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How much control do DMs need?
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9002440" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>The problem is, it is its very exaggeration that makes it difficult to process. Dungeon World uses the Agendas, Principles, lesser-but-still-important guidance,* and explanatory text to guard against exactly this sort of extreme or exaggerated behavior. And, believe it or not, while the standard text does not delve into it, the players have Agendas and Principles too, which are just as aligned to "be a friendly, good-faith player" as the GM ones are to "be a friendly, good-faith GM."</p><p></p><p>Ironically, I feel exactly the opposite here! The thing I love about DW is, I'm free to do as I like--within the rules, which usually are more specific ways of saying "be a good GM," and that specificity is <em>useful</em>. There is little to no fear of doing something that could cause a problem, the rules are really flexible and open to extension,** and my ability to create exciting content is nearly unfettered because monsters are a snap to create (there's even super convenient online tools for it) and never need references to outside material. With most versions of D&D, the rules are complex (yes, even 1e!), difficult to create on the fly, likely to reveal unexpected conflicts when using <em>ad hoc</em> solutions, and often unexpectedly constraining. I feel like I have to be totally inventing new, <em>good</em> systems from the ground up with little to no support. </p><p></p><p>With DW, it's almost always supremely simple; the three basic move templates are "do an existing thing, but more/different/better" (e.g. adding more questions to Discern Realities, dealing damage even when you fail Hack & Slash, doing two roles for Undertake a Perilous Journey), "roll, get to pick from a list: pick more if hit, less if partial, have Problems if you miss" (along the lines of Discern Realities), or "roll, get everything you want on a hit, ugly/hard/incomplete choices if partial, have Problems if you miss" (along the lines of Defy Danger.) </p><p></p><p>These basic templates, plus things inspired by the Ritual move (lovely, lovely way of encapsulating all "ritual magic" in a neat package) have been more than enough for me to design anything I've needed and be sure that it is, at worst, only slightly more or less powerful than it should be--and I've only had that happen, specifically slightly too powerful, <em>one time</em> in five years of running DW.</p><p></p><p>*E.g. "you have to do it to do it" = "an action that invokes a move must occur in the fiction for the move to occur" is not, technically, any of the Agendas or Principles, but is a vital part of how moves happen, even GM moves, though GM moves tend to have less overt connection.</p><p></p><p>**I've hacked in rules for playing beyond maximum level, the equivalent of a "prestige class"--formally, a "compendium class"--with maybe an hour's work, support for intrigue-focused play, and even support for things that go beyond full success. All of it quite easy to do, none of it in conflict with or requiring that I ignore the existing rules, <em>especially</em> not the rules that apply to me as GM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9002440, member: 6790260"] The problem is, it is its very exaggeration that makes it difficult to process. Dungeon World uses the Agendas, Principles, lesser-but-still-important guidance,* and explanatory text to guard against exactly this sort of extreme or exaggerated behavior. And, believe it or not, while the standard text does not delve into it, the players have Agendas and Principles too, which are just as aligned to "be a friendly, good-faith player" as the GM ones are to "be a friendly, good-faith GM." Ironically, I feel exactly the opposite here! The thing I love about DW is, I'm free to do as I like--within the rules, which usually are more specific ways of saying "be a good GM," and that specificity is [I]useful[/I]. There is little to no fear of doing something that could cause a problem, the rules are really flexible and open to extension,** and my ability to create exciting content is nearly unfettered because monsters are a snap to create (there's even super convenient online tools for it) and never need references to outside material. With most versions of D&D, the rules are complex (yes, even 1e!), difficult to create on the fly, likely to reveal unexpected conflicts when using [I]ad hoc[/I] solutions, and often unexpectedly constraining. I feel like I have to be totally inventing new, [I]good[/I] systems from the ground up with little to no support. With DW, it's almost always supremely simple; the three basic move templates are "do an existing thing, but more/different/better" (e.g. adding more questions to Discern Realities, dealing damage even when you fail Hack & Slash, doing two roles for Undertake a Perilous Journey), "roll, get to pick from a list: pick more if hit, less if partial, have Problems if you miss" (along the lines of Discern Realities), or "roll, get everything you want on a hit, ugly/hard/incomplete choices if partial, have Problems if you miss" (along the lines of Defy Danger.) These basic templates, plus things inspired by the Ritual move (lovely, lovely way of encapsulating all "ritual magic" in a neat package) have been more than enough for me to design anything I've needed and be sure that it is, at worst, only slightly more or less powerful than it should be--and I've only had that happen, specifically slightly too powerful, [I]one time[/I] in five years of running DW. *E.g. "you have to do it to do it" = "an action that invokes a move must occur in the fiction for the move to occur" is not, technically, any of the Agendas or Principles, but is a vital part of how moves happen, even GM moves, though GM moves tend to have less overt connection. **I've hacked in rules for playing beyond maximum level, the equivalent of a "prestige class"--formally, a "compendium class"--with maybe an hour's work, support for intrigue-focused play, and even support for things that go beyond full success. All of it quite easy to do, none of it in conflict with or requiring that I ignore the existing rules, [I]especially[/I] not the rules that apply to me as GM. [/QUOTE]
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