I GMed my first session of Dungeon World last night and ran Servants of the Cinder Queen. It went okay, but I found I had trouble with pacing the Grim Portents and presenting them to the players. The adventure ended up with the party failing to stop the big bad from entering the world and now they are on the run. I was wondering what questions I should ask to frame the next session. I was thinking of asking these questions:
When you made it back to Meervold, the city was a burning mess. What did you salvage from the town before running away?
How did you as a group avoid the Fiery Armies?
The fiery minions are headed towards a destination, what is it?
Why are they going there?
Who can you warn about this threat?
Fellow denizens of the tavern, am I on the right track? How could I start the next session in media res again?
Start them in a fight with a group of outriders from the fiery minion army.
Those questions look pretty good. Depending on the tone of your game, you might consider:
Who did you love in the city? What happened to them?/Who killed them?/Who has them now?/Why are they important to the ritual?
They need to take down the big bad one right? I would ask qeustions like: wizard who might know, how you can defeat the big bad baboon. Or bard are there any legends of heroes defeating a monstrosity like the big bad baboon.
The fact that they did’t stop him the first time around is a great opportunity to expand the story and making his final demise so much more delightful for the players.
Your doing just fine
Agreed. Seems good. I like to ask some atmospheric questions and some leading questions that give them plothooks.
How did you know Stev was a spy?
When the barkeep attacked you screaming the Cinder Queen’s name, how did he die?
Etc
You are doing fine.