Dungeon World-care to share your experiences?

[JeffB]

Anyone play/running this?

I love it in principle, wondering if it lives up.

 

[Manbearcat]

Anyone play/running this?

I love it in principle, wondering if it lives up.

Sure. Have GMed it lots. Not really sure what you're referring to by "wondering if it lives up", but I'll take a stab.

- By the above do you mean "does it do high-octane, high-fantasy, pulp D&D action-adventure"?

Oh yes, extraordinarily well.

- Is it intuitive to GM?

Oh yes, extremely so.

- Are the action resolution mechanics robust and minimalist?

They're fantastically so. If you want an engine that plays to PC archetype as the input for action resolution and ceaselessly delivers dynamic, genre-coherent complications as output, then you've come to the right place. It does this with minimal handling time as well.

- Are the PC build mechanics robust and hackable?

Absolutely. You can manage all kinds of PC builds out of the standard system, use all kinds of classes (and compendium classes - like paragon abilities) on the internet, or you can easily hack together your own.

- Are the GMing princples and guidance top notch?

As good as any I've seen. Unambiguous, and focused on generating content and pacing that guarantees exciting, adventure-filled lives where the PCs are hooked into conflicts and opposed by adversarial elements they're interested in (which ties into, and feeds back from, the PC build rules).

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Search for Dungeon World PBPs on here and you can find a game that Campbell and pemerton and myself were fiddling about with awhile back (an extension of a 4e one-off for material in a post from last year) and a current, ongoing game that I'm GMing for a rl friend and S.O.

I've run the system quite a bit at the table (maybe 100 hours?) so if you have any specific questions that you want answered (that weren't answered above), I'll see if I can't help you out. It scratches a slightly different itch for me than 4e, though there is considerable overlap between the two (especially in GMing principles).

 

[Ratskinner]

I have run it for several sessions. I thought it was fairly well I received by my OSR group. It was...interesting...to run. The rules from the GM side are kinda nebulous in my opinion, there's a guide out there that is must read IMO. Like a lot of newer games, it really needs a lot of at-table creativity...which is good and bad. I had at one player who quickly became quite skilled at picking options from his moves that were quite trying that way. Be wary of all the internet classes as well. Some of them have moves that aren't as well thought-out as they might be. It does play wicked fast, though, and generally delivers on the experience its shooting for.

 

[SamVDW]

Anyone play/running this?

I love it in principle, wondering if it lives up.

Our group loves it. We had a fantastic campaign using it and everyone loves the system. It took me a few sessions to get into the game, mechanically, but our game master loves it. The game system keeps the pace of the game moving quite quickly. I always feel like we get a lot of actual roleplaying in each session. We're not being bogged down by rules, numbers, and dice. There is a ton of great fan-made content available on the web too. One of the best places to look for it is Google+ groups.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Anyone play/running this?

I love it in principle, wondering if it lives up.

It depends what you want. If you want to recapture the way you played the red box when you were 10 it's superb. If you want something mechanically deeper or thematically different, play something else.

 

[Sanglorian]

there's a guide out there that is must read IMO.

Agreed, the Beginner's Guide is highly recommended: http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=4996.0

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I think it's a great game, definitely my go-to fantasy RPG. If nothing else, it's changed the way that I play D&D.

 

[steenan]

I played and run several games using DW and it works very well in my experience.

The GM agenda, principles and moves are golden. DW is the first game I encountered that can be run by a person with no previous RPG experience, or by person who played, but never GMed. At the same time, simple but strict rules help experienced GMs to really run the game as intended, instead of falling into a "default mode".

The way moves work enforce a strong focus on fiction and fiction-based tactics. It makes you care about what happens in the game world, not about numbers.

With the 7-9 results usually bringing complications, game is fast-paced and similar to an adventure movie where main characters often overcome a problem only to create a bigger one. Nobody really knows where the game will head; it usually escalates and evolves in unexpected directions and that is extremely fun.

Getting an XP for a failed roll works nicely. It softens the blow of hard moves on a fail, but does not remove it. It results in rolls being dramatic, but not perceived as a danger to be avoided. Players like to roll and it's fun no matter what the dice show.

 

[SamVDW]

Honestly, it wasn't one of those games that jumped out at me that I wanted to play. The game is so easy to learn though. You can make characters in fifteen minutes and be up and running immediately. Its simplicity is awesome, but could also be a downfall for some players.

Our group loves it though.

 

[el_stiko]

My home game and two of my weekly work games are running Dungeon World. In my home game, it is the best game I have ever played, due to the story, the world, the characters we are creating, and the way the rules support those from beneath.

I adore it, and it's made me a better DM, but it's made 5e very tough for me to cope with every Thursday and Friday.

 

[Evenglare]

I'll admit I have only played it a few times but the times I have it was very fun. Infact I started a final fantasy hack of it a while ago. I got pretty far with it, because it was just so easy to create stuff. Highly recommended.