What would you want out of a Class-Review?
Let’s say you could hit up an online resource to read a review of that Class you found online, or in a supplement, what would you want to read there?
What would you want out of a Class-Review?
What would you want out of a Class-Review?
Whether the moves are built correctly, what fiction they add or don’t add to the game world, whether they use drives backgrounds races alignments or whatever now that people have been swapping those out, what kind of party role the class fills, the HP and damage, who made it, where its available, and price at the time of review.
For me this would include at least:
Move Templateing Do all the moves work as moves? Do some trigger conditions create weird behaviour in play?
Does it hold up the promise Is you Shaman Class actually able to deliver on the archetype it is promising or do the mechanics actually push you in a different direction?
What does it replace When you put this class into your game, what areas other classes might have mechanical conflict with it? Is this class actually a better Fighter and shouldn’t be offered with the Fighter?
How Complex is it for Players/GMs
Replay value Does this class offer multiple ways to “build” it or is there basically an optimal path with 2-3 side choices?
Agreed on all that
Price, Source and Author should have been included but seemed to obvious for me to mention.
Of course they are hugely important.
Another thing: Was this review based on playing the class (if so for how long?) or just on reading it.
I’d like a review of how it seems to stack up in potential or power with the original classes. I know that’s super objective, especially in a game as open as DW, but sometimes you have classes that can really outshine another.
Did anything have to be house ruled or did you find a house rule that made the class tick. If played, how was it played? My wizard is getting into wrestling matches with orcs, obviously my take on wizard might be different than yours.
I’d like likely damage output, too, as some classes are just broken in that regard!
Totally subjective, but for me the top category would be inspiring: When you look at the class, does it conjure up whole adventures and exciting scenarios even by itself? Can the class do a number of interesting things, or is it just a damage dealer with “x counts as Leverage for Parley”?
What are the options for the archetype? Free and paid. Are there better ones out there?
Is it fun? Does it help to create good fiction with the moves (a list of pluses here and there doesn’t).
Are there aspects of the class that managed badly can ruin the game?
Does it fit the Dungeon World ‘mythos’, such as it is – and if not, which settings/kinds of games might it work with?
For me, I love classes that tickle my imagination and has moves that make them do awesome stuff. Playing a grey ooze just doesn’t do it for me.
Also I would like to read reviews from people who have actually played the class. Unfortunately there is a tendency in the RPG community to review games (or gaming content) on a reading only. I skip those.
Damage output is less important since “balance” is a bit of a non issue in DW.
It’s super nit-picky, but I’d like to know if the class is well presented, proofread, and free of grammatical and spelling errors. Particularly when it’s costing money.
Following on from the “Holding up the Promise” and “Replay value” points, I’d like to know how much room there is to interpret or reskin what the class is saying, outside of mechanics.
There’s kind of a “Clarity of Purpose” / “Flexibility of Interpretation” spectrum with the way classes feel, ya know? Both ends of the spectrum are important, IMO.