So a friend of mine and I are thinking about trying to put together a Space Opera focused hack of Dungeon World. We’re starting off by putting together some core playbooks, we have an idea of what kinds we want to make but we’re having a hard time putting together a coherent set of moves that differentiates each class. Does anybody have any advice on how to build balanced character classes and make good move sets for them?
So a friend of mine and I are thinking about trying to put together a Space Opera focused hack of Dungeon World.
So a friend of mine and I are thinking about trying to put together a Space Opera focused hack of Dungeon World.
Check out “Adventures on Dungeon Planet”. It’s pretty sweet.
http://redboxvancouver.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/adventures-on-dungeon-planet/
Yeah, that isn’t really the style we’re going for, that’s more Flash Gordon style planetary romance, we’re going for more Star Wars/Lensman style space opera.
What kinds of classes/playbooks are you going to use?
We’ve tentatively come up with 8:
The SPACE NOMAD – inspired by the Mandalorians from KOTOR, based around the idea of having an honor code (that might be twisted) and following it
The FREETRADER- A charismatic “face” type that is based around having a network of contacts and broad cultural familiarity
The MASTER TECH – The classic engineer, based around coming up with awesome gadgets and an upgradeable robot sidekick
The SCIENTIST – A knowledge based class, you can pick from a list of disciplines to be versed in and get situational bonuses
The SPACE MARINE – Heavy combat class based around being able to use any weapon to maximum effect.
The FRINGER – A scoundrel-type character based around scavenging useful stuff from old junk and making due without, also good at bargaining
The COLONIST – A wilderness focused character that is based around being able to adapt to alien environments and survive in harsh conditions
The INITIATE – A toned-down Jedi/Lensman class, based around secret training giving them special physical and mental abilities just short of telekinesis and telepathy.
I made a space opera hack. It might be useful to you: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzrvM1NA3nxVa3BtS3FZNG5yVVE&usp=sharing
These are cool, a lot of them are pretty similar to what I we were thinking about. I particularly like the way you did the Psi-Adept.
Hey, you should also check Sean Gomez’ Uncharted Worlds
Nathan Parrish , I think you should add one for the alien/outsider – a character defined by being non-human. Maybe two – one for the big brutish/monstrous type, and one for the enlightened/evolved type
As for making moves, the easiest way to do this for me is to come up with a list of archetypes, then do a bullet point list of cliches or tropes underneath each one. This tells me what sorts of things need moves for the character; what the highlights I have to hit are. For me, the most important part of a move is making the name evocative – once I have that the mechanics can be made to fit, but often the name tells me more about how the character should play than the mechanics do
You should check out Rory MacLeod’s Infinite Galaxies game, which is pbtA space opera as well, at http://www.infinitegalaxies.net/. I had a good time playing it at Origins.
Yeah, we saw that and were planning on trying it out Sunday morning but we were just a little too far back in the line. It looks very cool though, we’re thinking about trying it out with our regular group.