Dungeon World Session 1: The Stranger

   

Glowworms Inside the Ruakuri Cave, Waitomo, New Zealand

Session 1

    Tex. A druid fleeing his drow colony. Their slavish devotion to Lolth, the spider god he refuses to believe in, disgusts him. He prefers the honesty and solitude to be found on the mountaintops but an unknown affliction killing the wildlife he protects drives him out of hermitage to seek a magical antidote. 

    Regulus. A zealous Order of Law Paladin. His eyes glow with a brutal white light when he channels the energy of Law. To some it is an omen of righteousness; to others, he is a radical tapping into an unknown and unlawful power. He seeks to uncover the truth behind the recent death of a master of the Order.

    Gusteau. A travelling cook and expert woodsman who seeks to make the most of his life. He and his dire rat companion, Remy, travel far and wide cooking for the influential and gaining their favor. Most recently he cooked for the Order of Law-but left after the mysterious death of one of the masters. 

    The unlikely trio stood brushing the dirt off from the recent cave-in, one of the many hazards of delving into a goblin warren. Another hazard made itself apparent without delay: four hunchbacked, green-grey goblins rounded the tunnel corner up ahead. Their still human eyes wide with curiosity as they attempted to form words from a language forgotten in their advanced infection.

    Regulus prayed for the guidance of Law to reveal any evil beings nearby while Gusteau asked the goblins for information: where were they? What lay ahead? Though enraptured by the presence of Remy and having long lost human tongues, they managed to form the words: big, rat, and market. Regulus had the distinct sense that the goblins were not evil...but something down here certainly was. Tex pushed the goblins aside with the head of his staff and pressed deeper into the tunnels, Regulus and Gusteau in tow.

    The party strode into a huge cavern lit by glowing fungus and vaulted by roots from a thriving forest on the surface. Crude stalls fashioned from glossy black wood, bone, and chitin were manned by all kinds of underworld denizens- goblins most of all. Before Tex could take another step, two drow guards stepped out from the tunnels sides. Armored and wearing wicked blades, they ordered the party to stop.

    The guards briefed them on the rules of the goblin market: exchange goods for favors and absolutely no fighting. Though there were some scathing remarks between the guards and Tex, the group was allowed into the market.

    While Tex and Regulus wandered the alien stalls, Gusteau took advantage of being in the environment to procure unique ingredients. Trading the favor of introducing the stall owner to new flavor (a strip of Speopard* Jerky) for a mysterious shellfish meat, apparently from a strange patron. Suddenly Tex and Gusteau were caught off guard as Regulus' eyes flashed a bright white and he called out to a strange silk wrapped figure to, "Stop in the name of the Law!".

    Though stunned for a moment, the figure snapped out of the daze and sprinted deeper into the tunnels. Regulus, Gusteau, and Tex, gave chase through the claustrophobic depths until they halted at the entrance to a foul hollow of pooling muck. Regulus attempted to arrest their prey with the power of Law but the stranger was once again only momentarily stunned, running down another tunnel as bats chittered excitedly overhead and something writhed in the muck.

    Regulus and Gusteau stared in horror as a monumental pale grey worm rose from the muck: thin and sinuous. Tex was already moving, changing into a mountain lion and charging after the stranger. Gusteau let fly with arrows as Regulus swore a Lawful Vow, "YOU WILL HEED TO THE LAW AND MEET MY SWORD!"

    As they dueled with the worm, Tex apprehended the stranger and changed back to his drow form, dragging them back to the hollow. Gusteau demanded that they call off their beast but the stranger only chuckled, "It's not really mine you see, simply on loan to me from the old ones...".

    Cursing, Tex abandoned their prisoner and charged into the fray in the form of  a grizzly, leaving the stranger to promptly flee into the dark.

    Arrows flew, Regulus' sword hacked at rubbery hide, and Tex's ursine form wrestled furiously in the muck against the worm...until with one monstrous constriction the bear went limp. The worm released Tex, changed out of his bear form in death, and reared up with a piercing shriek. The onslaught was not over. Regulus and Gusteau gripped their weapons tighter and wiped muck from their eyes.

    Then Tex let out a stuttering cough.

    The worm fell silent before it retreated into the muck.

GM Notes

- Dungeon World has been amongst my hoard of gaming resources since...forever? Always wanted to run it but have never had a group brave enough to give up their precious d20s. It's pretty awesome.

- Tex grappled with the stranger and I ruled that as the "parley move"...not sure if I'd do that in the future but it was a good opportunity to test out how using moves in different ways than intended feels.

- Gotta keep reminding players about fiction first language! (though as I write that, aren't I eventually just going to say the name of the move anyway? More data required.)

- Last Breath in the first session! Tex made a deal to serve Lolth- that surely won't backfire, right?

*Speopard= Spider Leopard...what, you've never heard of it before?