Jeremy Strandberg – The Gauntlet G+ Archives

Hey all, looking to crowdsource/brainstorm ideas a little.

Hey all, looking to crowdsource/brainstorm ideas a little.

In Stonetop (my “hearth fantasy” Dungeon World hack), the fae are established as residing in the Great Wood near town. See the image for the text I’ve written on them so far.

One of my playtesters asked me for advice on portraying the fae in play, and I realized that I’m not very good at it myself.

So… What tips or ideas do you have for portraying fae like this? For making such alien-yet-familiar creatures “pop” on screen? And for emphasizing their strangeness?

If it helps, elements associated with the fae in Stonetop include:

1 Beauty/wonder/awe

2 Ugliness/horror/disgust

3 Fluidity of time and space

4 Illusion/glamor/pretense

5 Singing/poetry/art

6 Debts/vows/obligations

7 Strange, fickle customs & etiquette

8 Callousness/cruelty/indifference

9 Yearning/passion/desire

10 Dancing/revelry/sex

11 Wondrous food & drink

12 Tiny in size

Also, their history involves them having been bred, long long long ago, by the Green Lords, giants who bred and cultivated and experimented with life. I’ve sort of got in my mind that the Green Lords bred the fae at least in part to attend them in their false afterlives, which is why the fae are creatures of spirit and dream as much as flesh and blood.

It’s also established that fae rebelled from the Green Lords, and drove the Green Lords to embrace the utterly corrupt and evil Things Below, but that the fae ultimately won.

Thanks!

Is there any room at GauntletCon for a “long con” format? like, 3-4 sessions of a game spaced out over each day?

I’m interested in offering to run Stonetop, but it is not a game built for one-shots

Come, give us a hand!

(edit to add: put comments here or on the original post, as you choose)

Originally shared by Jeremy Strandberg

If you’re familiar with both Dungeon World and Apocalypse World, you might have noticed a difference in their “GM/MC” chapters: in Dungeon World, the GM moves are described but given no examples. In Apocalypse World, the GM moves are named, not really described, but instead they are demonstrated almost entirely with examples.

I think newer DW GMs sometimes struggle with visualizing how those GM moves might manifest at the table. So let’s collaborate on a list of 2-4 examples for each basic and dungeon GM move.

As a reminder, here are the GM’s moves in DW:

“*BASIC*” GM MOVES

● Use a monster, danger, or location move

● Reveal an unwelcome truth

● Show signs of an approaching threat

● ~~Deal damage~~ Hurt them (https://goo.gl/PS7wVN)

● Use up their resources

● Turn their move back on them

● Separate them

● Give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities

● Show a downside to their class, race, or equipment

● Offer an opportunity, with or without cost

● Put someone in a spot

● Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask

DUNGEON MOVES

● Change the environment

● Point to a looming threat

● Introduce a new faction or type of creature

● Use a threat from an existing faction or type of creature

● Make them backtrack

● Present riches at a price

● Present a challenge to one of the characters

Put your examples in the comments, with both the name of the GM move and the example. Make the examples short and sweet, ideally 50 words or less, definitely no more than 100.

Let’s try to get a range of soft, medium, and hard moves for each. If we can get enough good ones, I’ll curate this into a nice formal doc.

I know y’all play a lot of Dungeon World, generally in short runs, so this might be of interest and use to the…

I know y’all play a lot of Dungeon World, generally in short runs, so this might be of interest and use to the Gauntlet community.

It’s a revision of the DW basic moves, special moves, playbooks, and equipment optimized for one-shot or short-term play, plus revisions made to personal taste. Aside from obvious stuff like dropping “big” numbers on stats and just having modifiers, the significant changes include:

● Advantage/disadvantage instead of most +1/-1 mods

● Expendable gear boiled down into a single resource

● A total rewrite of the Parley, Aid, and Interfere moves

● Some pretty sweet (IMHO) backgrounds instead of races for each class

Please use, share, ask questions, and provide feedback freely.

Also, let me know if there’s interest in a version of that has Flags embedded. It’d be a pretty easy variation to include.

Originally shared by Jeremy Strandberg

Everyone else was doing it, so I thought I would, too.

But seriously: inspired by Yochai Gal’s One Shot World and Peter J’s DW Quick Sheets, I’ve put together my own set of playbooks and rules tweaks that:

● Are optimized for one-shots and short-run play

● Introduce a lot of tweaks and changes that I’ve been using in Stonetop and my own home games of DW

If I was going to be in charge of DW2.0, it’d probably look an awful lot like this.

I’m all sorts of interested in any feedback y’all might have, and more than happy to answer questions.

(Oh, also: it’s probably riddled with typos and little gotchas that I missed, so if you see something, please say something!)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oLQ6QUT9LgOZuzoB_YqUaCjfPGYEOlud

Has anyone used the revised Aid/Interfere moves (discussed in this episode) in play?

Has anyone used the revised Aid/Interfere moves (discussed in this episode) in play? If so, willing to share your experiences?

Link the move text (4-up on a sheet, for use as cutouts if you like):

https://goo.gl/Ak3xmH

Originally shared by Jason Cordova

Episode 43 of Discern Realities is here! In this one, David LaFreniere and I discuss more Anglekite, talk about the new Sword Breaker zine, take a look at the Aid/Interfere move, announce a brand-new contest, and continue Ramshackle’s story in an AP that can only be described as EPIC.

If you’re interested in participating in the shrine contest we announce here, please send your entries to gauntletpodcast@gmail.com.

A reminder about the details:

-400 word max

-Description of your deity and their shrine

-A custom move for the shrine

-A magic item

-A spell

-Alternatively, you can do two magic items instead of the spell

Enjoy!

Cc: Brendan Conway Logan Howard Jeremy Strandberg Slade Stolar

http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/discern-realities/episode-43

Care to try out alternative Aid/Interfere moves for Dungeon World?

Care to try out alternative Aid/Interfere moves for Dungeon World? I’m looking for feedback on how these work in actual play.

Originally shared by Jeremy Strandberg

Anyone willing to playtest some revised Aid or Interfere moves for me?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking hard about these moves. I’ve never really liked how either Aid or Interfere work, and I’m strongly leaning towards using these revisions in #Stonetop. I’ve started using them in my home game, but we just don’t play enough (and the moves don’t come up enough) for me to get a really good feel for them.

Note that these versions don’t use Bonds (though they don’t preclude you from resolving bonds at End of Session).

If you use these, please let me know! I’ll have questions for you!

Aid

When you help another character who is about to roll for a move, tell us how you do it. If everyone agrees that it would help, roll a d6 and they can use your roll in place of one of their dice. Regardless of whether they use your die, you are exposed to any risk, cost, or consequences associated with the roll.

When you jump in to help another character who just rolled_, tell us how you plan to do it and ask the GM what else is required or what the consequences will be. If you accept, increase your ally’s roll by +1.

Interfere

When you try to foil another character’s move, say how you do it and roll…

…+STR if you use brute force

…+DEX if you move quickly or employ finesse

…+CON if you hold steady or suck it up

…+INT if you exploit a relevant detail or expertise

…+WIS if you had a feeling they’d do this

…+CHA if you rely on subterfuge, charm, or wiles

On a 10+, they pick 1 from the list below; on a 7-9, they pick 1 but if they let you foil their move then you are off balance, exposed, or otherwise left vulnerable; ask them what they do next.

• Do it anyway, but take -2 to the roll.

• Relent, change course, or otherwise allow their move to be foiled

Tossing this here, too, for those of you who don’t frequent the Tavern. Cheers!

Originally shared by Jeremy Strandberg

Let’s Talk About Dangers

Specifically, I’m thinking about this stuff:

* The categories of dangers presented in the Dungeon World core rules: Ambitious Organizations, Planar Forces, Arcane Enemies, etc.

* The specific types of dangers (e.g. Corrupt Government, Demon Prince, Power Mad Wizard) and their impulses.

* The GM moves associated with each category (e.g. Attack someone by stealthy means… Give dreams of prophecy… Cast a spell over time and place…)

(for reference: http://book.dwgazetteer.com/fronts.html)

How have you found these dangers (the ones in the book) useful? How have you found them frustrating, confusing, or limiting? What parts do you use? What parts do you ignore?

If you were to add a category, or some individual types, what would you add?

(For the record, I’m specifically not asking about grim portents or impending dooms, or cast or stakes questions… but if they way you use the stuff above ties into that, yeah, I’d love to hear about it.)

Anyone in the community familiar with both Texas Hillcountry (the actual place) and horses (the actual creatures)?

For a game setting I’m working on, I’ve got questions about the feasibility of nomadic horse-riders living in a vast karst topography similar to the Hillcountry. I’ve done some reading and have my doubts, but looking for folks with first-hand experience or knowledge.

Thanks!