Die, monster! You don't belong in this
When you ask the OP to explain Dungeon World,
Dungeon World is a fantasy RPG built on the Apocalypse Engine. It was Kickstarted a while back to roaring success and is at the printers for proofing; you could go buy the PDF on DriveThruRPG or possibly other places I haven't checked right now.
But if you want to have yourself a game, you can also look at the entire rules text completely free.
It's here. This is basically a conversion of the rules text on GitHub into HTML - no art or extra text like examples of play. There's also a fan-made guide to using the rules, also free,
available here. The example of play starts on page 50.
When you join a game of Dungeon World,
To sign up,
!signup. Limiting this to five for right now, or as many people as I get within 24 hours, whichever.
Have a look over the Character Creation chapter in the rules and get up to stage 11, then post what you've got so far and we can hash us out some bonds.
We're starting at level 1, and for now I'd like to stick to just the races and classes spelled out in the rules.
When you play a game of Dungeon World on a discussion forum,
I'd like to see at least a post a day, upcoming holidays aside of course.
As far as posting your dice rolls go, "Die, Monster!" is currently a free campaign title over on orokos.com, so please use that.
Oh, and one more thing!
When you ask what the campaign is about,
Count Pallas has ruled the poor province of Ardenne for as long as anyone can remember. It's an open secret that he's a vampire, but his formidable personal power and general willingness to stay in his own territory have left him largely ignored by the outside world.
Until you. Until now.
One grey morning, in the rain and fog, you gather outside one of the mountain passes leading into Ardenne, and you find yourself remembering what brought you here.
(When you've made a character, pick one of these questions to answer.)
*
An innocent blithely entered the province of Ardenne one day and never came out. Who are they, and how do you know them? (answered by
Blennid Heath, halfling druid)
*
Your search for an item of great power has led you to Ardenne. What is it, and why do you want it so badly? (answered by
Astrafel, elven bard)
*
Word on the street is that the Count keeps a great treasure in his castle. What is it, and what can you cash it in for? (answered by
Lojainne, human paladin and
Vladire, human ranger)
*
The count's minions roam the countryside with impunity and a light regard for borders. You bear a scar from an encounter with them - what is it, and how did you get it? (answered by
Severik, elven fighter)
*
Your employer sent word on that they were going to the Count's castle. Who are they, and what hold do they have on you that waiting for them to leave isn't an option? (answered by
Quarol, human thief)
----
Additional thread rules (not all enforced from the beginning, if you're reading this in archives or something):
Angel Rule: You can make the Aid Another move in response to someone rolling a 6 or a 9, rather than making it ahead of time, as long as you are nearby to help them. Limit one per roll.
Better to Ask Forgiveness: If you think a move applies, name it and roll it. Even if it doesn't, that'll save some time going forward.
Every Part of the Die: When you make a roll and don't need to, the result stands for your next roll.
Conditions for Aid/Defy Danger:
When you act
despite an imminent threat or suffer a calamity, pick a stat, tell me what it says by it, and roll it.
- +str: Tell me what you're trying to push, and what you hope doesn't break. (feel free to get metaphorical. Sev was trying to push the merchants around and hoping he didn't break the peace)
- +dex: Tell me what you're racing against, and what you can't do to win. (either can't as in incapable or can't as in unwilling)
- +con: Tell me why you could do this all day, and why you really don't want to.
- +int: Tell me what fact your plan hinges on, and why you can't possibly be wrong. (The "possibly" is in massive, massive sarcasm quotes.)
- +wis: Tell me what you're focusing on, and what you mustn't ignore.
- +cha: Tell me whose sympathies you're playing to, and why they should even care.
Also, when you're rolling to aid someone, whether it's deliberate beforehand or the angel rule, tell me
what you're putting at risk to help them.
Super Armor: Armor doesn't progress linearly from 1-6 damage resistance, but through levels of super armor, written as [super armor]S[regular armor]. For every point of Super Armor, roll damage dice again and keep the lowest number.
The Super Armor progression is 0S0, 0S1, 0S2, 1S2, 1S3, 2S3, 2S4. Or: after the first two points every other point goes into Super Armor.
Posts
I'm leaning toward a druid, unless someone else had their heart set on that.
Vitals
MOVES
-Tricks of the Trade
-Backstab
-Flexible Morals
-Poisoner- Serpent's Tears
GEAR
-Dungeon Rations (1wt 4/5 uses, )
-Leather Armor (1wt, 1 armor)
-Dagger (1wt, hand)
-Short Sword (1wt, close)
-3x throwing daggers (0wt, thrown, near)
-Adventuring Gear (1wt) 4 concordance
BONDS
Severik knows incriminating details about me.
I stole something from Vladire
Blennid has my back when things go wrong.
edit: you have no idea how long I looked at the fighter sheet wanting to just do the obvious thing and make a chain-whip fighter.
Q: Your employer sent word on that they were going to the Count's castle. Who are they, and what hold do they have on you that waiting for them to leave isn't an option?
A: My employer is a powerful figure in the city's underworld. He has a brutal reputation, and I work for him only out because he is the only person who knows where my sister is.
blah I got beat'd
guess I'll go Ranger.
edit: unless I can think of a cool wizard, cleric or paladin concept
Moves
* Bend Bars, Lift Gates (roll+Str to destroy inanimate obstacles)
* Armored (ignore the clumsy tag on armor)
* Signature Weapon: A Huge, Blood-stained Axe with Serrated edges (Close range, messy, forceful, +1 damage, 2 weight).
* Merciless: When you deal damage, deal +1d4 damage.
* Scent of Blood: When you hack and slash an enemy, your next attack against that same foe deals +1d4 damage.
* Defending Armor
Equipment
Platemail armor (3 armor, 4 weight, clumsy)
2 Healing potions (0 weight)
Shield (+1 armor, 2 weight)
Bonds
I have sworn to protect Astrafel.
I worry about the ability of Quarol to survive in the dungeon.
Astrafel is soft, but I will make him hard like me.
Level 2:
Moves
* Bend Bars, Lift Gates (roll+Str to destroy inanimate obstacles)
* Armored (ignore the clumsy tag on armor)
* Signature Weapon: A Huge, Blood-stained Axe with Serrated edges (Close range, messy, forceful, +1 damage, 2 weight).
* Merciless: When you deal damage, deal +1d4 damage.
Equipment
Scale armor (2 armor, 3 weight)
2 Healing potions (0 weight)
Shield (+1 armor, 2 weight)
Bonds
I have sworn to protect Astrafel.
I worry about the ability of Quarol to survive in the dungeon.
Astrafel is soft, but I will make him hard like me.
I think the bond with Lojainne has resolved. @Grog, do you want to morph it into something like "friendly rivalry"?
Level 1:
Moves
* Bend Bars, Lift Gates (roll+Str to destroy inanimate obstacles)
* Armored (ignore the clumsy tag on armor)
* Signature Weapon: A Huge, Blood-stained Axe with Serrated edges (Close range, messy, forceful, +1 damage, 2 weight).
Equipment
Scale armor (2 armor, 3 weight)
2 Healing potions (0 weight)
Shield (+1 armor, 2 weight)
Bonds
I have sworn to protect Astrafel.
I worry about the ability of Quarol to survive in the dungeon.
Astrafel is soft, but I will make him hard like me.
Introduction
Severik was a guardian of the land until he inherited the cursed axe, Bloodletter. Its constant thirst for violence drove him to flee his home and seek out ever worthier opponents. Severik's body is a tapestry devoted to the pain he has encountered on this quest. The axe prefers to drink from the dead, but Severik has so far staved off the urges to slaughter enemies that yield. Yet as the axe's grip on his mind increases, one wonders just how long he can hold out...
Question
Q: The count's minions roam the countryside with impunity and a light regard for borders. You bear a scar from an encounter with them - what is it, and how did you get it?
A: Severik had ten fingers before his battlelust led him to Ardenne. A pack of wight-wolves liberated a few upon his ingress as a toll. He retrieved them from the belly of their alpha, but the damned things don't seem to stay on anymore.[/sopiler]
Don't forget to pick one of those five questions at the end of the original post to answer.
Quarol, what's your poison of choice (you do start with three doses of it), and optionally why? Or are you waiting to decide that?
Its the one where anyone who deals damage to the victim picks the better of two damage dice.
Also thanks, knew I forgot something.
Around his neck he wears a twig pendant, shaped like a bird's claw, clutching several gleaming feathers.
Vitals
MOVES
-Born of the Soil - Towering Mountains
-By Nature Sustained
-Spirit Tongue
-Shapeshifter
-Studied Essence
-Balance
-Thing-Talker
GEAR
-Twig Pendant (0wt)
-Hide Armor (1wt, 1 armor)
-Wooden Shield (1wt, +1 armor)
-Spear (1wt, close, thrown, near)
-Adventuring Gear (1wt), 4 uses remaining
-Jeweled Knuckle-Duster, worn
-2 Money Bags (200 coins, 2 wt total)
-Bandages (5 uses, 0 wt)
-Pipeleaf (6 uses, 0 wt)
-Tiny Vial of ashy, incensy ash/incense (0wt)
-Thieves' hand dagger, attuned
BONDS
Astrafel has tasted my blood and I his. We are bound by it. (That was one wild party.)
I have shown Quarol a secret rite of the Land.
Q: An innocent blithely entered the province of Ardenne one day and never came out. Who are they, and how do you know them?
A: A magnificent but naive hawk spirit came to Ardenne on its wanderings. It never made itself felt in the neighboring provinces after, and those who seek it say that its energy is waning. Blennid, a servant of the mountains, has sworn an oath to rescue it, and stands to gain many allies from success.
Note: Vladire's sheet here.
Quarol, pick your question, they're going fast.
Let me share a tale, my friends
Of an elf, more fair and free
Than the wind in the trees
Or the rivers and seas
With a tongue as sharp as can be
Who is this one?
This glorious son,
This elf with hair so wild?
There's fire in his eyes,
His body is lithe,
And his clothes are finely styled.
He is Astrafel, my friends!
A singer, a bard is he
With a sword at his hip
And a song on his lips
He's a hero, and he is me
Astrafel, the Elven Bard
DEX 15 (+1)
CON 12 (+0)
INT 13 (+1)
WIS 9 (+0)
CHA 16 (+2)
Alignment Good
Armor 0
HP 18
Damage d6
Moves Elf, Arcane Art, Bardic Lore, Charming and Open, A Port in the Storm
Gear A Songbook in a Forgotten Tongue, Ostentatious Clothes, a Dueling Rapier, and Adventuring Gear
Load 3/8
The Question
A: I search for a song. It is the song of the birth of my people, and it is said that the one who sings it will restore the lost kingdom of the elves to its former glory.
Also, we've got enough people that you can start filling in one or two of your character's bonds. Offer a little explanation as to what the bond means, too, as it's a bit of history between you and whoever it's with.
MOVES
-Lay on Hands
-Armored
-I am the Law
-Quest: Slay Pallas, a great blight on the land
Boons: Invulnerability to enchantment; Senses that pierce lies.
Vows: Truth, Honor
GEAR
-Scale Mail (2 armor, 3wt) and Shield (+1 armor, 2wt)
-Longsword (close, +1dmg, 1wt)
-Leatherbound Mark of Lumnos (0wt)
-Dungeon Rations (1wt) and Healing Potion (0wt)
BONDS
Meanwhile, I respect the beliefs of Blennid but hope he will someday see the true way. The spirits are capricious shades- only the gods deserve trust.
Vladire is a brave soul, I have much to learn from him. Independence and mastery over the wilds are virtues in Lumnos' eyes.
* Word on the street is that the Count keeps a great treasure in his castle. What is it, and what can you cash it in for?
- Lojainne has been tasked by the Synod of Palewood to retrieve the lost relic of Saint Askain, thought to have been lost centuries ago. What form the relic takes has been lost to the mists of time, but the Arbiters of Lumnos are certain it is in Pallas' possession.
Lojainne owes me her life, whether she admits it or not.
Severik smells more like prey than hunter.
Severik owes me his life
Severik's misguided behaviour endangers his very soul! He may have saved me from that medusa, but his servitude to Bloodletter's whims will be his undoing.
Meanwhile, I respect the beliefs of Blennid but hope he will someday see the true way.
Mark of judgment, eye of kindness
Her blade is swift, her hand a gift
From Lumnos she comes, but where does she go?
(I sang stories of Lojainne long before I met her in person.)
Remember well the thirst of Bloodletter!
In dungeons deep it drank of goblin blood
Scars and stories, we both earned ours
Severik bears the burden of might
(This is not my first adventure with Severik. and I am writing a ballad about the adventures of Severik.)
I think those three are good to start with, assuming Grog and jdarksun are cool with it.
Edit:
I have shown Quarol a secret rite of the Land.
Lojainne, you know Lumnos is not a subtle god. You are shielded from enchantment by your vow of honor and all lies sound hollow to your vow of truth. It is armor impenetrable from without. From within, however? Well, mortal souls will falter.
I have sworn to protect Astrafel.
Yeah, Elf has always struck me as being kind of a substandard fighter move, unless you're planning to multiclass or do a lot of archery. Go 'head and take human.
Or how (Blennid Heath trusted me with a secret) and now we're bound by blood.
This is cool. I like this.
I worry about the ability of Quarol to survive in the dungeon.
Astrafel is soft, but I will make them hard like me.
Yeah, this is a super cool way of lightweight shared world building.
I'm also feeling like this jump-starts my understanding of my own character and the relationships within the party, like we're getting the connections that you usually get after an intro campaign for free.
Something like "Unnerves the crap out of me (why does a halfling have horns?)".
Astrafel and I have a con running.
Severik knows incriminating details about me.
I'll wait to see what Ego's doing before finishing.
I don't know what exactly constitutes the end of a session in forum play. I figure I'll just wrap one after y'all pull off something big. BUT.
Keep in mind that you will be able to mark experience at the end of a session for resolving your bond. This works out like the 10 XP milestones in Marvel Heroic, if you're familiar - the bond doesn't have to no longer be an issue, it might turn into something entirely different. Just as an example, Severik, it might be that you don't worry about Quoral's ability to survive in the dungeon anymore and you write a different bond with someone else, or it might be that Quoral is now more of a liability than an asset.
MOVES
GEAR
BONDS
- Word on the street is that the Count keeps a great treasure in his castle. What is it, and what can you cash it in for?
The still beating heart of the lieutenant of Pallas who slaughtered the daughter of a high lord has a handsome bounty on it.(that an acceptable answer?)
Alright everyone, signups are closed, work your bonds in.
I don't know if it's how the designers intended it, but I like keeping your maximum number of bonds in line with what's in your playbook, mostly because it gives the bard more slots than anybody else and that seems right.
Any bonds over three don't have to be defined now - you can fill them in later on or write your own when the mood strikes you.