COMING SOON! -- Archetype Anthology: A Dozen Archetypes for D&D 5th Edition on Kickstarter! From dual-wielding tempests to planar explorers -- a softcover collection of new archetypes for your 5th Edition game!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7905259" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Maybe try to think of running a DW game not so much as a Game, so much as "collaborative story-telling with dice".I don't know if you are an actual writer of fiction or non-fiction, but for the sake of argument I'm going to assume you are not. At least not any more than the majority of RPG fans and GM's out there. So...If you got a call from a publisher who said "You're an RPG'er aren't you? Ok, great. Write us a short story, about 3k words. We'll pay you based on how good it is. You have 4 months". You are up for the challenge, so off you go. Four months later you submit, and they say "Er...that was...bad. Like, high-school drama class level bad. Here's $50. Write a new one for us, as before; 3k words, 4 months". Off you go. You submit and they say "Well, better than the last. Not good, but better. Here's $100. Write us another one". ... ... Rinse and repeat. What would happen to your writing capability after, say a year or two? Exactly. You'd get better. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />Think of running DW like you would learning how to write a compelling fantasy story. You WILL suck the first time around. Probably the second and maybe even the third. But, bit by bit, you would "hone your craft" and get better. You'd start to get a feeling for dramatic effect, comedic relief, pacing, timing, foreshadowing, and all the other things that successful writers know.Same thing with DW. Right now, you suck. Sorry, it's probably true; I sucked just as much...trust me!...my players almost didn't give me a second chance, but they did...and I...no, WE got better. We all got the hang of building off of one another's "hook" or "vibe". I learned how to use timing, pacing, and all the other story writing tricks to help the players build off of what I was laying down, so to say. Stick with Dungeon World and you will all get better. It just takes time and experience, like most things in life.Trust me when I say this: The dungeon world campaign I ran last, lasted a few months (basically all of Summer). It is easily one of the most easily re-countable and memorable campaigns for ANY game that we've played. There is something just so...personal...to what gets created by everyone at the table. Descriptions, mannerisms, little language/voice 'isms for various PC's and NPC's, etc. At the end of it, we all felt like we created a world and a story, filled with interesting NPC's and locations...because we all did. It was a group effort. I think because of that, everyone remembers virtually everything about it. Like everyone watching a favourite movie for the 4th time; everyone can geek-out about it and really get into the world/backstory of virtually anything in the movie. Same thing with our Dungeon World creation. It's not just my world...it was, and is, our world.My suggestion: Stick it out! Retire the current batch of high-level PC's and start new ones. Use what folks here have mentioned...or not. Whatever you think is cool, do that. One thing that really hit hard with my Players was when I asked them "Where is your PC from?", and they asked "I don't know. Is there an out of the way town...mining town...in some foothills or something?"...and I replied... "I don't know. Why are you asking me? Grab the map and write down where your PC's town and hills are. You do it". A light bulb went off over all of their heads and they were INSTANTLY excited about the game world. Instantly. Why? They could write in what THEY wanted to fit their own idea of their PC. It hit home the fact that DW is a collaborative effort...not just a DM presenting stuff for the Players. ... ... Just like learning how to write good stories, it took a good half-dozen sessions for us all to learn how to "write the campaign together". It was an amazing thing for all of us. Keep trying! You won't be dissapointed. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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