Antisinecurist's DungeonWorld Stuff

Hey, everyone! I'm planning on running a game (hopefully an ongoing series) tomorrow, but in preparation and excitement I've been writing up things as inspiration comes.

I've got portions of two classes, new racial moves, and some other assorted odds and ends. I'll post them here as I get around to it.

Use and feedback are both much appreciated!

- Alex Davis

First up is the monk! It may not fit with everyone's ideas of what such a character would be (and, indeed, I'm not familiar with the version in older editions), but I feel it's similar to what is seen in the newer editions. It's also something I'd love to play!

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The Monk
   Monks are devout, mentally focused warriors who draw the energy of the cosmos into their bodies to aid themselves in battle.

HP: d8

Alignment
   Good: When you use your martial training to come to the aid of a non-combatant, mark XP.
   Neutral: When you create accord between two opposing groups or beliefs, mark XP.
   Evil: When you prove your martial superiority and use it to gain power or control, mark XP.

Race
   Human: When you’re focused, you can speak, understand, read, and write any language, even obscure, rare, or arcane ones, and you may spend focus to add +1 to a parley roll.

   Elf: When you’re focused and dodge, take +1-forward to hack and slash.

Moves
   Choose one: Order of the Iron Crucible or Order of the Storm’s Eye
      Order of the Iron Crucible: Your order believes in pushing the limits of the human body to sheer perfection. You harness the might of the ages through your physical form, harnessing massive amounts of energy in your bones and muscles. Your key stat is constitution and you get +1 hit point per level.

      Order of the Iron Crucible: Your order believes in pushing the limits of the human mind to sheer perfection. You harness the might of the ages through your stillness and awareness, harnessing massive amounts of energy in your mind and soul. Your key stat is wisdom and you get +1 to spout lore.

   Get these:
      Martial Arts Initiate: When you’re focused, your bare hands deal 1d6 damage in melee and you can hack and slash using your key stat. You’re always considered armed when bare handed; if you’re not focused, you only deal 1d4 damage.
      Cosmic Channeling: When you gather the energy of the cosmos into yourself, roll+key. On a 10+, hold 3+key focus. On a 7-9, hold 1+key focus. If you spend extra time and concentration to do this, hold +2 focus. Spend focus as follows:
         - Spend 1 to perform a feat of amazing speed and agility.
         - Spend 1 to gain +1-armor against a single attack you’re aware of.
         - Spend 1 to add +1 to a single hack and slash roll.
         
Advancement
   Energy Blast: You can spend 1 focus to volley as though you were using your bare hands, at close range. You never run out of ammunition.

   Light as a Feather: You can spend 1 focus to prevent any damage you’d take from falling or being thrown.

   Meditation: When you spend extra time and concentration to gather energy, hold double focus instead of +2.

   Cosmic Awareness (Requires Order of the Storm’s Eye): When you gather energy, hold +1d4 focus.

   Diamond-Cutting Fist Technique: Your bare hands do +1 damage. You can spend 1 focus to bend bars or lift gates as a fighter.

   Iron-Ox Body Discipline (Requires Order of the Iron Crucible): You have +1-armor always. Add +1d4 HP when you take this move.

   Martial Arts Disciple (Requires Martial Arts Initiate): Your bare hands deal one die size higher damage in melee and you have +1-armor as long as you’re not wearing armor.

   Graceful Feline Step (Requires Light as a Feather): As long as you’re focused, you can run up and along vertical surfaces (such as walls), as long as you continue moving. You can also stand or walk along surfaces that would normally be too thin or weak to support you, such as thin ice or a tree branch.

   Lightning-Quick Shadow Step: With a moment’s focus, you can spend 1 focus to instantly move to any spot you can see.

   Flurry of Blows: When you hack and slash, spend 3 focus to roll hack and slash 3 times, then choose to apply all or none of them.

   Stunning Fist: When you hack and slash, spend 1 focus to inflict your damage as stunning.

   Iron Body Burns in the Furnace, and is Molded (Requires Order of the Iron Crucible): You can, at any time, channel an incredible (and dangerous) amount of energy through your body. If you do, hold 3 focus and give the MC 1 hold. The MC can spend his hold to deal 1d6 damage to you at any time starting at the end of the current encounter.

   Brotherly: When you train, spar, or meditate with someone, add a bond with them (and they add one with you).

   --- (Level 6-10)

   Martial Arts Master (Requires Martial Arts Disciple): Your bare hands deal one die size higher damage in melee and have piercing-1.

   One With the World (Requires Order of the Storm’s Eye): You can spend 1 focus to automatically succeed on a discern realities roll as though you’d rolled a 10+.

   Ageless Form Meditation: As long as you gain focus at least once per day, you don’t age. If a sunrise and sunset pass without you drawing energy from the cosmos, immediately suffer the cumulative effects of all avoided aging.

   Shadow’s Evasion Technique (Requires Lightning-Quick Shadow Step): You can spend 2 focus to use lightning-quick shadow step not with a moment’s notice but instantly, fast enough to evade an attack or something similar. You may also use it to catch someone off guard; if you do, take +1-forward against them.

   Stone-and-Iron Body (Requires Order of the Iron Crucible): You never suffer from diseases or poisons.

   Cosmic Mediation Mastery: When you meditate, spend 1-hold to ask a question of the universe around you or an extra-planar spirit. You will be answered truthfully.

Starting Gold: 3

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- Alex

I really like the Monk. It sounds like it'd work in play, with regards to game balance and such. The addition of a Key stat and +focus made me a tad worried at first (additional complexity, and the one-stat-pony phenomenon) but I think I could get over it.

I do think that the Orders could use a few options to flesh it out as well, similar to the Paladin's Knightly Order and/or the Cleric's Deity. I'd want the Order's tenets to be defined to some degree before play starts, by the player, and for it to not simply be a fighting-ability-granting institution, ya know?

Also, you're missing the Bonds options.

Here's some racial moves!:

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Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, and Giants get the following move:
   Bad Reputation: When you carouse or check for outstanding warrants in human, elven, or dwarven lands, do so at -1. If you, personally, have built up enough good will and good name in that area, ignore this penalty.

Orc
   Cleric: When you order orcish hirelings or parley with orcs, reroll any 1s.
   Fighter: When you enter a murderous rage, take +1-ongoing to hack and slash and +1-harm ongoing and take -1 t o any other rolls. Both last until you kill a number of creatures equal to your level.
   Ranger: When undertaking a perilous journey through deserts or swamps, you automatically succeed as if you rolled 10+.
   Monk: When you meditate before a battle, choose one:
      - Take +1-damage forward.
      - Take +1-forward to hack and slash.
      - Mark XP if you’re victorious.

Goblin
   Thief: When you cause mischief or act foolishly, roll+dex. On a 10+, the MC will choose 2 or 3. On a 7-9, choose one.
      - Whatever it is, you’re not caught in a spot.
      - Someone’s distracted or caught off guard, beneficial to you.
      - Someone’s distracted or caught off guard, beneficial to your allies.
      - Your enemies underestimate you.
      Whatever is chosen, you take +1-forward when you act on it, and so do your allies.

Troll
   Fighter: Whenever you make a move that you roll for, on a 12+, heal 1d4+con hit points.

Giant
   Fighter: When you use your size and bulk to threaten someone, roll+str. On a 10+, they cave and do what you want. On a 7-9, they choose one:
      - They cave and do what you want.
      - They force your hand.

   Wizard: Giant wizards learn to channel their natural aggression into a feedback loop of magic and war - to their own detriment. When you cast a spell, you may take up to twice your con in damage. If you do, add half that amount to your roll and take +1-forward to hack and slash, volley, or defend.

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I know some people might not like these (being, as they are, "monsterous" races)... if they don't fit your setting, of course, don't use them. I like them, mostly.

- AD

I really like the Monk. It sounds like it'd work in play, with regards to game balance and such. The addition of a Key stat and +focus made me a tad worried at first (additional complexity, and the one-stat-pony phenomenon) but I think I could get over it.

Oh, every class has one or two primary stats, right? It's just that, for the monk, it's con or wis. I have tried to shy away from "Roll+key in place of X stat" type moves, though, to avoid the one stat pony issue. Focus is just another form of hold, mostly, but it's named since it's persistent and general to the class rather than specific to one move.

I do think that the Orders could use a few options to flesh it out as well, similar to the Paladin's Knightly Order and/or the Cleric's Deity. I'd want the Order's tenets to be defined to some degree before play starts, by the player, and for it to not simply be a fighting-ability-granting institution, ya know?

Oh, you're exactly right! I plan on adding a section like this that fleshes it out some. It's worth noting that everything will tend to be in a work-in-progress state.

Also, you're missing the Bonds options.

Yes, and names and look, too. I've got to add these in; for bonds, I'm not 100% sure what they should be yet.

Thanks!

- AD

On the Giant Fighter, not saying you're wrong, but interested in knowing why, instead of re-introducing the "lost" Go Aggro move from AW as the Giant Fighter's ability, why not say:

Giant Fighter
You can use +Str instead of +Cha when you Parley, and you're always considered to  have leverage on a smaller opponent.

On the Giant Fighter, not saying you're wrong, but interested in knowing why, instead of re-introducing the "lost" Go Aggro move from AW as the Giant Fighter's ability, why not say:

Giant Fighter
You can use +Str instead of +Cha when you Parley, and you're always considered to  have leverage on a smaller opponent.

That's something I waffled back and forth on a bit!

So, parley is: "When you use your personality to beguile, charm, seduce, or intimidate someone, roll+Cha."; your suggestion would make it read like "When you use your personality to beguile, charm, seduce, or intimidate someone, roll+Str.".

Probably anyone who read the move you posted would make sense of it, but it's clear that if you're using strength you're probably not beguiling, charming, or seducing someone (or maybe you could, I guess - if you're really buff, you could use that to your advantage in seduction, I suppose). Even then, I wanted something specific: "When you use your size and bulk to threaten someone" sums it up.

Also, the 7-9 options don't quite make sense to me in the context I envisioned, especially these three:

They are convinced of something you believe to be true
   -> If I'm a scary giant warrior hefting my axe at you, I don't think I'm going to convince you of any truths - only scare you or maybe make you mad.
They defend you
   -> Again, if the whole concept of the move revolves around being big and scary, I don't know why your target would defend you.
They don’t hold a grudge
   -> I'm sure almost anyone would have a grudge after a situation like this.

I feel like the two 7-9 options provided are pretty accurate for the feel I want.

Finally, I think it creates an interesting contrast; a giant warrior can choose to be big and scary and mean to get what he wants, or he can parley. And in situations where he can't use his size and toughness to instill fear, he can still try to parley.

I could be wrong, though, and I'm open to convincing either way!

- AD

Cool. I like the Monk. The hold and spend Focus thing is neat.

I like the monk but I have some text concerns...

"Hold n+key" feels like it's ambiguous between "Hold n+the actual value of your stat" and "Hold n+your stat's bonus", which unfortunately is an inescapable artifact of the weird D&D3 thing that DW does with stats and bonuses.

"When you are focused" is undefined in the text.

I'd suggest one or more of the following:

- Remove "when you are focused" effects from the class or replace with focus expenditures. (I like this best to be honest)

- Rework Cosmic Channelling as such (here I'm incorporating some other thoughts I have about this move)

Cosmic Channeling: When you take some time to gather the energy of the cosmos into yourself, roll+key. On a 10+, focus 3. On a 7-9, focus 1. On a miss, your nerves are jangled and your energies misaligned, act under fire next time you use Cosmic Channelling until you focus successfully. Spend focus 1-for-1 to: (and then whatever)

with the understanding that this move is one that you can do repeatedly in a session but it's also not free to do.

- Rebuild Cosmic Channelling and the martial arts moves in a way that is analogous to the wizard and cleric's spellbook moves. Take note of the way that Wizard and Cleric use keywords to filter spell accessibility.

On a miss, your nerves are jangled and your energies misaligned, act under fire next time you use Cosmic Channelling until you focus successfully.

This is a total aside, but something I have a recurring problem with in Dungeon World. I assume, by "Act Under Fire", you mean "Defy Danger". So, the energies are misaligned, and before I can use it again, I have to roll+Dex?? To what - duck away from the misaligned energies??

That all works perfectly find in AW, where you roll+Cool for the move. With the "grounded-in-physics" stats in DW, rolling to Defy Danger in non-physical situations is really hard to justify in the fiction.

Yeah, the original Monk post doesn't make let us know what "spending extra time and concentration" means. How much is enough? It seems too vague to me.

Oh, good point. I don't really know what the best possible way to address that is! There is no generic "add difficulty to another move" move in DW if you are taking a strict interpretation of Defy Danger.

Maybe "Defy Danger with your key stat."

Or as much as I dislike it, "Take -1 Cosmic Channelling forward (cumulative) until you are focused, Carouse, or Make Camp."

Or dump the miss effect in favor of the unspecified miss.

I like the monk but I have some text concerns...

"Hold n+key" feels like it's ambiguous between "Hold n+the actual value of your stat" and "Hold n+your stat's bonus", which unfortunately is an inescapable artifact of the weird D&D3 thing that DW does with stats and bonuses.

Oh, yes. It's modifier; I should probably say something like "If a move says +key, it means your key stat's bonus.".

"When you are focused" is undefined in the text.

I was hoping it might be clearly inferred; it means "when you have at least one focus".

I'd suggest one or more of the following:

- Remove "when you are focused" effects from the class or replace with focus expenditures. (I like this best to be honest)

- Rework Cosmic Channelling as such (here I'm incorporating some other thoughts I have about this move)

Cosmic Channeling: When you take some time to gather the energy of the cosmos into yourself, roll+key. On a 10+, focus 3. On a 7-9, focus 1. On a miss, your nerves are jangled and your energies misaligned, act under fire next time you use Cosmic Channelling until you focus successfully. Spend focus 1-for-1 to: (and then whatever)

with the understanding that this move is one that you can do repeatedly in a session but it's also not free to do.

- Rebuild Cosmic Channelling and the martial arts moves in a way that is analogous to the wizard and cleric's spellbook moves. Take note of the way that Wizard and Cleric use keywords to filter spell accessibility.

The first option's workable; most of the "focused" moves could be replaced with "spend 1" moves, probably. I don't think I want to make it more similar to the wizard/cleric, and I don't think there's a problem with the Cosmic Channeling move as such. I'd rather not provide a specific miss clause; instead, on a miss, the MC makes a move as usual.

Quote from: Shreyas on August 05, 2011, 05:51:40 PM

On a miss, your nerves are jangled and your energies misaligned, act under fire next time you use Cosmic Channelling until you focus successfully.

This is a total aside, but something I have a recurring problem with in Dungeon World. I assume, by "Act Under Fire", you mean "Defy Danger". So, the energies are misaligned, and before I can use it again, I have to roll+Dex?? To what - duck away from the misaligned energies??

That all works perfectly find in AW, where you roll+Cool for the move. With the "grounded-in-physics" stats in DW, rolling to Defy Danger in non-physical situations is really hard to justify in the fiction.

Well, defy danger is con now, right?

I've been contemplating making a "saving throw" move that's basically act under fire, but with whatever stat's most appropriate at the time, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

Yeah, the original Monk post doesn't make let us know what "spending extra time and concentration" means. How much is enough? It seems too vague to me.

Intentionally vague! I don't want to tie it down too much; instead, the specifics would depend on a few things (the monastic order's style of channeling energy, the current situation, etc...).

As a rough guideline, the basic move would be something you could use in a battle or similar action, though you might lose track of something or leave yourself open based on the current circumstances. The extra time and concentration would be closer to a caster's preparing spells; somewhere in the range of a half-hour to a few hours without any heavy distractions.