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Mixed age group Dungeon World Actual Play
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<blockquote data-quote="Nephis" data-source="post: 8562082" data-attributes="member: 20459"><p>This was definitely a fun session!</p><p></p><p>The "play of the game" could definitely have descended into chaos, due to many factors (some of which [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above, myself below), but the GM proved masterful in corralling the varied attention and channeling the varied energy levels of such a disparate group of players, all the while teaching most of the group new rules, etc., making for very effective play, somehow without GM force. I mean, crazy exclamations of unlikely scenarios (e.g. <em>I leap from the tree and chop their head off!</em>) were broken down into roll-able possibilities and woven into the shared creation of fiction and gameplay (<em>okay: it sounds like you're making a Defy Danger (Dex) move combined with Backstab</em>). The two boys were more familiar with roleplay, it seemed to me (perhaps in part due to that screentime in addition to the reading material [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above?<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />), than their parents, but all four were game for the ... err ... game! Honestly, the "corralling" - or herding of the player-cats - I mentioned was more at the beginning, before we all got absorbed into play.</p><p></p><p>There were definitely moments of "show the way" but not in a overly pedantic way, more in giving examples of possibilities, perhaps? The "teaching" was more within the play itself, trying to react to their actions as I felt Knelle - a halfling Druid living as a hermit in a swamp - naturally would. Here are some examples of how it worked out:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">that "peeing incident": Sven declares that he will pee - Knelle makes her presence known to forestall this (with Knelle's player giving Sven's player a seriously hard stare!) - Sven insists he will continue, resulting in the rather cranky Druid's decision to Shapeshift and attack the intruder.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">after Knelle has changed "constricted victim" from Sven to the Lizardfolk, when Throndir declares he will make a second Called Shot, this time at the constricted Lizardfolk, Knelle's player reminds him that the Druid is constricting the LF's <em>upper torso and around his head </em>- e.g. the larger lower torso is open for attack; e.g. perhaps the Called Shot <em>shouldn't</em> be for the LF's <em>head</em>. Of course he was going to miss and of course he was going to hit Knelle instead! (most of Knelle's damage was from friendly fire, in my memory)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the bonds: Knelle's bond changing - as [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] alludes to above - from <em>a</em> danger to <em>Knelle</em> possibly (probably?) becoming the danger: her alignment is Neutral: has Throndir just become the Unnatural Menace Knelle has vowed eliminate?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the bonds: one of Sven's is <em>Knelle is soft, but I will make them hard like me.</em> After the anaconda attack, I turned to Sven's player and asked <em>Does Sven still think Knelle is soft? </em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the bonds: Knelle's other bond is <em>Aaron smells more like prey than a hunter</em>, having decided that the Rogue looked weakest of the males. Having just constricted Sven, I mentioned that the name in that bond may switch. These examples gave our trusty GM a chance to forecast a bit the end of session resolution of bonds.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the importance of checking the state of the party before embarking on a Perilous Journey: everyone was guns ablaze to race headlong into the wilderness to find the villagers (perhaps because they, unlike Knelle, had more than half of their original hit points!). Knelle's player asked them to examine how <em>everyone</em> looked, in term of health: e.g. Knelle looks like she's in pretty bad shape, and perhaps we need to take a moment before racing into danger!!!</li> </ul><p>Regarding parental interference, the only thing I can think of was the Telepathy spell [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above, and - as Lang was the <em>actual leader </em>of the group - it was seamlessly done, the two boys accepting the directions (it happened a couple of times) as the leader's natural action. Both parents seemed as interested as the boys in playing the game and not in over-parenting.</p><p></p><p>I would make a slight edit to [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER]'s description re the Perilous Journey move (it was late when we finished the session, and I had only my part specifically to keep track of, while GM [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] had six - each of ours and his own!): the result is <em>basically</em> the same. <em>Knelle</em> would Scout Ahead: I had a quick convo with Throndir's player, establishing that - since Knelle was in familiar territory - it made sense for <em>her</em> to Scout, while Throndir - being more concerned with provisions than the non-food-consuming Druid - would Manage Provisions. [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER], I guess this could be used as an example of my "showing the way": in that convo I quickly pointed out that Lang, as Wizard with high Int should perhaps navigate (this also fitted her roll as <em>actual</em> leader of the group), while the Ranger and Druid should probably take care of Scout Ahead and Manage Provisions, with our high Wis. Everyone agreed (I <em>think. </em>I don't actually remember if the boys did or not!)</p><p></p><p>I chose as my 7-9 score result "you discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain" - "remembering" where the path of terra firma lay within the boggy terrain, me scooting under those raised roots, while the taller humans and elf did otherwise. This was why our navigator (also rolling a 7-9) received the Discovery result from the GM, with an added danger: the vines hanging down were recognizably dangerous - perhaps to Throndir and/or Knelle. The latter may have resulted from a Spout Lore roll Knelle made (not a Discern Realities roll: remember, we finished late and our memories were tired!) which brought up Acorax (My Spout Lore was, of course, another "show the way" move on my part, giving - hopefully subtle - examples of how to get answers along the way). The name of Acorax poppin up in Knelle's memory frightened her and caused her to urge the party onward away from this dark place, but...</p><p></p><p>The Discovery definitely led into a promising direction for the player of Lang - a strong storyteller herself, if not a seasoned roleplayer. She had previously been sitting back somewhat, using her telepathy to keep her guys in line a bit (e.g. reminders not to pee on the Druid, reminders to perhaps work <em>with</em> the nice Druid!), but now could expand upon her imagination, which our friendly GM could draw out with questions and comments, as aptly described in his above post.</p><p></p><p>In my memory, game play ended with Sven - against our admonition to take care - going ahead in his attempt to enter the tunnel and being stung by a vine. Or about to be! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite12" alt="o_O" title="Er... what? o_O" loading="lazy" data-shortname="o_O" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nephis, post: 8562082, member: 20459"] This was definitely a fun session! The "play of the game" could definitely have descended into chaos, due to many factors (some of which [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above, myself below), but the GM proved masterful in corralling the varied attention and channeling the varied energy levels of such a disparate group of players, all the while teaching most of the group new rules, etc., making for very effective play, somehow without GM force. I mean, crazy exclamations of unlikely scenarios (e.g. [I]I leap from the tree and chop their head off![/I]) were broken down into roll-able possibilities and woven into the shared creation of fiction and gameplay ([I]okay: it sounds like you're making a Defy Danger (Dex) move combined with Backstab[/I]). The two boys were more familiar with roleplay, it seemed to me (perhaps in part due to that screentime in addition to the reading material [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above?;)), than their parents, but all four were game for the ... err ... game! Honestly, the "corralling" - or herding of the player-cats - I mentioned was more at the beginning, before we all got absorbed into play. There were definitely moments of "show the way" but not in a overly pedantic way, more in giving examples of possibilities, perhaps? The "teaching" was more within the play itself, trying to react to their actions as I felt Knelle - a halfling Druid living as a hermit in a swamp - naturally would. Here are some examples of how it worked out: [LIST] [*]that "peeing incident": Sven declares that he will pee - Knelle makes her presence known to forestall this (with Knelle's player giving Sven's player a seriously hard stare!) - Sven insists he will continue, resulting in the rather cranky Druid's decision to Shapeshift and attack the intruder. [*]after Knelle has changed "constricted victim" from Sven to the Lizardfolk, when Throndir declares he will make a second Called Shot, this time at the constricted Lizardfolk, Knelle's player reminds him that the Druid is constricting the LF's [I]upper torso and around his head [/I]- e.g. the larger lower torso is open for attack; e.g. perhaps the Called Shot [I]shouldn't[/I] be for the LF's [I]head[/I]. Of course he was going to miss and of course he was going to hit Knelle instead! (most of Knelle's damage was from friendly fire, in my memory) [*]the bonds: Knelle's bond changing - as [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] alludes to above - from [I]a[/I] danger to [I]Knelle[/I] possibly (probably?) becoming the danger: her alignment is Neutral: has Throndir just become the Unnatural Menace Knelle has vowed eliminate? [*]the bonds: one of Sven's is [I]Knelle is soft, but I will make them hard like me.[/I] After the anaconda attack, I turned to Sven's player and asked [I]Does Sven still think Knelle is soft? [/I] [*]the bonds: Knelle's other bond is [I]Aaron smells more like prey than a hunter[/I], having decided that the Rogue looked weakest of the males. Having just constricted Sven, I mentioned that the name in that bond may switch. These examples gave our trusty GM a chance to forecast a bit the end of session resolution of bonds. [*]the importance of checking the state of the party before embarking on a Perilous Journey: everyone was guns ablaze to race headlong into the wilderness to find the villagers (perhaps because they, unlike Knelle, had more than half of their original hit points!). Knelle's player asked them to examine how [I]everyone[/I] looked, in term of health: e.g. Knelle looks like she's in pretty bad shape, and perhaps we need to take a moment before racing into danger!!! [/LIST] Regarding parental interference, the only thing I can think of was the Telepathy spell [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] mentions above, and - as Lang was the [I]actual leader [/I]of the group - it was seamlessly done, the two boys accepting the directions (it happened a couple of times) as the leader's natural action. Both parents seemed as interested as the boys in playing the game and not in over-parenting. I would make a slight edit to [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER]'s description re the Perilous Journey move (it was late when we finished the session, and I had only my part specifically to keep track of, while GM [USER=1282]@darkbard[/USER] had six - each of ours and his own!): the result is [I]basically[/I] the same. [I]Knelle[/I] would Scout Ahead: I had a quick convo with Throndir's player, establishing that - since Knelle was in familiar territory - it made sense for [I]her[/I] to Scout, while Throndir - being more concerned with provisions than the non-food-consuming Druid - would Manage Provisions. [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER], I guess this could be used as an example of my "showing the way": in that convo I quickly pointed out that Lang, as Wizard with high Int should perhaps navigate (this also fitted her roll as [I]actual[/I] leader of the group), while the Ranger and Druid should probably take care of Scout Ahead and Manage Provisions, with our high Wis. Everyone agreed (I [I]think. [/I]I don't actually remember if the boys did or not!) I chose as my 7-9 score result "you discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain" - "remembering" where the path of terra firma lay within the boggy terrain, me scooting under those raised roots, while the taller humans and elf did otherwise. This was why our navigator (also rolling a 7-9) received the Discovery result from the GM, with an added danger: the vines hanging down were recognizably dangerous - perhaps to Throndir and/or Knelle. The latter may have resulted from a Spout Lore roll Knelle made (not a Discern Realities roll: remember, we finished late and our memories were tired!) which brought up Acorax (My Spout Lore was, of course, another "show the way" move on my part, giving - hopefully subtle - examples of how to get answers along the way). The name of Acorax poppin up in Knelle's memory frightened her and caused her to urge the party onward away from this dark place, but... The Discovery definitely led into a promising direction for the player of Lang - a strong storyteller herself, if not a seasoned roleplayer. She had previously been sitting back somewhat, using her telepathy to keep her guys in line a bit (e.g. reminders not to pee on the Druid, reminders to perhaps work [I]with[/I] the nice Druid!), but now could expand upon her imagination, which our friendly GM could draw out with questions and comments, as aptly described in his above post. In my memory, game play ended with Sven - against our admonition to take care - going ahead in his attempt to enter the tunnel and being stung by a vine. Or about to be! o_O [/QUOTE]
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