Vanilla Dungeon World Going To Planarch-Inspired City?

Vanilla Dungeon World Going To Planarch-Inspired City?

In my last session, a witch killed Alberich the Unmerciful, king of the Underworld, while the Bard watched. When it was over, the Bard got ahold of the Alberich’s crown and abacus, claiming the title of Death. At the end of the session, the Bard and the Ranger both passed alive through the Black Gate.

We’ve established a few facts about the Underworld already:

– Long ago, the dwarfs dug so deep that they broke into the realm of the dead.

– The dwarf king became the lord of the dead, enslaving many non-dwarf inhabitants to mine the underworld for magicite.

– There is a giant bore hole that goes down the roots of the world, like the image, with tunnel complexes radiating out from it in all directions. The central bore has minecarts flying up and down the rails while dwarf taskmasters oversee the damned.

– Death’s fortress is on an outcropping of rock that overlooks the bore (you might recognize the image from popular culture).

– The Wizard noticed that the magicite ore can distort reality, creating illusionary landscapes out of the dreams and memories of anyone nearby.

– Dwarfs are known to sing while they work: https://youtu.be/ytWz0qVvBZ0

Today I realized this could be a perfect place to use Dis as a model: A “city” that spans different “realities”. Furthermore, the Ranger cracked the lock on the Black Gate last session, so the Underworld could literally start devouring other planes through the Gate, just like Dis.

I don’t imagine we’re the first group to end up in this kind of situation. I’m curious what ideas you might have to supplement Dark Heart of the Dreamer’s city moves and other tools. The default moves in the book could easily come into play:

– absorb a place utterly and completely;

– absorb a place but preserve its essence;

– alter its own geography

– open a path to a dangerous new plane.

I haven’t yet run a Planarch Codex game, and I welcome any suggestions or thoughts you may have.