Dungeon World Gets New Owners, Second Edition Planned

Luke Crane has purchased Dungeon World from its original creators and has plans to make a new edition of the game. Earlier this month, Crane, who previously designed The Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard Roleplaying Games, announced on the Dungeon World+ discord that he had "bought the game from the original creators" (Adam Koebel and Sage LaTorra) with a business partner and was preparing to work on a new edition. Crane did not specify whether either Koebel or LaTorra would be involved in the new edition.

Dungeon World's first edition won several awards when released in 2012, including the 2012 Golden Geek RPG of the Year and the Ennie Awards for Best Rules Gold Winner in 2013. The game was a Powered by the Apocalypse system in which players gained experience points when rolling a 6 or below on a check (which resulted in "trouble" occurring on the check and the opportunity for the DM to make a DM move. The game's co-creator Adam Koebel was a prominent creator and early TTRPG personality until accusations emerged of poor behavior by former partners.

Crane was previously the head of community at Kickstarter and attempted to run a campaign for The Perfect RPG zine back in 2021. He cancelled the campaign after it emerged that Koebel was involved with the project and later resigned from his job as a result of the backlash.

 

[kenada]

if the clock is advancing, then how is the fiction stalled? You are nearing a conclusion, you just do not get there in one round of battle. The same were true if the character got a limp from being hit in the leg but continued the fight

Not my claim, but the issue as explained in post #98 seems to be that the opposition doesn’t have to change its behavior in response to getting damaged. A value in a box changed, and that’s it.

(I have my own issues with DW’s move design, particularly the basic moves. Those are separate from this one.)

Edit: To clarify, I agree re: advancing the clock being a form of progress towards a conclusion, and I don’t have an issue with that (or with calling it “HP” in some situations). The above is my understanding of the reasoning given in post #98. My hope is that the remedy for that issue will have the effect of improving DW’s move design.

 

[Faolyn]

Personally, I am interested in seeing what the creators of Chasing Adventure and Against the Odds can do with an established and respected rule system (even though the original rules have known issues.)

I'm actually surprised that CA doesn't have more supplements or fan support. I'm reading the rules right now and it seems really good.

 

[rhythmsoundmotion]

I'm actually surprised that CA doesn't have more supplements or fan support. I'm reading the rules right now and it seems really good.

While it is not high on my lists of desired Dungeon World 2 edition features, I want products built with DW2 compatibility to work well with a variety of recently made PbtA Fantasy games (something that is harder with DW1 products.) And I hope a lot of the really nice DW1 compatible products get rebuilt for DW2.

 

[Aldarc]

I'm actually surprised that CA doesn't have more supplements or fan support. I'm reading the rules right now and it seems really good.

I can explain why fairly easily: it’s new and unknown.

I believe that the 1.0 rules came out on Itch about a year ago, and the hardcover Kickstarter was fairly recent as well.

Moreover, I also think there is the issue of name recognition. It’s like D&D and others of its make. Even if I am playing a rules variation of Dungeon World (e.g., Stonetop, Freebooters on the Frontier, Homebrew World, etc.) it is sometimes easier to simply say that I am playing Dungeon World because that has more name recognition, even within this paltry niche of the gaming space. Also, CA does not really have a name that screams “Dungeon World Successor!”

 

[Aldarc]

More blog updates on the new direction of Dungeon World 2:

• The Problem with Hit Points
• Stats, Conditions, and Defying Danger in Dungeon World 2

 

[zakael19]

More blog updates on the new direction of Dungeon World 2:

• The Problem with Hit Points
• Stats, Conditions, and Defying Danger in Dungeon World 2

Man, this really doesnt seem to hit the mark for what I want from a refreshed DW at all. Those stats are pretty uninspiring too. (which yes I know they've said this is a different game that just happens to use teh same name)

Maybe when he gets Stonetop finished (lol), Jeremy can finish fleshing out HBW into the "D&D fantasy novel narrative tropes" game that I really want to play. It's like 85% of the way there already.

 

[UnplayedRanger]

I know its legally DW 2 because they bought the rights, but this just reads like Chasing Adventure 2. A game I thought already got rid of the good things I liked in DW.

 

[Bae'zel]

Pity. Dungeon World was the only PbtA game that really worked for me. So many good times, great memories. It thrived in its simplicity. Saddens me to see it go the same path as other PbtA games. But that seems to be what people want so… that’s that. Good for everyone involved I guess!

 

[Joshua Randall]

Can I change my vote in the “when does an RPG die” thread?

Because Dungeon World is dead in all but name.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Maybe when he gets Stonetop finished...

lol.....