One of the things I love about PbtA systems is how a 2d6 roll has the potential to give out so much information. Especially if you frame it in a Move with a lot of choice built into it (like a "pick 2 out of these 3 options on a 7-9"), you can get a lot of complexity and nuance from this sort of resolution mechanic, as opposed to a more typical arbitrary d20 pass-fail. However, this mechanic is often utilized in a player-facing manner, and I think that's an under-utilization. I could think of many times where I would want to roll 2d6 and instantly get an indicator of how well things are going from the DM's side of things, and while there are some mechanics that emulate this, I wanted to create a body of DM-facing DW-style Moves.
ATTITUDE ROLL (The lowest-hanging fruit)
Monster/NPC Attitude: Roll 2d6 every time the PC's encounter something whose initial disposition is unknown, adding the party's INNOCENCE. On a 6-, it is belligerent and uncooperative, perhaps even hostile. On a 7-9, it is overall neutral, and will respond in kind to how the PCs initially treat it. On a 10+, it begins as inclined to learn more about the PCs, moderately friendly and non-hostile.
DOWNTIME
Downtime: When the PCs want to pursue some downtime activity, have them roll a relevant ability score while you roll 3d6. If they succeed, take the highest 2, and if they fail, take the lowest. On a 10+, choose two, on a 7-9, choose one:
-You complete what you set out to achieve in full (If not chosen: you only have moderate success)
-You become well-known and well-loved (If not chosen: you remain as you were)
-You avoid making any enemies in the process (If not chosen: you anger a rival or group)
A NIGHT'S REST
Resting: When you bunker down for the night, roll 2d6, with a bonus for every person who voluntarily sacrifices the benefits of their rest to keep watch. On a 10+, choose three of the following. On a 7-9, choose 2. On a 6-, choose 1.
-You remain well-supplied and well-stocked.
-You gain the healing and resting benefits as normal.
-Nothing interferes with your rest.
(Side note: This one might have some unintended consequences. Since one of the fail-states is "whoops all your supplies are gone", that changes the risk-reward nature of supplies, and makes it into more of a binary state, well-stocked or in need of new supplies. Why would you bother tracking each ration if they all might vanish all of a sudden for no reason? I'll need to think more about this one.)
EXPLORING
Entering a HEX: When the party enters a new HEX, roll 2d6. On a 10+, the party finds some significant, permanent structure, or something that is of great use to them. On a 7-9, the party finds something that isn't permanent, but is rather significant. On a 6-, the party finds something that is impermanent and not terribly significant, like tracks or a small bevy of monstrous patrols.
(This could also be made into a 2d6 chart per region, which makes for exploration that surprises even the DM, which is nice- also reduces planning. You could really expand on this quite a bit, and I plan on doing that in the future, but for now, I'll leave it like this)
I've got a game in a couple hours, so I'll be starting to use some of these, I'll let you all know how it goes. Happy gaming.
I like this! Personally though, the potential problem I see is in letting the DM choose which benefits and detriments the party experiences. A bad DM wanting to screw over the party or a DM wanting to railroad the party could abuse the ability to choose what happens instead of letting only the dice decide "pass" or "fail". If I were to do this (and I most likely will because it is a great idea!) I think I would let each roll determine "pass" or "fail" with something like "on a 1-3 failure, on a 4-6 success".
ReplyDeleteFor downtime activities, for example, rolling a 1, 4, and 5 results in "You become well-known and well-loved" and "You avoid making enemies in the process", but also "You only have moderate success". So instead of a 10 and choosing 2, the dice have chosen 2 for you. Great use of an time-tested method though!
That's a great plan! Now that I think about it, I was envisioning the DM rolling but he players selecting the consequences, which really makes it not a DM-facing mechanic at all... my bad entirely. I also like the way you've done it, though, and I'll experiment with that to see how it works!
Delete