Major Arcana: The Nhing Codex

Over on the Dungeon World Discord, Razorkiss asked this interesting question:

Imagine you're trying to model scary Mythos tomes in DungeonWorld. Y'know, we're talking about The Necronomicon here. You want to create a custom move that represents the dangers of reading it, the dangers of gaining knowledge at the expense of sanity. I feel like the first instinct would be that this is a +WIS move, because, y'know, the Will save and all of its attendant baggage. But... is that the way you'd really want to go? It's basically saying, "Y'know, Wizard, you'd think you'd be the person who would be all over this custom move, but it turns out your buddies the Ranger, Druid, and Cleric are better-suited for this job..."

When you read the obviously evil book, roll +???

Queue discussion about whether it'd be an INT roll or CHA roll or whatever.

And my first instinct was to treat it the way I treat major arcana in Stonetop. 

(discussion after the break)

Defying Danger, the RPG

Here's a thing I made, as a bit of a distraction from working on Stonetop. It's a light-weight RPG, in the vein of World of Dungeons.

click for current version

 The highlights:

• There's only one "basic" move, Defying Danger. The usual 10+, 7-9, 6- framework. 
• No stats (like, no STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA).  Instead, you choose 2-3 ways of Defying Danger where you roll 3d6 and keep the best 2 dice. Any other time, you roll straight 2d6.  
• Each class has an additional move, that indicates a thing they're generally better at.
• A warrior gets Hack & Slash
• A rogue gets Manipulate
• The wizard can Get Answers 
• Each class has a spendable resource (Mettle, Cunning, or Power) that lets them boost rolls or do cool stuff. Wizards, in particular, use this to cast spells. 
• PCs don't have HP, per se. Harm is closer to Apocalypse World, but the players have a little more control over how, exactly, they get messed up.  
• Gear is very similar to the system in Homebrew World, but even more simplified. 

As of this posting, Defying Danger is a completely un-playtested game. I don't know if any of this actually works!  It's basically an idea that spawned from a conversation on the DW Discord--an idea that got lodged in my brain and now, a week later, here's a game. Enjoy!

If you play this, please let me know how it goes. In the comments below, over in the DW Discord, or at jack underscore blackfoot at yahoo.

EDIT to add: 

• Francesco Catenacci translated this into Italian!
• Frederico Fiori translated it into Brazilian Portuguese!
• Alexey Dikevich translated it into Russian!

42 Minor Magical Items, Thief Edition

I had just downed a coffee stout and a bunch of cookies last night, so I was feeling both wired and unfocused. That's my perfect state for brainstorming, so I challenged the DW Discord to help come up with 40 minor magical items for thieves.  We got 41 in 39 minutes. (#42 came to me while I was compiling this list.)

Here are the fruits of our tipsy labor. Attribution given for each; if there's no attribution, it was mine.

1. A vial of ink. When you write something with the ink, say someone’s name. Only they can see the writing.
2. A worn leather purse. No one ever notices it or pays attention to it unless they see you open it.
3. Sticky gloves. When you touch something smaller and lighter than your palm, wrap your hand around it and cross your fingers - it sticks until you cross your fingers the other way. (Caiphon)
4. A pair of gloves. Whenever you touch something magical while wearing them, the magic thinks you’re whoever you last shook hands with while wearing the gloves.
5. Whisper powder. Spread it around in a circle. Noise made inside the circle is never louder than a whisper to anyone outside the circle.
6. Letter-opener. First, spread it over a piece of writing like you're spreading butter. Then, open a letter - the opened letter becomes a copy of the original piece of writing. (Caiphon)
7. Incongruous Hat. While you wear this hat, any stranger who sees you will remember the hat (and your features) differently.
8. Dagger of Silent Death. This stiletto completely silences anyone's whose flesh it pierces. No more screaming guards! (Marcus)
9. Sculpting putty. Shape this soft putty however you like, then tap a special tuning fork and touch it (still vibrating) to the clay. The clay sets hard in exactly its current shape, as tough as strong ceramic. Another touch from the tuning fork shatters it.
10. Thorn rope. Twist one end of this rope, and the fibers become razor sharp, making it deadly to climb up or slide down. (Caiphon)
11. Second Story Shoes. These comfortable loafers let you jump great vertical distances, perfect for getting to those second story balconies. Warning: they provide no protection from falls, nor do they make it easier to jump down from great heights. (Marcus, w/edits)
12. Affinity box. Anything you place in the box will be considered extremely valuable and desirable by anyone other than you.
13. Chewie Manacles. Normal manacles, but they pop open with a guttural command word.
14. Nightlight. This small lantern glows with a dim purplish light which is only visible to the one holding the lantern. (Marcus)
15. Sleepytime Flute. Playing a soft tune on this instrument for a few minutes will lull everyone nearby into a light slumber. They're easily awoken, and you feature prominently in their dreams. (Marcus, w/edits)
16. Fire moth. A little jar holding a tiny, mostly tame fire elemental. Will flit around you and generally go where you please. Doesn’t usually set very much on fire. Usually.
17. Dominoes Mask. While you wear the mask, you can always ask the GM "How can I get out of here?" and get an honest (though perhaps convoluted) answer. Gain advantage on your next roll (or take +1 forward) to act on the answer, but only if you do so in an audacious or spectacular  manner. (Caiphon, w/edits)
18. Bug shoes - shoes that allow you to stick to the ceiling, if you can get up there... (Mangofeet)
19. Deck of useless items. Shuffle the deck, draw a card. Its face displays some unlikely, generally worthless mundane item. Tear the card in two and the item appears in your hand. A replacement card magically appears in the deck, but it will never show the same item twice.
20. Talk-pick. Place this lock pick in a lock, and spend a minute whispering words of encouragement - it will pick a non-magical lock hands-free. (Caiphon)
21. Taster Demon. A very small demon, like a grumpy slug with teeth. Lives in a vial. A connoisseur of poisons, it knows them all by taste or scent and will happily tell you all about them. Much louder voice than you'd expect.
22. Catching mitt. Throw this glove at anything flying towards you, and it will catch it and fall gently to the ground. (Caiphon)
23. Hand of glory, lesser. A candle made of a hanged criminal’s hand. Carry it while lit, and no one will notice you as long as you move slowly, make little noise, and don't touch anything. (Dialas the Spellbreaker, with edits)
24. Hand of glory, greater. Carry it while lit, and everyone in its light except you is paralyzed.
25. Weighted Dice/Rigged Deck. This normal-looking gaming accessory returns whatever result the owner wills. (Marcus)
26. Trick pockets. Whatever you put in one pocket can be pulled out of the other. Yes, you can remove them and sew them onto different articles of clothing.
27. Signal whistle. A whistle and earring set. Only someone wearing the earring can hear the whistle. (Toasters)
28. Listening wire. A spool of enchanted copper wire. Wrap one piece around your ear, and then around your midsection. When you speak the command word, it records the next few minutes of conversation. Each strand can store only one conversation. (Caiphon)
29. Gem of thought-storing. A semi-precious stone that you can whisper thoughts or memories into. You forget them until you hold the stone and ask for them back.
30. A deck of playing cards. Playing games of chance with them reveals players' secret plans (via interpreting the cards they are dealt). (Caiphon)
31. Stubborn twine. Animated, unbreakable, uncuttable. Smart as a three-year-old. Can talk, has many absurd or backwards opinions.
32. Doorvish Ale. Break this bottle on a door, then drink as much as you can from the spill. You'll cough up a key to the door. (Caiphon)
33. Purple lipstick, made of powdered oblivion moss. Kiss someone while wearing it and they forget something they were just thinking about. You learn it.
34. Ear Worm. You put this worm in your ear and it sings a super catchy tune that you can't help but dance to. The benefit comes from the fact that this dance makes you uncannily good at dodging traps and attacks as you bob and weave to the beat. (Marcus)
35. A pair of corks, each with a different rune. Anything in a bottle sealed by the first cork will seep into the bottle sealed by the other.
36. Dupli-dice. Anything you place as a bet with these dice is duplicated after the roll. Weighting the dice breaks the spell. (Caiphon)
37. Shadow gossamer. A small bundle of fine gauzy black silk. Unfurl it and it becomes an area of extra dark shadows.
38. Ring of 1001 keys. Fits in a pocket, only seems to have like 10ish keys at once, but there are many, many more.
39. Spy shell. Say one magic word and this conch shell starts to record what it hears. Say another, put your eat to it, and it plays it back.
40. Passwall Chalk. Drawing a portal (circle, doorway, etc) on a wall creates an opening that persists just long enough for one person to jump through. (Marcus)
41. Distraction in a box. A little music box. Crank it and leave it somewhere. After awhile, it starts making noises that sound like (roll 1d6): 1. a riot starting; 2. insults; 3. guards calling alarms; 4. a woman shrieking for help. 5. A large animal roaring. 6. GM makes something up. (Dialas the Spellbreaker, with edits)
42. Swindler's Purse. Finely embroidered with silken thread, in patterns that are never the same. Put something in the purse. When you pull it out, it will appear to be something else of similar size and weight, something of considerable value. You have no control over what it will be. The illusion lasts until you tell a lie.
    
    -BONUS late addition-
43. Sleeve Snake. A small magical serpent-construct that hides in your coat or under your shirt. Swallows small objects (coins, gems, etc.) that are slipped up your sleeve. Can spit them back out on command, in reverse order (last item in, first item out).  (Jimmeh, w/edits)

Online Version of Homebrew World

I just finished creating an online character keeper for Homebrew World. Check it out!

Current online version

You'll need to save your own copy in order to use it. Instructions on the first tab (GM Stuff). 

The main action happens on the PCs tab: there are columns for each class playbook, with the intention that you'd collapse the unused classes and have everyone's character sheet visible on one widescreen monitor.  Or, close to everyone's sheets... if you're doing 3 PCs it'll probably work. 4+ and you'll have to do some horizontal scrolling. 

Lots of vertical scrolling will be involved no matter what. I have my doubts about how usable this would be for folks on a mobile device, but for a laptop or desktop with a widescreen monitor available, I think it'll be a pretty solid solution. 

I've tried to preserve most of the "functionality" of the printed playbooks, including pick-lists and the layout of the Gear sections. Aside from collapsing/expanding groups, I'd advise against making any changes that trigger the "You’re trying to edit part of this sheet that shouldn’t be changed accidentally" warning.  Don't insert rows or columns, don't copy/paste anything.  It's fairly brittle, unfortunately. 

If you use these, please drop a line in the comments and let me know how they work for you and your group!

Drowning & Falling

From Shel Kahn's gorgeous Orin and the Dead Man's Sword

"Drowning & Falling" is my collection of custom moves for Dungeon World, covering situations that absolutely don't need custom moves, but that come up enough that you might want them.  I've tried to include design notes, relevant examples of GM moves, and variations as much as possible. You don't need these moves, but maybe you'll find them helpful.

It's sort of a perpetual work in progress. Some of these moves have made their way into my other projects, most notably Stonetop and Homebrew World.  I've got vague plans to polish it up and finish it some day, but I wouldn't hold your breath. (Get it?)

You can find it here:

Click me!

Homebrew World

Homebrew World is the working title for my mini-hack of Dungeon World, optimized for one-shots and short-term campaigns.

Playbooks from my first time running this

You can find the most current print version right here:

Current print version

And here's the version for online play, using Google Sheets:

Current online version

So what's different?

• Most +1/-1 modifiers are replaced with advantage/disadvantage (roll an extra die, discard the lowest/highest).
• Parley is completely different; it’s as much an info-gathering move as it is a “convince them” move. Also: works on PCs.
• Aid and Interfere are rewritten as well. Aid is now “grant advantage but with risk” and Interfere is its own thing.
• Less dramatic rewrites of Hack and Slash, Defend, and Defy Danger. 
• Expendables (rations, bandages, etc.) are condensed into “Supplies.” Adventuring gear is now a combo of undefined "load" and expending Supplies. Ammo is tracked as a "status" on weapons/equipment. Shields give a bonus to Defend.
• Most “Special” moves are gone. Undertake a Perilous Journey is replaced with Venture Forth. I’ve included a couple of my favorite custom moves for speeding up play.
• There are only 3 debilities, and each affects two stats. But they’re easier to clear.
• XP and leveling are different, because this is meant for one-shots or short-term play. You get XP on a miss or when you Make Camp (instead of at end of session). An advance costs only 5 XP. You can burn XP to give yourself a +1 on a roll you just made.
• No more “big number” on stats, just the modifier. Likewise, HP is now a set number per class.
• “Race” is just part of your look. But everyone has a choice of Backgrounds, which replace the “race” moves and that give you a series of bond-like questions to use during intros.
• Drives instead of Alignments; same mechanic but less baggage.
• Many changes (some small, some big) within the classes themselves. 
• There are two versions of the Fighter: one that's all skill and steel and guts, and the other (the Wielder) that's all about their special weapon. 

If I was going to be in charge of DW 2.0, this is a lot of what it would look like. 

Homebrew World was largely inspired by Yochai Gal's One Shot World (which you should totally look at, too; it's free, closer to "core" DW, and the materials he includes for GM support are great.)  It also owes a debt to Peter J, whose Dungeon World Quick Start Pack (no longer available) first got me thinking about this sort of thing.

If you have questions about Homebrew World, let me know in the comments, via Google Hangouts, or by email (jack underscore blackfoot at the yahoo company).  Likewise, if you play Homebrew World, I'd love to hear about it!

Monster Creation Cheatsheet

This right here is maybe the single most useful thing I've made for Dungeon World:

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. 

Stonetop

Stonetop is my "hearth fantasy" hack of Dungeon World, and my biggest ongoing project.

Image via Jason Lutes

From the introduction chapter:

No one knows how the Stone got there, or what the runes cut into its surface might mean. Few even remember how the village sprang up around it. When storms roll up and the Stone pulls lightning from the sky, outsiders cringe and cower. But us? We barely even notice.

We live here, see. This village, Stonetop—it’s our home. It’s not a glamorous place, far from it. But we look out for each other. We might not always get along, but we’re a community. Everyone contributes. Everyone shares.

And right now, as the first wildflowers bloom in the Flats and the trees bud in the Great Wood, trouble is a-brewing. The world itself is darkening, like the sky before a late-summer storm. Everyone can feel it. Folks are getting scared.

You and me? We’re the ones folk look to when they’re scared. Like it or not, we’re the brave ones. The clever ones. And yeah, sure, the strange ones, too.

These are good people, here in Stonetop. Our kith and our kin.

If we don’t step up to protect them, who will?

The PCs play the local heroes of a small, isolated village in an iron age that never was. The giant ruins of the Makers lie half-buried all around. The Fae dance in the Great Wood. The Things Below plot and dream and, recently, they stir. And all sane folk avoid deep water, for there dwell things, things that slither forth and drag you to your doom. Everyone knows this.

The game's core conceit is that it's centered on the PC's home town. It's still (mostly) a game about going on adventures, but those adventures happen to defend the town or to improve it. The steading itself gets its own playbook, with stats and improvements to be unlocked.

I've been working on this for a long time. It's a playable game.  I'm in the process, now, of turning it into a full-fledged product.  Jason Lutes is doing art direction, editing, and layout and publishing under his imprint, Lampblack & Brimstone. Artwork is by the amazing Lucie Arnoux. 

Here's a taste of the game:

• The Setting Overview, with plenty of blanks for you to fill in during play
• Moves & gear
• Steading Playbook
• The Heavy, this game's version of the fighter
• The Would-be Hero, who's in over their head but might outshine us all
• The Seeker, definitely not a wizard
• Some of the major arcana the Seeker might start with: the Staff of the Lidless Orb, the Azure Hand, and the Twisted Spear. 
• A visual tutorial of the gear and inventory system
• A preview chapter: Running Stonetop 

You can learn more here. If you're interested in playtesting, and have a group that's willing to play at least 3 sessions and give feedback, hit me up on G+, via Hangouts, or below in the comments. We Kickstarted on March 1, 2021. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can pre-order here. 

If you pre-order, you get access to the current PDFs and the Stonetop Discord server. Alas, Backerkit doesn't have a way to automatically send you that info, so we send out emails in batches to new backers every month or so.