Hello everybody.

Hello everybody.

Hello everybody. I approached this community after listening the Discern Realities podcast. Although I had experience as a GM in the past, above all with the old Ad&D, I have returned to tabletop RPG as a beginner with Dungeon World.

The last podcast I listened to was the 3rd episode where the issue of fighting with several enemies was addressed. I have a question: when a PC make hack and slash to 3 enemies at once does he roll once or three times?

By the way, thanks a lot for your podcast and this wonderful community!

26 thoughts on “Hello everybody.”

  1. Think about any dice roll on scale charts. You can focus your lense as close or as far as you want with one dice roll. One hack and slash roll can be all about a single dagger slash or represent several seconds of intense action.

    -describe what’s going on.

    -trigger a roll.

    -Use the result to create the fiction

    … even better, ask the player to describe the fiction!! 😆

    I come from ad&d also so I understand where you’re question comes from. Just let the scene guide you.

  2. Think about any dice roll on scale charts. You can focus your lense as close or as far as you want with one dice roll. One hack and slash roll can be all about a single dagger slash or represent several seconds of intense action.

    -describe what’s going on.

    -trigger a roll.

    -Use the result to create the fiction

    … even better, ask the player to describe the fiction!! 😆

    I come from ad&d also so I understand where you’re question comes from. Just let the scene guide you.

  3. Welcome, Alberto! And thanks for your kind words.

    If it makes sense in the fiction and the player described his actions that way, then he makes a single Hack n Slash roll and a single damage roll (if he hits). The damage gets applied to all enemies. Of course, by doing that, he has exposed himself to the counterattack of all three enemies, or possibly to even something worse if his actions were particularly reckless.

  4. Welcome, Alberto! And thanks for your kind words.

    If it makes sense in the fiction and the player described his actions that way, then he makes a single Hack n Slash roll and a single damage roll (if he hits). The damage gets applied to all enemies. Of course, by doing that, he has exposed himself to the counterattack of all three enemies, or possibly to even something worse if his actions were particularly reckless.

  7. Maxime Lacoste I thought your description was spot-on, too. Zooming in and out on the amount of action is a really good way of looking at it. DW’s great power is abstraction (which Alberto is about to discover David and I say on the cast about a hundred times throughout the show’s run, haha).

    Another thing which is relevant to this situation: the enemies’ counterattack damage is the highest base damage among them, +1 per additional enemy. So, for example, if you were being hit by an ogre and two goblins, you would take d8+7 damage.

  8. Maxime Lacoste I thought your description was spot-on, too. Zooming in and out on the amount of action is a really good way of looking at it. DW’s great power is abstraction (which Alberto is about to discover David and I say on the cast about a hundred times throughout the show’s run, haha).

    Another thing which is relevant to this situation: the enemies’ counterattack damage is the highest base damage among them, +1 per additional enemy. So, for example, if you were being hit by an ogre and two goblins, you would take d8+7 damage.

  13. Another point worth considering is to make sure you call for the move that was triggered by the fiction. Hack & Slash is the default if the character is trying to attack his enemies to wound or kill them, but there are plenty of circumstances where the player’s actions actually trigger Defy Danger or Defend or even Aid or Interfere.

    I find it useful to ask the player what they intend, because some players are more comfortable describing things off-the-cuff than others. If it’s obvious they mean to charge the three goblins trying to inflict as much harm as possible, great, Hack & Slash away. But if the action the player describes isn’t clear, there is no harm in asking.

  14. Another point worth considering is to make sure you call for the move that was triggered by the fiction. Hack & Slash is the default if the character is trying to attack his enemies to wound or kill them, but there are plenty of circumstances where the player’s actions actually trigger Defy Danger or Defend or even Aid or Interfere.

    I find it useful to ask the player what they intend, because some players are more comfortable describing things off-the-cuff than others. If it’s obvious they mean to charge the three goblins trying to inflict as much harm as possible, great, Hack & Slash away. But if the action the player describes isn’t clear, there is no harm in asking.

  15. Welcome! I love every time some one finds our community through our show Discern Realities! I think everything that has been said about the Hack and Slash is spot on. I do want to add one additional thought about a tool you might use when a player gets a 6- result in that context. While you can make any GM move when a 6- is rolled, a 6- on a Hack and Slash against multiple enemies is a great moment to show your players the results of dangerous fictional positioning. I would encourage you to consider what those multiple enemies might do to overcome and threaten the life of the PC who rolled the 6-. It doesn’t have to be that he was clumsy or anything, it can just show that the enemy is more competent or that the situation was misunderstood. Best of luck in your game, and please, ask more questions as you have them! Welcome to the Gauntlet!

  16. Welcome! I love every time some one finds our community through our show Discern Realities! I think everything that has been said about the Hack and Slash is spot on. I do want to add one additional thought about a tool you might use when a player gets a 6- result in that context. While you can make any GM move when a 6- is rolled, a 6- on a Hack and Slash against multiple enemies is a great moment to show your players the results of dangerous fictional positioning. I would encourage you to consider what those multiple enemies might do to overcome and threaten the life of the PC who rolled the 6-. It doesn’t have to be that he was clumsy or anything, it can just show that the enemy is more competent or that the situation was misunderstood. Best of luck in your game, and please, ask more questions as you have them! Welcome to the Gauntlet!

  17. Keith Martin I think that is a really smart observation, particularly vis a vis Defend and Defy Danger. Players often intend to Defend, even if they don’t realize it. The opposite tends to be true with Defy Danger. Players think they’re doing Hack n Slash, but what they’re actually describing is Defy Danger.

    Also: sometimes a move won’t trigger at all. If they are stabbing a completely defenseless creature, just have them roll damage or straight-up kill the creature.

  18. Keith Martin I think that is a really smart observation, particularly vis a vis Defend and Defy Danger. Players often intend to Defend, even if they don’t realize it. The opposite tends to be true with Defy Danger. Players think they’re doing Hack n Slash, but what they’re actually describing is Defy Danger.

    Also: sometimes a move won’t trigger at all. If they are stabbing a completely defenseless creature, just have them roll damage or straight-up kill the creature.

  19. Alberto Martin del Campo Sola I found the Gauntlet community in a similar way. I was curious about Dungeon World and started listening to podcasts about it. It wasn’t until I stumbled into Discern Realities that it all clicked into place for me.

    The format of the show is brilliant because it introduces more than rule concepts or fun scenarios. It also offers a glimpse into a certain creative-hackery-and-open-conversation mind-set that really makes the game so much better than previous fantasy games. Then I went to check out the Gauntlet G+ community they mentioned…

    Wow! Could there be any better group of people? It seemed almost impossible that a large group of gamers on the internet could be so consistently thoughtful, respectful, encouraging and inventive. I’m glad you found your way here. I’m confident you’ll love it more as you stay and participate.

  20. Alberto Martin del Campo Sola I found the Gauntlet community in a similar way. I was curious about Dungeon World and started listening to podcasts about it. It wasn’t until I stumbled into Discern Realities that it all clicked into place for me.

    The format of the show is brilliant because it introduces more than rule concepts or fun scenarios. It also offers a glimpse into a certain creative-hackery-and-open-conversation mind-set that really makes the game so much better than previous fantasy games. Then I went to check out the Gauntlet G+ community they mentioned…

    Wow! Could there be any better group of people? It seemed almost impossible that a large group of gamers on the internet could be so consistently thoughtful, respectful, encouraging and inventive. I’m glad you found your way here. I’m confident you’ll love it more as you stay and participate.

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