Navigating a Maze Custom Move

I'm working on converting an old Planescape adventure, "The Mazes" for play in DW. This will be my first session as GM and it's a maze dungeon. I don't care to map it out, preferring to leave it abstract. I've come up with a custom move that comes into play when the PCs are trying to get around the maze. Essentially, I have 8 "rooms" in the Maze (points of interest, really), two of which the PCs know about going in. I kind of based it on some generic dungeon moves and Undertake Perilous Journey.

When you try to reach a specific destination in the maze, roll + Int. The one who is best at solving mazes makes the roll ("Who is that? Why?") with assistance as appropriate. On a 10+, you reach your destination in good time. On a 7-9 or if you are not trying to reach a specific destination, the GM chooses one from the list below as appropriate:
•   It takes a long time to reach the destination.
•   The characters are followed to their destination.
•   The party ends up back in a place they have been before, but it has been changed.
•   The group discovers a new area or location.

It looks serviceable, but doesn't "feel" right to me. Some of the results feel like failure. And it feels forced to just make one person make the roll considering the trigger could apply to everyone. And what if they're NOT trying to reach a specific destination and are instead wandering about?

Any suggestions on cleaning it up or something better altogether?

Don't worry about saying who should roll. When someone says they're leaving a room, others either stay ir follow.  Also, people could go opposite ways.

Don't worry about saying who should roll. When someone says they're leaving a room, others either stay ir follow.  Also, people could go opposite ways.

Makes sense. So you wouldn't make "everyone" roll as in a perilous journey? Just whoever decides at that moment that they're "leading the way?" Because I can see some retconning going on the second the move is made out to be based on Int (as much as that annoys me).

Write the move out and show it to them the first time it comes up.  They'll look to the smarty pants or they won't - it'll be fun to find out.

On a miss, you get all turned around.  Take -2 forward to navigate the maze.

That should mix up who rolls a bit.

I had a similar (in intent) custom move in one of my Living Dungeon World games for navigating the halls of an abandoned dwarven city. It started off as a gain-hold move, with the party being able to spend X hold to reach their destination. It was probably too complicated, but that's the kind of thing I go for most of the time.

Eventually I scrapped that and changed it to Discern Realities (to which dwarves took +1). What I really meant was roll+Wis, though, because the options for Discern Reality don't apply all that well, for the most part. Undertake a Perilous Journey using Int or Wis, as you've done, is a good call.

I like that -2 forward and I think basing it on Wis is certainly reasonable as well. I had considered the latter previously, but it hit the editing room floor. I think I'll turn the forward into ongoing though with a reasonable end. Does this look better?

When you lead the way to a specific location in the maze, roll + Int or Wis. On a 10+, you reach your destination in good time. On a 7-9, the GM chooses one from the list below. On a 6-, you wander the maze for a while and get turned around. Take -2 ongoing to navigate the maze until you return to a familiar location.
•   You take a long time to reach the location.
•   You are followed to your destination.
•   You end up back in a place you have been before, but something has changed.
•   You stumble upon a new area or location.

I like "lead the way" because that indicates one person making the roll with or without help and doesn't necessarily mean they're in the "front" of the group during travel. But if there is tighter wording that may work better, I'm all ears.

I like this version much better. I still prefer to use Defying Danger in situations where the unfamiliar territory is filled with monsters or traps.

I like this version much better. I still prefer to use Defying Danger in situations where the unfamiliar territory is filled with monsters or traps.

In a pinch or impromptu situation, I might have used Defy Danger, but I'm not sure the move works perfectly here. "Imminent" as per the move implies that something is "in your face" or "about to happen immediately," and I'm going more for something that makes the walking about and getting places a challenge a la a maze. On the same token, I didn't want to imply a trip as long as what Perilous Journey suggests. So I think this is a decent middle ground.

As an aside, I plan on putting the "names" of the points of interest on pieces of paper and throwing them into two hats - known locations and new locations. I'll pull from whichever hat the move demands. That way it will be unknown even to me where they are going to end up next if they get a weak hit. I'll still choose one of the moves listed such that we're not going in circles the whole session though and that new areas are punctuated with the odd backtrack or follower. Those two elements (I hope) will really contribute to the feeling of traveling through an endless maze in the Deep Ethereal...

One more question - Do you think I should pick the result of a weak hit on this move... or should the players? (Goal of adventure is to get a magic sword and escape before other factions get their hands on it.) I kind of like the notion of it, but I might run into an issue when they've already hit the 8 points of interest and want to go to a "new" area. I suppose I can just improvise - after all, it's their time to waste and other people are trying for the same goal they are.

If they are trying to find something, what keeps them from always picking the new place?  If they stumble on somewhere they've already been, what keeps them from just leaving immediately and rolling again (and again, and again)?  I think I'd bake the exploration into the move so that neither of you get to decide.  (e.g. 10+ new place, 7-9 old place). 

What's the fun in finding an old place?  Is there a puzzle where you have to return to places?  Are there wandering monsters or other teams?  Is there an overall time constraint?  Maybe the maze is slowly filling with water.  Maybe you have a countdown until another team finds it and another countdown until they get it back out (first find the sword, if the countdown ends, you find the sword room with the sword gone on your next roll and then its a race to find the other group and steal it back).

If they are trying to find something, what keeps them from always picking the new place?  If they stumble on somewhere they've already been, what keeps them from just leaving immediately and rolling again (and again, and again)?  I think I'd bake the exploration into the move so that neither of you get to decide.  (e.g. 10+ new place, 7-9 old place). 

What's the fun in finding an old place?  Is there a puzzle where you have to return to places?  Are there wandering monsters or other teams?  Is there an overall time constraint?  Maybe the maze is slowly filling with water.  Maybe you have a countdown until another team finds it and another countdown until they get it back out (first find the sword, if the countdown ends, you find the sword room with the sword gone on your next roll and then its a race to find the other group and steal it back).

Good points all around. To add perspective and at the risk of being that guy who asks for help and then moves the goalposts around: Three factions (call 'em "teams") aside from the PCs are also trying to get their mitts on a magical sword which is held by a man sentenced to this endless prison maze a decade ago. They're wandering around as much as the PCs are and also know what the PCs know (the location of the exit and the location of where they came in), but nothing more. In addition to the teams and PCs wandering, the man with the sword also wanders. So do a few of the monsters (e.g. The Minotaur, a part-bull, part-golem creation whose job is to keep everyone but the man with the sword OUT of the mazes and the dabus who keep the place clean). Some of the other monsters will just stick to certain areas unless the fiction dictates otherwise in play. Nevertheless, with multiple people converging on the same goal, time is of the essence.

Accidentally backtracking to a previous location is boring, which is why I wrote in that "something has changed." That could mean any of those wandering threats are in there or something the PCs did in a given location is undone or there is a clue pointing to someplace or someone else (just spitballing here). As the move is currently written, it's also helpful to go back to a place you've been if you're taking the -2 ongoing as you can regain your bearings and lose the penalty. In any event, going back to a place you've already been, while sometimes helpful, will take time. As noted, time matters.

Given this, how does the move look now? I like the idea of baking things into the move so that I don't have to choose myself but I'm not sure how to do that. Please poke as many holes as you can in it - better now than during actual play! Thanks for your help, much obliged.