Hi folks, new here.

Hi folks, new here.

Hi folks, new here. Excited about DMing some DW with a few friends. I ran an introductory setting, which everyone loved making their characters. I then tried to use a premade encounter session to get our feet wet, but really screwed up and railroaded my players into the dungeon, even though they made an awesome attempt to avoid all combat. We are playing again this weekend, and I am hoping to retcon that snafu from last session. Any tips on how to avoid that in the future? 

13 thoughts on “Hi folks, new here.”

  1. Play to find out what happens.  When I go in to a session I try to have an idea what threats are out there and what they are up to as the action starts.  From that point on I am just as interested in what the PC’s do as they are.  I have no idea what will happen once they come in contact with the threats I have laid out, or what new threats they will discover along the way.  DW is one game I love running just as much as playing, and it’s because I am just as surprised as they are when the session ends. 

  3. What was the ‘in media res’ encounter session you used? A home made one?

    There are some awesome free ‘situation starters’ available that will kickstart your imaginations and re-incorporate stuff from character burning into your fiction. You can’t pre-plan the storyline, just the starting situation 🙂

    Try Marshall Miller ‘s starters, Jason Morningstar  ‘s Drazhu. or Michael Prescott ‘s one-pagers. They are all great!

    http://dragonsinmyhouse.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/dungeon-world-adventure-starters.html

    http://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1394/12/1394129397859.pdf

    http://blog.trilemma.com/search/label/adventure

  4. Awesome pointers, thanks for the suggestions. I used the slave pit encounter, and found a way for normal adventurers in a Tavern to fall into the slave pits after the earthquake. But when they made an awesome character move to escape the cave in, I kinda forced a combat situation to take place, ruining the momentum. I am hoping to stay more open, and not try to stick to any plans.

  6. Gotcha.  The key to using a prepped location or encounter is to ask questions that assume they’re already involved.

    If you want a game on a remote island, don’t start them on a boat about to be shipwrecked (they’ll find a way to save it!).  Instead, ask them “What’s the last thing you remember before getting washed overboard?” or “What have you been clinging to since the shipwreck?” or “Who didn’t last on the dinghy? What happened to them?”  Use those questions to zoom into the island and imply that they’re already there.  “Which of you spotted this island first?” “What have you heard about the terror’s of Skullpeak Island’s jungles?”  “What fabulous treasure is said to be hidden here?”

    BAM. Now they’re on the island with some backstory, maybe some motivation. Now play to find out what happens.

    The Dungeon Starters Nathan Roberts linked to are great for this.

  7. Hey, slightly tangential, but there was ‘Ziggurat of the Sun princess’ on Nathan Roberts ‘s link (first one) but the link to the pdf is dead. Does anyonw know if it’s still available (free or otherwise) cos from the title sounds like something I’d want to play.

  8. It was part of Josh Mannon’s DW series that was done early in the day. Its pretty damn slick. His Skies over Danbury sequence is awesome too.

    Ask him for a link and I’m sure he’ll oblige 🙂

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