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Apologies if this is a little bit off-topic, but I bought the print+PDF bundle of Dungeon World from Indie Press Revolution this morning and can't for the life of me figure out how/where to download the PDF so I can start reading. I'm probably just really dense and can't find the link, but has anyone else run into this?
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Aug 27, 2013 00:41
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I'm working on a custom adventure (which may become a campaign, who knows) for some friends. I'm completely new to Dungeon World. I come from an AD&D background, so not having a 5000-word background document going into an adventure is a bit strange for me, but I'm excited about playing a more story-driven game. Unfortunately, most of my friends have very limited experience with RPG's in general. My concern is that they're going to get that "deer in the headlights" look when it's time to come up with character background and bonds during the creation phase. As a GM, how leading should I be with questions? Rather than asking "Cialis, what were your parents like?", can I ask something like "Valtrex, how did your father know Cialis' father" (which can lead to more interesting questions, depending on the answer)? Or even something more leading/undesirable, like "Fleshlight, why did your parents abandon you at a young age"? Are there any "gotchas" I should look out for during the creation phase? I've already read through the (excellent) GM's guide, but I really don't want to screw this up and turn off my friends from Dungeon World before we even start.
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Aug 29, 2013 00:59
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I'm running my first Dungeon World adventure this weekend, and I think I've prepared just enough. I have a basic adventure front with a few dangers that can be interwoven as desired, some maps (with blanks!), and a basic introduction/background. There are even a couple of new monsters with neat custom moves. I also have a huge repository of other background information about the world/setting (written years ago for a never-run D&D campaign), but I'd prefer to let most of those details be filled in during the game, so I doubt I'll use much of it. One question I have for you veteran GM's: Do you use miniatures at all during your games? I understand that Dungeon World's combat system is supposed to be loose and fiction-driven, and I really like that. However, I'm worried about losing track of where people are when there's a lot of action going on. Obviously one wouldn't use a hard and fast miniatures system (none of that annoying "I can move back five squares -- uh oh, now I'm one square out of range for my crossbow" garbage), but I'm wondering if anyone has successfully used miniatures to depict a Dungeon World encounter without sacrificing the fiction. Is it better to just keep quick notes on approximately where everyone/everything is in relationship to each other?
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Aug 31, 2013 17:10
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I ran my first game of Dungeon World last night for three players. Overall everyone had a good time, but I definitely ran into some snags that I'm not sure how to address for future games. Heads up: this might get long-ish. - Two of the players are big Pathfinder fans, so they're used to a more structured game. They kept thinking in terms of finding the "correct" solution, where in most cases I hadn't designed one. They seemed to feel somewhat constrained by the moves on the character sheet and the Basic Moves list, even though I encouraged them to just say what their characters would do in the situation, stats/moves be damned. - The game took about twice as long as I'd planned. They wanted to poke and prod and explore everything, then discuss before taking action. I tried to move this along with my Grim Portents, which I designed to escalate the apparent danger level. Despite the complex they were in literally coming apart around them (at a couple of points with obvious direct consequences), they didn't seem to be in a huge hurry. As a GM I feel I should be pushing the pacing, but I'm not exactly sure what else I can do. Introducing more actual hazards/consequences for delay seemed to slow things down rather than speed them up. - The group was a bit lukewarm on some of the game systems. Spellcasting was a big one. The Cleric complained about having to roll to see if his spell worked at all -- kind of a bummer if you're super-low on hit points and under attack, but you may be wasting a move (and inviting danger) by trying to heal yourself. In dangerous situations it makes spellcasting too risky, and in non-dangerous situations, even with the possible negative effects (drawing unwanted attention, etc.) it didn't seem that bad to keep casting the same spell until you get the effect you want. - We didn't use maps. Bad idea. I'm drawing maps for them next time. In a large battle (where at one point the players split up), it was really hard to figure out where everyone was in relation to each other and the environment. - Later in the game I was having trouble coming up with interesting moves for the monster and the dungeon. One of the players had horrible luck with his dice rolls, so I was constantly having to make hard/soft moves that needed to be more interesting than "the thing opens up a gash in your arm, take damage" or "you fall back, stunned against the pillar as your shield clatters to the floor". I did do some "put an ally in peril", "increase the threat", and "reveal an unwelcome truth" stuff, but my imagination was getting strained toward the end. How do you other GM's handle these things? I think the group wants to run another adventure with these characters at some point, but I want to streamline things and make them feel more heroic. That said, there were some really high points! - The loose structure of Dungeon World made the game very character-driven, and the players embraced it. I felt like they had a good grasp on their characters at the beginning, and by the end we had all learned something about each other. They were actually, you know, roleplaying. To give an example: The Halfling Thief player tends to get really attached to her characters, and she was having a blast coming up with a personality and little details about her. At one point she took a grievous hit from a Shadowling (nasty kobold-imp hybrid) and went down, taking her Last Breath move. I asked her what Halflings (or her in particular) believe happens after death, and she described a massive sunny meadow where they run and play games. Building on this, I said that as her vision of the mundane world faded, she saw this meadow, full of people that she'd never met -- but felt a strong kinship with -- laughing and running around. A young, handsome Halfling wearing a sparkling blue tunic turned to her and beckoned. "Come play with us. We've been waiting for you." She made her roll -- an 8, partial success. The figure spoke: "You hesitate. Why? Are you not ready? You can go back to your friends if you wish, but what you see may not be here when you return." The player actually stopped to consider it! This player, who had been masterfully roleplaying her character all night and seemed to have a deep affection for her, wondered whether her little Halfling would prefer the serenity of the realm of death! That's just... amazing to me, and it's something I've never seen with any other game system. - The flexibility of not having a fully fleshed-out world made for some interesting situations. For example, in this world, the Gnomes are long-extinct. I asked the players why, and they came up with a great backstory: The gnomes had grown increasingly obsessed with their clockwork creations, to the point where they became xenophobic and only wished to work on their magical constructs. Eventually these constructs became so advanced that they developed intelligence, and they turned on their creators (okay, yeah, this part is a little bit Battlestar Galactica). This wiped out the gnomes world-wide in a very short time. Unfortunately, once they had destroyed their masters, the constructs emerged from the gnomes' underground settlements and laboratories and began to attack towns and villages. The surface races -- humans, elves, and halflings, who had no particular love for each other -- raised the largest army the realms had ever seen to fight the clockwork menace. They were victorious, but the cost was incalculable -- thousands died, and entire towns were wiped off the map during the fighting. In the aftermath (and in the decades since), magical and mechanical constructs were strictly outlawed in all civilized societies. Practitioners in this type of craft were hunted down and often put to death (think necromancy in some fantasy settings). Creating a golem is literally one of the most heinous things you can do. This is very interesting, because the first adventure took place in a long-lost Gnomish laboratory. One of the things I'd included in my adventure was small clockwork servant that the heroes could activate, which would follow them around as a companion. Normally this would be a great boon, but the background they'd crafted suddenly introduced a huge dilemma -- they couldn't be seen on the surface with one of these abominations, and the Cleric had to be talked out of smashing the thing then and there. They eventually -- and almost tearfully -- deactivated the construct and left it behind. - The players loved the treasure system. With a few exceptions, I always gave them a choice of two very different items, some of which were not obviously useful at first glance. I was kind of sad that they didn't try to Spout Lore on anything they found, because it would have been fun to explore these items (several of which I had no idea what they'd do). Okay, this got really long, but I wanted to type up some thoughts while my memory was still fresh. I'm interested in peoples' feedback if anyone read this far!
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Sep 2, 2013 17:56
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Harrow posted:In the mean time, I'd love some advice on how to make combat more interesting. The thing I already know I need to work on is memorizing, understanding, and sticking to the GM moves, since there are so many good ideas for ways to keep the narrative going in there. Our first, and so far only, combat involved three frogmen ambushing the two PCs in the swamp, and it was tough for me to come up with interesting consequences to their 7-9 and 6- rolls that weren't just "you stumble, and the frogman is now poised above you, ready to stab down with his spear; what do you do?" or "the frogman manages to slip his spear through your armor, take 4 damage." Are there any good recorded sessions online I could listen to so as to get a better idea of a good working "flow" for Dungeon World combat. Looking back on our session, one GM move that really stands out to me is "Offer an opportunity, with or without cost". I almost never used this one, and it seems like one of the most interesting moves the GM can make. Let's say your Cleric is swinging wildly with his quarterstaff and misses his Hack and Slash roll. "The orc deftly retreats from your swings, and you press forward, trying to land a solid hit. As you feint a thrust, your staff tangles in the ragged sash tied around his torso. Your wild swings have driven the orc back toward the edge of the bottomless pit. A good shove may well push him in, but it would take your only weapon with him. With a crazed look in his eyes, the orc thrusts his dirk at you. You only have a split second to decide on your next move. What do you do?" At that point there are three obvious choices, each with a sacrifice to be made: - Spend time (and take an attack) trying to extract the staff from the orc's clothing - Jump back and dodge the incoming attack to avoid damage - Say "screw it", shove the orc into the pit, and lose a valuable piece of equipment forever Or the player may even come up with a better solution! The best part is that you aren't dictating the next scene to the player. They're deciding what happens next and are at least partially responsible for the consequences. This seems a lot more appealing than just reacting with damage or consistently worsening situations. I'm looking forward to trying it out in our next session, because I think it fills in a huge piece of the Dungeon World GMing puzzle that I was missing last night. WhiteHowler fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Sep 2, 2013 |
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Sep 2, 2013 22:13
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Evil Mastermind posted:A new DW roundtable/hangout is starting about GM moves. Come watch!  Edit: Actually, they nailed what I was asking -- things I thought were obvious signs of danger were not taken as such, and it didn't seem right to smack the players down with a huge consequence.
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Sep 13, 2013 23:46
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Are you sure you're not trying too hard to push them in a particular direction? Okay, it sounds like they're out in the wilds now, and you (and they?) are kind of at a loss. Pressing the reset button isn't likely to fix any of the problems that got you here. Instead, roll with it. Seems like a great time for some questions! What legend has the Bard recently heard about this region? What has the Ranger noticed that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up? Let the players create the lore with you, and suddenly you have an area that the players are invested in - because it's theirs. You'll get half a dozen story ideas, too, plus an idea of the types of things the players are interested in. You can still use these uncivilized areas for socializing and character building. Ask more questions! "Cleric, you wake up around midnight, during the Thief's watch, and you see him propped against a tree, snoring lightly. It isn't the first time this has happened." "Paladin, why are you avoiding riding in the same wagon with the Fighter? People are starting to notice...". None of these things are likely to advance the overall story, but it will give them some quirks to play with. The more invested your players are, both in their characters and the game world, the easier your life will be as the GM.
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Jan 16, 2019 21:14
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PerniciousKnid posted:Does asking players questions about each other's characters reduce their agency? For example, maybe I ask the Ranger "what did the Thief steal from your family?", but the Thief's player vehemently feels they're not that type of Thief - in that case, I'd just change the question. "Ranger, why does your family suspect the Thief of a crime she didn't commit?". Or reverse it and ask the Thief instead. Or you could just drop that line of thinking altogether. Be faithful to the established narrative, but don't be afraid to back up a little if new information is getting in the way of anyone's enjoyment.
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Jan 17, 2019 01:10
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I'm also okay with taking away a slight bit of agency during scene setup. To expand on one of my examples: GM: "Cleric, you awake around midnight and notice that the Thief has fallen asleep during her watch shift and is snoring lightly." Thief: "What? I would never fall asleep on duty. I'm a ranking member of the Guild! They'd revoke my letter of marque if this got back to them!" GM: "Perhaps that's true, but nonetheless, on this night you're fast asleep. What do you think may have caused this?" And suddenly this stray observation has created an opportunity for character development, and maybe a potential story hook! Has the Thief been suffering from insomnia because of some massive guilt that was gnawing at her? Had she been drugged? Enspelled? By who? Or what? Or was this just the first time she'd ever felt truly comfortable with her companions, and she let her guard down? And the best part is, the players will likely suggest explanations you hadn't even thought of. This relates to one of my favorite tricks as a Dungeon World GM. I'm good at coming up with individual plot points, but I'm terrible at tying everything together. But that's okay, because a good group of players will totally do that for you. Back to the example: Thief: "Okay, after they rouse me, I apologize profusely, but I'm very suspicious. Something unnatural is happening here." Ranger: "Hey, remember that giant venus fly trap thing we fought in the gnomish ruins? It sprayed spores that knocked out my wolf." Cleric: "And we know that it was controlled by the mad druidess." Ranger: "But she died in the explosion..." Thief: "Did she? Everyone find some cloth and cover your mouths. Ranger, you and the wolf start scouting. If anyone sees a single vine out of place, yell!" Nine times out of ten, none of these connections had even occurred to me. But when they find a broken earring nearby with the mad druidess' family crest, they think I'm a freaking genius. (Edit: Yeah, these are pretty hacky examples, but I tend to be more creative when I'm put on the spot.) WhiteHowler fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jan 17, 2019 |
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Jan 17, 2019 02:42
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I don't get it. Do they think the system itself somehow discourages extended play? I feel like level curve is actually better than in D&D, and you'd still have to play a whole lot of sessions to "max out" character progression. More than I'm likely able to play over the course of a few years in my adult life. And if anything, I'd say historically D&D is more about running a bunch of standalone adventures strung together into a campaign, compared to DW's campaign fronts, where the GM is encouraged to come up with some high-level ideas for relating various threats and using omens and the passage of time to make the entire world feel more alive. It's mostly about the GM rather than the system, unless a system doesn't offer paths for character growth (or is designed to be super brutal and kill off multiple characters every session or two).
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Apr 11, 2019 16:11
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I can't even imagine a world where I could get four or five friends (all of whom have families and jobs and other hobbies) into a room on a weekly basis. I feel like you could do some fun things with retirement (or "retirement") if you did have characters start to hit the level cap.
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Apr 11, 2019 18:01
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Lurdiak posted:So did we ever talk about this whole thing? Seems like a play session went (very) bad. Koebel likely violated the trust of one of his players, and he made others (and some viewers) uncomfortable. He then apologized and promised to change his behavior and implement safeguards in the future. The specific post you linked appears to be written by someone who already disliked Koebel, and he spends much of it justifying why he doesn't (and will likely never) accept an apology. So, grain of salt for me. I am not dismissing the incident. Someone was legitimately negatively affected, and it needed to be called out and corrected, especially since it happened in a public forum. But it also didn't seem overtly malicious or predatory; and I take the apology at face value. I only have enough energy to maintain so much outrage, I guess. Everyone who considers watching/buying Dungeon World stuff will have to follow their own conscience.
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Oct 7, 2020 20:20
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Lord_Hambrose posted:Supporting it also supporting a extremely gross guy has definitively taken some shine off it. I read that whole saga and felt like it was a bad mistake made during the moment (unfortunately live-streamed to a whole lot of people) rather than the guy being irredeemably toxic. I mean, use your own judgment, but unless something else has happened in the last few months, it seemed like he owned his mistake, apologized for it, and put measures in place to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
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Jul 22, 2021 18:36
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Mr. Maltose posted:I dunno dude if I was actually sorry for something I did I probably wouldn’t let my buddy sneak me into his Kickstarter, which he neglected to tell anyone else who worked on his anthology Kickstarter about until it launched, making it seem like everyone was all cool with me being there. Huh. Didn't hear about all that. I dunno.
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Jul 22, 2021 19:38
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FirstAidKite posted:Counterargument, his "bad mistake" was roleplaying a sexual predator and roleplaying sexually assaulting a player live on stream and his apology amounted to bupkis. Oh, that sucks, and there's apparently more to the story than I'd realized. I still like Dungeon World. Fortunately I already own it and won't feel bad about playing it because I don't have to give that guy any more money.
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Jul 22, 2021 19:57
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