Revised Basic Moves

If a basic move is not listed here, assume it is unchanged from core Dungeon World.

Aid/Interfere

When you help or hinder someone, roll+Bond with them. *On a hit, they get either advantage or disadvantage to their roll, your choice. *On a 7-9, you also expose yourself to any risks, costs, or consequences associated with their move. You may make this move after they roll, but you only give them +1 or -1 instead.

Defend

When you take up a defensive stance or jump in to protect someone or something else, roll+CON. *On a 10+, hold 3. *On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold to:

  • Suffer an attack’s damage/effects instead of your ward
  • Halve an attack’s damage/effects
  • Draw all attention from your ward to yourself
  • Strike back at an attacker; deal your damage with disadvantage

When you go on the offense, cease to focus on defense, or the threat passes, lose any hold left on this move.

Defy Danger

When danger looms, the stakes are high, and you act anyway, check if another move applies. If not, roll

…+STR to power through or test your might

…+DEX to employ speed, agility, or finesse

…+CON to endure or hold steady

…+INT to apply expertise or enact a clever plan

…+WIS to exert willpower or rely on your senses

…+CHA to charm, bluff, impress, or fit in.

On a 10+, you pull it off as well as one could hope; on a 7-9, you can do it, but the GM will present a lesser success, a cost, or a consequence (and maybe a choice between them, or a chance to back down).

Discern Realities

When you closely study a situation or person and look to the GM for insight, roll+WIS: on a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below; on a 7-9, ask 1; either way, take advantage on your next move to act on the answers.

  • What happened here recently?
  • What is about to happen?
  • What should I be on the lookout for?
  • What here is useful or valuable to me?
  • Who or what is really in control here?
  • What here is not what it appears to be?

Encumbrance

Your Load is specified by your playbook and ranges from 6+STR to 12+STR (use 9+STR if not specified in your playbook). When you carry more than your Load, you’re encumbered (noisy, slow, hot, quick to tire).

First Aid

When you spend a few minutes tending to someone’s injuries, spend 1 use of Supplies and choose one:

  • They recover 1d6+your INT HP. If the die shows a 1, the GM will introduce an additional complication from the injury. If your patient has recently been hit by a messy attack, there is a complication if the die shows a 1 or a 2.
  • You stabilise any dangerous wounds they have. Roll 1d6; if the die shows a 1 or a 2, there’s a complication.

Parley

When you influence or manipulate an NPC to do something they normally wouldn’t do, roll+CHA. *On a hit, they reveal the easiest way to convince them to go along. *On a 7-9, they reveal something you can do to convince them, though it’ll likely be costly, tricky, or distasteful.

Note that “easiest” does not necessarily mean easy to accomplish, convincing a royal guard to let you by is still a challenging task. Parley is not mind control in that regard, nor is it just asking nicely. If you have leverage on them, the GM should take it into consideration when telling you their costs.

Sneak Around

When act secretly or deceptively, roll+DEX. On a hit, everyone that should fall for it falls for it. On a 7-9, it’s complicated. The GM chooses 1:

  • Someone unimportant noticed you, but that just made them important, right?
  • You are perceived only by a secondary sense (someone picks up your scent while you’re stalking them; you’re seen whispering a message but the message is not heard).
  • You must leave something important behind, or be discovered.

Struggle As One

When the GM calls on you to Defy Danger as a group, they’ll describe the struggle you face. Establish the party’s approach and everyone rolls+whatever stat the GM says (per Defy Danger).

  • On a 6-, you find yourself in a spot, the GM will describe it.
  • On a 7+, you pull your weight and overcome the trouble.
  • On a 10+, you can also get someone out of a spot, if you can tell us how.

If you roll a 6- but someone saves you, don’t mark XP.

If a Follower joins you in Struggling As One, they roll+Quality if their skill is tested, or +Loyalty if their mettle is tested.

Struggle As One is a way to resolve zoomed-out “group checks” like everyone sneaking into the bandit camp or everyone trying to climb the cliff face or whatever. If everyone succeeds or is saved, the situation can be resolved quickly with the results of the rolls helping to describe how everyone pulls together to overcome the danger, and you can move on to the next thing. If someone misses their roll and there’s no one who can save them, it plunges the party into a situation that snowballs naturally.

Volley

When you take aim and attack an enemy at range, roll+DEX. *On a 10+, you have a clear shot, deal your damage. *On a 7-9, deal your damage but also choose one:

  • You have to move or hold steady to get the shot, placing you in danger as described by the GM
  • You have to take what you can get; your damage roll gets disadvantage
  • You have to take several shots; you are out of ammo until you spend a use of Supplies; for a thrown weapon, it’s either broken or lost forever (otherwise, you can recover it later)