Hey DWers
I’m running some sessions for first timers at a local con this weekend and I want to prep a quick three-minute-or-so spiel about what Dungeon World is and is not. What points do you think are most useful for newbies? the most obvious to me is “fiction first” and also letting them know that I won’t be rolling dice. What else should they know before we jump in?
Playing Dungeon World is all about finding out what happens when your characters encounter dangerous and exciting monsters, strange ruins, and unusual people on their quest for gold and glory. It’s a conversation between the players and the GM—the GM tells the players what they see and hear in the world around them and the players say what their characters are thinking, feeling, and doing. Sometimes those descriptions will trigger a move—something that’ll cause everyone to stop and say “time to roll the dice to see what happens.” For a moment everyone hangs on the edges of their seats as the dice clatter to a stop. Tension and excitement are always the result, no matter how the dice land.
An important point about Dungeon World is that the players drive the action much more than in most other RPGs. The players are the instigators. The GM frames the action and then the heroes start doing things. There isn’t a lot of sitting around waiting for things to happen.
Another point that I try to make is that every roll matters. There is a consequence — good or bad — to every move that you make. This is a departure from the popular d20 system in which you make a lot of rolls and few of them make any difference in the grand scheme of things.
You have good points, Keith: fiction first and no GM rolls. Rory is right on about player instigation, and I personally would frame it in a combat example: no initiative! No set rounds! Encourage the players to call out what they’re doing, and leave you (the GM) to sort it out and move the spotlight around.
After covering all of the rules (1: To do it, do it, 2: There is no rule 2), spend the remaining 2.5 minutes ensuring that the players have read through their Moves, and ask any questions about them before getting started.
Excellent advice, all; and well composed, as well. I am very excited to be running this (we’re doing Planarch Codex, to boot!)
The intro in the players guide by Eon is pretty good too:
‘There’s a difference between failure in Dungeon World and failure in most other games. In Dungeon World, when the player fails a roll, the GM gets to make a “Move.” This is something that confuses people, but that’s just because it’s new terminology. It’s really very simple. When the rules say “make a move,” what they’re really doing is telling you that something happens, something besides just failure. Instead of being a dead end, a player’s failure leads to consequences: the situation gets worse or they have to pay a price…
So that’s the whole basis of this “conversation” they talk about in the core book: you’re setting up dangerous situations where failure carries a price, and the players respond to it. When their response triggers a Move, they roll for it, and you give them consequences as necessary. You’ll interpret the results of their roll in a way that keeps the game moving forward, always forward.”
I think you did a good job with the intro, Keith.