Dungeon World variant rules and clarifications
Clarifications
Rounding and subtraction
When things are halved, they always round up.
Damage can only be reduced down to one point by penalties (e.g. "-1 damage for using a
makeshift weapon" or "-1d4 damage for being poisoned"). However, it can be reduced to
zero by armour.
Apply bonuses/penalties first, THEN halve or double, THEN subtract armour.
Clarification: Stealth and deception
Moving quietly or unseen is +DEX, as is stealing stuff and picking locks. Social stealth -
blending in with a crowd - is +WIS. Camouflaging yourself and staying still probably doesn't
require a roll, but if it does it's +WIS, or +CON if what you need to do is stay very still for
hours. Lying is +CHA. Successfully lying isn't "they believe you", it's "they believe that you
think you're telling the truth".
Alignment
Alignment is not necessarily absolute. See here for a more in-depth discussion of this.
Rules changes
Removing big-number stats
The raw stats (8-18) are used infrequently, and are a bit confusing to new players. Instead,
we can adapt the system to just use the modifiers.
Your starting stat array is +2, +1, +1, +0, +0, -1. This has knock-on effects on the following
aspects of the game:
Hit points
Take your class base HP and add a number calculated from your CON as follows:
● -1: 8
● 0: 11
● +1: 14
● +2: 16
● +3: 18
Remember to update this as your CON increases.
Leveling up
Whenever you reach an even-numbered level (remember, you start at level one), add +1 to a
stat modifier. You can't raise a stat to +3 until you reach level 6 or higher, and you can never
have more than a single stat at +3.
Haggling
This works exactly like hit points. When an item has "-Charisma" in the price listing, subtract
a number calculated from your CHA as follows:
● -1: 8
● 0: 11
● +1: 14
● +2: 16
● +3: 18
XP
XP and Bonds
You may start with Bonds filled in, and you may write in a new Bond at any time, providing
you do not go over your maximum. The first time a Bond becomes relevant - which may be
when you write it in - mark XP. If circumstances change so that a Bond is no longer relevant,
erase it and either leave the slot blank, or write a new one to reflect the new circumstances.
You no longer gain XP for resolving a bond.
Having played Dungeon World extensively, I found that players don't really like resolving
bonds even if it does give them XP. Forming new bonds is a far more interesting thing to
reward!
Happy GM Bonus XP
Once per two sessions, you can get bonus XP from one of the following:
● Art, backstory, or a short piece of fiction about your character that helps me get a
better understanding of them
● A map - with blanks - of part of the world that you end up visiting.
● A fleshed-out idea for a monster or other hazard that you end up encountering.
● Backstory on a place, faction, or species, or other worldbuilding that comes in useful.
Pool XP
Sometimes you'll roll a failure and the negative effect either won't be immediately obvious or
won't fall upon the person who made the roll (such as for Carouse and Recruit, where the
person who rolls the dice is fairly arbitrary). When this happens, add 1 XP to the pool. When
you get personally screwed over by a failure that happened earlier, take 1 XP from the pool.
From Perilous Wilds
Perilous Journeys
Use the Perilous Wilds moves for overland journeys and making camp, with the following
two exceptions.
Unperilous journeys
This is just a clarification.
Some journeys are safe enough that you don't need all (or any) of the usual roles. A journey
through unsafe territory can sometimes be made safe by sticking to decent roads, travelling
only during the day and fortifying the campsite at night, and by travelling in a large group or
with hired guards (whose main purpose is to look tough).
Navigating
The Perilous Wilds "Navigate" move doesn't really have as much player agency as the Scout
and Quartermaster moves.
When you plot the best course through dangerous or unfamiliar lands, roll +INT:
10+ Choose one from the list below.
7-9 You avoid dangers and distractions and make good time, reaching a point of the GM’s
choosing before you need to Make Camp.
6- Mark XP, and GM makes a move.
● It takes less time than you expected, the GM will tell you how much time you saved.
● You discover an interesting or useful place or landmark, tell everybody what you
found and add it to the map.
● You are able to fill out and correct details of the map. Add a note to the region:
Whenever you return to this route in the future, a party member may take +1 to a roll
of your choice (navigator, scout, quartermaster, forage or Make Camp). You may
accumulate as many +1s as you like but may only use one per day.
Work with followers
Use the Perilous Wilds rules for Followers.
Recruit
Imported from Perilous Wilds, with some small tweaks.
When you go looking to hire help, tell the GM who you’re looking for, phrased in one of the
following ways:
● A group of ______ (porters, guards, minstrels, angry farmers, etc.) - a group is a
follower like any other, but with the Group tag.
● A skilled ______ (guide, sage, burglar, bodyguard, etc.)
If the GM says you can’t find that kind of help in a place like this, start over or move on.
Otherwise, they'll give you an idea of what you can expect to pay - offer it, or offer something
you think is equivalent, and if the GM is happy roll +nothing.
Take +1 if you have a good reputation in these parts, +1 if the GM thinks you're offering
particularly generous pay, and -1 if you make it clear that the job is especially difficult and
dangerous (but that's a good way to ensure you only get Followers with a stomach for
danger).
You can also make the job sound safe and easy, which lets you get away with offering less
pay (but bear in mind your Followers may be dismayed to find out it's not).
On a 10+ they’re yours for the hiring. On a 7-9 the GM chooses 1:
● They demand greater compensation, in coin or some other form.
● It will take about twice as long as you expected to get someone - maybe you need to
travel to a nearby settlement to recruit, or maybe the best candidate is busy at the
moment.
● They have a need that must be met first (permission from someone else, a favor,
etc).
● You can tell at a glance they are less than ideal (ask the GM how). They'll still do, but
there will be some notable awkwardness.
On a 6-, either no one shows or you end up saddled with a Follower who's going to be more
trouble than they're worth (and add XP to the pool).
The GM will choose or roll their specifics (Quality, Loyalty, Instinct, Cost, tags, etc.) as
needed, to be discovered through play. Which might involve you grilling them, right now.
If you need an idea of costs:
Enthusiastically unskilled labour (e.g. an angry mob, a callow youth to blunder into traps):
The promise of a fair share of the loot, or similar compensation.
Mundane, safe, unskilled labour (e.g. porters, a messenger): 1-3 coins/day.
Skilled but safe or unskilled but risky (e.g. a minstrel, sailors, thugs): 3-6 coins/day.
Skilled, dangerous work (e.g. smugglers, a guide in perilous territory): 8-16 coins/day.
Skills in rare supply (e.g. a capable surgeon, a wizard, a champion): 20-40 coins/day.
Other
Defend
I don't think this move scales very sensibly. It's the only thing that's based directly on your
level, and it means that at high levels some characters can kill stuff more effectively by
Defending than by attacking.
Instead of "deal damage equal to your level", please read "deal half your damage, rounding
up".
The "Clumsy" tag
I think -1 Ongoing to everything is a little too harsh for wearing heavy armour.
The Clumsy tag means -1 Ongoing to everything that requires you to move about. It doesn't
hinder things like Parlay or Spout Lore.
Parlay
Let's be honest, this move is a bit awkward to trigger sometimes.
When you influence or manipulate an NPC to do something they normally wouldn't do,
roll+CHA. *On a hit, the GM will tell you the easiest way to convince them to go along. *On a
7-9, the GM will tell you something you can do to convince them, though it’ll likely be costly,
tricky, or distasteful.
If you have some kind of leverage on them, the GM should take it into consideration when
telling you their costs.
Hexcrawling
Wandering around a dangerous or untamed region looking for trouble and adventure is a
time-honoured pastime of heroes. You should treat this as a Perilous Journey - except, of
course, that you don't know how long it will take.
The best way to handle this involves a bag full of beads in two different colours. The larger
the region, the more beads in the bag. The more specific the thing you're looking for, the
fewer of them are "success" beads. Each day, you get to take one bead and not put it back.
The exceptions to this:
● If you spend the day foraging instead of making a dedicated search, you get to draw
a bead but you have to put it back afterwards.
● If the Navigator chooses "It takes less time than you expected…", draw two beads
rather than one.
Class-Specific changes
The Cleric
Bless is a bad spell. It's too boring and too powerful, especially outside of battle. Any party
with a Cleric will generally have Bless active near-constantly, since it stacks with everything
and allows access to +4 and higher bonuses.
Remove the spell "Bless".
The Druid
An additional advanced move for the Druid - Reincarnation ritual. This exists so that the
Cleric is not the only source of the Raise Dead spell.
Tell the GM you would like to work a ritual on a corpse to draw their soul back into the world
and grant it a new body. Reincarnation is always possible, but the GM will give you one or
more (possibly all) of these conditions to fulfil:
● It’s going to take days/weeks/months
● You must get help from ____
● You must sacrifice ____ to do it
● You need to be in a place strongly attuned to nature, deep in the wilderness
The GM may, depending on the circumstances, allow you to perform the ritual now, with the
understanding that the conditions must be met before it’s permanent, or require you to meet
the conditions first.
A modification to the Shapeshifter move for the Druid, to make it a little less safe.
The 7-9 result is now: hold 2, but also choose one:
● You draw unwelcome attention or put yourself in a spot. The GM will tell you how.
● The spirits tire of your demands; take -1 ongoing to Shapeshifter until you spend
some time quietly communing with the land.
● The animal spirit takes a strong hold; you are not completely in control, and the spirit
will take time or effort to dismiss when you try to leave this form.
The Thief
A slightly modified move for the Thief - Trap Expert.
When you spend a moment to survey a dangerous area, roll+DEX. *On a 10+, hold 3. *On a
7–9, hold 1. Spend your hold as you walk through the area to ask these questions:
● Is there a trap here and if so, what activates it?
● Is there a trap here and if so, what does it do when activated?
● What else is hidden here?
The Wizard
An additional advanced move for the Wizard - Contingent magic. This replaces the level
seven spell "Contingency".
You may prepare any of the spells in your spellbook as a Contingent spell. It counts as two
levels higher than usual to prepare, but when you cast it, specify a trigger condition. The
spell latches on to its chosen target, but the effects don't go off until the trigger condition is
met. You can only have one Contingent spell active at a time.
A revision to Arcane Ward and Arcane Armor, which seem a bit too powerful as they are,
especially at very low levels.
Arcane Ward
Your protective spells grant you armour equal to the number of spell slots you have
remaining, up to a maximum of 2.
Arcane Armor
Your protective spells grant you armour equal to the number of spell slots you have
remaining, up to a maximum of 2.
