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Oye, yes, and AW/DW is exactly parsimonious with its process/rules, and uses that to very clearly communicate how the game works. Yet at the same time the move-in-a-conversation loop IS very general. No matter what a player says, the rules have an answer, either they triggered a move, or it is...

So, with all of these, what I see is a manifestation of the Dungeon World "when the players look at you, make a move" concept. In none of these cases is it true that the GM must always be presenting the next score. Sure, the GM can always help to move things along if that is advisable, but it...

it isn't about 'good communications', your assertion was that using game mechanics was to 'communicate how a campaign works', and I am saying this is simply not true of Dungeon World (or PbtA in general, though it is a broad category of games). The rules, such as they are, are very specific, AND...

I'm not sure I would consider BitD to be a process of GM presenting hooks. IME the players are the ones saying things like "the Lampblacks must have a stash somewhere, lets go take it out!" or something like that. Certainly the GM is not uninvolved, but it is a different thing than classic play...

I think basically this view is, in part, outdated. Techniques and approaches to running RPGs, and thus the associated game designs, have evolved a huge amount in the last 20 years. In 1995, maybe even in 2005, I'd have agreed with you on a lot of this. But the reality is a game like Dungeon...

Frankly I see the dislike as more ideological. My experience here is that, at least in this forum, there's no appetite for an unvarnished look at, or revisions of, the perceived orthodoxy. The flaw with the whole sentiment is that, objectively, the discussion and theory that was home at The...

Leaving aside agreement or disagreement, BY FAR the simplest type of game to run is a dungeon crawl using a system like B/X that is built for exactly that. But B/X is unique amongst such systems in spelling out how to play. It falls a bit short in some areas though, probably more due to being...

I think it is at least true that many such systems are fairly focused. I'm not sure DW is a great example of that. It covers the general range of stuff that D&D does, which I think is the design goal. Obviously it is not aimed at the sort of living world fiction first play some of you favor, but...

Oh, well, it's a good question! So, look at the constraints that Dungeon World establishes. I don't have the text in front of me, but the first thing it does is clearly establish what we are playing, and why. This is key, and is the first 'layer' of defining the roles and structure. Now we know...

I don't believe you actually get more 'power'. It's a game anyway, seems weird to me to even talk in those terms. DW more clearly defines the process of making the game work, for everyone. And who decided that your judgement is better than anyone else's? The whole way questioning any of this...

Well, I was running 4e for my friends for a few years like that. Same people I gamed with all through most of the '80s, and '90s too. I'm sure we would still be doing it if I hadn't moved away. There's no secret to it except having a stable group of friends.

I don't really consider bad faith in any of these discussions either. Most of us are far past that, and in any case it is entirely aside from any discussion of technique or philosophy of play that we can get into here. Well unless you wish to compare techniques for busting heads at tables! 😎...

Right, as I replied to Robert, I agree. I just don't think it constrains the GM much at all. When I run DW I simply have ADDITIONAL constraints, ones with teeth.

Well, yes. I agree entirely with that. I just couldn't find any real hint of constraints in any of it. That is, beyond the basic one of what players will put up with.

Right. The general 'how it goes' of the world is pretty predictable. We can be fairly confident that certain ongoing current events will continue to be ongoing for the near term. So the 'gist' of things is predictable. I'm not sure we can evaluate the plausibility though. I would have probably...

This is a hugely important point. Nothing in the world is actually likely to happen, it is all vastly improbable chains of events. It's just that something happens.

On this point of emergence, I think the Narrativist play I am familiar with has a lot of this! In fact, it's hard to characterize it any other way. While I defined Hino as a female Ji-Samurai native of Iga, and loyal to the Iga Free League, everything else emerged. The basic setting (end Sengoku...

I personally didn't find Ravenloft all that great. It mostly demonstrates a lot of the weaknesses of trad play. I bought it, probably the last module I ever bought, and ran it. Mostly what I remember is a lot of jiggering and putting the party back on track to get it to produce any sort of...

Just as an observation, AW and DW state as fundamental techniques the use of first person, addressing the characters, etc. along with naming every NPC. GMs also never announce their moves. Obviously they have to announce when and what move a PC has made, but it would be something like "Smirk...

What I like with DW is when I am kind of at a loss about what to say, I just go back to square one. Something fantastic, thrilling, threatening, and relevant to the characters happens. So, an ancient huge red dragon appears and demands all their treasure and magic items, or else!