After the battle with the transmogrified guards on the defended rock-top, who to a man now lay in puddles of unnatural violaceous goo, you stand at the foot of the petrified purple worm. A wood and rope bridge connects the rock-top and tower but the only obvious entrance is through the great worm's mouth high above, accessible by way of a series of rickety staircases and rope ladders that clings to the rock.
As you catch your breath and consider your approach, the ground reverberates with an ominous tremor. This is followed by a low, muffled moan as from a great lumbering beast in the distance. A noticeable crack climbs the rockface all along the side of the petrified purple worm. Dust and rock falls with a rumble to its base. Violet ichor begins dripping from the fissure like a fresh wound.
Perhaps disturbed by the sudden shift in the great worm, a large beast takes flight from the top of the tower. Its angry roar, disturbingly leonine and human both and full of suffering, betrays its twisted nature. After a quick pass by the tower's heights, it begins circling the rock-top, beating the air with its drakelike wings as it slowly descends. A long scorpion's tail trails behind it.
In mere moments, The Manticore will be upon you and it will know you by your bloody deeds. Will caution or bravado follow in the face of the fast-approaching fiend? What do you do?
GM Move: Show Signs of Doom. Something's going to happen unless you do something about it.
I'm reserving red text to highlight threats that demand a response. Gray can be used by all for out-of-character information. For at least the first "session," I'll ask that when it's time for you to make a move, you do so without stating the results. Leave that to me so I can show the GM moves made in response to the results of the rolls. After the first session, you guys can have more liberty in determining the outcomes based on the rolls. Please post your rolls via Invisible Castle (link below).
No amount of tips, tricks, or gimmicks will ever be better than simply talking directly to your fellow players to resolve your issues. Reduce DM Prep & Increase Player Engagement:Don't Prep the Plot | Structure First, Story Last | Collaborative Roleplay | "Yes, and..." | Prep Tips Games I'm Running on Roll20: Island of the Frog | Vanguard of Dis | Star*Juice | Tesseract | The Crucible | Fimbulvetr | The Delve | Draj, City of the Moon Follow me on Twitter:@is3rith
"Hurry, everyone into the worm!" shouted Wiffleball Shuttlecock, as he pointed towards a rickety ladder, leading into the maw of the great worm. Wiffleball stops for a moment to allow the rest of the party to advance, and draws his trusty cricket bat. "Well, Mabel, looks like it's time to dance," he muttered to the bat, barely loud enough for the party to hear. He had not touched Mabel for seven long years, and prior to today, had only used her for hitting cricket balls. Wiffleball takes up a position in the rear to Defend the party {2d6+1 → [2,1,1] = (4)}, but quickly finds that navigating the rickety ladder is taking his full concentration.
The rickety rope ladders and stairways will take some time to navigate, switching back and forth as it does up the whole length of the worm. It may also be dangerous if you are engaged in battle while trying to scale it.
Golden Opportunity (Miss, Defend): Put Someone in a Spot
The manticore notices the commotion and catches sight of the slain guards. It assumes the worst and hisses and growls, winging over to dive on Wiff. Big as it is, it looks like it will attempt to snatch the halfling right off the rock-top and carry him away for a snack or worse.
As it draws closer, you can make out its hissing, hateful face, the aspect that makes the manticore so cruel an experiment... a knight of the Bright Sisterhood, recognizable by Cal Saintson and branded with a mockery of the mark of denial has been married to the creature with twisted magic.
No amount of tips, tricks, or gimmicks will ever be better than simply talking directly to your fellow players to resolve your issues. Reduce DM Prep & Increase Player Engagement:Don't Prep the Plot | Structure First, Story Last | Collaborative Roleplay | "Yes, and..." | Prep Tips Games I'm Running on Roll20: Island of the Frog | Vanguard of Dis | Star*Juice | Tesseract | The Crucible | Fimbulvetr | The Delve | Draj, City of the Moon Follow me on Twitter:@is3rith
Wiffleball stares the manticore in the eyes as it dives upon him, waiting for it to commit to an attack. At the last moment, using his small size to his advantage, Wiffleball dives out of the way of the manticore's claws {Defy Danger, Dex, 2d6+3 → [3,2,3] = (8)}
You dodge out of the way at the very last second, avoiding being carried away by the angry manticore. Trailing behind it, of course, is that nasty scorpion's tail, the tip of which just lightly grazes your leg as you tumble. But it's enough. Barely half a breath later and you can already feel the poison surging through your veins...
Hard Bargain (Weak Hit, Defy Danger): Take 3 hp damage (1 piercing) and you're poisoned. Doing certain things going forward maymean "defying the danger" of the poison afflicting you.
The manticore is a short distance away from the group just a few feet off the ground, beating its wings hard to get back into the air. It hisses and growls unspeakable curses at you as its chitinous tail whips back and forth to protect its flank. Wiff is too off-balance to go after the beast, but someone else might be able to get at it before it takes flight.
GM Move: Offer an Opportunity with Cost. Someone can have at the manticore if they want before it takes off. Approaching the manticore may be "defying the danger" of its stinging tail.
Also, for you new folks, there is no initiative in Dungeon World. To do a thing, just say so. If what you want to do qualifies as a move, you'll roll. If not, we'll just figure out the result. The important thing to remember is that your moves come out of the fiction. In other words, you don't "activate" moves. You just do things. Sometimes those things will be moves. Remember to build your actions from existing fiction ("Yes, and...") and you can't go far wrong.
Who will manage to act before the manticore gets back into the air?
No amount of tips, tricks, or gimmicks will ever be better than simply talking directly to your fellow players to resolve your issues. Reduce DM Prep & Increase Player Engagement:Don't Prep the Plot | Structure First, Story Last | Collaborative Roleplay | "Yes, and..." | Prep Tips Games I'm Running on Roll20: Island of the Frog | Vanguard of Dis | Star*Juice | Tesseract | The Crucible | Fimbulvetr | The Delve | Draj, City of the Moon Follow me on Twitter:@is3rith
Seeing the beast about to spring into the air, Cal slings his sword, hefts his shield, and then charges in, burly arms out for a tackle. Either he'll ground the creature, or it will bear him up - and up is where the group needs utimately to be.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
Sounds like getting in on the manticore will come with the risk of being stung due to its readiness and reach. Defy Danger (Dex or Int) please.... On a 10+, you get past its tail and get your mits on it unscathed. On a 7-9, you'll get your mits on it and get scratched with its stinger. In either event, you'll have tackled the beast and can decide whether it lifts off with you or you ground it with your burly, heavily-armored self. (You tell us.)On a 6-, we're in golden opportunity territory and Bright Sisters help you.
Also, backing up a step as a reminder: Wiffleball, mark XP for missing on Defend!
No amount of tips, tricks, or gimmicks will ever be better than simply talking directly to your fellow players to resolve your issues. Reduce DM Prep & Increase Player Engagement:Don't Prep the Plot | Structure First, Story Last | Collaborative Roleplay | "Yes, and..." | Prep Tips Games I'm Running on Roll20: Island of the Frog | Vanguard of Dis | Star*Juice | Tesseract | The Crucible | Fimbulvetr | The Delve | Draj, City of the Moon Follow me on Twitter:@is3rith
The manticore seems to anticipate Cal's attack, as if it's familiar with Sisterhood battle training, or simply with Cal himself. It whips its tail below Cal's guard, and buries its stinger in his thigh, but is not able to arrest the man's charge. Cal barrels into the manticore, just as the manticore takes flight. It howls to find its ropy main grabbed by the weight of the armored man, but its wings bear it upward all the same. Beneath the howl can be heard Cal's voice yelling "Run!"
His exhortation delivered, Cal addresses his steed and captor: "Our service doesn't end, except in death, Cousin. I know you still know this. Deliver me to the entrance, and I will judge your duties fulfilled."
Hard Bargain (Weak Hit, Defy Danger): Take 3 damage (1 piercing) and you're poisoned. Doing certain things going forward maymean "defying the danger" of the poison afflicting you.
The manticore howls and hisses at your demand, but on some level, you reach the noble servant of the House of Bright Sisters that this monstrosity once was and so it complies! It beats the air with its wings and begins clumsily flying upward to the worm's gullet. Long filled in with stone and earth, the maw is now basically the flat top of a tower. Emerging from a trap door in the floor are three twisted human guards, bows slung over their shoulders. They look up in confusion as the manticore approaches with a rider...
The Sitch: The party, poisoned halfling in tow, are ready to scale the rickety staircases, rope ladders, and handholds to reach the top. You can make it safely to the top while the guards are distracted and arrive just about the time the manticore and Cal Saintson land hard on the tower. However, Wiff is not looking well and hustling to the top could exacerbate his condition.
GM Move: Offer an Opportunity with Cost. Barring any other ideas, we can advance the scene to the top of the tower with Wiff definitely suffering some side effects of the poison (no roll). The guards will have been distracted and the journey to the top safe enough. Or you can take some actions to deal with the poison and/or make ranged attacks, etc., but the guards will not be distracted and your journey to the top may be dangerous. First person to post who hasn't yet posted makes the call.
What do you do?
No amount of tips, tricks, or gimmicks will ever be better than simply talking directly to your fellow players to resolve your issues. Reduce DM Prep & Increase Player Engagement:Don't Prep the Plot | Structure First, Story Last | Collaborative Roleplay | "Yes, and..." | Prep Tips Games I'm Running on Roll20: Island of the Frog | Vanguard of Dis | Star*Juice | Tesseract | The Crucible | Fimbulvetr | The Delve | Draj, City of the Moon Follow me on Twitter:@is3rith
Sorry for not posting earlier, I didn't get a chance! to get on the computer yesterday.
Rook motions for the others to follow him to the top while the guards are distracted. After all, he makes a living by seizing oppurunities. Wiff has a tough time keeping up with the group up the rope laddes due to his poisoning, but manages it. Once the group reaches the top of the tower, Rook turns back, moving up behind one of the distracted guards and placing a cloth over his mouth. The cloth is covered with a viscous, sweet smelling golden liquid, much like honey,
I'm trying to use Goldenroot on him. It's Applied, so I think rubbing it into his mouth would be enough. I'm not 100% sure though. I'll make a Defy Danger check to dodge his flailing hands, and if I suceed my next action would be to back off and then introduce myself, to reap the benefits of the Goldenroot. This is pretty iffy in the rules department though, so let me know if it's impossible.
We summoned a devil once. All we used was the D&D books, too. It was pretty kwazy.
God of Arrested Development and Intelligence Resident Left Hand of Stalin and Banana Stand Grandstander Pie-Cooling-On-A-Windowsill of the House of Trolls In the morning HK'll be sober but you'll still be a meatbag. I know I misspell "Danke" in my posts. It's an inside joke. "Ten cents gets you nuts." -George Michael Spoiler:Show
''Being president is like running a cemetery: you've got a lot of people under you and nobody's listening.'' —Bill Clinton
You are not a moral man. There are not enough middle fingers in the world for you.
"Heroes"...I wish I had those. I remember in my first-ever campaign one PC went around shootin all the unconscious baddies in the head to gain Dark Side Points...
Whaaaaaat?!??
Wow...way to waste perfectly good potential slaves.
Er...no wait I mean..uh...something not evil!
(Quotes screwed up on the next one, won't give the poster's name. It's in the Best Lines thread on the D&D forum)
First, an experience from a game I played in a few years back. Our DM didn't like 3.5 as a whole but liked parts of it. So he hands us a big ass rules packet for his modified FR campaign, complete with quotes from important NPC's on the front. I can't remember most of the HRs, just that some how gods like Cyric and Bhaal existed at the same time, despite the obvious problems there. In the end the game became a problem more because of the railroading than the HRs, but it ended with this classic line, after our ranger tried to disarm the strange woman following us WITH HIS BOW: DM: You just killed (insert random noble sounding name here) JP: Was she important? Jack: Dude, she's quoted on the front of the rules packet!
"Why in the wide,wide, world of all things irrational would I help you? -Daniel Jackson "Fun will now commence." -Seven of Nine
Cut the last encounter on your way out after dealing with the Darth. He's the BBEG. Treat him as such. Play up that Darth Revan is THAT much of a badarse. When the shuttle landed, I had no less than 13 JEDI MASTERS step off the shuttle. The PCs were slack-jawed. After the meetup with Bastila (as she's carrying Revan's body), only TWO jedi masters remained with her. Let me tell you, the player whining about not getting to fight Revan himself shut up pretty quickly when he saw that.
1. Cleric cast protection from fire on Tank. 2. Tank goes in and get surrounded by enemies. 3. Wizard cast fireball and blows them up. 4. ??? 5. Profit
I go by the saying," If it ain't friendly fire then it's not working."
