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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7578366" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Alright, I'm going to transliterate the Torchbearer play excerpt to Dungeon World so the differences between the two systems can shed some light on the conversation.[sblock]Level 1 Dwarf AdventurerElf RangerHalfling BurglarThey're at the end of their initial Adventure, a foray into a crystalline cavern network long ago abandoned by its demihuman denizens due to a calamity. Every member of the group has multiple Conditions, they're running low on rations, their skins are empty, and they only have 4 torches left between them.They dealt with a Cave-in Twist awhile back that cut them off from the known route back to the surface. With severely dwindling resources and growing Conditions, they couldn't afford to spend the Turns trying to dig their way out. So, in hopes of finding a new way out, they struck off in another direction where active air flow worked the flames of their dying torchlight.They reach a bottomless chasm spanned by an incredibly rickety rope bridge that is in near ruin in the middle and gently swaying in an unseen breeze. The ceiling is too high to see with the minuscule light of their torch and the endless dark below promises swift death. Another torch goes out. 6 Turns of light left...(3 torches * 2 Turns).The Grind also hits on this turn (every 4 turns = Condition Clock ticks). Hungry and Thirsty. The last of the rations stave that off...How to cross?Time is the enemy.The stakes are very high for this obstacle.Conditions are grinding down the team (the Halfling is Afraid so he can't Help, the Elf is Injured so -1D to Nature/Will/Health/ Skills, the Dwarf is Angry and Exhausted so can't use Traits to help and all tests increase by 1). They have to weigh the potential time it would take to try to (a) find another way around, (b) attempt to repair the bridge, vs (c) the danger of a mad dash across (and the Twist or Condition that would arise from failure...) while still (d) dealing with the unknown of what lies ahead. A mad dash across would just be 1 turn but would test Dungeoneer or Will (nerves) for all.Repairing/jury-rigging it would be 2 turns, but the Elf has Survivalist 2 and he can tap his Nature for 4 more (though it will tax his Nature because its out of his descriptor portfolio) with his Persona point he earned earlier for playing against a Belief, can use his 1/Session "Brave" Trait for 7 total. -1 for Injured. Someone has to scramble out there and hold the torch while the Elf does his work. The Angry and Exhausted Dwarf has to be the one (Halfing can't) and he has Dungeoneering, so fair enough. There is another 1, though the Obstacles factor increases by 1 from OB3 to OB4. Needs 4 or better on 4 out of his 7 dice. They consider the possible Twists they can think of; losing gear, torch snuffing early and being stuck in the pitch black on the rickety bridge, some kind of Indiana Jones conflict with the the bridge snapping with them hung up in the tattered remnants...slamming them against the sheer face on the other side...while the Halfling is stuck back there, some unforeseen predator that haunts the cavern, one of them falls through to certain death but the other can grab him with a successful test...or fall too...Then there is the prospect of getting across but another crushing Condition accrued for the Dwarf and Elf (putting them closer to death). Its the best shot they have and they're reaching the proverbial end of the rope (/rimshot).[/sblock](TORCHBEARER) TOWN PHASE FOR OPENING ADVENTURE AND GM'S MAPS VS (DUNGEON WORLD) COLLECTIVE PREMISE AND COLLECTIVE MAP W/ BLANKS1)  Dungeon World doesn't have Phases.  Its all free-form roleplay with a snowballing resolution engine and tightly integrated feedbacks/reward cycles.  So if a Dwarf Fighter, and Elf Ranger, and a Halfling Thief were on the above adventure to begin play, it wouldn't emerge during a Town phase in the way that it would in Torchbearer (which is akin to Blades in the Dark Information Gathering/Free Play phase where you're sorting out a Score and gathering intelligence about it before you gear up and execute the plan).  Being the 1st adventure of a Dungeon World game, the premise of this little excursion would arise out of the conversation of collective map-making and character-building at the beginning of the game.  a)  GM makes an abstract map on the spot with a thematic name for a site or two that heralds danger/adventure and a few main features (topographical, maybe a town), leaving a lot of blanks.b)  We make characters together (some or all of them already know each other as they have Bonds together...sometimes a few Bonds are left open to flesh out at the End of Session 1) and find out a little bit about these characters as we do (primarily via Alignment statement and Bonds).c)  As we're finishing the characters, we'll also fill out the map a little bit more as we find out where characters are from or a site central to their character (where they are or where they are headed).  However, the map will still have plenty of blanks at this point.d)  With that all done, we'd figure out how this started and just go from there.  I can see something like:Dwarf has the Bond:I worry about the ability of <Halfling> to survive in the dungeonElf has the Bond and below Alignment :  I have guided <Halfling> before and they owe me for it.Good - Endanger yourself to combat an unnatural threat.Halfling has the Bond: <Dwarf> has my back when things go wrong.So maybe the GM puts Winter Wood on the map (it is cursed to perpetually snow there) and one of the players puts Crystalline Caverns underneath it.  Through conversation, its determined that the Elf needs something from the caverns to lift the curse on the wood, has leveraged the Halfling to help, and the Dwarf and the Halfling's are longtime pals so the Dwarf is in.  Could hook into more than just those 4 character features, but that is typically enough to get the game rolling.  I'll stop there for now.  The generation of a Town and a Dungeon/Ruin in Torchbearer is very involved (akin to Lifepath creation in Traveller).  While play progresses as a result of player choice and is inspired by/hooks into the PCs' thematic portfolio, the procedure to generate content (and the relative abstraction of that content) is starkly different.  Prospective GM Fronts (threats that create danger and portend a grim future of some sort) aren't devised until AFTER the first session (unlike Torchbearer).Later, I'll put out another post with the hypothetical Dungeon World gameplay of the sblocked situation.</blockquote>

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