I have played a few sessions of DW, I have the PDF and book, Grim World and Inverse World PDF coming and have swooped on Saga of the Icelanders. I’ve invested but never yet run the game. I intend to crack on with that soon.
The game slightly scares me. Reassure me or laugh at my timorous wailing, I mind not. Is the game one big frenetic ‘What do you do?” Is it a continual adrenalin ride of unremitting hard and soft moves fuelling narrative spawned outcomes based on the landing of the dice?
Is there time to breathe? Just how out in the open, continually demanding of creative outcomes is this monster?
The games I have played have been pretty frenetic, with move after move after move. “WHAT DO YOU DO?” Er, I sit down and have a nice cup of tea and talk of the politics of far Andallon. Cue hard move, spilt milk and tears.
I’m an experienced GM, I’ve enjoyed the games played and loving the book. Am I up to it? How much energy drink will I need? My B12 is high.
Only one way to find out, I know…
You’re definitely up for it! Relax, take it easy, and remember this to make your life easier and (even better!) the game more fun:
If you don’t know something, ask the players!
As someone with a long and extensive past in running other RPGs, Dungeon World had an “odd” learning curve. I had (and still have at times) a hard time breaking out of the mind set I’ve learned over the decades to just let the system work. The game required less upfront work than many RPGs, but more “thinking on the fly” as well. It also demands a to from players that they may not be accustomed to dealing with: the biggest joy (and headache) of the game is how much it forces the players to become involved in the creation of the setting and the driving of the encounters. When the players buy into, and I stop trying to force the game to be something that it isn’t, it’s a beautiful thing.
Thank you James Hawthorne.
John – I know where you are coming from. I kind of feel the creative process is an on the move thing, flying as you think. It’s a bit more obvious, skittering across the table. You’re just making stuff up as you go.
It will be interesting to see how we cope with that.
The Fronts I need to really look at again. I’m used to so much forward planning.
When you’re running the game, it can be as frenetic or as leisurely as you please. You have enough control that you can ratchet it in whichever direction you like.
But having some Red Bull available is never a bad idea. 😉
Remember, it’s “Make as move as hard as you like” not “make the hardest move all the time.” We just had a very nice cooldown session where characters spent their loot (yay, carouse move!) and got everything organized for the big final push to end the campaign. It was a nice breather, much needed!
Yeah, I’d say most games have breathers between fights, at least. When running a one-shot I feel more pressure to keep the pace frenzied just to get more exciting stuff in. Ideally, though, you throw in some some stability (i.e. “platform”) before you start another disruption and move avalanche (i.e. “tilt”).
The most common form I’ve seen is something like “you drive your blade through its heart, the last monster lies dead. Inside their cave is a big pile of shiny gems! What do you do?” That is, at some point instead of making a move, just describe the situation and hand initiative over to them. This gives everyone, including you, a bit of a breather and lets the party interact among themselves (exploring those bonds).
Then either they’ll press on and trigger a move to set up the next thing (e.g. Perilous Journey or Carouse), give you a golden opportunity to start making moves, or else you can start showing signs of an approaching threat or tilt them again when you think it’s time.
watch out! “a big pile of shiny gems” IS a move: give them an opportunity, with or without cost.
My games are frenetic in the fiction but easy and relaxed around the table. We drink beer, eat pasta, talk about the setting, talk about videogames, appreciate female npcs, make fun of the wizard, and whatnot.
Maybe this can help you?
http://youtu.be/86c2EtrufQQ
Thanks all. I shall give it a whirl.
The key to GMing all the World games seems to revolve around being able to come up with good 7-9 results consistently and quickly. The hard / difficult choices or costs are what’s going to drive player forward. Maybe the failures too. If I can think on my feet I’ll be ok, otherwise its probably not the best choice to GM.