[RPG] What are the Consequences of a Miss

dungeon-world

So in Dungeon World, the basic mechanic seems to be that you roll 2D6 + Modifier. If you get a 10+, its a 'good' result, and if you get a 7-9, it's an 'OK' result, with <=6 being 'bad/useless'. However, I don't see that there are enough consequences for bad/useless!

Let's take as an example Hack And Slash. The move works thusly:

When you attack an enemy in melee, roll+STR. On a 10+ you
deal your damage to the enemy and avoid their attack. At
your option, you may choose to do +1d6 damage but expose
yourself to the enemy's attack. On a 7–9, you deal your
damage to the enemy and the enemy makes an attack against
you.

So 10+ deals damage. 7-9 deals damage but suffers an incoming attack. <7? No effect. So oddly, it seems you suffer less damage with a complete miss than you do with a hit of some sort. On top of that, rolling <7 gets you free XP! What is the downside to players deliberately spamming moves that they know will not land in order to 'farm' XP?

Best Answer

Introduction

A miss means that the character's action is unsuccessful or carries major consequences. Unless the move tells you what to do, all moves work the same on a miss—the GM takes action, doing something dangerous to the characters.

Chapter 12: The GM

You also make a move when the players give you a golden opportunity. A golden opportunity is any time they ignore a threat or when they fail a roll (6-).

When they give you a golden opportunity, you can make your move just as hard as you like. A hard move is one that is irrevocable and immediate. The players immediately feel the consequences of the move and have to deal with them. Dealing damage is a hard move, since the damage is immediately applied.

On a miss, the GM makes a move. In particular, the GM is empowered to make a hard move, which includes just dealing damage! Of course, the response should be guided by the GM's principles, including make a move that follows (in the fiction). If you miss Hack and Slashing an orc, then it would follow for you to get hit by the orc. It wouldn't necessarily follow that a cave-in occurs, unless there's been some buildup in the fiction that a cave-in is about to occur.

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