Dungeon World-care to share your experiences?

[Gilladian]

I play in an ongoing play by post game and really like it. I've run it a few times online and in person, and I find it a lot of fun. The more creative and spontaneous your players, the better. If your players like a railroad, and never suggest wild things or invent reasons for stuff, they may find it hard to get into the spirit of DW, which is definitely that the whims of all the players (DM included, of course) will have a huge impact on the game.

 

[JeffB]

Thanks everyone for the comments/advice.

I am a story teller DM first and foremost, and lately just burned out on D&D in its various incarnations....the rules/mechanics/systems are becoming the focus, and I am feeling stale in providing a good adventure/memory for the players (my kids group). Just going through the motions of playing along to the adventure scripts, etc. And it rubs off on the kids for sure. It also affects my prep, and desire to create, and then the sessions suffer even more-so.

After spending some time thinking about my goals and what I need to change/approach differently, I remembered that some of the most fun RPG moments I ever had were as a kid when me and my buddies would "play D&D" or "Top Secret" or whatever at school during lunchtime or after school when we had absolutely no dice or rules. It was alot of "heres the sitch....what do you do?......................OK...this is what happens...". IOW "play to find out what happens".

At any rate, I have found that beginners guide, which was a big help. Sometimes the terminology in DW is not so straightforward, and that document clarifies some things. I plan to pick up the book this week, and give it a try in 2 weeks or so.

By all means , please feel free to continue to comment.

 

[edutrevi]

I love the fiction of DW

 

[TrippyHippy]

I played in a Dungeon World adventure ran by someone else, than spanned over several sessions, with it. It was fine and dandy and fun.

I did feel, however, that I was still basically just playing D&D. Not sure if that is a controversial thing to say. The Halfling Druid I played seemed to get more loosely defined powers that in D&D - meaning I could creatively get away with a lot more freeform casting. The character sheets and chargen process was aided by having all the options and descriptors pre-presented on the sheets for you. The basic 2d6 roll over target mechanic was nice and neat and simple like Traveller can be in some editions. The layout of the book was easy on the eye, and the GM said he liked the support and advice given in the game.

But to me, it was still just playing D&D - which may well have been the core design goal - so, if given the choice between it (or Pathfinder, or Castles and Crusades, or 13th Age, etc) and actual D&D proper in it’s modern 5E guise, I’d still rather go with the original game. To me, D&D is just as easy to run and play - maybe due to basic familiarity -, gives you a lot more options for character design, and the broad population of support makes it a no brainer. No offence, just being honest.

 

[JeffB]

Update- FINALLY got a chance to run a session of this. It was enormously successful. I wrote down a list of ideas and opponents, asked questions, riff off the answers and we played to find out what happened. The game went super smoothly, and I loved how the moves just kept everything flowing back and forth. Lots of fun. Player quote " why haven't we been playing this all along??"

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Gilladian]

Now go join the dungeon world tavern Google group!

 

[JeffB]

Now go join the dungeon world tavern Google group!

Been a member for a few weeks. But I cant stand the G+ interface, so I just lurk on the dozen or so communities I am subscribed. I much prefer old fashioned message boards like ENWORLD

 

[Gilladian]

Yeah, I don't do nearly as much with Google as here. Much better for extended conversations, especially when I often want to refer back to things days or weeks later.

 

[Morrus]

Just a side note - I added DW to the ratings/comments system.

 

[Darth Quiris]

Best take on D&D of all time.

I love any game that uses the Apocalypse World Engine and Dungeon World is one of the best out there. It's one of the first game engines that actually gives GMs rules to follow to run the game and I love it. It's a clean game system, without any real ambiguity that might come up when playing other games and the GM must follow the rules or the GM and the players will be missing out on a what makes the game so superbly great.

Playing any game and running any game that uses the Apocalypse World Engine will make you better players and Gamemasters.