@ShiYanDo - if you're willing to go Wizard, I can go Ranger.  Between Marcus and I we can probably take care of the key clerical spells/healing and you could do magical offense.  We'd also have a good balance of tanks and ranged.  If you'd rather avoid Wizard, I can take it on and you can pick whatever you think would fit best.  (I get nervous at the idea of no wizard in the party given the name of this particular game :>)

@Marcus: Insight is always good :)

BTW, the notion of a gnoll bard is really quite cool.  I've been trying to imagine how they'd sound - and what sort of instrument they'd play...  I'm fine with playing with a gnoll in principle - how much of a challenge would they have sticking with the party if we end up in a settlement?

Hi all, seems I'm a bit late to the party. I'm (tentatively) Rirrik the Gnoll Bard.

About myself, I've been playing rpgs for probably a decade and a half. I've mostly done D&D/D20 games but have broadened my horizons in the last few years. I love reading about new systems and I ended up learning about dungeon world. I instantly fell in love with how the mechanics work with the fiction. I've been in a couple DW games now and am currently running a DW game of my own.

The wonderful thing about DW is that you can work with the GM to create some cool stuff and that together you can decide what a race actually IS in the game.

 The way I was imagining gnolls are they are all about survival at whatever cost and they rely on almost completely on instinct which can come off kind of thoughtless. I am also imagibing them as heavily influenced by african tribes. Some gnolls would probably still fall under evil alignment wise but some would be more Chaotic.

Rirrik is the runty one who was kind of casted out, hes had his struggles and has traveled the world. He probably learned his arcane art from another people of his land. His sometimes dilly demeanor and do/say first mentality has its own strange charm. I'm thinking his instrument is a stolen african-type drum and his voice a very yippy/growlly sound.

If you guys (including the GM) would rather I stick to the races in the book I am perfectly okay with make a new sort of character. Just let me know. I could go with just about any class other than Barbarian, Ranger, or Druid (I've already tried out these and would rather experience a new class).

Damn I was really hoping he played the dog whistle.  I can go with a wizard but ill totally change up my name/concept/background from Shi.

How about this:

Dr Hiran Krauss 1st Level Wizard.

Dr. Krauss has been a doctor and a wizard for a number of years. He is a man who has always loved experiments, and trying to find solutions to a problem with his experimentation.  He used to work for a powerful overlord, being of supreme power and great evil and Dr Krauss was the man who solved his problems.  You see Dr Krauss experimented on the captives, the defeated soldiers and their families.  He murdered, modified, and morphed them in ways that can only be imagined and should never be described. During this period of his life Dr. Hiran Krauss was cursed by a dying mother who watched her children die before her eyes for experimentation's sake of course. With this curse Dr. Krauss is surrounded by an aura of screaming souls audible to all who stand near him.  The souls of his previous victims haunts him forever more.

Dr. Krauss was an evil man that is certain that is until only a few years back when this regime was overthrown and Dr. Krauss though defeated was given mercy by his captors.  Spending time in their care they showed him the love, warmth, and care when he certainly deserved none of the above.  After using his knowledge and gifts to cure an illness that befell the small town he was being held in Dr. Krauss was given his freedom.  Freedom it turns out is not all that it's cracked up to be.  The curse set upon him still haunts him to this day and many among the citizenry believe Hiran should be put to death for his crimes.

Because of this he sets out for study and adventure and what he hopes is a new life but what if all he can be is the monster he used to be.  What if he cannot escape his past?

What do you all think?

Sounds like it would be interesting. Provides alot of chances for truely proving his redemption.

Yeah I thought it would give a nice mixed character that could go a lot of different routes depending on what happens to him which I think would be really fun to play.

I might have also been highly influenced by the heavy amount of Wolfenstein i've been playing lately, dirty nazi's!

All of these character concepts seem to be shaping up nicely.  I am glad you are creating your backstories so effortlessly.  I thought I might have to do some poking and prodding to get things moving, but you guys are doing awesome!  Eryn and Marcus even have their backstories intertwined already.

Feel free to start filling out your character sheet pages under the Character Details link.  It seems we are settling into a cast.  Here are the classes that people seem to be settling into:

Eryn - a fighter
Marcus - a paladin
Dr Hiran Krauss - a wizard
Rirrik Lollygag - a bard
Ilura - still undecided

I'm happy to start writing up my character info. I just want to make sure that it's cool with everyone that I am a gnoll. No use writing it all up if I won't be using it.

No problems with a gnoll in my book.

Also perhaps Rirrik and Hiran know each other? Hiran would be drawn to a non-feral Gnoll as a curiosity especially one who shows mystical and musical talent.  He also would likely be stuck to spending time with his fellow outcasts in society considering his cursed condition.

Hey Marcus just throwing out the idea but perhaps your knight-errant is the one who struck down the overlord I worked for and you were one of the men who took me in but took pity on me or maybe something along those lines?

@Hiran: Continuous screaming souls is going to make stealth a bit challenging.  In fact, it'd make even casual conversation downright difficult, not to mention sleep.  It might be better if there's a GM-initiated trigger.  It would add a bit of tension in that neither you nor the rest of the party know when it's going to manifest and make things difficult and removes some of the "continuous annoyance" factor.

One thing I will say, sitting in the tavern could get very interesting :>

If that works for you, then I'll go with this:

Ilura, 1st Level Ranger
(last name as yet unshared)

Ilura is human-looking female in her mid-20s.  She might be attractive if not for the long scar down the left side of her face and the layer of dirt and dust that cover that and her rather threadbare cloak.  She's rarely without the company of a small crow that sits on her shoulder when it can't find a more concealed area in the rafters.

The ranger is new to the stedding, having arrived in the last week looking somewhat distraught.  It's obvious that she's not that good with people, doing her best to avoid casual conversation.  However, after consuming more than a few ales in the tavern one evening, she disclosed to those that cared - and a few that didn't - that her mentor of the last 4 years was recently killed.

What she did not reveal is that she witnessed the death but was too afraid to stop it.  She is desparate to avenge her mentor, but knows that she does not have the skills or resources to do so alone.  Furthermore, given her past inaction, she is unsure she has the nerve to do what needs to be done but doesn't want to expose that fear to others.

A few possible bonds:

• Marcus, it's possible that your knight-errant fell to the same threat that did in my mentor - so long as it's someone/something that would make sense to have killed both a knight and a ranger, presumably in separate incidents.  If we shared stories over drinks, we would likely have exchanged vows to help each other bring this adversery to justice, or better yet, just guide them into their next life
• "I have guided _____ before and they owe me for it" is a possibility of a link with Eryn - our paths could easily have crossed while you were protecting someone and I helped you to get from point A to B.  And I might well be your "_____ owes me their life" as well.  Could be interesting if we each come into this with the perspective that we're owed by the other and neither recognizes it...
• For Rirrik, possibilities include "______ is a friend of nature, so I will be their friend as well." or "______ has no respect for nature, so I have no respect for them."  This viewpoint would likely be driven by local cultural biases around gnolls and my past experience with them - you can decide which would be more appropriate.  And I might have disclosed to you my secret of not having the nerve to intervene if you kept my ale cup full enough one night.
• "______ does not understand life in the wild, so I will teach them." sounds like a possible match for Hiran.  If you've decided to accompany whatever party going to be involved with, your background has probably prepared you least for life in the wilds, so I might feel obligated to teach you a thing or two in partial payment for your assistance

Ill let the GM make a call if he wants to tweak it but I am willing to live with the consequences a harsh reality for what he has done in the past and if it damages him in the future then that's an emotional and physical problem Hiran must deal with but I understand if it would be preferred by all or just the GM to handle it as an occasional thing.

That would fit to me, you are correct Hiran would not know much about life in the wild he is used to his lab or his tomes full of research.

Regarding Hiran: I think that the souls that haunt him could potentially be whispering/talking/screaming all the time - but only from his perspective. People around him would not have the same attachment to them, so it would require another wizard or some form of magic effect to make them visible to others. This allows him to be continuously stressed out without making the rest of the party stuck with unending horror themselves (I imagine they would not put up with it for too long if they knew what they were and what caused them, but he could lie about it too).

Eryn's attitude towards Hiran would be largely shaped by how his personality comes across - she would be facinated by magic but likely disgusted by his "experiments". She's also a bit uneasy around spirits, as she considers magical ability a great gift but finds spirits to be creepy and unpredictable.

Side note: In my previous Dungeon World campaign, we had what we called "Spirit's Eve" - on nights where the moon was exactly half full (every 14 days) the veil between the lands of the living and the dead (in this world symbolized by the sun and the moon) would be weakened, and this was the only night where ghosts and spirits appeared to normal people. Wizards could always see them by using spells. Other supernatural monsters with a more tangible connection to the living world could be found normally.

Ilura: Eryn could very well have some past connection with the ranger. She would have met all kinds of people in her travels, and rangers would likely be common to see on the road. I like the idea of a mutual bond going both ways here.

Rirrik: As both a gnoll and a bard, Eryn may worry about your survival (Bond) if gnoll are known to be scavengers of sorts.


What kind of situation do you think we would all find ourselves in during our first scene? I could imagine going to check on a settlement we all have some sort of attachment to, but finding it overrun/destroyed. Say the killed overlord lives in a nearby city, the ranger and/or gnoll is returning for supplies, Eryn is escorting a caravan... and then X have recently arrived.

X could, as previously suggested, be undead rising (haunted spirits / nearby necromancer / sacred place has been defiled?), invading lizardmen (arriving from sea or something?) or some other threat such as a neighboring country invading.

If I may offer a plot based on all ideas.



For decades the overlord, aided by his servants and Dr. Krauss, grew in power and annexed the lands to his empire.

Eryn has found herself in the middle of the conflict on one of her jobs, and she joined Marcus and his knight in a battle against one of the lieutenants. Too late to save the knight, but in time to make sure the then squire lived.

When the overlord fell, Marcus was among the forces that stormed the keep and was present when Dr. Krauss was caught. Remembering his vowes to his paragon, he offered a hand of peace to the mage.

Few years have passed and a new force started to rise to fill the void in power left by the Overlord's fall. There was of course struggle between remaining servants, but none amounted to much.

Marcus, used to traveling and fighting alongside someone, decided to accompany Eryn, trying to instill in her knightly ideals that he grew up with. After a while, he realized it would be he who took the mantle of the knight but continued traveling with his companion.

Rirrik was cast out of his tribe, but not before he felt the growing shadow fall on the land. Gnolls first, and then the rest of the world, would once again be drawn into a great conflict.

Ilura and her mentor had the misfortune to come upon the servants of the new force, and the man gave his life for his ward to survive. She vowed to avenge him and started her search for Eryn, a warrior she has traveled with in the past.

Rirrik sought out Dr. Krauss, who was a well-known figure among the gnolls, and while others mocked the tales of his change of heart, the bard saw it as a sign that things could be well again.

Once together, Krauss took Rirrik on a search for the man the mage knew could be counted on, Marcus.

And so through luck or fate, the five gathered together to find out more about the concealed threat, and maybe stop it before it was too late.

I won't comment on the exact details until I hear what the others think, but I like the overall arc in that plot. I'd be fine with it.

We may or may not want to flesh out our backstories before we start playing (since improv is what the game is all about), but as long as we get a few bonds and a starting point we should be good to go.

That works for me too.  I'll need to figure out some sort of other tie with Marcus, but that's doable.

Well I was thinking it was more of a thing where you could only hear them when you were close to me and that was part of his struggle of turning his life around but I would be willing to go for it being more of a personal curse if that is preferred by everyone else.

I like it so that would give me a Bond with Marcus and Rirrik to start lets just come up with the wording.

I owe Marcus a great kindness.  I will repay that debt somehow.

Rirrik is special among the gnolls.  I must figure out why


Let me know what you guys think but that captures Marcus taking pity on him and his curiosity of the gnolls and this strange and arcane one known as Rirrik.

This works for me as a rough outline of your group's past.  It is a good place to start with.  We haven't heard from Rirrik yet, but if he doesn't object, I can use this to come up with some questions to ask you guys to help flesh out our world a bit more.  I will post those later today after I take care of some errands and have time to think about it more thoroughly.

@Hiran: I'm fine if the curse is occasionally detectable by others, I just think it'd be hard to justify anyone being willing to be near you for longer than a day or two if they had to continuously suffer it too.

Yeah, my thoughts were that people would only hear it faintly if they were withing a foot or two, and even then might not know where it was coming from.  But then occasionally flare-ups happen, where everyone nearby can hear it loud and clear.  Often at the most inopportune times.

Speaking as a fellow GM: Seems like a great opportunity in case of missed rolls. ;)

Sounds good ill go with that where it's very faint if you are within a foot or two but of course flare ups and such which ill let the GM have full usage of.

Eryn and Ilura im still at a bit of a loss on bonds between us any ideas?