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Name the outcome, not just the total

Part C · L09 · Prerequisite: L08 · One modelling idea

Situation, question, and prediction

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.

Build

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

Run, read, and check

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.

Change one thing

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.

Try it yourself

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.

Rules and model notes

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.

What you now know / where next

Name the outcome, not just the total is the reusable idea. Follow the generated previous/next links below, or return to the course index. For a complete self-contained application, see dungeon-world-defy-danger.

Content ID: L09 · Review status: pilot

Prerequisites: L08