I ran a DW game yesterday for my husband and two other gaming friends; we hadn’t had a chance to play together in years, so it was a real blast! They had a good time, I think, and all said they’d try it again….
So in the course of the adventure, they managed to finagle the Temple of Light into sending them out with a senior cleric/scholar on a mapping expedition; they are going to visit 5 “islands” (shards in a shattered world, really). One was the adventure they went on; so that leaves 4 more places they’ll be visiting and exploring, taking their scholar around. And of course, having adventures on the way.
I’d love to have a sort of loose idea of what each of these islands will encompass; I know ONE of them will house some sort of “leper colony” type place – but I’m open for ideas on what ELSE could be on the shard, what would draw my scholar there to do mappping/geographic research, and what the other 3 island/shards might contain.
I know it’s hard (and perhaps a little scary at first) but I highly recommend not having any idea at all what is going to be on the islands before you start the game. Letting the players narrate either just by riffing or through their moves is really what pulls everyone all the way into DW.
For players who aren’t ready for that level of improv, having something as general as “leper colony” is a close second. Check out the chapter on Fronts if you want to generate some ideas for the bad things that could happen. A couple random (cliche) thoughts:
– one of the islands has a portal to hell that requires an item/sacrifice/action to open and someone is working on that now.
– one of the islands has a key/cure/ring/other McGuffin that has been hidden from someone really unpleasant for a thousand years.
I’ve used DW to do completely wide open, player-driven sessions as well as running them through the guts of a module and I can tell you from experience that the more open you are, the better. Just follow the agenda and principles and use the moves and things will work themselves out. 🙂
You could go with some general descriptions, and then some directed questions about the shard lands.
A shifting desert, the sands drifting off the edge into oblivion.
What monolith stands somewhere in the desert?
Why doesn’t the desert ever run out of sand?
What dangerous species lives beneath the shifting sands?
A shattered tower, its rooms floating separately in the mists.
Who built the tower?
What role did the tower play in the calamity that shattered the lands?
Who is rumoured to be eternally stranded in the tower?
A barren rocky landmass, riddled with tunnels, caves, and caverns.
What strikes you as odd about the tunnels?
What rare valuable plant is fabled to grow at the center of the labrynthine rock?
What day fearing society lives in the caverns?
A waste heap, garbage piled to infinity
don’t forgot a disc-shaped world on the back of 4 giant elephants, themselves on the back of a giant turtle.