fallen invaders, as well as the roll to win over their ghosts, both failed.  Now the temple is haunted, which means it is no longer valid for sanctifying enchantments.  The use of places of power for enchanting is pushing the player towards trying to make the temple as stable as possible.  This may not be bad, as it gives the MC something to focus threats on, but it moves play a notch farther from 'rapidly falling into disarray'   

The Elder was against healing the ambassador, since he has been courting trouble since he got there, he was suspected of robbery for so long, he worships other gods (the Pantheon of The Nest), et cetera.  His son, the Wicker Wise, demanded his Right to do enchantments and the Elder threw up his hands and left the temple, leaving him to it.  Next session the wounds of the ritualistic blood letting will fail to heal (on account of the hostile spirits residing in the temple and around the housing of the holy caste) which is more fuel on the father-son fire.  I need to introduce named members of the second circle, so the Wicker Wise knows a few of his contenders if he seeks to rule the temple on his father's demise. 

As I read it, a character can do something they don't specifically have the right to do, they just can't expect any other people/gods to abide by the mechanical results.  So a god may not enchant a weapon if they don't want to, regardless of the roll.  Or a demon may not be exorcised by, say, the Peasant Beauty.  How does this work for moves that replace one stat rolled with another?

The game doesn't FORCE NPC triangles, but it gives plenty of opportunities.  Kudos on pulling that off!  I'm not sure how you'd encourage the MC to push for them more than you already have.

The play books pushed the characters into authority figures of different kinds, reliant on each other but easily in contention with each other as well.  I think when the first character falls in battle (either to another or to the troll they're hunting down) it may change the way they deal with each other.... but I'm not sure if it'll make them more skittish of conflict or more wiling to use their mortality as leverage to get what they want.  Time will tell.

How do you folks indicate your choices when in Single Combat?  If both sides spend blindly it implies doing *something* to lock down the decision so that the second person to vocalize their choice can not change to adjust to the first speakers choices.

Firstly, there's an audio recording of this.  But it is five hours long, rambles off topic, has variable audio quality, and has swearing, inside puns, half-audible background music, and dead baby jokes, so... consider yourself warned.
Part 1 : https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggqfk5vcwo9srz9/prev.wma?dl=0
Part 2 : https://www.dropbox.com/s/1te7i4tqb3nwkwa/FirstSession.wma?dl=0

We've all played Dungeon World before.  I re-read Apocalypse World twice in the last few weeks and listened to a few podcasts in preparation but I haven't ever played it.

Setup took almost exactly the first two and a half hours.  I think I might have been well off to keep it going longer - I was surprised at how involved everyone got in the game before they had characters to play.  It was easy during the setup to figure out possible points of contention between the player characters.

Starting with the stronghold setup was logical, and I think drawing the map really helped nail down what the settlement is about.  The group decided on a village surrounding a Temple placed atop the largest local hill.  This 'holy' town rests near two larger 'countries' that may some day invade, but haven't yet since they don't consider it worth offending those gods worshiped there.  A stone wall surrounds the Temple and the burrowed living areas of the quasi-Druidic 'clergy' of the area.  Spotting towers were placed at one point of the wall and three points surrounding the open area where most of the people lived and worked.  Raiders, a local warlord, and a newly-rediscovered ancient enmity threaten it, while it is protected by the hill, stone wall, watch towers, and a series of wells.  The armory carries enough spears, hides, helms, and bows for twenty souls.  Four of the Pikes (the Celtic Druidic people) carry such as guards of the Temple itself, while 16 souls follow the War Captain in defense of the entire town.  The Wicker-Wise took on an apprenticeship position, just below the Elder of the Temple.  The Peasant Beauty works a field down in the town at the base of the hill.  The Legatus (emissary) admitted his plan to the table to manipulate the town into taking the land between them and the sea since his bosses back in Sorrentelli thought they'd make better trade partners than the actual occupants. 

Everyone ended up making their own People.  The town has a hodge-podge of languages like New Amsterdam, although we all assumed they're predominately using either Celtic (the Pikes / Druids) or Welsh (the common folk).

** On the Peasant Beauty's sheet, there's a move that affects "Someone here" (sees your power, is afraid of you, craves your counsel, must come to know you, or becomes infatuated with you).... the miss condition would logically be assigned by the MC.  Are the 'someone's picked by the player on a hit chosen by the player or the MC?  We assumed MC.

Starting with season moves was a good play - the War Captain rolled horribly and was wounded while fighting raiders.  The Peasant Beauty's father died peacefully, leaving him to lead his family.  The Legatus/Emmisary saw a nearby town, one they struggle against fairly often, preparing for war on his way in.  So right there I've got three things to run with as MC : How does the Peasant Beauty deal with the new familial and social obligations?  What does the town do with the knowledge their old enemies are up to new tricks, IF the Legatus tells them?  Does the War Captain slow down to avoid further wounds, or prostrate himself to the Wicker Wise for healing, or suck it up and risk permanent wounding.

Wandering back into town, bleeding profusely from the face, the War Captain sees the fires of the Wicker Wise's bonfire-ceremony to dispose of the Peasant Beauty's father.  He is also addressed by his head servant (who watches the criminals working hard labor at the War Captain's farm) telling him that the visitor he was waiting for has arrived.  He was expecting no one, and went home to find this fancily dressed stranger eating at his table.  As he argued with the Legatus over whether he should be put up in his fine estate, he had his servant bring him clean linens and prepare to sew his wounds with cat gut.  The Legatus ended up getting kicked out, and loses his poison kit to the thief working off his labor for the War Captain (a miss on winning the War Captain over)  He wanders to the temple to see what the smoke is about and, because of his garish dress, draws the eye of the Peasant Beauty.

The Peasant Beauty and the War Captain get into a verbal argument after the service for the dead, wherein the War Captain tells the Peasant Beauty that if he feels he can defend the town he is welcome to the job.  He pulled his soldiers back to the Temple's half-wall, leaving the Peasant Beauty to muster warriors to defend the town.  Soon they're running through the town, ready for war.  The enemy never came though, and in time they made peace with the soldiers and the War Captain.  Lines were drawn, then erased.... but it became clear that the War Captain can do as he likes with the loyalty of the dedicated warriors, but the Peasant Beauty can easily sway the masses and has the ear of the Legatus. 

Another season - the harvest is lighter than they hoped it would be, since the farmers were skittish about going too far from the protection of the town with the impending raid.  The Wicker-Wise spend the season performing rites, and caught a vision of a beast feasting on a boysenberry bush.  After eating the fruits it ate the greenest, newest shoots.  The bush grew new thorns to protect itself, and the beast became heavily scratched but healed quickly.  It tore the bush from the ground, then moved on to a new berry bush...
The War Captain wisely rested and healed up.

** When you take harm from soldiering via the season move, that damage is calculated AFTER damage becomes permanent.... right?


The Peasant Beauty went to work his landlord's field.  The Legatus traveled east to find news from a larger land, and learned that a fleeing army was on it's way.  He also passed through the town where the warriors were training for war (Angyng) and found it deserted.

Two carts of survivors from the town of Angyng arrived seeking refuge.  No males above the age of twelve were amongst them - they told of a Night Beast their husbands and kin went to slay the last time they saw them alive.  The Wicker-Wise reasoned that going to that town and tipping over all their totems would please his gods and count as a Sacrifice the next time he made an enchantment, and the War Captain took half of his men with some peasants to recover what remains of their harvest. 

A ghost town exists between the two settlements.  The force stopped there to tap their well, but found it marked with runes akin to those from a graveyard.  The Wicker-Wise asked the warriors to recover the bodies he sensed within, and the War Captain went down personally to do so, recovering twelve baby/infant corpses in various stages of decay, eight of them bearing massive deformities.  Ridged, scaled spines, claw-like hands, cloven feet, etc.  The Wicker-Wise went into The Other World and learned something there, although when he awoke all he remembered was feeling the vague touch of the Wicker Witch.  He did awake in a pool of his own vomit and fecees though, both loaded with boysenberries... which he had not eaten in the last few weeks.

After making an improvised bonfire from one of the town's abandoned buildings and sending the child souls to their final reward, the Wicker Wise and the War Captain's party move onward to the more recently abandoned town.  Within it, while the Wicker Wise and his prodigy went around chopping down totems, the War Captain tracked a set of prints through the snow that were made after the escaping womenfolk left.  It lead to, and away from, a small home which yet contained a baby, wrapped in many blankets and on death's door. 

Meanwhile, thievery has skyrocketed back in the stronghold and her village.  The Peasant Beauty is being looked to to resolve it while the War Captain, who had set up a personally-dictated martial law system, is unavailable. 

That's where we broke it off.  The War Captain is holding a half-dead baby, new tracks leading off into the woods, peasants ready to start harvesting what is still salvageable from the snow-covered abandoned fields.  The Wicker Wise is getting visions of danger.  The foreign emissary, technically without authority here, is throwing extra weight behind the Peasant Beauty.  A fleeing foreign army is going to pass nearby, possibly directly over them all and their relatively small town.   

Both the Peasant Beauty and the War Captain got a point of New Nobility experience for their scrapping over the way the town would be lead while under threat.  I enjoy the implication of the way experience works - by faking authority to rule the people, and sticking to his guns, the Peasant Beauty has begun to acquire legitimate ruling authority.  That's brilliant.

The group is a bit wary of the lack of 'investigative roll'.  I'm going to go with the DITV method in the next game and hide nothing they could reasonably see or hear about, and tell them I'm doing so when the session starts.

Alex, I think if I had done it that way I wouldn't have any regrets about the session.  I'm not terribly upset with the way it turned out (they got singed a little, like 2 hp of damage, and the player seemed by his reaction to acknowledge that it was a logical thing for the dragon to do in the situation) but your answer would have been the ideal way to handle it.  That 'here's what you see, what do you do?' is the way we've been handling inanimate traps, why not handle ambush sites the same way?

A miss on a weak spell shouldn't imply a weak consequence any more than a miss on a Level Nine Plague Of The Pox should make the wizard fall over dead.  A Sanctify rote, for example, might turn all the wine and mead in the tavern where it was cast into water.  Think about the next ten minutes after THAT happens.  An Unseen Servant operates as usual for fifteen minutes, then suddenly BOLTS in the opposite direction with whatever was given to it. 

If they roll for rotes and cantrips, and have so many failures there the wizard and cleric are bumped extra levels, 90% of the dangers and scenarios the party finds themselves in ought to be the consequence of the wizard and/or cleric.  Not 'ought to be' as in a statement of morals, but as in they must be attracting SO MUCH bad karma it will likely be taking all the party's time to deal with it.  Which should drag the other characters upwards as well.

If your party is comprised of magic users with low modifiers in the applicable stats that would do it, but ANY character so designed (a fighter with -1 STR for example) would be a trouble magnet AND leveling machine.  Barring their likely and untimely death.



.... having said that, having level 0 spells be 'free' seems like a legit homespun way to speed up play if the XP isn't wildly out of balance and the group is acting in a clear and decisive direction.

When fictionally appropriate is it alright to treat 10+ successes as successes with cost?  Consider :


The Fighter plunges his sword into the Burrow Worm (10+), who is actively eating away at the castle's foundation.  The sword sinks to the hilt, based on the damage roll and the description of the action by the player.  "The worm pulls the sword from your hands, spraying ichor, as it re-enters the ground.  You can feel the trembling floor shake less for a few moments before their vibration begins RAPIDLY escalating again.  What do you do?"

The Flame Gollum's blast of fire seems never ending.  The Ranger stands, momentarily, from behind the tombstone and fires an arrow (10+) into the Gollum's face, killing it.  Having stood up into fire the Ranger takes damage regardless.

The Thief hides behind the only rock in the Red Dragon's lair, rolling 10+ on the group's custom move for setting up an ambush.  The Dragon is clued to the presence of the party, because she had a brief tussle with the Ranger outside.  Her standard action when entering her lair (decided beforehand, what the prep demands) is to breath fire into the *one* decent hiding spot in her lair which she's left for the sole purpose of tricking would-be heroes.  Does she?

The Cleric is halted by three guards of the Heathenistic city of the godkiller Prince.  He rolls Defy Danger CHA and gets 10+ to convince them his robes, coated in holy symbols, indicates he's a member of minor royalty, not a member of a religious sect and therefore not worth their attention.  "Fine, you may be on your way M'lord.  Sorry for the inconvenience, welcome to the godkiller Prince's domain." Cleric, to the party, still in the company of the guards : "Godkiller Prince?  That guy's the jerk with delusions of grandeur we wanted to kill, right?"  The guards pull their swords and sound the alarm.


This is my go-to for the "Deadly" monsters that crop up every two sessions or so.  You know, the Alpha Males of the dungeons.  You're not Defying Danger when you walk into the fire shield around the Lich, you're embracing it.  Accepting damage for the chance to deal some.  Right?

Now you've got my mind on DITV again....

Another bit that works for my group / play style - when you make the town an identify who is the source of the moral / social / spiritual degradation make sure they do what they do to save something nobody would argue isn't worth saving.

Their family.  Specifically one person, usually.
The Faith itself.
Their life and safety (hunger, sickness, etc)

Make them relatable!  It makes it harder to default into punishment mode.