Keeper Move Brainstorm: Goblin attack

 Okay, so the players in Dungeon World rolled really well on a Scout check, which means that they get the jump on an ambush if they want it.  There are five characters and the enemies are 12 goblin infanty, 5 goblin archers and 3 worg riders.  It's not meant to be horribly powerful, but something of a fight, sure.  The details are these:  the characters are walking along a mountain path along the side of a deep cataract looking for somewhere to cross.  The goblins intend to ambush the party at the chock point.  Most of the goblins are hiding amongst the rocks.  Some of them, like the archers, are hiding along the cliff face.

Here's how it broke down: the scout basically revealed the ambush by yelling at the goblins, at which point, they chase after her.  So, that's the Keeper Move "Put her in a spot" with the basics of it being, you need to get out of there or you're going to be overrun.  She runs (Defy Danger Constitution to get ahead of the goblin horde and high tale it out of there).  She is, essentially no longer "in a spot" having successfully passed that roll, but she's led the horde to her friends and they are now fighting the goblins on the side of the gorge.  

What I'd like to do now, is go through the Keeper List and talk about how the various moves might manifest during that combat...

Show Signs of an Approaching Threat:
  • Another cave entrance opens...uh oh:  1d6 more goblins pour forth every round. 
  • Goblin blows a horn for reinforcements:  Goblins are coming and the numbers will soon double.
  • The Cataract Starts to Flood:  This is bad for everyone and will change the entire nature of the encounter.
  • You see goblins running across the ridge:  this creates a goblin force that is outside of melee to rain down rocks.  Basically, they're a +1 damage per buff to the melee below.
  • Earthquake!   Like the flood, things are about to change alot.  I might say that everytime a character fails, they have to make a Dex roll to Act Under Pressure or they fall.  Let's see if they grab the side.

Reveal an Unwelcome Truth:

  • The ledge is no place to have a battle.  I might have a -1 ongoing and do the same as Earthquake, except only on a 6 or less.
  • Goblins can climb!  This takes the normal force, but puts some of them up on the ledge throwing rocks.
  • Goblins will gladly overwhelm you and topple you off the edge:  When goblins do damage, they get the forceful tag.  That's going to be strength Defy Dangers to stay up.
  • If you stand there, the goblins will overwhelm you. Every time a failure is rolled, any character in the "overwhelm" area takes 1d6 or more in damage.

Deal Damage:

In the actual encounter, I did this one way too often.  It's really the least interesting option, but if it is to be done, it ought to be done by the horde.  A group of 12 goblins hording on someone will do 1d6+11.  It's kind of realistic that this damage ought to be done to the person who sits in the midst of the horde, but from a purely game point kind of view, the goblins should be attacking more than one person.  Then again... goblins.

Use Up Their Resources:

  • A goblin tears away a shield and launches off a cliff with it, sacrificing himself to take away a piece of equipment.
  • A weapon miss sends it up against the side of a rock face.  It busts into pieces.

Separate Them:

  • An avalanche separates the characters.  Everybody must make Act Under Pressure rolls to end up on the right side of the avalanche.
  • One of the characters falls and is danger of being carried away by the river.
  • A worg grabs a character and drags him away from the others.
  • A worg gets a strong enough grip on a character that it can hold on to him or her when it jumps across the chasm.
  • A character in the midst of the horde finds him or herself further and further away from their comrades!

Give Them an Opportunity That Uses a Class Abilities:  The characters are Bard, Barbarian, Dragon Mage, Paladin, and Monk, but the class ability can lie outside of these according to the rules. 

  • Perhaps the Goblins are willing to parley.  In which case, the bard comes in handy.  
  • Barbarians are classic feats of strength kinds-of-characters.  Rocks shift.  Someone has to loosen it to get one of the characters back into action.
  • Dragon Mages can burn things up.... Maybe the characters realize that the worgs don't much like fire.
  • Paladin...Maybe a valuable asset, a useful NPC or something, has found himself in the midst of the horde and will need serious protection.
  • Monk:  To me, monks mean crazy acrobatics.  Perhaps someone needs to get across the cataract.  This would be especially good if the worgs take somebody or something important across the chasm.

Show a downside to their class, race, or equipment:

  •  Monks aren't armored.  Any of the above options that would do direct damage that couldn't be dodged, if it targets the Monk would be detrimental.
  • Paladins are armored.  One of the goblins grabs an NPC and slips between a crack in the rocks that no armored person could follow.
  • Two of the characters are dragonborn, a goblin flashes a ridiculous gold ring and the dragon's lust for gold comes to the surface.
  • One of the goblins offers to turn sides and reveal important information...will the barbarian be able to pull away from her berserk fury?!
  • The Bard's musical instrument busts.  Uh-oh.

Offer an opportunity, with or without a cost:

  • The goblins, in their attack, bridge the chasm and the characters could take advantage of that way across, if they act quickly!
  • The goblin caves open.  If the characters can fight back the reinforcements, maybe they can find a way around the chasm.  Maybe.
  • If the armored character bullies his way through, he or she could maybe send the goblins flying off the cliff, but that would put him or her right in the midst of the horde!
  • The goblins are willing to call a truce and take the characters to their leader, deep within the mountain!

Put someone in a spot:

  • In the swirling mass of combat, you get booped off the edge.
  • Something climbing above sends a shower of rocks down on you.
  • While defending against one of the worgs, another one sneaks around behind you and drags you off your feet.
  • The string on your bow breaks!
  • The horde rushes forward more and envelopes you.
  • The goblins are too close making your weapon's arc too clumsy for use.

Tell them the requirements and ask:

  • You want to block an NPC, but in order to do that, you're leaving yourself wide open to another attacker.
  • You want to swing at a goblin, but this will let his comrades to break through the line.
  • The goblins are willing to listen to reason, but only if you take the big one hostage.
  • You need to get across the chasm, but doing so will mean utterly ignoring the combat so as to make a running jump.

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