Dungeon World Campaign #2

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:21 am

Once again I'm going to assume that its a hack and slash and do the rolling stuff now just because I have a few free moments prior to lunch. I'll spoiler it so that we can ignore it if something else needs to happen.

Spoiler:

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 10:09 am

Oh, sorry, did you miss where I said it was dead?

The situation is as follows - the rancor is dead, killed by Ere as the rest of the party (except for Zordan and maybe Omar (in case something happens to that dagger and the trap needs to be deactivated again) rapples down via the rope.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 10:10 am

Madmarcus wrote:Hearing the commotion from the trap door Ere glances back, "Come on down. It's much better than a room full of traps." Turning back to the creature he moves to stay on the blinded side. Blocking any swipes with its claws with short controlled swings of the ax he tries to herd it into the wall so that it can't avoid a killing blow to the back of the head.

(BTW, I looked up a picture of a rancor earlier.but the one that I found didn't have anything to show a scale. I just looked it up again to see whether it really had a neck and this time I saw more pictures with bigger scale. It doesn't change anything except my mental picture I guess but I thought it was sort of funny)

You've never seen Return of the Jedi???

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Tue May 24, 2016 10:56 am

IceBear wrote: You've never seen Return of the Jedi???

Not since the mid-80's. I loved Star Wars but for whatever reason I didn't really get in to the sequels. It was only this morning that I figured out where it came from.

Of course I also missed that you said it was dead. Somehow I read it as it was near death and you figured it would die soon. In that case.

Ere turns to everyone, "I finally found something to hit; I was getting tired of traps. I still think that the table up above is some sort of puzzle but I should have listened to your warnings about traps Omar." He then collects his throwing axe and waves Dar over to shine some light into the area from which the beast came.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 11:17 am

As Dar shines his light into where the creature laired, you can see a pile of old bones, most of which are yellow and brittle and all from humanoids of some type.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Tue May 24, 2016 11:49 am

Omar glances around thinking there isn't much to see...or is there? He begins a more thorough search of the room starting with the pile of bones.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 11:50 am

Roll a Discern Realities for searching through the pile of bones (2D6+WIS)

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:18 pm

"It seems a little odd that a trap in an abandoned looking ruin leads to a well fed creature such as this. Omar, while you look through those bones I'm going to look for some other entrance to this area."

Do we still have two lights (Rurgosh and Dar)? If so Ere will ask one of them to come with him as he looks beyond the bones for some way out. If that doesn't uncover something he'll search the walls of the main area now that there is more light. Nothing fancy; just looking for obvious stuff.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:22 pm

Going to wait for Omar's roll first...might impact.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:37 pm

Madmarcus wrote:"It seems a little odd that a trap in an abandoned looking ruin leads to a well fed creature such as this. Omar, while you look through those bones I'm going to look for some other entrance to this area."

Do we still have two lights (Rurgosh and Dar)? If so Ere will ask one of them to come with him as he looks beyond the bones for some way out. If that doesn't uncover something he'll search the walls of the main area now that there is more light. Nothing fancy; just looking for obvious stuff.

Rurgosh will go with Ere if this happens.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:47 pm

IceBear wrote:Roll a Discern Realities for searching through the pile of bones (2D6+WIS)

Thanks for the reminder. Sadly, I needed it.

Checking bones.: 2D6 - 1 = [4, 4]-1 = 7

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 4:20 pm

From the SRD on the first post:

Discern Realities

When you closely study a situation or person, roll+Wis. ✴On a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below. ✴On a 7–9, ask 1.

Either way, take +1 forward when acting on the answers.

What happened here recently?
What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Who’s really in control here?
What here is not what it appears to be?
To discern realities you must closely observe your target. That usually means interacting with it or watching someone else do the same. You can’t just stick your head in the doorway and discern realities about a room. You’re not merely scanning for clues—you have to look under and around things, tap the walls, and check for weird dust patterns on the bookshelves. That sort of thing.

Discerning realities isn’t just about noticing a detail, it’s about figuring out the bigger picture. The GM always describes what the player characters experience honestly, so during a fight the GM will say that the kobold mage stays at the other end of the hall. Discerning realities could reveal the reason behind that: the kobold’s motions reveal that he’s actually pulling energy from the room behind him, he can’t come any closer.

Just like spout lore, the answers you get are always honest ones. Even if the GM has to figure it out on the spot. Once they answer, it’s set in stone. You’ll want to discern realities to find the truth behind illusions—magical or otherwise.

Unless a move says otherwise players can only ask questions from the list. If a player asks a question not on the list the GM can tell them to try again or answer a question from the list that seems equivalent.

Of course, some questions might have a negative answer, that’s fine. If there really, honestly is nothing useful or valuable here, the GM will answer that question with “Nothing, sorry.”

Omar: I don’t trust this room—I’m going to poke around a little. I take out my tools and start messing with stuff. I pull candlesticks and tap the walls with my hammer. My usual tricks.

GM: Discern realities?

Omar: Oh yes. I discern all the realities. I got a 12. I want to know “What here is not as it appears to be?”

GM: Well, it’s obvious to you that the wall on the north side of the room has a hollow spot. The stones are newer and the mortar is fresher, probably a hidden alcove or passageway.

Omar: I want to ask another one. “Who sealed the room.”

GM: That’s not on the list, so I’m going pretend you asked “What happened here recently.” Looking at the stonework, you notice the wall actually bends out in places. The work is shoddy and awful—looks to you like the work of goblins. The only way it’d get bent out that way, though, is if there was something pushing it from within.

Omar: So either the goblins blocked it from the other side, or there’s something in there that tried to get out.

GM: Bingo.

Since you rolled a 7, you get to ask ONE of the following questions:

What happened here recently?
What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Who’s really in control here?
What here is not what it appears to be?

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Tue May 24, 2016 4:56 pm

Omar pokes around in the pile of bones. Nothing seems particularly interesting so he tries to dig a little further. Maybe something unusual will show itself, asking himself "What here is not what it appears to be?"

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 5:11 pm

Hmmmm....totally not the question that I was expecting.

As you start to look through the bones you swat aside some of the flies and you notice that some of them are making a strange buzzing sound. Looking at them you notice that the further into the tunnel the slower they appear to move. The one furthest away is barely moving its wings (at least to your eyes).

It seems like the further into the tunnel the slower time seems to move...which might account for how the creature managed to survive so long without food

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:23 pm

Dar being Omar's light, after Omar is done (let the trapfinder find the traps), decides to poke around the bones/area as well.

Discern Realities?

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:27 pm

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:31 pm

Discern Realities of bone (Wis):: 2D6+2 = [6, 6]+2 = 14

And much reality was discerned.

These 2 for sure:

What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?

Stuck between these 2:
What is about to happen?
Who’s really in control here?

Think I'll go with A - What is about to happen?

(Don't think Who's really in control here is going to tell me what I would really want to know).

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 6:00 am

Hmmmm....most of those are going to be hard for what was, in my mind, just a pile of bones with some treasure in it. Now I need to think about it for a bit.

Edit: Okay, got answers to the questions and from my pre edit response you will now see that you have created something in the world

Peering amongst the bones, you make out a glint of metal. Looking closer you can see it's the buckle from a strap of a backpack.

As you start moving some of the bones you can see scrapes on them from the massive teeth of the rancor. However, you can also see similar marks superimposed over them by smaller teeth. It seems like when the rancor was finished with it's meal some smaller version of it had the leftovers. As for what's about to happen, as Omar is looking at the slow moving fly he can see at least 8 pairs of red eyes start to appear out of the darkness. Unlike the dead rancor, these eyes only appear to be 7 ft off the ground

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Wed May 25, 2016 7:51 am

OOC: I sometimes wonder about discern realities. Feels like it's going to force us into an encounter rather than when we are more just looking for basic information, as just happened here. Other times, it feels like we are playing a game of "Stump the GM!"

- fortunately, IB is good at that game.

IC: Dar shouts out to the group "Looks like that thing had kids and they're coming for the leftovers!" I don't think I want to send Shadow into the weird time slowing effect, but arrows on the other hand... Dar targets the nearest one and starts shooting.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:08 am

The thing is...it's boring for me to "Nothing" when someone asks "What's about to happen?" Just like when Omar asks "What's here that's not as it appears?" the question implies that the player thinks something unusual is there so rather than say "Nothing" I have to come up with something unusual

If this was a face to face real time game I would probably ask some more probing questions to find out what you might think was about to happen so it wouldn't necessarily be an encounter.

When you shoot your arrow into the tunnel it starts slowing down. The speed at which it's moving tells you it will be minutes before it hits anything. Which means that it'll be minutes before any of the creatures will be in "real time"

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:15 am

OOC - Sometimes, maybe we just need to not ask all 3 questions as well. But it's like - I get 3 questions... and as happened here, really only had 2 questions. But hey, don't want to waste the third question, maybe something I'm not thinking of will come up - or maybe IB will get a chance to build more of the world than he expected right now.

It's fun and I am enjoying the game greatly (not complaining at all), just commenting on some mechanics that seem a little odd at times is all. Discern realities is sort of like a D&D search - about as close as the game seems to get. Search - you roll well, you find what is there. Discern realities - you roll well, you find what you asked for. Even if it wasn't going to be there until you asked.

I assume that's actually intentional to help with the world building nature of this game where you are largely building it on the fly in response to our actions and responses.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:15 am

Zenn7 wrote:OOC: I sometimes wonder about discern realities. Feels like it's going to force us into an encounter rather than when we are more just looking for basic information, as just happened here. Other times, it feels like we are playing a game of "Stump the GM!" - fortunately, IB is good at that game.

I agree that IB is good at it.

This game is my first experience with DW but, to me, it is an interesting balancing act. Discern Realities is powerful. When it works it can provide true and useful information. Combine that with the idea that "there really is nothing special here" is a fairly dull result and it makes sense that it can get us into trouble. It does seem to set up an interesting conflict in my mind though since I'm used to playing more simulationist games and it adds a big dollop of narrativism (if the protagonists look for secrets here the game should have them find secrets)

{Back to IC]
"Zordan, now might be a good time for some fire while they are down the passage and we are back here." Ere moves to stand off to the side of the passages opening while he wonders if flames hurt more in a region of slowed time or if, perhaps, they hurt the same because they burn slower?

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:20 am

Yeah...I lot of the weirdness you are seeing is because it's not real time. So rather than have a back and forth with the player asking the question to probe deeper into the fiction that he thinks might be happening I am stuck with coming up with the answers on my own which will often be way off the mark from what the player thought

The other thing that I have been trying to reinforce is if there's something to find I will tell you. If there's something of interest that it's reasonable for a character to spot then you will spot it without a roll. The Discern Realities roll is more for when it takes more effort. I probably should have had the buckle found without a roll but Omar is lagging in XP so when he started poking into the bones I figured I would give him a chance to fail a roll

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:37 am

BTW the main difference between DW and D&D, coming from someone who has been DMing D&D since 1984 is preparing for the adventure. In D&D I planned the adventure in detail...the plot, drew maps and planned the encounters and placed treasure. I have done none of that for this game. I have a super high level idea of what is going on but that's it. All this time magic stuff just morphed into the story based on rolls and decisions. Go to the Gamemastering section of the SRD link on the first page and you'll see the Agenda the GM has in DW - Play to see what happens is one of the three msin agenda items. It's not just the PCs playing to find out what happens, it's the GM too. What the players do and decide creates the world...Spout Lore and Discern Realities are two of the biggest ways

bb2112 · Post by **bb2112** » Wed May 25, 2016 2:27 pm

Madmarcus wrote:
{Back to IC]
"Zordan, now might be a good time for some fire while they are down the passage and we are back here." Ere moves to stand off to the side of the passages opening while he wonders if flames hurt more in a region of slowed time or if, perhaps, they hurt the same because they burn slower?

How can Zordan resist the chance to light something on fire. Zordan goes to the entrance of the hall and shoots a blast down the hallway.

Spoiler:

In another vein:
Is there any other obvious way out of this room other than the hall and back up the ramp? I wonder if there is a something here that would untrigger the time slow down affect down the hall so we could explore it?

I can't remember the description of the room up above and don't have time to look for it right now, but was there an obvious path down that room?

Just not sure what our next move is and I am also not sure we should wait around for the eyes to get here. It seems like we should be pushing forward, but I am not sure where we should be going.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:15 pm

Here there doesn't appear to be any more ways out of here. Above there was the puzzle with the statue and swords but that's about it.

As your fire hits the time distortion some of it deflects back upon the pile of bones and some of the dried vegetation and clothing catches on fire. That said in several minutes from now you'll catch 3 of the rancor you blinds on fire when your fire finally reaches them.

Based on the rate of movement you figure that you could climb out of here before they got out of the time distortion. You might even have enough time to get at whatever is in the backpack under the bones first

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:30 pm

Dar open the backpack and search/remove the contents.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:46 pm

Zenn7 wrote:Dar open the backpack and search/remove the contents.

Well, it is under a huge pile of bones that are now partly on fire. Describe how you are digging out the backpack (and possibly there might be more as you start digging in there) while avoiding the fire and/or havingthe massive bone pile fall on you in your rush

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Wed May 25, 2016 10:18 pm

Is the fire something I can put out fairly quickly (beat it down with whatever cloth is around or a blanket or cloak or something?).

Guess the bone pile is bigger than I realized. Can I stick my hand in the backpack and feel around? If not, does it look like I could push the pile at a certain point or pull out certain bones, causing the bone pile to collapse/fall away from the backpack and make it more accessible?

The rest of the party is welcome to chime in here.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu May 26, 2016 6:23 am

Zenn7 wrote:Is the fire something I can put out fairly quickly (beat it down with whatever cloth is around or a blanket or cloak or something?).

Guess the bone pile is bigger than I realized. Can I stick my hand in the backpack and feel around? If not, does it look like I could push the pile at a certain point or pull out certain bones, causing the bone pile to collapse/fall away from the backpack and make it more accessible?

The rest of the party is welcome to chime in here.

The bone pile is about 10ft high. It was so big that you had to make a Discern Realities roll just to see the backpack. You can try to beat out the fire if you want...it's fairly spread out amongst the bones so it'll take some time but it's not that big yet.

Another Discern Realities roll might let you spot a good place to push to collapse the bone pile

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Thu May 26, 2016 8:03 am

If the fire looks like I could maybe push the bone pile over without getting burned and then just deal with the portion of the fire around the backpack, I'll do the discern realities check first.

Otherwise, I'll beat out the fire (and request help from the party to get it done quicker) and then discern realities.

Discern Realities for bone pile push point (Wis): : 2D6+2 = [5, 6]+2 = 13

(I'm assuming that as I have a specific goal, I should not be asking 3 questions here, but that this covers what I am trying to figure out with the bone pile).

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Thu May 26, 2016 8:21 am

Ere uses his ax (to avoid getting burned) to push bones out of the way or to hold them up to allow Dar to reach in.

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Thu May 26, 2016 8:51 am

Madmarcus wrote:Ere uses his ax (to avoid getting burned) to push bones out of the way or to hold them up to allow Dar to reach in.

I knew I could count on you when I axe'd for help!

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu May 26, 2016 9:45 am

Zenn7 wrote:If the fire looks like I could maybe push the bone pile over without getting burned and then just deal with the portion of the fire around the backpack, I'll do the discern realities check first.

Otherwise, I'll beat out the fire (and request help from the party to get it done quicker) and then discern realities.

Discern Realities for bone pile push point (Wis): : 2D6+2 = [5, 6]+2 = 13

(I'm assuming that as I have a specific goal, I should not be asking 3 questions here, but that this covers what I am trying to figure out with the bone pile).

The move says you ask 3 questions, so you must ask. Maybe with each question you could put your thoughts with them so I have an idea of what you're expecting with the answer?

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu May 26, 2016 9:48 am

Madmarcus wrote:Ere uses his ax (to avoid getting burned) to push bones out of the way or to hold them up to allow Dar to reach in.

I'm going to axe you (:P) to roll your Bend Bars / Lift Gates, just because I want to see if I can complicate your lives this morning like an a-hole

bb2112 · Post by **bb2112** » Thu May 26, 2016 10:10 am

IceBear wrote:
Madmarcus wrote:Ere uses his ax (to avoid getting burned) to push bones out of the way or to hold them up to allow Dar to reach in.
I'm going to axe you (:P) to roll your Bend Bars / Lift Gates, just because I want to see if I can complicate your lives this morning like an a-hole

OOC:
Well... at least IB is clear that he is going to F' with you.

IC:
Not sure if there is room in the hallway for Zordan to help, but if there is, then he will aid the human in clearing the flaming debris from the back pack. And pick up anything shiny that may be worth something while he is doing it.

I have 1 bond with Ere.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Thu May 26, 2016 11:06 am

IceBear wrote:
Madmarcus wrote:Ere uses his ax (to avoid getting burned) to push bones out of the way or to hold them up to allow Dar to reach in.
I'm going to axe you (:P) to roll your Bend Bars / Lift Gates, just because I want to see if I can complicate your lives this morning like an a-hole

[I was wondering what you'd pick. I figured it could be any of ...
no roll, just succeed
roll +bonds to aid Dar
bend bars...
the generic defy danger
or even something else]

Shoving the burning bones away: 2D6+2 = [5, 4]+2 = 11 plus the additional +2 piercing on the result because you axe'd me to roll.

I think you were thinking of Rurgosh or Zordan. They are the ones who complicate things.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Thu May 26, 2016 11:36 am

Madmarcus wrote:I think you were thinking of Rurgosh or Zordan. They are the ones who complicate things.

Hey! I resemble that remark.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu May 26, 2016 11:45 am

Yeah, if you weren't in a hurry I'd just have to do it without a roll. If it was someone else, it would have been Defy Danger, but your character has a move that seldom gets used and seemed to fit so I went with it

Ere quickly studies the pile of bones, noticing where his force would have the maximum impact, and then with a mighty swing of his axe, topples the pile of flaming bones into the direction of the approaching rancors. Dar then quickly dashes in to pick up the backpack, which he notices is still being worn by a surprisingly intact dwarven skeleton (assuming it was eaten and passed by the rancor). Dar notices that the dwarven skeleton is wearing leather armor, which has many holes from teeth and being partially digested (as does the backpack), but the leather boots it is wearing still looks in pristine condition.

Obviously, no need for questions or bond roll now.

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Thu May 26, 2016 7:06 pm

Can Dar pull the dwarf skeleton out to get the pack and the pristine boots? The boots survived the digestion very well, maybe something really special about them.