Beta v3 Available, Ranged Combat, Deadeye Deep Dive
Beta v3 Is Now Out
The Dungeon World 2 Beta v3 is now available! You can get it right here.
The big changes for this Beta include:
- The new Druid, Paladin, and Ranger Classes
- A greater focus on the Treasure Track, which simplifies wealth accumulation
- Six new and updated Artifacts; powerful magic items that grow over time and can be dangerous to wield
- Wording tweaks, spelling fixes, and language refinement
As usual, new text will be red in the main document.
The Window for Feedback Ends Soon
As the Beta continues its steady march towards a final text, the window for actionable feedback shrinks. If you're interested in the future of Dungeon World 2, now is your chance to share your thoughts on the game with us.
We have a feedback form here, but have also received feedback through Reddit, Discord, Bluesky, and first impression videos.
To help with discussion and feedback, we'll be making more posts that showcase a new aspect of DW2 (be it a core system, a Path, a Bond, or something else) and discuss the context surrounding it and vision behind it.
And we're not starting next week. We're starting right now.
Ranged Combat in Dungeon World
In typical fantasy worlds and TTRPGs, fighting from range is usually treated like the "safer" method of combat. It's often less powerful, but in exchange it makes it harder to hurt you in return. Dungeon World's Volley is a big example of this (the PC chooses one of three soft consequences), when compared to Hack and Slash (the GM describes a hard consequence).
We think that works in most games, when a fight is a turn-based race to defeat your enemies before they defeat you. Staying at range saves yourself, but often gives your foes more opportunities to hit easier targets, like your allies, and still get closer to resolving the situation in a different way.
But PbtA games are an entirely different beast. In most of them, fighting isn't turn-based, and rolls inform what your enemies do, not just yourself. It's more important than ever that Moves change the fiction and progress the fight towards a conclusion. From our perspective when you make a Move, including a "safe" ranged attack, the attention of the game momentarily focuses on you and implicitly asks "what interesting thing happens here and now? What awesome thing does this PC do at this moment?" We need some amount of stakes, risk, and investment in what the PC is doing to make it worthy of a rolled Move.
So in Dungeon World 2 we threw out treating ranged combat as separate from melee. If you're in a fight at all, you're at risk from something, and the Moves should reflect that. If you're not at any risk when firing your bow (or swinging your sword), then why would you need to roll? Let the GM say what happens, whether that's dealing your damage, outright defeating your enemy, or revealing a reason your "safe plan" doesn't work like you thought it would.
We like a lot of parts of this approach, and Trade Blows—the core move that reflects it—makes combat feel dynamic and dangerous, but it leaves us with a lingering question.
How would an "archer fantasy" work in this game? How do you act as a competent agile sharpshooter in a way that balances the risks of high-stakes combat with the power fantasy of long distance accuracy?
The Deadeye (Ranger Path)
One shot, one skill
Death from Afar
When you enter a combat situation, gain Aim equal to your DEX (min 1). During the combat situation, you can spend 1 Aim to do one of the following maneuvers:
- Line It Up — Your next ranged attack gains #piercing and ignores cover and concealment
- Rapid Shots — Your next ranged attack gains #area and either #hand, #close, #near, or #far
- Suppressing Fire — Aid a PC without paying another cost; if they take dmg, reduce it by 1 (min 1)
- Take Cover — After you Trade Blows at range, reduce DMG taken by your DEX (min 0)
When the combat situation ends, lose all Aim.
By spending their limited Aim, the Deadeye can have those moments of awesome precision and distance shooting without negating danger in an overall fight. Line It Up and Rapid Shots lets them employ ranged weapons in situations usually not suited to them, and Suppressing Fire and Take Cover let them play it safe, but only a few times before they run out of Aim.
We think this is a very strong Move that archers will gravitate towards, but it's only the Starting Move.
Find Weakness
You may Sense Motive+DEX by observing them in a battle or physical contest. If you do so, no matter the roll you may also ask one question about their strengths and weaknesses.
We went with DEX here to represent the "trained eye" of the Deadeye to judge physical abilities at a glance, based on their own experience with precisely judging distances and momentum.
Sniper Nest
When you spend minutes or hours (GM’s call) finding or creating the perfect vantage point, you gain the following benefits while there:
- Once a combat situation begins, gain +1 Aim (max 4)
- The first time you attack with a ranged weapon from it, no one new learns your position
- Trap kits set up here deal 1d6 DMG instead of 1d4 and never impede or harm you or your allies
When you leave the nest, lose its benefits unless you spend time setting it up again. If you need to Defy Danger to leave it safely, roll with ADV.
While it has fairly big requirements (setup in advance) and limitations (needing to stay in the nest), it still makes the Deadeye an even more powerful force on the battlefield. We imagine you may need to Sneak Past to set this nest up in sight of observant foes, but since that's also a DEX move, it should be relatively feasible for the Deadeye to pull it off.
Because GMs may be tempted to bring complications and dangers to the nest, and the nest is likely a fair distance from other PCs, the last bit is meant to soften the blow if/when the nest becomes too dangerous to stay in.
Spotter
When you receive Aid while attacking with a ranged weapon, instead of gaining ADV on a roll you may execute one maneuver without spending Aim.
We always like PCs finding more ways and reasons to work together, and we love the concept of a spotter. Getting "free" Aim can be hugely helpful, especially with even more options to spend it below.
Trick Arrows
You may spend Aim or mark a use of the appropriate item to do any of the following maneuvers:
- adventuring gear — Your next ranged attack is #forceful or pulls you to your target (or vice versa)
- alchemical vials — Your next ranged attack deals +1 DMG and spreads acid, fire, or smoke
- poisoner’s kit — Your next ranged attack causes the target to take +1 DMG until the end of the scene
- trap kit — Your next ranged attack deals +1 DMG and briefly immobilizes your target
Specialized ammo is a beloved staple of dedicated archers, and this Move gives the Deadeye a lot more versatility in what they can do in a fight and how.
While this is only the first* version of the Deadeye, and we intend to keep refining it, we're very happy with this iteration and look forward to seeing how it feels to everyone in playtesting.
*We had a Deadeye in DW2's Final Alpha, but it was so connected to the Battle Moves that this Deadeye was rebuilt from the ground up.
That's it for now, but not for long. Keep an eye out for an announcement on Thursday, October 15th.
Thanks for reading
—Spencer & Helena