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<blockquote data-quote="Alcamtar" data-source="post: 7127805" data-attributes="member: 3842"><p><strong>5 out of 5 rating for Dungeon World</strong></p><p></p><p>Dungeon World is a fun little game that manages to be one of the best improvisational games I have ever played. It is based on Apocalypse World, a game I am not familiar with and would never play because it's not my thing. A big part of what makes DW work -- and a key ingredient for any improv game -- is familiarity with the genre. I know D&D better than anything, so DW is instantly familiar and the game and setting just assemble themselves with no effort at all.</p><p></p><p>The game mechanics drive the story forward and keep everyone engaged, yet there remains enough dice rolling and rules engagement to keep most people happy. I would say the core game is about as complex as old school classic D&D; I have played with experienced players and newbies and it worked well for everyone. It is well worth a play just to pick up some new tricks, and a great pick-up game for your shelf.</p><p></p><p>The most brilliant bit IMO is the concept of Fronts. It essentially takes the "plot point" idea of Savage Worlds and distills it down into an improvisational and organizational tool; there are no mechanics so you can import it into your favorite RPG. Unfortunately, while the basic concept is pretty straightforward, the "how to" text is confusing and possibly contradictory, so you have to chew on it a bit to massage it into something that works for you. The good thing is, the concept is what is important.</p><p></p><p>The worst bit, in my opinion, is the overuse of the "tags" mechanism. It takes a great concept for quickly outlining monsters and bogs it down with detailed rules for each tag, defeating the whole point of being lightweight and improvisational. Worse, it then presents a system for creating towns with tags, which is overly verbose and overkill. I think tags are a great idea if you resist the temptation to define them.</p><p></p><p>The other thing I didn't like are the need for specialized character sheets -- without a printer you really can't play. And to add insult to injury, the sheets are ink-intensive. If it was written so you could play with a 3x5 index card it would be much better. To be fair, some of the pick up and play nature is because the game rules are printed on the character sheets, but I still dislike the need to keep a printed supply handy.</p><p></p><p>My most experienced player had a complaint about DW: he felt that because the world and adventure are created during play, he could not believe in the world; to him it lacked substance and solidity, and he preferred a world created by a GM and kept hidden, because it had objective existence apart from play. I think this is a fair criticism and it is fundamental to any improvisational game. But I also think it is easily avoided: there is nothing preventing you from using DW in a traditional sense, with a pregenerated world and NPCs, the only difference is the timing of who and when various details are invented. So a valid criticism based on personal preference and the default mode of play as presented... but not an inherent failure of the game.</p><p></p><p>There are some fun bits, like easter eggs hidden in the magic items section. This is a fun game that doesn't take itself too seriously. There are some nifty ideas, like the <em>Undertake a Perilous Journey</em> move, or the <em>Spout Lore</em> and <em>Discern Realities</em> moves. Hirelings are nicely done.</p><p></p><p>To their credit, the authors have made DW available under a liberal license: the entire game is available free online as an SRD-type document. Unfortunately the fan community seems to want to charge a buck or two for every page they create. This was part of what turned me off the DW community.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alcamtar, post: 7127805, member: 3842"] [b]5 out of 5 rating for Dungeon World[/b] Dungeon World is a fun little game that manages to be one of the best improvisational games I have ever played. It is based on Apocalypse World, a game I am not familiar with and would never play because it's not my thing. A big part of what makes DW work -- and a key ingredient for any improv game -- is familiarity with the genre. I know D&D better than anything, so DW is instantly familiar and the game and setting just assemble themselves with no effort at all. The game mechanics drive the story forward and keep everyone engaged, yet there remains enough dice rolling and rules engagement to keep most people happy. I would say the core game is about as complex as old school classic D&D; I have played with experienced players and newbies and it worked well for everyone. It is well worth a play just to pick up some new tricks, and a great pick-up game for your shelf. The most brilliant bit IMO is the concept of Fronts. It essentially takes the "plot point" idea of Savage Worlds and distills it down into an improvisational and organizational tool; there are no mechanics so you can import it into your favorite RPG. Unfortunately, while the basic concept is pretty straightforward, the "how to" text is confusing and possibly contradictory, so you have to chew on it a bit to massage it into something that works for you. The good thing is, the concept is what is important. The worst bit, in my opinion, is the overuse of the "tags" mechanism. It takes a great concept for quickly outlining monsters and bogs it down with detailed rules for each tag, defeating the whole point of being lightweight and improvisational. Worse, it then presents a system for creating towns with tags, which is overly verbose and overkill. I think tags are a great idea if you resist the temptation to define them. The other thing I didn't like are the need for specialized character sheets -- without a printer you really can't play. And to add insult to injury, the sheets are ink-intensive. If it was written so you could play with a 3x5 index card it would be much better. To be fair, some of the pick up and play nature is because the game rules are printed on the character sheets, but I still dislike the need to keep a printed supply handy. My most experienced player had a complaint about DW: he felt that because the world and adventure are created during play, he could not believe in the world; to him it lacked substance and solidity, and he preferred a world created by a GM and kept hidden, because it had objective existence apart from play. I think this is a fair criticism and it is fundamental to any improvisational game. But I also think it is easily avoided: there is nothing preventing you from using DW in a traditional sense, with a pregenerated world and NPCs, the only difference is the timing of who and when various details are invented. So a valid criticism based on personal preference and the default mode of play as presented... but not an inherent failure of the game. There are some fun bits, like easter eggs hidden in the magic items section. This is a fun game that doesn't take itself too seriously. There are some nifty ideas, like the [I]Undertake a Perilous Journey[/I] move, or the [I]Spout Lore[/I] and [I]Discern Realities[/I] moves. Hirelings are nicely done. To their credit, the authors have made DW available under a liberal license: the entire game is available free online as an SRD-type document. Unfortunately the fan community seems to want to charge a buck or two for every page they create. This was part of what turned me off the DW community. [/QUOTE]
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