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| Monster Creation Cheat Sheet: click for the PDF |
The monster creation questionnaire presented in Dungeon World isn't difficult or very complicated, but it does suffer from usability issues. As you read through the questionnaire, you are prompted to update ~7 different things:
- Tags
- Special Qualities
- Instinct
- Moves
- Hit Points
- Armor
- Damage (and tags related to armor)
A single question/answer might very well have you adjust things in 2-3 categories. For example, if the monster is "Much larger than a cart," you are told to add a general tag (huge), add a damage tag (reach), adjust its HP, and adjust its damage. If it's dangerous because of things other than wounds, you add a general tag (devious), write a move, and modify its damage. It's a very circular approach, and it takes longer than I like.
More importantly, when I'm making up a monster on the fly, I don't care about tags, qualities, or moves. If I can picture the monster in mind, I don't really need them. But I do like to play the numbers (HP, armor, damage) by the book—it helps me play to find out what happens. With the standard monster creation questionnaire, I've got to pour through the questions looking for the ones that affect damage, HP, and armor. Slows things way down.
With this cheat sheet, I can quickly run down the list and calculate those numbers & tags without the other stuff getting in the way. And if I'm prepping a monster in advance, I can just start at the top and work my way through, and the stat block is done.
This cheat sheet should give you the same basic outcomes as the original questionnaire. I've added a few modifications, but they're marked with an * and I bet you'll approve of them.
The Hazards column on the far right is my own invention. Basically, it’s meant as a reminder of all the different ways you might present a trap, an environmental hazard, or what have you.
Note: this is actually version 2 of this cheat sheet. You can find the original one here, but I like this new version better because it more thoroughly reflects the individual elements of the stat blocks.
Would you give an example of a Countdown Hazard? I'm not sure I fully understand.
ReplyDeleteHey Asimov! Sorry, I meant to respond to this a while ago and it slipped my mind!
DeleteHere's an example of a countdown hazard:
Say there's a chamber with a cracked, sagging roof supported by three ancient wooden pillars (and a forth one that collapsed many years ago). Some gobliny things are lairing here, building big papery nests on the pillars, further weakening them. There's every chance that the PCs will get into a fight in this area, and a good chance of someone smashing one of the pillars if they do!
So, I prep the hazard as a countdown.
"Each time one of the pillars is struck (or whenever it feels right), advance this countdown:
OO A pillar cracks and buckles; dirt pours from ceiling
O A pillar breaks; slabs fall (d8+1 damage, forceful)
O Another pillar breaks; the ceiling starts to collapse (d10+1 damage, forceful)
O The room collapses, burying anyone still within (Death’s Door); connecting tunnels are blocked off"
Here's another example, one that combines GM Moves + instinct + a countdown.
DeleteFire: much of Dropoff is susceptible to fire, and Low Town is basically a tinderbox. A building catches fire? Hoo boy.
Instinct: to consume and spread.
● Push them back with a wave of heat (d4 damage)
● Fill the area with choking smoke (debilities)
● Collapse a burning structure (d8 damage, ignores armor, forceful)
● Engulf someone or thing in flames (d10 damage, ignores armor, messy)
When a building catches fire and it’s not quickly contained, start the following countdown:
O The building is engulfed; cries of alarm
O A nearby building or two also catch; the original building starts to collapse
O Multiple buildings are on fire; people panic
O The blaze is spreading in multiple directions; palisade catches fire; bedlam in the streets
O The fire finally burns itself out; scores are dead; dozens of homes and buildings ruined; large parts of the palisade destroyed