Category Archives: Dungeon World

Five years ago, Yochai Gal compiled the first version of the Dungeon World Syllabus as a tool for new DW GMs. Alex Leone has since taken over as editor, keeping nearly 180 links current. While I had read many of these articles over the years, I decided to systematically read every single link, to improve my own GMing. I then began to compile those that were licensed under the Creative Commons into a single, easy-to-read volume, as a supplement for others to use. While most PbtA games have small fan […]

I love Rob Donoghue’s idea for having a move for each PC when their player is absent: I want to write up a set of moves, one per player, that can be used once per session to represent the influence of absent characters. So “Jack knows a guy” may allow the current game to hook up with a useful NPC when Jack isn’t at the table. I doubt this is something that many games need, but for my rotating cast, I think it’ll be a nice way to keep it […]

Some of the most common questions over on the Dungeon World Reddit are how to choose between the different hacks. To better answer that question, with help from the Dungeon World+ Discord, I’ve developed this side-by-side comparison. (All errors and wrong opinions my own!) Dungeon World Chasing Adventure Freebooters on the Frontier Homebrew World Uncommon World Unlimited Dungeons Pitch PbtA + D&D DW – D&D PbtA + OD&D Stonetop – Stonetop DW 1.5 +3rd-party playbooks &c. DW 2.0 Requires DW – No No No No Yes # stats 6 5 (removes […]

Dungeon World helped popularize Powered by the Apocalypse games by capitalizing on players’ familiarity with Dungeons & Dragons. Enough so that it is sometimes used as a reference point by gamers who ask, “Can you recommend a game like Dungeon World but…?” Here are some common answers. Next-Generation Fantasy PbtA If you’d like “Dungeon World 1.5”, try my own Uncommon World* or roll your own with its configuration tool. If you’d like to play a take on “Dungeon World 2.0”, try Homebrew World.* If you’d like to play a more […]

In trying to research improvements to Dungeon World’s Volley move, I came across a 2014 post from Rob Donoghue, one of the inventors of Fate and a co-founder of Evil Hat. This led me into his blog posts of his initial plays of Dungeon World. Here’s the first two: D20 and the D&D Off Ramp D&D Off Ramp – Why These Three? Here are his DW-centric posts, when he started tagging them DW. They are a bit of a pain to read chronologically (involves scrolling back up). I really like […]

I’ve created a Dungeon World Patch Kit. Each Basic and Special Move starts with its Dungeon World wording first, then shows the wording from popular hacks. Select the wording that works best for your table! Why did I make this? I just finished my first Dungeon World campaign last week, played Rules as Written except for tweaking the End of Session move as we went along. We’re about to start a new campaign this weekend. We want to continue to play Dungeon World, but recognize that the language of some […]

When preparing to run a PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse) TTRPG, keep in mind how experience is gained. Many PbtA games have an End of Session move that awards experience points. Make sure you’re giving players chances during the session that align with this move! Here is the End of Session move in Dungeon World: When you reach the end of a session, choose one of your bonds that you feel is resolved (completely explored, no longer relevant, or otherwise). Ask the player of the character you have the bond […]

My normal prep uses the Lazy Dungeon Master Adventure Prep, though sometimes I turn to the 7-3-1 technique or what I call Monty Hall Prep. When my players in a Dungeon World campaign told me (in Stars & Wishes) that they planned for their PCs to return for a third time to a tunnel to search for the McGuffin, I decided to mix it up. I needed to think differently about this setting, which they’d already visited multiple times. And I’d been wanting to get better at thinking through and […]

So I discovered Dungeon World originally through Sly Flourish’s blog, and he is open about adapting techniques from other systems in his 5e games. He recently blogged about zones in combat, lifted from Fate Condensed: Zone-based Combat in D&D. Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, I had a lot of miniatures and terrain maps that would come out for battle.  In switching to online play for 5e, I found maps (and icons for opponents) to become a huge time sink. Because battles can look phenomenal in Roll 20, there’s an expectation that […]

Here were some resources I used to prep my first Dungeon World one-shot, which I ran last Sunday night: Dragonslaying on a Timetable – Subtitle: “Running Tight 4-Hour Dungeon World One-Shots With Zero Preparation”, by John Aegard. This was my primary resource, and I went through it throughout the evening, including leveling up as directed in the middle of the session (the players loved this!). Things to do in the first session of your Dungeon World game – Subtitle: “a guide to making player choices matter,” by Tim Franzke. I […]