Category Archives: PbtA

Nothing can be more anticlimactic than to have your RPG character succeed in an attack against a difficult-to-hit opponent, only to then roll 1 for damage. Jeremy Strandberg makes the case that low damage rolls should at least prompt a fictional change in the opponent’s positioning: “Even when one side rolls low damage (or no damage), look for a way to make the situation change.” An example he gives: “She rolls only a 1 for damage (vs. this guy’s 6 HP), so I say that she smacks the knife out […]

TLDR: Compendium of 20 Settlement Moves for PbtA Games Many PbtA adventure starters and scenarios have location-specific moves. I particularly like how in Stonetop there is this move when you are in the town of Marshedge: When you go unwary into the bustle of Edgemarket or the crowded streets of Dropoff, roll +WIS: on a 10+, you spot the pickpocket coming or catch them in the act; on a 7-9, they make off with only trifles (1d4 uses of Supplies, a purse of coppers, a skin of whiskey, etc.); on […]

The Line separates what the GM narrates vs. what the player narrates. In D&D, the player narrates their backstory and their current activity; the DM narrates everything else. Of course, even some DMs in 5e shift the Line a little – “You killed it! Describe your final blow and its death throes!” On the other extreme, take One Shot World by Yochai Gal. The players and GMs collaboratively develop the world. “Set out a blank sheet of paper and ask the player who is the most well-traveled to draw a […]

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 OSR For a comparison of the more popular systems, see Table Comparing Dungeon World to 5 Hacks. Other Styles of Play Other Settings Other PbtA Games Thanks to the Dungeon World Discord community for the many suggestions over the years. […]

PbtA games (Powered by the Apocalypse) are sometimes summarized as 2d6 games, due to the 2d6+stat dice mechanic popularized by Apocalypse World: a 10+ is an unmitigated success, a 7-9 is a mixed success, and a 6- (6 or less) is a failure. But some PbtA games use other dice mechanics.* I was particularly fascinated by the action rolls of Blades in the Dark, which use dice pools where only the highest die is considered: “They might succeed at their action without any consequences (on a 6), or they might succeed […]

One of the many things I love about Homebrew World and similar fantasy PbtA games (Powered by the Apocalypse inspired) is their druid’s ability to spend time studying a creature and then subsequently becoming able to shapeshift into the form of that creature. My player who was a druid would go out of her way during adventures to master new animal forms that she would be able to turn into. For instance, one evening in a swamp, while the wizard was studying his spellbook, the druid spent time in quiet […]

If you are interested in designing a Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) tabletop roleplaying game: Happy designing! Originally published 03/21/21. Revised to remove a reference to an older version of Vincent Baker’s series of blog posts and to include a reference to the Dungeon World Patch Kit. Updated 10/22/2022 with links to 2d6 probabilities and Uncommon World. Updated 10/12/2023 with links to new posts here. Photo by Ana Itonishvili on Unsplash.

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: I really like his take on a new Discern Realities move: One idea I’d been toying with was to give each class an extra question on the Discern Reality move (so the fighters could ask “Who’s the biggest threat?”, thieves could […]

A popular feature of hacks of Dungeon World is replacing alignment (Lawful, Good, Neutral, Evil, Chaotic) with drives. Worlds of Adventure, Unlimited Dungeons, and Homebrew World all use drives. Some examples: Above the Law (for Paladins in Worlds of Adventure, by Cameron Burns) – “Punish unbelievers for your own gain or to further your goals.” Accord (for Elves in Unlimited Dungeons, by Peter Johansen) – “Find virtue in others not of your own kind.” Ambition (for Clerics in Homebrew World, by Jeremy Strandberg) – “Gain recognition from or hold leverage […]

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 […]