Understanding Threats & Difficulty In Dungeon World
Apr 9, 2017 22:52:42 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2017 22:52:42 GMT -8
In another thread we've been talking about mind control and how it would be best to run it. That got me thinking that maybe we aren't thinking about the problem correctly. Think about a dragon for a moment. One can't just walk up to it with a normal sword and hope to do damage. First, you have to brave what I refer to as it's zone of influence. That is the area around the dragon that it threatens with nastiness. Much like getting past the tip of a spear, anyone seeking to get next to a dragon has to worry about being roasted alive, rended limb from limb, battered, or crushed. Then you'd need a weapon that is capable of injuring such a beast and/or a weakness you can exploit. One does not simply roll to hack-n-slash a dragon.
The dragon is a great example of difficulty in dungeon world. Instead of changing modifiers, the game forces you to create fictional positioning. Every roll has a chance for bad things to happen to you, so requiring multiple rolls increases the likelihood that thing will come to pass. Whats worse is that the magnitude of how bad a GM move might be is dependent on difficulty.
Looking at this model of difficulty, I then thought about mind control. What if it too took more steps to overcome and/or had more severe consequences based on it's strength? Thinking about the idea of mind control as a threat got me to think beyond the idea of a mind control spell. A spell could be perhaps one of the weakest versions of mind control at play. Imagine instead the kind of mind alteration that is taking place as you enter into a place suffused with evil ala Mordor. Your very will is sapped just by being in this place. We're talking defy danger rolls just so that you don't roll over and surrender. Just like slipping past the tip of a spear or getting close to a dragon, you have to overcome the influence of the land before you can even attempt to make progress on the larger issue at hand (perhaps a journey to a certain mountain).
All hard problems should be able to be solved in steps. Maybe first you have to become aware that you are even under the effects of the spell. Why would your enemies be begging you to snap out of it? You roll to discern realities. Meanwhile you may be getting aid from your teammates trying to get you to come to your senses, meanwhile the enemy is interfering! "Do not listen to them! They are trying to confuse you. Kill them, and together we can rule the cosmos!" Hopefully you succeed at this point and can use your hold to realize what is going on. Taking your plus one forward, and perhaps some more aid from the party you throw the force of your will against the lich', trying to force him out of your mind. Should you succeed you are once again a free man. "I will never serve hell." You have your fictional positioning now for a parlay. "Give up your evil ways or be struck down, for you know you are no match for us."
Consequences are what come into play if his rolls fail instead. A very weak spell might even be broken on a miss. Perhaps his efforts break the spell but when he comes to his senses a fireball is streaking his way. What will he do? Stronger spells might see misses resulting in him attacking teammates and taking psychic damage from his struggle with the spell caster. Maybe he tries to discern realities and fails, forcing the party to realize they have to stop him, because he can't break the spell on his own!
Just remember that difficulty should not equal an inability to respond. Favor moves that keep everyone engaged. If you have to close one door, try to open another. Maybe the warrior can't break the mind control on his own, but perhaps the wizard could use his own magic to break the spell. Hard cut to that wizard as it dawns on him. What do you do?
The dragon is a great example of difficulty in dungeon world. Instead of changing modifiers, the game forces you to create fictional positioning. Every roll has a chance for bad things to happen to you, so requiring multiple rolls increases the likelihood that thing will come to pass. Whats worse is that the magnitude of how bad a GM move might be is dependent on difficulty.
Looking at this model of difficulty, I then thought about mind control. What if it too took more steps to overcome and/or had more severe consequences based on it's strength? Thinking about the idea of mind control as a threat got me to think beyond the idea of a mind control spell. A spell could be perhaps one of the weakest versions of mind control at play. Imagine instead the kind of mind alteration that is taking place as you enter into a place suffused with evil ala Mordor. Your very will is sapped just by being in this place. We're talking defy danger rolls just so that you don't roll over and surrender. Just like slipping past the tip of a spear or getting close to a dragon, you have to overcome the influence of the land before you can even attempt to make progress on the larger issue at hand (perhaps a journey to a certain mountain).
All hard problems should be able to be solved in steps. Maybe first you have to become aware that you are even under the effects of the spell. Why would your enemies be begging you to snap out of it? You roll to discern realities. Meanwhile you may be getting aid from your teammates trying to get you to come to your senses, meanwhile the enemy is interfering! "Do not listen to them! They are trying to confuse you. Kill them, and together we can rule the cosmos!" Hopefully you succeed at this point and can use your hold to realize what is going on. Taking your plus one forward, and perhaps some more aid from the party you throw the force of your will against the lich', trying to force him out of your mind. Should you succeed you are once again a free man. "I will never serve hell." You have your fictional positioning now for a parlay. "Give up your evil ways or be struck down, for you know you are no match for us."
Consequences are what come into play if his rolls fail instead. A very weak spell might even be broken on a miss. Perhaps his efforts break the spell but when he comes to his senses a fireball is streaking his way. What will he do? Stronger spells might see misses resulting in him attacking teammates and taking psychic damage from his struggle with the spell caster. Maybe he tries to discern realities and fails, forcing the party to realize they have to stop him, because he can't break the spell on his own!
Just remember that difficulty should not equal an inability to respond. Favor moves that keep everyone engaged. If you have to close one door, try to open another. Maybe the warrior can't break the mind control on his own, but perhaps the wizard could use his own magic to break the spell. Hard cut to that wizard as it dawns on him. What do you do?