The results in this report are from an online survey of 445 respondents from 33 different countries. This survey is not representative of all who play tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) but is designed to be representative of engaged Dungeon World players; it does not do a good job of capturing the opinions of people who played Dungeon World in the past but no longer play it.

Respondents were recruited from four sources:

  • 285 responses (64%) are from the Dungeon World subreddit
  • 91 responses (20%) are from the PbtA subreddit
  • 68 responses (15%) are from a panel of video-game RPG fans
  • 3 responses (1%) are from Twitter.

Thanks to everyone who took the survey!

TTRPGs Played

  • Which, if any, of the following table-top roleplaying games (TTRPGs, any edition) have you ever played or GMed?
    • DW players: Dungeon World (100%); D&D (86%); Fate RPG, Blades in the Dark (36% each).
    • Everyone else: D&D (70%); Call of Cthulhu (21%); Monster of the Week, Star Wars: Edge of Empire (20% each).
  • Please rank the top three of these games, with the absolute best at the top.
    • DW players: Ranked #1 Dungeon World, #2 D&D, #3 Blades in the Dark.
    • Everyone else: Ranked #1 D&D, #2 Star Wars: Edge of Empire, #3 Call of Cthulhu.
  • Which, if any, of the following games have you played in the past four weeks?
    • DW players: Dungeon World (57%), D&D (33%), Monster of the Week (11%).
    • Everyone else: D&D (40%), Masks (13%), Star Wars: Edge of Empire (10%).
  • Which of these TTRPG games that you haven’t played do you most want to try?
    • DW players: Blades in the Dark (19%), Apocalypse World (10%), Night Witches (4%).
    • Everyone else: Apocalypse World (10%), Dungeon World (7%), Blades in the Dark (6%).
  • Of the following, which format do you prefer for the core books of an RPG system?
    • DW players: Everything in 1 book (79%), 2 books by role (12%), 4+ books (4%).
    • Everyone else: Everything in 1 book (43%), 2 books by role (20%), 2 books by level (17%).

Dungeon World Attitudes

  • How satisfied are you with the support you’ve seen from the publisher since Dungeon World was first published in 2012? Completely satisfied (17%), Very satisfied (26%).
  • How would you like to see Dungeon World evolve? Second edition from LaTorra and Koebel (50%), Second edition from an established author of a Dungeon World supplement or hack (38%), Community development of a revised edition (an independent fork) (36%).
  • What should the goals be for a new edition? Reflect Dungeon World as it is actually played (53%), Improve tools for improvisation (52%), Provide lots of options for different settings & classes (39%).

Existing Sequel

  • Do you think there’s an existing game that would complete the following sentence…? “There is no need for a new Dungeon World because _____ already exists.” No (87%), Yes (13%).
  • [If Yes] Which game most removes the need for a new Dungeon World? Dungeon World (7 mentions); Fellowship, Homebrew World, Stonetop (3 mentions each).

New Edition Interest

  • How interested are you in an official second edition of Dungeon World?
    Extremely interested (34%), Very interested (28%).
  • How interested are you in an unofficial second edition of Dungeon World by one or two individual designers? Extremely interested (14%), Very interested (24%).
  • How interested are you in a community edition of Dungeon World (an independent, consensus fork)? Extremely interested (14%), Very interested (22%).
  • What is the most you are willing to pay (in U.S. dollars) for a second edition of Dungeon World?
    $30 would maximize the revenue opportunity.

House Rules

  • Which, if any, of the following house rules have you used when playing Dungeon World? Any race can be any class (63%), Drive instead of Alignments (44%), Alternatives to Race (43%).
  • Besides those above, do you use any other house rules? No (60%), Yes (40%).
  • Which Dungeon World rules have you never used or decided not to use anymore? Steadings (43%), Hirelings (42%), Encumbrance/Weight (41%).

Supplements

  • Which, if any, of the following supplements have you used when playing Dungeon World?
    The Perilous Wilds (53%), Class Warfare (35%), Dungeon World Guide (35%).
  • What materials, if any, would you like to see integrated into a new edition? The Perilous Wilds (64%), Class Warfare (35%), Dungeon World Guide (34%).
  • Who would you like to see involved in the evolution of Dungeon World? Sage LaTorra [Dungeon World] (69%), Adam Koebel [Dungeon World] (54%), Vincent Baker [Apocalypse World] (46%).

Classes

  • Which of the following classes have you ever seen played in your games? Druid (69%), Barbarian (65%), Bard (65%).
  • Which classes would you include as base classes in a revised edition? Druid (67%), Fighter (61%), Bard (60%).

Race

  • Which, if any, of the following terms would you prefer be used instead of “race”? Background (50%), Ancestry (38%), Heritage (35%).
  • Which ancestries/backgrounds/cultures/… would you include in a revised edition? Elf (88%), Human (88%), Dwarf (87%).

Moves

  • Are there any Moves that you would remove from the game or change? Don’t know (40%), Yes (37%), No (23%).
  • Which, if any, of the following Moves would you remove from the game? Carouse (22%), None of the above (18%), Elf (Ranger) (12%), Human (Paladin) (12%).
  • Which, if any, of the following Moves would you change? Aid or Interfere (40%), Defend (31%), Parley (29%).
  • What do you think about the number of moves that Dungeon World has overall? Just the right amount of moves (73%), Too many moves (15%), Not enough moves (12%).

Experience Playing

  • Did you fund the Dungeon World Kickstarter? No, I did not fund the DW Kickstarter (90%); Yes, I funded the DW Kickstarter (10%).
  • How much, if anything, have you spent on Dungeon World materials? $0 (8%), $1-$10 (9%),
    $11-$99 (77%), $100+ (7%).
  • How many sessions of Dungeon World have you played? 1-9 (31%), 10-99 (63%), 100+ (6%).
  • When was the last time you played Dungeon World? Past month (55%), Past year or so (38%), Years ago (7%).

Demographics

  • Country: United States (63%), United Kingdom (6%), Canada (6%).
  • Age: Under 20 (3%), 20s (31%), 30s (40%), 40s (18%), 50s (7%).
  • Ethnicity: White (77%), Hispanic (9%), Black (5%).
  • Gender: Male (77%), Female (13%), Non-binary (10%).

Detailed results are available. You can view the whole report here.

Update (2021-10-24): I conducted a survey of 250 Dungeon World players about preferred wording for each basic and special move. I published the leading alternatives for each move as Uncommon World.