I’m running my first World of Dungeons game tonight (as a holiday special one-off). I’m very comfortable at improv and asking questions, but coming in general from more trad OSR/D&D style games (my players too), is there something i should watch out for? I’m wondering about turn and initiative-less combat for example.
I’m running my first World of Dungeons game tonight (as a holiday special one-off).
I’m running my first World of Dungeons game tonight (as a holiday special one-off).
I think one of the most difficult changes from an OSR to a PbtA mindset, especially in a game that looks D&Dish like WoD or DW, is that dealing damage is almost always the least interesting outcome in combat.
When they roll a miss, break their stuff, pin them down, cut them off from their allies.
I think one of the most difficult changes from an OSR to a PbtA mindset, especially in a game that looks D&Dish like WoD or DW, is that dealing damage is almost always the least interesting outcome in combat.
When they roll a miss, break their stuff, pin them down, cut them off from their allies.
Matt Bohnhoff Thanks, good advice. Damage being boring is my view too. How do you handle “initiative”? I don’t want the person who shouts loudest to hog the action. Is there a problem with me just going around the table clockwise or something like that?
Matt Bohnhoff Thanks, good advice. Damage being boring is my view too. How do you handle “initiative”? I don’t want the person who shouts loudest to hog the action. Is there a problem with me just going around the table clockwise or something like that?
Usually there’s a character that just narratively makes sense to act first. Always follow that.
If you need more rule-structure than that, I like following popcorn initiative. After the first action, let that player choose the second character to act and so on, ensuring that everyone gets 1 action before starting a new round.
Usually there’s a character that just narratively makes sense to act first. Always follow that.
If you need more rule-structure than that, I like following popcorn initiative. After the first action, let that player choose the second character to act and so on, ensuring that everyone gets 1 action before starting a new round.
Nice idea! I’ll see how it goes later.
Nice idea! I’ll see how it goes later.
Unfortunately I can’t credit the game I stole it from! Good luck!
Unfortunately I can’t credit the game I stole it from! Good luck!
WoD is the game I haul out when I’m playing with a gaggle of children. I find the lack of a turn sequence unmanageable when there are 10+ antsy players, so I just instituted a strict ‘around the table’ turn sequence. It’s really no big deal with fewer players, though.
With adults, my main frustration is around magic – the magic system is extremely vague. Rather than effects (fly, invisibility), players buy themes (e.g. shadow). You can reskin nearly any effect to fit any theme, so either you allow this and magic becomes a ‘do anything’ power, or the GM has to figure out how to curtail this.
Since magic has no real-world analogue (compared to, say, fighting or climbing), this is actually where I prefer system to be a bit more specific. Contrast with the spells in Knave, which are extremely specific toolkit abiliites. (Spells 1-6 out of 100 included to illustrate what I mean.)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DYqc7HmEnA-8bIN4MFPUduc7nR2S0B55Nmz6cdbz7cCd0BAih0kDrCMDDxqArJpa9g8FMg4izHTGv0jk7u4JXs78mx-56R1fAGc=s0
WoD is the game I haul out when I’m playing with a gaggle of children. I find the lack of a turn sequence unmanageable when there are 10+ antsy players, so I just instituted a strict ‘around the table’ turn sequence. It’s really no big deal with fewer players, though.
With adults, my main frustration is around magic – the magic system is extremely vague. Rather than effects (fly, invisibility), players buy themes (e.g. shadow). You can reskin nearly any effect to fit any theme, so either you allow this and magic becomes a ‘do anything’ power, or the GM has to figure out how to curtail this.
Since magic has no real-world analogue (compared to, say, fighting or climbing), this is actually where I prefer system to be a bit more specific. Contrast with the spells in Knave, which are extremely specific toolkit abiliites. (Spells 1-6 out of 100 included to illustrate what I mean.)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xm4VfBMVKA-eG-_Qhus_Ay_dVj8VlZI7MQTJlIvhuVnGUWQaqWS-pOv2afwHXIL3HX_ywK_pgFhGMXV8Rvn3plPeH3yu1VMh2NM=s0
Michael Prescott yeah, we’ll see how it goes with magic. It was actually a toss up between Knave and WoDu, but since I’d already used Knave to run LotFP’s Tales of the Scarecrow, and I wanted combat to be as speedy as possible I thought I’d try WoDu for this. Hoping that the roll economy speeds them up.
Michael Prescott yeah, we’ll see how it goes with magic. It was actually a toss up between Knave and WoDu, but since I’d already used Knave to run LotFP’s Tales of the Scarecrow, and I wanted combat to be as speedy as possible I thought I’d try WoDu for this. Hoping that the roll economy speeds them up.
Echoing some comments from above, always let initiative follow the fictional situation. After that though, you could just ask everyone what they intend to do, then while the clock is stopped you the GM can facilitate whose actions makes most sense to go in sequence. If everyone’s action is hinging on a player to do something first it’s a fun dice roll to see if that action hits or not. Once someone gets a failure, everyone else who hasn’t acted yet may or may not want to slightly adjust how their reaction looks “on screen”.
The biggest hurdle I’ve had is remembering what options I have as GM when the roll is 7-9 or 6-. As mentioned above, damage is usually the least creative option, though sometimes it’s called for regardless. I am trying to be better about having a note card with my Grim Portents listed, and my monster moves listed, so when the PCs roll a 7-9 or 6- I can quietly decide to mark one of those items instead of worrying about making up some complication to the PC action. It’s weird to let PCs succeed on a soft hit or even a miss, knowing that the consequence may be coming after the encounter is over.
Echoing some comments from above, always let initiative follow the fictional situation. After that though, you could just ask everyone what they intend to do, then while the clock is stopped you the GM can facilitate whose actions makes most sense to go in sequence. If everyone’s action is hinging on a player to do something first it’s a fun dice roll to see if that action hits or not. Once someone gets a failure, everyone else who hasn’t acted yet may or may not want to slightly adjust how their reaction looks “on screen”.
The biggest hurdle I’ve had is remembering what options I have as GM when the roll is 7-9 or 6-. As mentioned above, damage is usually the least creative option, though sometimes it’s called for regardless. I am trying to be better about having a note card with my Grim Portents listed, and my monster moves listed, so when the PCs roll a 7-9 or 6- I can quietly decide to mark one of those items instead of worrying about making up some complication to the PC action. It’s weird to let PCs succeed on a soft hit or even a miss, knowing that the consequence may be coming after the encounter is over.
For turn order, imagine you are watching the movie of your session. Go in the order that would be most exciting in the movie and that makes the most sense in the context of what is going on. That means some players may get multiple turns in a row, and that’s ok!
For turn order, imagine you are watching the movie of your session. Go in the order that would be most exciting in the movie and that makes the most sense in the context of what is going on. That means some players may get multiple turns in a row, and that’s ok!
Thanks all. It went really rather well, all in all. In the first fight the players had a bit of a tough time letting go of the concept of rounds that they are so used to, but soon enough they caught on. For the most part I started the fight with the character who was narratively the obvious choice, and then went around the table prompting players, but making it clear that anyone could jump in at any time they felt was right. That worked.
I ran DCC’s Return of the Old God, their 2013 holiday special, and much fun was had. I’m also pretty sure that WoDu opened up the eyes of at least a couple of players to the fact that there are alternatives to the trad games out there. 🙂
Thanks all. It went really rather well, all in all. In the first fight the players had a bit of a tough time letting go of the concept of rounds that they are so used to, but soon enough they caught on. For the most part I started the fight with the character who was narratively the obvious choice, and then went around the table prompting players, but making it clear that anyone could jump in at any time they felt was right. That worked.
I ran DCC’s Return of the Old God, their 2013 holiday special, and much fun was had. I’m also pretty sure that WoDu opened up the eyes of at least a couple of players to the fact that there are alternatives to the trad games out there. 🙂