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Dungeon World — Defy Danger result bands

DW01 · Intermediate · Scoped component

Question and scope

In Dungeon World, you Defy Danger by acting despite an imminent threat. Roll two d6 plus the appropriate stat modifier. What proportion of rolls fall into each result band? Predict whether 7–9 or 10+ is more common at modifier zero.

Source sections are linked under Rules below; primary-source review is recorded in the release dossier. Independent human and browser/usability review are separate gates.

Inputs and model limits

Integer stat modifier, default zero. Two independent d6. Report categories only, not the GM’s response or chosen bargain.

Complete runnable model

scale() starts a ladder of labels. Each .step(label, range) adds a named band. at_most(6), through(7, 9), and at_least(10) include their endpoints. Chaining methods across parenthesised lines keeps one expression readable. bucket groups the total into those bands; it does not change the rolled number.

modifier = 0
total = d(6) + d(6) + modifier
bands = (scale()
    .step("GM outcome", at_most(6))
    .step("Bargain or worse outcome", through(7, 9))
    .step("Threat avoided", at_least(10)))
result = bucket(total, bands)
output("Defy Danger bands", result)

Defy Danger bands · Outcomes

Reading the report and independent checks

The bands are 15/36, 15/36, and 6/36. Count totals 2–6, 7–9, and 10–12 independently. They cover every pair exactly once, so their probabilities add to one. This is a partition, unlike L07’s overlapping threshold questions.

Safe changes

Set the modifier to +2: the bands become 6/36, 15/36, and 15/36. The 7–9 band happens to stay the same here; that is not true of every modifier.

Composition and boundary checks

Explain where totals 6, 7, 9, and 10 go without running. Answer: first, second, second, third bands. Checkpoint: a die sum needs a numeric distribution; an outcome report can group that distribution, but cannot recover individual faces from its total.

Do not combine separate marginal reports and assume they preserve the same rolled faces. When an event depends on several properties of one roll, keep those properties together inside a single classifier or pool callback.

Rules

Dungeon World SRD, Defy Danger. This models outcome bands, not the GM’s choice or the fiction. A 6− leaves what happens to the GM; 7–9 is a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice, not universally a completed success.

Related learning

Lesson L09 explains the modelling idea step by step. Cookbook index offers both game and mechanic views of these same recipes.

Content ID: DW01 · Review status: pilot

Prerequisites: L09