What we know about Dungeon World’s upcoming second edition:

Design decisions that have been announced:

  • The primary design goals are for it to be “cinematic, exciting, conversational, expressive, cooperative, and versatile.”
  • DW2 will still use 2d6 plus modifiers, rather than a different dice mechanic.
  • DW2 will be changing the stat names and moving from hit points to conditions.
  • DW1 assets won’t be fully compatible without some changes.
  • Intra-party relationships will be a focus.
  • The game will be released under a Creative Commons license, as DW1 was!
  • Luke Crane said, “Our hope is have playtestable materials for you all throughout the first part of the year and something finalish by the end of 2025.”

You can now follow their development blog.

A Message from the Designers: It’s been over 12 years since Dungeon World first released, and the world of TTRPGs has grown and evolved enormously in the time since. We are extremely excited to collaborate and co-design Dungeon World 2, and just like when Dungeon World first released, we’d like Dungeon World 2 to be a breath of fresh air for those who want something new. We’re still in the early stages of the design process, so very little is set in stone right now, but we envision Dungeon World 2 standing tall among both traditional and PbtA games as a new way to experience compelling fantasy stories. Dungeon World 2 will be a game of conversational adventure fantasy. Like many fantasy games, it will feature exciting action, danger, and climactic events, but it will also focus more on downtime, drama and shared moments between characters. This is a game about not just the adventures you go on, but who’s with you through them, and how you help and change each other. Everything is still cooking. It’s too early to say exactly what a part of the game will look like, but some things we’re pretty sure about include: moving from damage dice to conditions, overhauling the moves and playbooks, and additional guidance on how to play and GM. Some things we’re still excited about, but are more obscure include: advantage and disadvantage, playbooks for group and a campaign, and a premade adventure conversion procedure. We look forward to sharing more information in 2025! Helena and Spencer

Photo Credit: Burning Wheel

Updated 2024-04-12.