Thought some other GMs might find this intro useful.

Thought some other GMs might find this intro useful.

Originally shared by J. Walton

I’m starting a new Dungeon World campaign soon and wanted something punchy that helped explain what it means to be a 1st level character, what the game is about, and what you do. This is what I came up with:

—–

Dear Motley Crew of Shiftless Reprobates,

Due to the whims of fate and your own poor decision-making, you have been left with no choice but to join together in a loose comraderie to seek your fortunes by theft, guile, treasure-hunting, and the occasional grisly murder.

You may be relatively satisfied to make your way through this world as a brigand and tomb-robber or you may aspire to a greater calling. Either way, your current means and skills are barely suited for low cut-pursery. If your life ended tomorrow, from a rusty shaving razor drawn across your throat, perhaps, none but the sharks and moneylenders would mourn your untimely passing.

It is up to you, then, to prove that fortune has unjustly overlooked your humble thread, if not through acts of valor, then at least through obscene wealth. But for now, it’s all hand-to-mouth and blade-to-face, the core issues of survival and personal betterment.

With that in mind, your makeshift crew has made its way to [dangerous dungeony locale], which is said to hold [treasures of some kind] as well as [monstrous things that will surely kill you]. If you’re lucky, you’ll find wealth and adventure within, rather than a strange and painful demise; if not, there’s plenty more miserable wretches eager to pick up where you left off.

Best wishes for your first substantial undertaking of criminal tomfoolery,

The GM