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Old 01-30-2017, 12:42 PM   #11
Phil Masters
 
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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Originally Posted by rkbrown419 View Post
Cool idea. Would any of the Diskworld racial templates need adjustment to fit the Dungeon Fantasy style? Would any Dungeon Fantasy templates work on the Disk? DF Trolls obviously aren't Disk trolls and the DF Elves are totally out.
I'm coming to that. These posts involve a certain amount of work, and I distracted myself today with a different unpaid Discworld-related project...

But, in brief - I think that you could drop Discworld dwarfs in with a little or no tweaking, and also elf-kin, gnomes, and goblins if you're feeling perverse. Discworld trolls would be pretty happy in dungeons, but would need to be statted up from scratch as characters because there's no way you could combine them with standard DF templates. Other races... Are up to the GM, really. I can imagine a party of free-willed zombie dungeoneers getting a bit Munchkin Zombies.
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Old 02-03-2017, 06:15 AM   #12
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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I can imagine a party of free-willed zombie dungeoneers getting a bit Munchkin Zombies.
Why aren't you writing for Doctor Who? You clearly have the right sort of brain for that job.
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Old 02-03-2017, 07:06 AM   #13
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

Characters
Observe Hrun, as he leaps cat-footed across a suspicious tunnel mouth. Even in this violet light his skin glams coppery. There is much gold about his person...
The Colour of Magic

We are talking about Dungeon Fantasy games here, so characters should be created on Dungeon Fantasy lines and with reference to the recommendations in the Dungeon Fantasy books, mostly using their occupational templates. However, a little tweaking may be indicated, and some of those templates are more appropriate than others.

To start with the easy ones, the Barbarian, Knight, Scout, and Swashbuckler can be dropped straight in. There are plenty such individuals running round the Disc, and as they have few if any supernatural abilities, there aren't any problems fitting them in with Disc-specific metaphysics. The Thief is pretty much as easy; in theory, one should at least ask whether he's a paid-up member of a Thieves' Guild or not, and consider appropriate disadvantages either way - but in practice, so long as he doesn't poach on Guild territory, the Guild is unlikely to worry much whether some freelancer risking his fool neck down some godsforsaken underground complex is using larcenous skills and even being called a "thief". If he does turn up on their turf, he can either pay Guild dues and maybe take a Duty, or acquire an Enemy - but unless the campaign is going to be heavy on urban adventures, this stuff is mostly just backstory, if cool backstory.

Funnily enough, the Martial Artist, while laden down with setting-specific metaphysics and flavour, isn't much of a problem to use either. There is a whole region of the Disc, up near the Hub, which is full of weird monasteries, some of which at least do teach fancy martial arts. The monasteries mentioned so far in various sources don't seem overly likely to produce habitual dungeon plunderers, having other concerns (keeping the Disc correctly balanced, being cool, listening, preserving the fabric of history), but never mind; one can always dream up Orders who one can use. For example:

The Order of Consulting Brethren: This Order was founded by some trained martial artists who had worked out the survival rate of new dungeon delvers, winced, and identified that there was a gap in the market; supplying the dungeoneering world with expert advice on how to do the job properly. However, a couple of drawbacks showed up.

First, delvers turned out to be pig-headed and disinclined to pay random strangers to tell them how to do their jobs, at least unless the consultants proved their skills. This was resolved by focusing on looking really impressive, and the most economical way to do this was by winning fights with less equipment than anyone else. The consultants can also deny accusations of being in this just for the money by preserving an ascetic image.

And secondly, the Order's leadership have, to their loudly expressed regret, discovered that running the Order takes so much time that they can't go out on consultancy assignments themselves. (At least, not for hourly rates that anyone can afford.) Still, they can vouch for the skills of the Consultant Brothers they do send out, who they train personally. They also find it better, somehow, not to explain too much about their philosophy until a Consultant Brother has advanced some way up the Order's Hierarchy.

One hesitates to use the words "pyramid scheme". Combining asceticism with a determination to ensure that one receives an extra-large share of the dungeon loot is left as an exercise for players.

The Order of Subterranean Taxonomy: Perhaps influenced by the History Monks, this Order is dedicated to the ideal of observing and recording everything there is to know about the universe. Otherwise, it won't be real, it'll just be stuff. Specifically, the founders of the Order recognised some centuries ago that the Disc's dungeons were in very long-term decline, and many fascinating and unique species that existed solely in these extraordinary environments were doomed to die out on account of all the swords and fireballs that kept coming their way.

Does this matter to anyone but scholars? Few people on the Disc worry much about species extinction, sadly. But the Order certainly thinks it's important. Perhaps it's about philosophy. Or perhaps they understand that some of these creatures may not actually die out completely, and might return from especially deep dungeons at some point in the distant future, when dungeoneering has become a lost art - at which point, knowledge of their vulnerabilities might become a crucial resource for mortals.

The Order has libraries full of manuals, folios, and tomes of dungeon monsters, which are noted for their illustrations. These may sometimes be copied for sale to professional delvers. The oldest such books are, for some reason, illustrated only in black and white, but many older delvers have a soft spot for the copies which they purchased in their youth - and not just for the illustrations of succubi and sylphs. Taxonomic monks are noted for keeping notes of everything, and often volunteer to handle dungeon mapping duties; they can take a Vow to record everything as a required disadvantage, and can take Artist (Illumination), Cartography, Hidden Lore (Deep Dungeon Creatures), Naturalist, or Writing as Background Skills.

To Be Continued...
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Old 02-03-2017, 05:22 PM   #14
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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One hesitates to use the words "pyramid scheme".
Especially considering that the Hublands are nowhere near Djelibeybi.
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:17 PM   #15
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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Especially considering that the Hublands are nowhere near Djelibeybi.
Seriously? I finally realized that it's pronounced "Jelly-Baby"? After all these years?
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:25 PM   #16
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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Seriously? I finally realized that it's pronounced "Jelly-Baby"? After all these years?
Literally, "Child of the Djel", yeah. :)

Also consider the name of one of the other countries in Klatch, "Hersheba".
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:26 PM   #17
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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Literally, "Child of the Djel", yeah. :)

Also consider the name of one of the other countries in Klatch, "Hersheba".
SON OF A ******.

*sigh* Guess so, huh?
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:31 PM   #18
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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The Order of Subterranean Taxonomy: Perhaps influenced by the History Monks, this Order is dedicated to the ideal of observing and recording everything there is to know about the universe.
I just wanted to say, I think this is a particularly good suggestion. I love the idea that all the various monster manuals, fiend folios, and so on are actual in-universe texts. It probably doesn't need to be stated outright, but I'd definitely include some erroneous information in those, leaving delvers who rely on their encyclopedic knowledge of such tomes occasionally caught flat-footed.
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:41 PM   #19
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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SON OF A ******.

*sigh* Guess so, huh?
Oh this is rich, I caught Djelibeybi right away even though jelly babies aren't a known candy where I live, but it took me until this post to realize Hersheba even though that's a quite popular candy in these parts.

Makes me wonder what some of the other references were that went over my head when I blazed through this series.
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:56 PM   #20
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Default Re: Discworld, Dungeonworld

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Oh this is rich, I caught Djelibeybi right away even though jelly babies aren't a known candy where I live, but it took me until this post to realize Hersheba even though that's a quite popular candy in these parts.

Makes me wonder what some of the other references were that went over my head when I blazed through this series.
I've been reading Discworld books for over twenty years now. Soul Music is my personal favorite of the novels. And checking a Discworld wiki, I see Pterry chose "Hersheba" specifically as a joke Americans would get.

Daaaamnit. :D
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