I’m currently thinking about House Rules for a DW Western Marches campaign. What are your favorite house rules and custom moves you’ve run into?
My current ideas involve loot abstraction, and encumbrance. I’m also considering using Advantage/Disadvantage though it seems a little OP.
Whatcha got?
If you wanted to make Advantage/Disadvantage less OP you could let them only reroll one of their dice and take the better result. Or worse result on disadvantage.
I like the loot abstraction idea. What exactly did you mean by that?
As far as custom moves go, any West Marches games I’ve seen can get a bit deadly. So here are two I made to help the characters out when things get dicey.
Run Away
When your party decides to retreat, determine who is the leader. When the leader uses their talents to help everyone escape, they describe how they do it and roll+STAT. On a 10+ you get everyone clear of danger, no worse for wear. On a 7-9 choose two:
– You escape without further injury
– Your party does not get separated
– You don’t leave anything valuable behind
Take a -1 to your roll for each member of your party who is over their max load or who currently has an injury or debility that would hinder your retreat.
Play Possum
When you feign death after taking damage, give your best death rattle, fall prone, and Roll+CHA. On a 10+, Hold 3. On a 7-9, Hold 1.
As long as you play dead, you may spend hold, 1 for 1, to choose an option:
-Use an item without betraying your ruse
-Prevent suspicion from someone closely inspecting or looting your body
-Sneak attack and deal your damage to something nearby. If it isn’t a killing blow, lose remaining Hold.
-Escape to safety at an opportune time (ask the GM when) and lose remaining Hold.
I don’t remember if I made Play Possum or found it and made changes to it. But those are two I thought would help your players survive a little better.
Also there is my Dungeon Crawl move altered from Jason Cordova’s original move for exploring labyrinthine structures.
Dungeon Crawl
When you spend your time trying to make your way through a dungeon, maze or other labyrinthine structure, describe how you do it and roll +STAT. On a 12+ gain 2 hold. On a 10-11 gain 1 hold. On a 7-9 gain one hold, but you also encounter one of the dungeon’s dangers. On a 6- lose 1 hold and you encounter a danger. You may spend 3 hold at any time to find what you are looking for in the dungeon. You may also spend 1 hold at any time to discover one of the dungeon’s treasures. Describe the room you find it in when you do.
If you wanted to make Advantage/Disadvantage less OP you could let them only reroll one of their dice and take the better result. Or worse result on disadvantage.
I like the loot abstraction idea. What exactly did you mean by that?
As far as custom moves go, any West Marches games I’ve seen can get a bit deadly. So here are two I made to help the characters out when things get dicey.
Run Away
When your party decides to retreat, determine who is the leader. When the leader uses their talents to help everyone escape, they describe how they do it and roll+STAT. On a 10+ you get everyone clear of danger, no worse for wear. On a 7-9 choose two:
– You escape without further injury
– Your party does not get separated
– You don’t leave anything valuable behind
Take a -1 to your roll for each member of your party who is over their max load or who currently has an injury or debility that would hinder your retreat.
Play Possum
When you feign death after taking damage, give your best death rattle, fall prone, and Roll+CHA. On a 10+, Hold 3. On a 7-9, Hold 1.
As long as you play dead, you may spend hold, 1 for 1, to choose an option:
-Use an item without betraying your ruse
-Prevent suspicion from someone closely inspecting or looting your body
-Sneak attack and deal your damage to something nearby. If it isn’t a killing blow, lose remaining Hold.
-Escape to safety at an opportune time (ask the GM when) and lose remaining Hold.
I don’t remember if I made Play Possum or found it and made changes to it. But those are two I thought would help your players survive a little better.
Also there is my Dungeon Crawl move altered from Jason Cordova’s original move for exploring labyrinthine structures.
Dungeon Crawl
When you spend your time trying to make your way through a dungeon, maze or other labyrinthine structure, describe how you do it and roll +STAT. On a 12+ gain 2 hold. On a 10-11 gain 1 hold. On a 7-9 gain one hold, but you also encounter one of the dungeon’s dangers. On a 6- lose 1 hold and you encounter a danger. You may spend 3 hold at any time to find what you are looking for in the dungeon. You may also spend 1 hold at any time to discover one of the dungeon’s treasures. Describe the room you find it in when you do.
Here’s my work-in-progress collection of strictly unnecessary custom moves, “Drowning and Falling.”
docs.google.com – Drowning and Falling: Custom Moves for DW
Here’s my work-in-progress collection of strictly unnecessary custom moves, “Drowning and Falling.”
docs.google.com – Drowning and Falling: Custom Moves for DW
Jeremy Strandberg Scott Selvidge
Loot Abstraction
Valuables found in the course of adventuring are represented as “Loot”. Characters can sell their Loot for coin, or attempt to get a valuable item out of it. NPCs will not accept raw Loot as payment. Each PC can carry up to 3 Loot. Characters with a STR of +3 or better can carry up to 5 Loot. Loot can be traded between characters for encumbrance purposes.
When a PC sells their Loot in town they roll +CHA. Other PCs may contribute all their Loot to give a bonus per PC/Advantage on the roll. On a 7-9 the Loot is exchanged for coin, 10 coin per Loot. On a miss, they don’t want your filthy grave-pickings. On a 10+ Pick one per contributing PC.
* Get 25 coin per Loot
* Refresh all uses of Adventuring gear, Tomes, Ammo, etc.
* It is a non-magical, non-weapon item (book, poison, etc).
* A minor magic item
* (still working on other choices)
If you roll a 12+ the loot contains a serious business magical item! The GM will describe it for you. If this is the result, ALL of the loot contributed represents the magic item and you and the contributing PCs get no other choices.
Jeremy Strandberg Scott Selvidge
Loot Abstraction
Valuables found in the course of adventuring are represented as “Loot”. Characters can sell their Loot for coin, or attempt to get a valuable item out of it. NPCs will not accept raw Loot as payment. Each PC can carry up to 3 Loot. Characters with a STR of +3 or better can carry up to 5 Loot. Loot can be traded between characters for encumbrance purposes.
When a PC sells their Loot in town they roll +CHA. Other PCs may contribute all their Loot to give a bonus per PC/Advantage on the roll. On a 7-9 the Loot is exchanged for coin, 10 coin per Loot. On a miss, they don’t want your filthy grave-pickings. On a 10+ Pick one per contributing PC.
* Get 25 coin per Loot
* Refresh all uses of Adventuring gear, Tomes, Ammo, etc.
* It is a non-magical, non-weapon item (book, poison, etc).
* A minor magic item
* (still working on other choices)
If you roll a 12+ the loot contains a serious business magical item! The GM will describe it for you. If this is the result, ALL of the loot contributed represents the magic item and you and the contributing PCs get no other choices.
Edward Hickcox what’s the goal/purpose behind abstracting treasure into Loot?
It seems like in play you’d end up with “you rummage through the tomb and find 3 Loot.” “Ooh, what did we find?” “3 Loot.” “Oh, uh… okay.”
Like, it seems to be dissuading everyone from engaging with the fiction. What did we find? How did it get here? Can we transport it home? Is it fragile/heavy/dangerous? Is it worth the effort? In a pinch, can I use it as a weapon/door stop/counter weight? Will I be able to come back and get it later? Who in town would be interested in such a thing? Who could afford it? What sort of attention will we draw if we attempt to sell it?
I love those sorts of questions and considerations. I’d be really sad to play in a game where we didn’t even know what we’d found until we get home and try to sell it.
Edward Hickcox what’s the goal/purpose behind abstracting treasure into Loot?
It seems like in play you’d end up with “you rummage through the tomb and find 3 Loot.” “Ooh, what did we find?” “3 Loot.” “Oh, uh… okay.”
Like, it seems to be dissuading everyone from engaging with the fiction. What did we find? How did it get here? Can we transport it home? Is it fragile/heavy/dangerous? Is it worth the effort? In a pinch, can I use it as a weapon/door stop/counter weight? Will I be able to come back and get it later? Who in town would be interested in such a thing? Who could afford it? What sort of attention will we draw if we attempt to sell it?
I love those sorts of questions and considerations. I’d be really sad to play in a game where we didn’t even know what we’d found until we get home and try to sell it.
Jeremy Strandberg, my thinking is that if you had an item you wanted to give the players they would find that, any other actual items, and the Loot. I mostly intended it to streamline the records keeping of lists of gems and art and stashes of ancient coins to focus more on the actual story-related items. So, of course you should feel free to tell them, “you find valuables worth three Loot, and, mixed in among them you find a finely crafted locket unsullied by grime”. That way they make money, they can try for magic if they want it back in town, and you still give them the shiny flavor.
Jeremy Strandberg, my thinking is that if you had an item you wanted to give the players they would find that, any other actual items, and the Loot. I mostly intended it to streamline the records keeping of lists of gems and art and stashes of ancient coins to focus more on the actual story-related items. So, of course you should feel free to tell them, “you find valuables worth three Loot, and, mixed in among them you find a finely crafted locket unsullied by grime”. That way they make money, they can try for magic if they want it back in town, and you still give them the shiny flavor.