A Wormcycle Built For Two
Josh over at Rise Up Comus tested some Solo Rules for his tarot dungeon crawler, His Majesty the Worm, that he made last month. While he isn't working on it right now, i found myself enamored by some of the tech he brought to it. I think a lot of this works without the trial of making a megadungeon with Text Adventure Elements. But if not solo, then perhaps if we simply crack the code of Duo Play, we can reap the rewards of a solitary dungeoneer without the trials and tribulations of trying to make a solo dungeon crawler.
With Comus' permission, I am appropriating some tech word for word.
Step 1 - Steal Everything Not Nailed Down
So - here's everything i got given when i playtested Solo Worm's combat, available from the discord community thread:
Chorister
Chanter of the Songs of Truth
Attributes
Swords 2, Pentacles 1, Cups 4, Wands 3
Oaths
- Oath of Charity: Charge this oath when you provide aid to a denizen of the dungeon.
- Oath of Ianus: Charge this oath when you pray at a Shrine of Ianus the God of Truth.
- Oath of Truth: Charge this oath when you tell a difficult truth to a denizen and suffer consequences because of it.
Status
Stressed [ ]
___
Staggered [ ]
Injured [ ]
YOU DIED [ ]
Talents
High Chant: As a Camp Action, chant the redes of ancient heroes. Draw a number of minor arcana cards equal to your Cups attribute. Keep one card as inspiration: it may be spent as an action during a Challenge. Alternatively, you may spend your inspiration card instead of drawing from the deck when you test fate or push fate. Put the other cards back on top of the minor arcana deck in any order.
Wounded []
Hymn of Castigation: In a Challenge, you may Attack as a Wands action.
Wounded []
Equipment
L Hand: Book of Uncommon Prayer - A hymnal of the songs of Ianus. As a Cups action, you may sing the songs to attempt to Inspire Calm. If successful, you gain favor (+3) in tests of fate to flee the battle.
- However, your singing attracts foes. The next time you would draw a Meatgrinder event, draw twice. If one of the cards is XVI–XX, put that card into play.
R Hand: Censer Flail - A blessed thurible filled with incense. When Attacking a foe, you only need to meet (not beat) their Initiative.
The Anatomy of a Delver
Pretty simple right? We got three oaths - which are fictional triggers that work like bonds in Worm, we have two Talents (one from the core book), and we have some weird equipment.
Fantastic, weird shit and gamable effects! But since we're doing some co-op, it might be better to give players a LOT of prompts for character creation.
From Core Worm
- Everything Except Paths (as RAW) and bonds
From Solo Worm
- Weird Classes
- The Oaths
- Custom Talents
Step 2 - Synthesis
Oaths/Vows and Curses
During the course of delving into the underworld, you have no comradery to draw upon. Your existence is a lonely one, but you can draw upon your own life and needs to succour yourself.
- Oaths (or vows) are things that your delver starts with, and are core tennants of their worldview that they hold dear. This might be external like a Religious Oath, or internal like a Vow of Personal Honor. You might gain new ones voluntarily.
- Curses are things that your delver does not voluntarily take upon themselves. They might incentivise them to indulge in their darkest selves, or strange habits. It might be that denying the curse is inconvenient, or it might be it is deadly.
For example:
Oath of Truth: Charge this oath when you tell a difficult truth to a denizen and suffer consequences because of it.
Curse of Greed: Charge this curse when you suffer the consequences of your actions after taking an object that does not belong to you from a person who is friendly towards you.
The Arcana
People who merely tread the paths will drown alone in the dungeon. You need something deeper, a calling, an Arcana. Arcana are like classes in your more traditional dungeon games and consist of the following:
- Your starting Highest Stat
- Some starting equipment.
- A suite of 3 starter talents, of which you master One.
- Oaths
I'm pretty confident everything else can work like His Majesty the Worm. Next: talk about One on One play, and thoughts about the dungeon delve.