Dungeon World - Strom's Six (Inactive)

Game Master Infernal Zero

This is a story, not about heroes and villains, but of the adventurers in the shadowy Lord Strom's employ. What's the job this time?


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You know, things were going well up to this point. You met in the night in a secluded location, and Terestria's air elemental showed up right on cue. The ride up was a bit rough, Gromroir was found that the Myrmidon Armour wasn't really well suited to taking to the air currently, but the group was making progress. You land by the southern watchtower, and the air elemental sees itself off for the time being.

That's about as smoothly as it goes. For some reason, what golems you can see are rushing into the ruins, seemingly frenzied. The sound of gears whirring and crunching fills the air. And then, a faint red glow emerges from the darkness in the distance. Lumbering toward you is a great mass of solid stone, crossbows for hands and a glowing red “eye” at the centre of its head. This thing wasn’t among the other golems milling about. And it’s about at least twice the size of any of you.

On one side, you have the crumbling ruin walls and the watchtower. On the other, the very edge of the Skyruin - and a long fall. The golem is raising its hands, ready to fire as it slowly closes in.

What do you do?


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

The Herald remains in the back of the party, leaning on her staff of mistletoe. When the golem lumbers forward, a glint of recognition takes her eyes. "Is this where you've wandered off to?" She speaks with a lilt of affection, like she's talking to a dog she hasn't seen in a few years. She turns to the rest of the party to relay some details about this particular construct.

Spout Lore: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 4) + 2 = 10

Arcane Learning:
You are a font of esoteric knowledge. When you Spout Lore or Discern Realities about something magical or otherwise arcane, on a 10+ the GM will also tell you a little-known secret about the subject.


What in particular do you want to know about the golem, Herald?


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

A weakness or way to incapacitate some function of the golem would be good. Even knowing how much armor it has would help. Maybe it's crossbows jam when they get cold? As long as it's useful to our objective, and hopefully something so Shvibzik can make use of the +1 Forward.


The Herald:
The golem before you is a guardian model, persistent and requiring a great amount of magical power to make active. Its "eye" provides the steady flow of power it needs to continue activity.

The "eye" is actually rather rare, and isn't actually inserted unless intrusion is detected. It provides power as long as needed, but it has a startup period of a couple of minutes.


How did you come to learn about this?


Female Human Artificer 1.5 | HP 8/17 | Damage 1d8 | Armor 1 | Charge 2

"Toothless gears, that thing is awesome! And trying to kill us, that's bad. Eat acid, baby!" Elena raises her alchemical emitter cannon and sprays a stream of flourescent green liquid at the golem.

Volley: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 = 9
Damage, 2 Piercing: 1d8 ⇒ 6
Spend 1 Charge to Volley with Int, and I'll put my self in danger unless someone wants to Aid me.


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

This particular, exemplary model must have been an early scavenge. The other golems look like unskilled copies. Still, this enormous teady bear was almost unrecognizable without his duraflesh coating. This is one of the old vaccitron 5000s. At the beginning of the last Winter, they had been employed to vaccinate the dwindling population. She and he had seen far better days. It would be such a shame for either of them to see their ends here.


Male Dwarf Mechanic | Lvl 1 | XP: 0 | HP: 16/19 | Armor 2 | 1d8 | STR +0 | DEX +0 | CON +1 | INT +2 | WIS +1 | CHA -1

As soon as the golem appears, Gromroir flips down the eyepeice of the Myrmidon armour. it gets to work, and scans the golem. the armour performs both routine analysis, and scans the mystical energy flow through the being, looking for a place to hit withnthe cannon

Discern realities on the golem. always get +1 question: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5) + 1 = 11

What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Who’s really in control here?
What here is not what it appears to be?

and, with the HUD announcing its results, he decides on a nice, exposed line on the golems left arm. Ideally, this should disrupt the energies enough to deactivate it without damaging such a pristine specimen of golem

Volley+INT thanks to HUD: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 5) + 2 = 10
damage, 2 piercing: 1d8 ⇒ 3


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

big travel day. I'll try to get a post up. Bummer we start when I'm busy :(


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

Fizzy is terrified.

That is a horrible. It gonna hurt us! Maybe. I guess it hasn't done anything yet. But if Gromm shooting. Well when in Rome...where is Rome? Sorry friend machine thing you won't want to see what in have to do! Now you see me. Now you... Fizzy does the smart thing and becomes invisible

2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 4) + 2 = 7


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

I'll take I draw attention to myself or put myself in a spot


"Shiver me timbers! All hands hoay, arr," Bikke exclaims upon seeing the golem approaching. He takes out his axe.

"Have ye got an back-a-way plan fer escapin', or is it time ta board ship 'n' hack at 'em? Arr, either be acceptable fer me."


Gromroir:
What should I be on the lookout for?
Apart from the massive stone golem that's about to rain down bolts? The small golems seemed to be on alert. You're going to have to watch out for them later.

What here is useful or valuable to me?
There's a significant amount of power flowing from the eye of the golem. It's probably the power source. And it's not made out of stone like the rest of it. If you want to fight this thing, it's the best place to focus on.

Who’s really in control here?
The golem, but not by much. It's making use of having the first chance to move, and its defences are formidable, but it's slow, and the designer committed a sin of dwarven engineering - including glowing or otherwise obvious weakpoints. It won't be a hard push to gain the advantage.

What here is not what it appears to be?
The golem wasn't here for you. It was definitely inside the ruins before you came, and too slow to make it out here THIS soon after arrival if you were the trigger. However good detection will be, it won't have been made to handle someone approaching from below. Someone else tripped the system.


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

"Golems aren't exactly my specialty!" Terestria says ducking for cover.

After she hears what Nonna relays.

"The eye?" She thinks for a split second "I think I have an idea. I'll need cover fire!"

If the eye is the source of its power, then something small, nimble, and strong might just be able to dislodge it.

Terestria kneels, her body and eyes begin to glow a pale green as she shapeshifts into an Ironbeak Woodpecker! The type that make their home amidst the ancient forest trees, knocking holes in bark as strong as a knight's plate.

Shapeshift: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 2) + 2 = 6

Uh oh... On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

Shvibzik is interrupted during a verbose exposition about the eye and the construct's dependence on it's power by Terestria's summary. "Yes, dearie, the eye." With a subtle tap of her staff, the crone calls on the forces of winter to bolster the fledgling druid's transformation.
Aid Terestria: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 4) + 1 = 9

Aid:
On a 7–9 you also expose yourself to danger, retribution, or cost.

The woodpecker comes out in her winter plumage: a thick and snowy white.


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

That bumps me up to a seven! ✴ On a 7–9 hold 2.


Tell me more about the Ironbeak Woodpecker. How do you plan to use the form to dislodge the eye? I need to make the moves, so it would help if you could paint a clearer picture for me.


Does the move "Pierce through with your beak" sound about right?


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Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

That sounds perfect. The move says the GM will give me one or more moves. As the GM, you could give me three different moves - and since I only have 2 hold, I'd have to make some important decisions regarding when I choose how to spend that hold. That's one way I've found of giving the druid meaningful challenges as a GM.

Basically I'm planning to nimbly fly up there, grab hold of the stone face and start pecking like crazy. In future, how about I make it clear what I'm trying to do with the form, and how I plan to do that. That way you have a better idea.

That being said, don't be afraid to do what the fiction demands with the form. Rather than just give me exactly what I want.


Gotcha. Of course, I ask these sorts of things because you're picking it! Of course it's suited to the job somehow! But if you give me the opportunity, it's only appropriate to follow through on fiction. You get away this time because you got aided, but there will be more rolls, and several golden opportuinities!

I'll have the post up as soon as I can manage. Thanks for the clarification.


The Myrmidon Armour’s HUD surges to life with tactical information and targeting solutions, and with his shots lined up, Grimroir unleashes a salvo on the golem’s arm. The shots impact, sending a small spray of rock into the air, but the damage is superficial, and the golem undaunted. What do you do?

Elena’s spray however, sees greater effect. The acid eats into the golem’s body, and the hands of the golem shift at surprising speed to re-aim at the newly established threat. In less than a moment, Elena’s pinned under a hail of suppressive fire, as the golem walks ever closer! Making a move’s liable to pincushion you, and the golem seems intent on your position! What do you do?

Terestria’s transformation begins to go awry, but with the Herald’s intervention it stabilises, the magic altering the transformation so that Terestria comes out in a more wintry form than intended prior. However, the Herald’s magic lashes back at her for her use of it, recoiling at helping a living being. Take -1 forward to your next invocation of your magic as it acts out its displeasure. But for now, the transformation is done, and both of you are free to act. What do you do?

Attempting to hide from the stone golem's red gaze, Fizzwiddle summons a veil to hide his form. In his haste, the spell is poorly controlled, releasing a surge of magical power into the area. The sound of gears briefly spikes, and heavy footsteps begin to sound from the opposite side of the wall. You’ve caught the other golems’ attention! What do you do?

Bikke stands at the ready, axe in hand. The golem's right up ahead, bearing down on poor Elena as she's constricted by a hail of bolts. From what you can hear, more golems may be about to close on your position. All the construction here wouldn't be any harder for you to break down than anything else, too. What do you do?

Ironbeak Woodpecker:

-Pierce through with your beak
-Cling to a surface
-Fly nimbly through the air


Female Human Artificer 1.5 | HP 8/17 | Damage 1d8 | Armor 1 | Charge 2

"Pfft, arrows? Try something more advanced next time!" Elena flips a switch on her gauntlet, and blue sparks spring to life across it. "Executing phase shift, baby!" The artificer fades into translucency as she enters the ethereal plane, allowing physical objects to pass right through her. Heedless of the golem's hail of bolts, she strides forward and sends a jet of flame out of her goggles, unfortunately she hasn't tested the goggles while phased...

Field Test: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 6) + 2 = 11
Hack and Slash: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (2, 4) + 0 = 6
The ectoplasmic field glove makes me incorporeal now, stuff goes right through me. Spending 1 Charge to do so.

Why can't the dice roller be as nice to me as it is to the players on my table? Have you seen those rolls?


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

"Can't have you children over-run just yet..." Gathering the sleeves of her robe, the Herald speaks a few arcane words of power and taps her staff on the ground once more. A filigree of frost traces out across the ground toward the sound of footsteps. The line of frost splits and spans the area between the wall and the cliff, and ice begins to form to block passage.

Cast Spell (Induce Stasis): 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 4) + 1 = 6
On a miss, something's gone horribly wrong. Your spell may well have worked, but you will regret casting it.


Male Dwarf Mechanic | Lvl 1 | XP: 0 | HP: 16/19 | Armor 2 | 1d8 | STR +0 | DEX +0 | CON +1 | INT +2 | WIS +1 | CHA -1

Careful around it's eye, that's a very powerful magical artifact Gromroir shouts as he observes the golem attack elena, confident the girl can handle it, and letting the Myrmidon gauge the golems rate of fire, before moving in, relying on split second timing to get past the golems barrage, and into melee range.

DD+Int: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 3) + 2 = 9

and, once in range, he will extend the tri pronged grasping claws on the myrmidon, and attack the socket around the eye, hoping to retrieve the artifact, and deactivate the golem.

I don't know if this is H&S or DD+STR: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
damage if applicable: 1d8 ⇒ 8


Couple of questions - how tall are you in the armour? And what's your reach? It is pretty big. Enough to create an issue with what you're trying to do.


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

Terestria, feeling her green magic get tinged in the white of winter, shivers all over as her form glows and shifts into the woodpecker.

Taking stock of the situation she sees that the golem is unleashing a rain of arrows on Elena. I'm coming Elena! she chirps in her bird form.

Terestria waits for an opportunity to dive in, spending 1 hold to grab at the face of the golem and another to peck out the glowing eye from the socket.


Male Dwarf Mechanic | Lvl 1 | XP: 0 | HP: 16/19 | Armor 2 | 1d8 | STR +0 | DEX +0 | CON +1 | INT +2 | WIS +1 | CHA -1

I think im a shade over 1.5 meters tall in the armour, but the arm can go a little farther, but yeah, I think I need some help. Also I had a +1 from my DR on that DD, so it's actually a 10

As he gets in the golems guard, Gromroir realizes the flaw in his plan. Elena's right Grommy, your gettin old. Fortunately, this is not the first time height has been a problem for the dwarves, and they have a fair number of ways to bring an opponent down to their level Bikke, the knees! he shouts.

Aid Bikke to get the Golem's knees: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1) + 1 = 7

And my next rolls will be contingent upon Bikke's assistance


The increasing number of approaching golems worries Bikke, but he shakes it off. The others intend on taking on the biggest threat, and Bikke has never been the first to turn tail. And so the pirate charges the artillery golem, axe held high. "Prepare to be boarded, ye brain-melted tin can! ARRR!" He grits his teeth, enduring possible arrows at his way.

Defy Danger Con: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 = 13

He hears Gromroir's advice. "Tha knees?! Me thought tha plan was ta get tha magic gazer-" he says until he notices the difference in height between his dwarf stature and the large golem. "...Aye aye, matey!"

He swings his axe at the golem's knees, attempting to bring its head to a lower level.

Hack&Slash plus Gromroir's aid: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5) + 1 + 1 = 12
(I choose to expose myself to danger, and get some more damage. I really want this golem down.)
Damage, 2 piercing: 1d10 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 1 + (5) = 15


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

Fizzy yelps as he knows more golems are coming, so he moves away from the approaching golems and out of range of the big golem and does his best to help bring it down soon

Sometimes violence is the only way. He stops and aims his finger gun at the monstrosity

Pew Pew he says as a pie shaped missile zips from his finger

Magic Missile: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 5) + 2 = 8 for 2d4 ⇒ (4, 3) = 7

drawing more attention to myself


It'd be helpful for you to actually record what's prepped. Though from what I can see, you chose Magic Missile and Invisibility. You have your cantrips too, so note them as prepped too.

Are you sure you want to do that? You'll have to drop your invisibility to cast. You can't cast while invisible, and attacks make the spell drop anyway.


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

oops sorry yes. My default is invis and magic missile. I forgot to mark off the other. And yes I am sure invis was just to get distance and well. He got scared


Without a care for the arrows being rained down on her, Elena flicks a switch and phases through them, casually walking through the fire as if it was not even an inconvenience. Her goggles spark, and unleash a gout of flame toward the golem...which phases through it harmlessly. Oops. More problematically, the interaction destabilises the gauntlet, ejecting her from the ethereal plane. The gauntlet’s still functional, if a little warm at the moment, but it’s even more unstable than before. (Until you have time to fix it, when you use it for Field Test, pick 1 more option on a hit, and expect extra badness on a miss. You’ve gone from “loosely controlled” to “barely controlled”.)

The Herald’s ice begins to form, blocking passage, but it wants more after being insulted prior. A second line traces toward Gromroir, and as he’s helping Bikke get in position, the frost spirals onto and around the leg of the Myrmidon Armour, locking it in place for a moment. As he struggles to free the leg, Bikke’s axe impacts the golem’s knee with all the power of a crashing wave, sending cracks spidering through the stone giant’s leg.

It seems like it’s going to hold its balance for a moment, but then Fizzwiddle’s pie-shaped missile impacts with the golem’s leg, removing what semblance of solidity remained. Its momentum carries it forward and it begins to fall, causing its leg to separate and the newly formed chunks of rocks to cascade onto Bikke and Gromroir! Take 1d8 damage from the rockfall, and a few pebbles in inconvenient places.

As all this happens, Terestria clings to the golem’s face and works away the indent that contains its eye. As she’s finally done enough work to be able to free it, the golem starts toppling, and she reverts to her prior form in the air. The eye comes loose, and starts to fall with her. As a result of all of this, Terestria and Elena are liable to be crushed by the golem’s falling body, the eye is at risk of being shattered by the ground AND the golem, and while the ice wall will block the others for a while, it won’t hold forever. Thumping sounds are beginning to emerge from the wall by Fizzwiddle as well. What do you do?


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

Now you see me, now you ... Fizzy practically shrieks as he casts invisibility again as he hears things coming out from nearby, then he scrambles away from them.

2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 5) + 2 = 9

man it is a shame my dice aren't as good as Thunks

Fizzy goes invisible, but in his panic he suddenly can't recall the exact hand motions needed to cast the spell

gonna forget the spell this time rather than draw yet more attention


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Female Human Artificer 1.5 | HP 8/17 | Damage 1d8 | Armor 1 | Charge 2

"Go Bikke! Arr!" Elena watches the golem teeter towards her, "Uh oh." She quickly slaps a button on her belt and braces for impact. The air around her ripples as the reversal field expands around her, holding the golem's inert body and plucked eye in mid-air. "Better grab the rock and get out quick, this won't hold long!"

Field Test: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11
The effect is short-lived and temporary.

The reversal belt repels small objects normally, but in a pinch it will repel bigger stuff for a short time.


Great work! Now you just have to catch the druid. And the power-glowy. It's not an eye anymore.


Male Dwarf Mechanic | Lvl 1 | XP: 0 | HP: 16/19 | Armor 2 | 1d8 | STR +0 | DEX +0 | CON +1 | INT +2 | WIS +1 | CHA -1

rocks damage: 1d8 - 2 ⇒ (5) - 2 = 3

Damn it all, winter, watch your magic! Gromroir yells as the ice engulfs his leg. He turns the energy cannon on his leg, and sets it to swift, controlled bursts, hoping to melt away the ice.

dd+Int: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11

and then throws himself toward the falling golem, shouldering it aside from him, and grabbing the gem, shouting Elena, the gem! shamelessly fishing for an aid

DD+Con: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 2) + 1 = 9


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

Terestria, thinking quickly pulls out a trusty grappling hook from her Adventuring Gear, flinging it to a high ruined wall and swings to safety.

If she has time, she snatches the now dislodged eye from the air as she swings.

Marking off a use of adventuring gear and adding the grappling hook to my inventory. Let me know if I need to roll for anything.


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Rocks fall, no one dies: 1d8 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6 (Ow.)

Bikke covers his head while the pieces of the crubling golem rain on him. Amidst the rockfall he realizes the golem is falling down, and that the others seem concerned with the eye for some reason - he understands naught of the magical wonders, only that they sell for a good price.

While Elena's gadget is holding the golem from falling and Gromroir is trying to grab the gem, Bikke lends his strong arms to support the two.

Aid: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 2) + 1 = 5

(Seems he's not used to supporting floating objects or something.)


Going to have to work fast to pull that off, Terestria. Give me a DD Dex for your midair grapple. As for the eye, I'd say give me an aid for Gromroir if you're going to interact with it. Help him with the catch.


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

"Sorry, dearies, these old bones don't move like they used to."

The Herald sees that the others are getting through alright, so she will cast forward to spot the dangers ahead. Never too early for a forecast. She shakes her staff, the bow of mistletoe rustling as she peals back the veil of winter to lay sight on one of today's grim portents.

"Grigori, cast our lot, reveal to me what trials winter has in store for these children." A deck of cards issues forth from the crone's sleeve and spread around her in a neat circle. Her finger crooks, and one card turns to face her.
Cast Spell (Reveal Grim Portent): 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 1) + 2 = 7
On a 7-9, the spell takes effect, but the choose two:
Your spell won't last long - you'll need to hurry to take advantage of it.
Your spell affects either much more or much less than you wanted it to.


"Me throws a guesser 'Grigori' ain't a nickname fer Gromroir, aye?"


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

The crone looks down at the card in her hand with a wrinkled brow. "An old friend, dearie. No one you would know."


I have to say I'm confused here as to how what you're doing works, Herald. As the Mage here, you're the arbiter on your class, so could you fill me in?


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]
DM Loopy wrote:
Going to have to work fast to pull that off, Terestria. Give me a DD Dex for your midair grapple. As for the eye, I'd say give me an aid for Gromroir if you're going to interact with it. Help him with the catch.

DD +DEX: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 6) + 1 = 12

Aiding Grom: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 5) + 1 = 12

"Grom! Catch!" she shouts tumbling through the air.


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

You're perfectly at your liberty to interpret the move as you wish, but what drew me to the Winter focus (as well as getting another chance to make Anastasia Romanov a witch) was the specific use of the words Grim Portents. In the RAW, Grim Portents is the term for the steps on the Fronts page. Things like "castle farquad falls", "the black portal opens", "the princess is sacrificed", etc. The bad stuff that might happen if we do nothing.

Were I to GM myself here, I would say this kind of scrying should come from there (or be like that kind of thing). The first limitation, "Your spell won't last long - you'll need to hurry to take advantage of it." would mean it's an immediate portent, probably related to the shearing gears in the other room, or the golem we've crippled, or some other event that we would have to act on now. The second restriction "Your spell affects either much more or much less than you wanted it to." I would interpret as the clue being vague, and obscure, or uselessly detailed.

As to how to go about conveying that with a card? It's very like a Spout Lore. You can describe the card, or just describe what the Herald gets out of the card. Something like "You've drawn the Ace of Eyes. This could be a sign you are being watched by higher powers, or a direct reference to the recently harvested eye, but something about the way the card flies to your hand gives you a sense of immediacy." I don't know if/how you want to handle granting something like a +1 forward, or something else mechanical, and that entirely depends on how powerful you feel this kind of move is, but I expect her to do it at least once per session, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to fine-tune that.


Fizzwiddle’s panicked shrieking provokes a louder thump upon the wall, but apart from forgetting the motions as he frantically runs through them the spell goes off without a hitch. The thumping sound still hasn’t stopped though, and small chips of stone are coming off the wall, bouncing harmlessly off his invisible form. They haven’t given up, and they’re making progress. What do you do?

Just as the falling golem’s body begins to pick up momentum, it collides with Elena's rapidly expanding reversal field, slowing but not yet stopping it. With the extra time granted, Terestria has the opportunity she needs to securely grapple the ruin walls. Gromroir looses himself from the ice, and coordinating with Terestria he barges the golem out of the way as she projects the eye toward him mid-swing, and without any effort he snatches the eye out of the air as Terestria swings to safety.

Despite it all, the golem’s still coming down, and it looks like it’s going to crash into Elena and Grimroir. It’s at this moment Bikke rushes in, his arms heaving to prevent the golem from crushing his teammates. He’s too hasty though, and from Gromroir’s barge and Bikke’s charge it begins to veer toward the edge…(So, Bikke. A few choices. Strain yourself and take -1 to STR rolls until you get a quick rest to set the golem safely on the ground. Defy Danger with Strength to try and bring it back in a less controlled manner, risking damaging something. Or let the Golem drop on Hohenheim. What would you like to try?)

The Herald, unconcerned with the happenings of others at this moment, calls to Grigori to see what the future holds...a card comes to face her. The Three of Quills. This means...wait, the Four is now facing forward. Now the Five. Now the Six. All other cards return as the suit of Quills forms a new circle before her, beginning to rotate and flip the faces of its cards ever faster, reaching a blistering speed before returning to her sleeve. Things like this have occurred before - readings aren’t always clear. The rapid motions of the cards means it’s imminent, too close for proper prediction. It may have just happened. The suit and its rapid flipping grants a great many possibilities, that may overlap. Circumstances granting or removing the agency of an individual, or group. A great need for or faltering in one’s will and determination. The key is in the suit, but that is the best clue you have.

The walls are crumbling. A droplet of water has formed on the wall of ice. And you still haven’t gotten anywhere from where you started. What do you do?


Human Druid 1 [Tell: Grey rabbit ears] [ HP 16/19 | XP 2/8 | AC 1 | DMG D6 | ] [ STR -1 | DEX +1 | CON +1 | INT 0 | WIS +2 | CHA +0 ]

Terestria pockets her grappling hook, glad now that she brought it with her.

We're sitting ducks here. she thinks to herself as she quickly surveys her surroundings, peering over ruins, looking for a way to move the group from to somewhere safer. A hidden alleyway, a crumbled entrance to the tower, some kind of shelter to get away from the impending threat of another golem.

rolling a discern realities here, but if I landed in a spot that I wouldn't need to, feel free to disregard

Discern Realities: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8

going with "What here is useful or valuable to me?"


Myth Mage lvl:1.08 ~ HP:11/19 ~ 1d4* | INT:+2-1 ~ CON:+1 ~ WIS:+1 ~ CHA:0 ~ DEX:0 ~ STR:-1

"Terestria, the wall's coming down, dear. You'll pull it down on top of you. Gromroir, see that that mote doesn't go out. It could take time warming up if we need it in the future. Maybe attatch it to that suit of yours? You'd know better than I how that poppet works. The rest of you children need to get moving. Lincoln isn't going to come to us, but I'm afraid those other golems will be here sooner than you'd like." Eyeing the cliff, the ice, and the crumbling wall, the Herald gestures the group toward the tower.


DM Loopy wrote:
(So, Bikke. A few choices. Strain yourself and take -1 to STR rolls until you get a quick rest to set the golem safely on the ground. Defy Danger with Strength to try and bring it back in a less controlled manner, risking damaging something. Or let the Golem drop on Hohenheim. What would you like to try?)

(As much as I hate taking Strength-related penalties on a fighter, I'm gonna play it safe and strain myself. I don't want any falling golems crushing my friends, or the local property values.)

Bikke the strongman realizes his grasp of the golem is slipping, and that the mass of stone is getting dangerously close to the edge. He grunts and curses as he musters more strength past his limits.

"Arr... Gimme... a second... here..."


HP 17/17 STR-1 DEX 0 CON+1 INT +2 WIS 0 CHA +1 Armor 3 XP 3

Fizzy continues to put distance between the wall and himself and he gets back to the group

Mr. Bikke. Can I help? He says from his invisibility

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