17 thoughts on “Gonna introduces some friends to DW tonight. Any last minute tips?”

  2. You can dispense with the screen, imho. You’ll be asking questions and making up cool things for the players to do. Be their partner, not their adversary.

  3. Ask the players loaded questions about their characters as they make them. Build a bonfire out of their answers and see what the characters do when you throw them on it. 😉

  6. Tim Deschene and Victor Wyatt are both right.  Start in the middle of the action.  Ask them questions as they make characters to get them thinking about who they are.

    I’ve run plenty of on-demand DW games.  I like to use a setting that allows some freedom of how they approach the situation (infiltrating a cult, escape the royal dungeons, taking on the thief’s guild, ect), because it’s hard to roleplay with a nest of spiders.

    I also found it’s nice to start them off being awesome.  “Fighter, you’re holding up a pillar that is keeping the roof up; Ranger, both the cleric and the wizard have foes  sneaking up on them and you have an arrow notched; Barbarian, you have a foe hefted above your head, squirming in your grasp…”

    Also, Joseph Le May is right.  You just won’t need it.

  7. Do as Joseph Le May says. In addition make them roll their own damage. Things get more intense the more perceived control they have over their own destinies.

    If one of them likes drawing maps then have them create the maps. You use what they draw to shape things to come. For instance, tell them to put a city on the map. Then use how they draw it to make it real. Improv the world.

  9. Have a list of ‘impressions’ to throw out to the players when you are stuck. Marshall Miller has a truckload in his starters.

    Re-incorporate what the players author. Always. Allow them to own the fiction that surounds their character’s shtick.

    Have the list of DM moves / Dungeon Moves / Monster Moves handy. When ever you are stuck, say one of those moves.

    Use the ‘instant’ NPC sheets in the appendix, have a list of NPC names. Name all your antagonists.

    When a player leads with a move rather than the fiction, always ask them ‘Great! So what do you do?’ until they describe their actions.

    Have Fun!

  10. I always like to start games in the middle of a huge battle. Then after ask them how they got there and why they were fighting. It starts the game with high energy and excitement

  13. listen, listen, listen.

    super easy mapping technique: write the name of every place that’s mentioned on an index card and arrange those index cards on the table; having that crude map in front of you is hella inspirational.

  15. Basic Moves are your bread & butter. They are used far more often than any other moves in every game I have ever played. Learn how they work and affect the fiction both narratively and games mechanics wise.

  16. Use index cards a lot. Any new location, person, druid form, rumor, bond, Throw an index card on the table, add info to the back of it as that thing changes.

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