darkbard
Legend
I ran a game of Dungeon World for friends visiting from out of town last weekend. The participants: my wife (@Nephis here), a seasoned gamer with many years of experience with most iterations of D&D, DW, and Blades in the Dark; my gaming-curious friend, whose only previous exposure was smoking cigarettes in the kitchen with the mother of one of his high school friends while the others played D&D in the adjacent dining room back in the ‘80s; his wife, no prior gaming experience; and their two sons, 15 (and reserved) and not-quite-10 (precocious and a bit of an attention whore, if one can excuse the expression deployed for one so tender of age). My friend had asked me for some game recommendations a few weeks back as a way of prying the boys away from screens (I posted about this here on EN World and garnered some great suggestions), and their visit provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the concept and pique interest. In fact, I think the prospect of gaming was a motivating factor for the visit.
I began by introducing the concept of RPGing and DW in particular: you are creating an individual heroic fantasy character based on archetypes you’re familiar with (they’re fans of LotR, Witcher, Harry Potter, and similar cultural touchstones). Your job is to build not only a personality but motivations for your character to do what they do, and then to advocate for your character as I introduce scenes and challenges in response. I outlined ability scores and modifiers, the Basic Moves of the game, and then had each player choose a character playbook, at which point I explained the Special Moves related to that playbook.
The 15 year old settled on Sven, a barechested human Fighter (if we weren’t making screens offlimits for the weekend, I would have pointed him to the online Barbarian playbook instead); the 9 years old on Aaron, a human Thief; my friend’s wife on Lang, a human Wizard; my friend on an elven Ranger named Throndir with a Wolf companion named Thor; and @Nephis on Knelle, a halfling Druid from The Stinking Mire with a tell of mottled green, toadlike skin. Since we only had about three hours total for the game, I asked each player to choose only 2 Bonds between their character and another, despite the large-ish group. Two highlights: Knelle the Druid’s belief that “The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Throndir, the elf Ranger” (more on this below) and the nine year old’s response when I asked him what it was he stole in his choice of “I stole something from Sven” (the Fighter played by his older brother): “his girl”!!!
We drew a map together, containing many of the fantasy tropes: wooded highlands that are the ancestral home of the elves; a walled human city, Dubrovnik; a sea known as The Blue Gale, windy but warm watered; an enchanted isle called Silent Moon, where one cannot speak aloud after stepping foot upon its shores; an expansive marsh known as Green Moss Mire, home to snakepeople, halflings, and lizardfolk; and a canyon inhabited by feral raiders (I think maybe this is where Sven is from, but we never established this overtly). With this complete and a group of mostly Good aligned PC, I decided to frame them into a rescue mission building out of their bonds: Laeta, former beloved of Sven, the Fighter, and a handful of others were taken prisoner from a small village outside of Dubrovnik by marauding lizardfolk. The four others had arrived at the thatched hut of Knelle, the halfling Druid, on the outskirts of the Green Moss Mire, hoping to pick up the trail of lizardfolk and the aid of the Druid native. Knelle, suspicious of these newcomers to her land, called out from the bushes, from which she peered, asking who they are and what they intended.
Some freeplay ensued, wherein Sven deemed himself spokesperson for the group since it was his girlfriend (however fraught that relationship!) among the abducted. I probably should have stressed more strongly the cooperative nature of the PCs as a group, for his gruff and uncivilized character was not winning any points with the Druid, who now viewed these interlopers on her doorstep with serous mistrust. Lang, the Wizard, intervened by speaking telepathically (one of her three spells) to Sven, urging him to demonstrate respect and good manners when entreating with the diminutive Druid, but Sven’s further disdain for the mores of civilized folk (peeing on the bushes beside the hut’s opening, wherein squatted poor Knelle) and a poor roll by Lang on her Cast a Spell Move (6-) introduced immediate complications: Knelle used Shapeshifter to transform into a wart-covered, mottle-skinned anaconda (with the Moves Slither and Constrict), rolled a 10+, and Slithered across a channel to wrap Sven in her scaly and—hopefully—submission-inducing embrace; and I made a Move after Lang’s fail—three lizardfolk, bedecked in tortoise shell armor and carrying spears, rose from a fetid pool, dripping algae and menace. Throndir (relatively silent so far), what do you do?
My friend scanned the list of playbook and basic Moves and settled on Called Shot; the lizardfolk hadn’t truly acted yet, so I ruled (generously, perhaps) that they counted as surprised foes. He downed one with a swiftly loosed arrow. Your group is startled as Throndir’s quick action both reveals and responds to this threat. Aaron (the Thief), what do you do? Aaron successfully made a Defy Danger (DEX) move to hide behind the trunk of a tree so he could position himself for a Backstab Move, which he made with a 7-9, the added damage enough to take out a second lizardfolk foe but Young Aaron suffering a spear thrust wound in return.
Lang, the remaining lizardfolk warrior sees his friends fall to your armored allies and decides to rush you, the squishy Wizard, with an outstretched spear. What do you do? Lang decided to leap out of the way by navigating across several stones protruding amid the watery channels of the swamp, which sounded like quick thinking to me, but a Defy Danger (INT) Move turned up another 6-, and so Lang took some damage as the lizardfolk’s spear opened a wound across her thigh as she jumped to safety.
I turned to my wife, playing the Druid: Knelle, you have this large outlander wrapped in your scaly embrace, but now combat has broken out between these newcomers and the lizardfolk warriors native to the Green Moss Mire. What do you do? Time to establish her relationship with other swamp inhabitants and commitment to other “civilized” peoples. Knelle decided to release the brawny Fighter and Slither across to wrap her serpentine form around the remaining lizardfolk warrior. (Some mix of Defy Danger Moves and a roll for Slither or Constrict resulted in Knelle taking some damage but establishing her grapple, though the exact details escape me.)
Sven, you are now free from the embrace of the diminutive-halfling-turned-giant-snake. You see her wrap herself around the remaining lizardfolk. What do you do? The fifteen year old had chosen Sharp and Versatile for his Signature Weapon (a pair of matched handaxes), adding Reach as an additional Range (to the default Hand) to represent hurling an axe at short range. With the fictional position of the lizardfolk established as Close Enough™ through Knelle’s Slither Move, I ruled Sven could deploy Hack & Slash rather than Volley in the situation. A 7-9 result yielded damage inflicted against his foe, but not enough to drop it, and the lizardfolk was able to release his spear in reprisal, despite the anaconda encircling its torso, dealing some damage to Sven.
Throndir, what are you doing as melee has broken out between your allies and the lizardfolk? The elven Ranger decided to fire an arrow at the lizardfolk via Called Shot, despite the Druid-anaconda wrapped around its torso, aiming for its head. But the roll turned up a 6-! I think we all know what that means: you take careful aim for the lizardfolk’s head, but your shot goes astray and strikes the Druid instead! You’re an expert marksman, though, right? What caused you to miss your shot like that? Throndir responded that his wolf companion Thor, whose weakness is Forgetful, aroused by the combat around him, must have forgotten his proximity to his trainer’s legs, and knocked against him in his eagerness to join the fray, jostling him just as he loosed the shaft.
The battle ended quickly thereafter as Sven made a sliding tackle of the lizardfolk, lashing out with his remaining handaxe and dismembering his foe at the knee, thus redeeming himself from his earlier irreverent behavior. Lang consumed a healing potion, and Sven and Knelle applied some healing poultices after the figurative dust settled. Knelle declared her suspicion, in the wake of his errant shot that wounded her, that Throndir, the elven Ranger, was a reckless predator, and that the great danger that followed him would be her, as an avenging avatar of Nature!
Your foes are conquered, and you establish a fellowship of shared mission with this halfling shapechanger. What do you do next to find the abducted villagers?
The nine year old declared that Aaron would climb a tree and speak with a magical bird, asking if it had seen the villagers. I responded that the bird didn’t speak the human tongue, despite its magic, but perhaps, in the spirit of unity, the Druid might converse with it. Knelle did so, and established via a successful Spout Lore roll that the lizardfolk had a seasonal moot at a congregating point to the south, and that at that location they made their dark sacrifices to appease whatever fell powers they worship. To make this not only interesting but useful, I established that Twiti, the magic bird, could lead them to the moot. (Earlier in the discussion, my friend indicated that he would have Throndir use the Hunt and Track move to try to follow the lizardfolk trail back to their lair, but, in the interest of good parenting (and, I think, more interesting gameplay, ultimately!), deferred to his son’s creativity.)
The group then made an Undertake a Perilous Journey Move (I use the alternate rules in The Perilous Wilds supplement) to follow Twiti to the lizardfolk moot. They picked roles: Throndir as Scout, Lang as Navigator, and Knelle in charge of Managing Provisions. My friend rolled a 7-9 on his Scout Ahead Move and got to choose between
*You get the drop on whatever lies ahead
*You discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain—a shortcut, shelter, or tactical advantage (describe it)
*You make a Discovery (ask the GM)
*You notice sign of a nearby Danger—ask the GM what it is, and what it might signify.
He chose Discovery.
Throndir, I imagine this part of the swamp as a kind of mangrove, with you picking your way amid raised roots in knee-deep water, with tendrils of moss and vines hanging in deep curtains all around you. As you hack your way through the mire, you notice a dark and foreboding stone edifice atop a hillock, clearly a constructed but abandoned tower of some sort. I turned to his wife, the player of Lang: Lang, you recall stories of a wizard, Acorax, who had a tower in these swamps years ago. Was he a member of your Wizardly Order? No, but he was a member of the Order to which her sister belonged. People say that Acorax turned to necromancy and dark arts, sequestered himself in his tower over a decade ago, and was never heard from again. What else do they say about him, Lang? I asked.
Lang’s player said that Acorax was in possession of a magic golden circlet. The group decided to investigate the tower. One of the players, I don’t recall who, made a Discern Realities Move roll, a 7-9, and asked from the preset questions, What here is useful or valuable to me? I narrated that as they peered into the long, dark corridor extending into the stone tower like the opened maw and gullet of some great beast, visible floating in the air at the end of the hall was a faintly glowing circlet. And there, since we were three hours into the game session, we ended play.
Is the circlet real or illusion? Will the nine year old remember to use Trap Expert? Will Knelle the Druid seek revenge on the elven Ranger Throndir or Sven for their infelicitous behavior? We’ll Play to Find Out!
I’m quite happy with how the session went. My primary goal of introducing the boys to gaming was achieved, and I think I helped demystify the process of gameplay and improvisational collaborative storytelling for my friend, should he decide to don the GM mantle in the future. We may very well continue this game monthly via Zoom. And, at the very least, I suspect that a minimum of one more copy of Dungeon World will be sold, as the nine year old spent a good part of the next morning reading through my sole copy of the book.
I began by introducing the concept of RPGing and DW in particular: you are creating an individual heroic fantasy character based on archetypes you’re familiar with (they’re fans of LotR, Witcher, Harry Potter, and similar cultural touchstones). Your job is to build not only a personality but motivations for your character to do what they do, and then to advocate for your character as I introduce scenes and challenges in response. I outlined ability scores and modifiers, the Basic Moves of the game, and then had each player choose a character playbook, at which point I explained the Special Moves related to that playbook.
The 15 year old settled on Sven, a barechested human Fighter (if we weren’t making screens offlimits for the weekend, I would have pointed him to the online Barbarian playbook instead); the 9 years old on Aaron, a human Thief; my friend’s wife on Lang, a human Wizard; my friend on an elven Ranger named Throndir with a Wolf companion named Thor; and @Nephis on Knelle, a halfling Druid from The Stinking Mire with a tell of mottled green, toadlike skin. Since we only had about three hours total for the game, I asked each player to choose only 2 Bonds between their character and another, despite the large-ish group. Two highlights: Knelle the Druid’s belief that “The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Throndir, the elf Ranger” (more on this below) and the nine year old’s response when I asked him what it was he stole in his choice of “I stole something from Sven” (the Fighter played by his older brother): “his girl”!!!
We drew a map together, containing many of the fantasy tropes: wooded highlands that are the ancestral home of the elves; a walled human city, Dubrovnik; a sea known as The Blue Gale, windy but warm watered; an enchanted isle called Silent Moon, where one cannot speak aloud after stepping foot upon its shores; an expansive marsh known as Green Moss Mire, home to snakepeople, halflings, and lizardfolk; and a canyon inhabited by feral raiders (I think maybe this is where Sven is from, but we never established this overtly). With this complete and a group of mostly Good aligned PC, I decided to frame them into a rescue mission building out of their bonds: Laeta, former beloved of Sven, the Fighter, and a handful of others were taken prisoner from a small village outside of Dubrovnik by marauding lizardfolk. The four others had arrived at the thatched hut of Knelle, the halfling Druid, on the outskirts of the Green Moss Mire, hoping to pick up the trail of lizardfolk and the aid of the Druid native. Knelle, suspicious of these newcomers to her land, called out from the bushes, from which she peered, asking who they are and what they intended.
Some freeplay ensued, wherein Sven deemed himself spokesperson for the group since it was his girlfriend (however fraught that relationship!) among the abducted. I probably should have stressed more strongly the cooperative nature of the PCs as a group, for his gruff and uncivilized character was not winning any points with the Druid, who now viewed these interlopers on her doorstep with serous mistrust. Lang, the Wizard, intervened by speaking telepathically (one of her three spells) to Sven, urging him to demonstrate respect and good manners when entreating with the diminutive Druid, but Sven’s further disdain for the mores of civilized folk (peeing on the bushes beside the hut’s opening, wherein squatted poor Knelle) and a poor roll by Lang on her Cast a Spell Move (6-) introduced immediate complications: Knelle used Shapeshifter to transform into a wart-covered, mottle-skinned anaconda (with the Moves Slither and Constrict), rolled a 10+, and Slithered across a channel to wrap Sven in her scaly and—hopefully—submission-inducing embrace; and I made a Move after Lang’s fail—three lizardfolk, bedecked in tortoise shell armor and carrying spears, rose from a fetid pool, dripping algae and menace. Throndir (relatively silent so far), what do you do?
My friend scanned the list of playbook and basic Moves and settled on Called Shot; the lizardfolk hadn’t truly acted yet, so I ruled (generously, perhaps) that they counted as surprised foes. He downed one with a swiftly loosed arrow. Your group is startled as Throndir’s quick action both reveals and responds to this threat. Aaron (the Thief), what do you do? Aaron successfully made a Defy Danger (DEX) move to hide behind the trunk of a tree so he could position himself for a Backstab Move, which he made with a 7-9, the added damage enough to take out a second lizardfolk foe but Young Aaron suffering a spear thrust wound in return.
Lang, the remaining lizardfolk warrior sees his friends fall to your armored allies and decides to rush you, the squishy Wizard, with an outstretched spear. What do you do? Lang decided to leap out of the way by navigating across several stones protruding amid the watery channels of the swamp, which sounded like quick thinking to me, but a Defy Danger (INT) Move turned up another 6-, and so Lang took some damage as the lizardfolk’s spear opened a wound across her thigh as she jumped to safety.
I turned to my wife, playing the Druid: Knelle, you have this large outlander wrapped in your scaly embrace, but now combat has broken out between these newcomers and the lizardfolk warriors native to the Green Moss Mire. What do you do? Time to establish her relationship with other swamp inhabitants and commitment to other “civilized” peoples. Knelle decided to release the brawny Fighter and Slither across to wrap her serpentine form around the remaining lizardfolk warrior. (Some mix of Defy Danger Moves and a roll for Slither or Constrict resulted in Knelle taking some damage but establishing her grapple, though the exact details escape me.)
Sven, you are now free from the embrace of the diminutive-halfling-turned-giant-snake. You see her wrap herself around the remaining lizardfolk. What do you do? The fifteen year old had chosen Sharp and Versatile for his Signature Weapon (a pair of matched handaxes), adding Reach as an additional Range (to the default Hand) to represent hurling an axe at short range. With the fictional position of the lizardfolk established as Close Enough™ through Knelle’s Slither Move, I ruled Sven could deploy Hack & Slash rather than Volley in the situation. A 7-9 result yielded damage inflicted against his foe, but not enough to drop it, and the lizardfolk was able to release his spear in reprisal, despite the anaconda encircling its torso, dealing some damage to Sven.
Throndir, what are you doing as melee has broken out between your allies and the lizardfolk? The elven Ranger decided to fire an arrow at the lizardfolk via Called Shot, despite the Druid-anaconda wrapped around its torso, aiming for its head. But the roll turned up a 6-! I think we all know what that means: you take careful aim for the lizardfolk’s head, but your shot goes astray and strikes the Druid instead! You’re an expert marksman, though, right? What caused you to miss your shot like that? Throndir responded that his wolf companion Thor, whose weakness is Forgetful, aroused by the combat around him, must have forgotten his proximity to his trainer’s legs, and knocked against him in his eagerness to join the fray, jostling him just as he loosed the shaft.
The battle ended quickly thereafter as Sven made a sliding tackle of the lizardfolk, lashing out with his remaining handaxe and dismembering his foe at the knee, thus redeeming himself from his earlier irreverent behavior. Lang consumed a healing potion, and Sven and Knelle applied some healing poultices after the figurative dust settled. Knelle declared her suspicion, in the wake of his errant shot that wounded her, that Throndir, the elven Ranger, was a reckless predator, and that the great danger that followed him would be her, as an avenging avatar of Nature!
Your foes are conquered, and you establish a fellowship of shared mission with this halfling shapechanger. What do you do next to find the abducted villagers?
The nine year old declared that Aaron would climb a tree and speak with a magical bird, asking if it had seen the villagers. I responded that the bird didn’t speak the human tongue, despite its magic, but perhaps, in the spirit of unity, the Druid might converse with it. Knelle did so, and established via a successful Spout Lore roll that the lizardfolk had a seasonal moot at a congregating point to the south, and that at that location they made their dark sacrifices to appease whatever fell powers they worship. To make this not only interesting but useful, I established that Twiti, the magic bird, could lead them to the moot. (Earlier in the discussion, my friend indicated that he would have Throndir use the Hunt and Track move to try to follow the lizardfolk trail back to their lair, but, in the interest of good parenting (and, I think, more interesting gameplay, ultimately!), deferred to his son’s creativity.)
The group then made an Undertake a Perilous Journey Move (I use the alternate rules in The Perilous Wilds supplement) to follow Twiti to the lizardfolk moot. They picked roles: Throndir as Scout, Lang as Navigator, and Knelle in charge of Managing Provisions. My friend rolled a 7-9 on his Scout Ahead Move and got to choose between
*You get the drop on whatever lies ahead
*You discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain—a shortcut, shelter, or tactical advantage (describe it)
*You make a Discovery (ask the GM)
*You notice sign of a nearby Danger—ask the GM what it is, and what it might signify.
He chose Discovery.
Throndir, I imagine this part of the swamp as a kind of mangrove, with you picking your way amid raised roots in knee-deep water, with tendrils of moss and vines hanging in deep curtains all around you. As you hack your way through the mire, you notice a dark and foreboding stone edifice atop a hillock, clearly a constructed but abandoned tower of some sort. I turned to his wife, the player of Lang: Lang, you recall stories of a wizard, Acorax, who had a tower in these swamps years ago. Was he a member of your Wizardly Order? No, but he was a member of the Order to which her sister belonged. People say that Acorax turned to necromancy and dark arts, sequestered himself in his tower over a decade ago, and was never heard from again. What else do they say about him, Lang? I asked.
Lang’s player said that Acorax was in possession of a magic golden circlet. The group decided to investigate the tower. One of the players, I don’t recall who, made a Discern Realities Move roll, a 7-9, and asked from the preset questions, What here is useful or valuable to me? I narrated that as they peered into the long, dark corridor extending into the stone tower like the opened maw and gullet of some great beast, visible floating in the air at the end of the hall was a faintly glowing circlet. And there, since we were three hours into the game session, we ended play.
Is the circlet real or illusion? Will the nine year old remember to use Trap Expert? Will Knelle the Druid seek revenge on the elven Ranger Throndir or Sven for their infelicitous behavior? We’ll Play to Find Out!
I’m quite happy with how the session went. My primary goal of introducing the boys to gaming was achieved, and I think I helped demystify the process of gameplay and improvisational collaborative storytelling for my friend, should he decide to don the GM mantle in the future. We may very well continue this game monthly via Zoom. And, at the very least, I suspect that a minimum of one more copy of Dungeon World will be sold, as the nine year old spent a good part of the next morning reading through my sole copy of the book.
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), than their parents, but all four were game for the ... err ... game! Honestly, the "corralling" - or herding of the player-cats - I mentioned was more at the beginning, before we all got absorbed into play.
