Author: Keith Stetson

I know the Mage playbook does some things with alternate magic, but I’m wondering what else you devilishly creative people have done with magic in DW. Anyone tried to map Ars Magica to DW?

I think, short of “Play to find out,” that “Make maps but leave blanks” is the best advice in Dungeon World.  I’ve run it with and without maps, and the maps make the story much deeper and also much easier to move forward.  Any time I’m stuck for a response a look at the map and let it inspire me.  “Hm… oh, that’s where the previous group found the mysterious sigil in the belly of a panther.  Wait a minute, that sigil could be the very thing they’re looking for now! And here we go!”

I asked this of Dungeon Crawl Classics people and now I ask ye Dungeon Worlders.  I’m curious how the answers will differ:

So you got your 1st Level PCs clustered around the entrance to the dungeon.  They look around nervously at each other before one of them turns to you, the GM, and asks:

“Tell me, again, why we’re going to enter the bowels of the dank, dark earth with nothing but sharpened bits of wood and metal between us and our eternal shuffling off this mortal coil?”

What do you tell them?  Do they need to retrieve some McGuffin? Kill off the local Big Bag?  Rescue a Helpless Innocent?  Or just loot until their arms can’t carry anymore.  Why, on god’s green earth, would a bunch of peasants ever want to enter a dungeon?

I am compiling a list of non-mystical obstacles that would be a challenge for 0-level Villager PCs.  Help me make it a big honkin’ list!

Physiological Needs

heat/cold

darkness

odors

smoke (danger of passing out)

scarcity of game/food

running out of food/water

tainted water/rations

wearing out one’s shoes

minor injuries (twisted ankle, fever)

travel fatigue

Non-Monstrous Creatures

insects

bats

spiders

large, non-magical predator (panther, etc.)

migrating herd

stinging nettles

mosquitos/flies

hornets

snakes

rats

fleas

biting ants

Natural Phenomena

rock slide

cave in

fire 

blizzard

rain/thunder/lightning

earthquake

flooding

Man-Made Hindrances

rope bridge

bandits

crossing enemy territory

potholes in the road

hostile/indifferent locals

Landscape Features

Steep climb/descent

impenetrable copse

river

fog

a tight passage

mud

swamp

unclimbable wall/undescendable cliff

quicksand

getting lost

washed out road/bridge

So what sort of natural obstacles do you have your DWers face?  Dragons, owlbears and displacer beasts are nice, but I want things like fjording a stream or scaling a cliff to also be dangerous adventures, especially at low levels.  Unfortunately, I can’t think of many more non-mystical issues for adventurers to deal with.  Help!

Hey DWers

I’m running some sessions for first timers at a local con this weekend and I want to prep a quick three-minute-or-so spiel about what Dungeon World is and is not.  What points do you think are most useful for newbies?  the most obvious to me is “fiction first” and also letting them know that I won’t be rolling dice.  What else should they know before we jump in?

So I played Torchbearer this weekend. I really loved the resource management and the grim, death is around every corner atmosphere, but the mechanics do not work with my brain. Has anyone done anything with DW to turn these particular dials up to 11?