Uncommon World 1.1

Uncommon World is my crowdsourced update to the core moves of Dungeon World, based on a survey of over 250 players, choosing between moves from seven fantasy PbtA games. Originally released in October, 2021, I’ve updated the Uncommon World PDF: Here is the full change log. And if this system is new to you, here’s the overview.
Mystery Machine van

Monster of the Week’s Mystery Countdowns

I lifted one of my prep techniques from the mystery countdowns of Monster of the Week by Michael Sands. These aren’t “whodunit” mysteries but instead mysterious monsters with mysterious agendas and mysterious weaknesses. As the book puts it­— Each mystery has a countdown: this is the sequence of the terrible things that will happen if the hunters don’t stop the monster. The countdown will be your guide to what will be going on off-screen as the hunters investigate. To create the countdown, think about what would happen if the hunters […]
dragon on tower breathing fire

The Top 10 Things to Know When Switching from 5e to Dungeon World

I went back through the Dungeon World subreddit posts to come up with the top 10 things that people should know when making the switch from D&D 5e— And you may find these other discussions from Reddit helpful: Finally, here’s my own story of why I switched from 5e to Dungeon World and a supplement I made for incorporating 5e skills. Photo by Carlos Cram on Unsplash.

Father, Son, and Unholy Ghost

My father hunts witches   studies the occult   reads all about Salemdoesn’t let my little sister    dress up on Halloweenand always carries with him   a Coors silver bullet   a garlic glove   a wooden crossand a rare iron stake. My mother is a witch   I mean that quite literallyfor she rides a broom   cooks in a cauldron   has a rat nest in her hair   studies Mephistopheles   makes unholy Swiss cheese   prefers the Lions o’er the Saintsand hides her little spells   from my father in a dictionary. My sister can turn invisible   float across the room   bowls with a crystal ball   has an undead boyfriendcan mix a love […]
manorial commons

The PbtA Commons

One of the reasons I personally switched from 5e to Dungeon World was because of DW’s use of a Creative Commons license, which meant that—while the game text was copyright—re-use was granted along with certain obligations (e.g., attribution). This commons is probably far larger than you think, with many systems and much third-party content available to adapt. Normally I write about DW hacks, all of which are licensed under the Creative Commons: Chasing Adventure, Fantasy World, Freebooters on the Frontier, Homebrew World, Stonetop, Unlimited Dungeons, Urban/Modern/Fantasy. However, there are a […]
a mounted St. George attacking a dragon

Alternatives to Dungeons & Dragons

Now more than ever people are looking for alternatives to Dungeons & Dragons. But, with thousands of choices of tabletop roleplaying games, where to start? Fantasy RPGs Other Types of RPGs With so much to choose from, consider running a few one-shot games to find a system that resonates with you! Photo by Marie Bellando Mitjans on Unsplash.

RPG as a Service

If Wizards of the Coast backs down from their draconian changes to the OGL, it will be because of subscription revenue: “Cancelled D&D Beyond subscriptions forced Hasbro’s hand.” Subscription revenue grows more rapidly and is more stable than one-off sales to a base of customers. So it’s no surprise that WotC and others in the RPG space want to convert traditional one-off sales to subscriptions, from Patreons for independents to direct subscriptions for larger firms. One way for major players to generate subscription revenue has been with virtual tabletop (VTT) […]
spaceships fighting in an asteroid belt

Impulse Drive RPG Syllabus

I researched a lot of PbtA and FitD science-fiction games before selecting Impulse Drive. For my group, the game provides the Firefly/Expanse-style heroics we were looking for, with enough of a framework to encourage the narrative without so much complexity that it bogs down play. Our group just shifted from playing every other week to playing every week, because they couldn’t get enough! When I first started reading Impulse Drive, I searched the web for something like the Dungeon World Syllabus, a collection of invaluable links for GMs. Not finding […]
man, woman, wolf inside a Viking village in Gudvangen, Norway

Using Stonetop’s Introductions Procedure in Session Zero

After our Microscope worldbuilding, and before our first actual session of Impulse Drive, I ran a Session Zero based primarily on Stonetop’s Introductions procedure. Stonetop is a hearth fantasy PbtA by Jeremy Strandberg (you can back it here, for a limited time). Each playbook has two customized sets of questions: one set for the player to answer about NPCs and one set for the player as PC to pose to the other PCs. Here’s the process for the Ranger— Stonetop is about adventuring for the sake of protecting and growing […]
bacteria sample to view in microsscope

Using Microscope for World Building for a Campaign

TL;DR: Microscope, by Ben Robbins, Lame Mage Productions, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, an innovative RPG for collaborative world building, and a great way to start any campaign with a Big Bang. Having heard great things about using the Microscope RPG for collaborative world-building, I knew that I wanted to kick-off our new science-fiction PbtA campaign with a Microscope session. Heck, our planned setting is literally the first scenario listed on the website: “Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization”! (Fantasy RPG players, the next two are “Fledgling nations arise from […]
Sessen Doji Offering His Life to an Ogre (Japanese Oni), hanging scroll, color on paper, 1764

Suddenly an Ogre: A DW Gamebook

Suddenly an Ogre is a short gamebook using the Dungeon World system. Most choices that you make correspond to Basic Moves of the game. This gives you an opportunity to experience a bit of gameplay without a GM. The title is an homage to the essay “Suddenly Ogres: What to do on Spout Lore and Discern Realities misses” by Vasiliy Shapovalov. Published using the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. You are encouraged to adapt this for your game system of choice. Comments and suggestions welcome, directly […]

Melee in the Mines

​Melee in the Mines is a print-and-play microgame that pits two players against one another. The dwarves’ silver mine has cut into the tunnels of a monster lair, and now a band of adventurers is fighting for their lives in the narrow confines of the mine against a band of monsters. Each player starts with 7 of 18 characters (18 Monsters or 18 Adventurers). The winner is the party that drives the other from the mine! Only the first character in each party can use hand-to-hand combat. Other party members can […]
Risk board game

Gamers More Excited by New Versions of Risk than Reissues of Other Games

Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, Robo Rally, and Squad Leader will be moving from Avalon Hill to Renegade Game Studios, which will also be developing “new versions of Risk themed around fan-favorite Hasbro brands G.I. JOE, Transformers, and Power Rangers.” In addition, “fans will also see new printings of staples for the line as well as the return of some long out-of-print editions.” In a survey of U.S. adults who have ever played board games, four times as many had played Risk as had played Axis & Allies (42% to 11%). […]