Figured at this point we should have a central thread to discuss the various Stonetop games folks around this board have run, talk about its iterative design and some campaign challenges we've experienced with its multiple emphasis, answer questions, etc.
Link to backerkit where you can purchase (PDFs are available after purchase and actually genuinely nearly complete and perhaps truly done by end of this year).
There's a Discord server primarily aimed at supporters or players that I won't give out the direct link to here, but the author is highly active there, and in fact just did a large round of playbook revisions based on campaign feedback (my ranger player's input on a couple of moves resulted in some much stronger replacements).
What is Stonetop?
A Powered by the Apocalypse game based on the heavily remixed bones of Dungeon World, centered around the titular village in an Iron Age setting (roughly 500ishhh CE). It takes some cues from V. Baker's unpublished "Storming the Wizard's Tower" in terms of tying PCs heavily to premise via the roles in the village, making it a place worth fighting for and improving. It has roughly 300 pages (not like, PF or WOTC size pages mind you) of actionable setting, filled with some ground Truths but so many "maybes" that you as the GM and table get to decide on for yourselves; but without being left completely dangling. Endless scaffolding for creativity. It also has >200 pages of how to play, perhaps the most exhaustive attempt to teach a style of PBTA gaming via text out there - inclusive of an excellent "Game Ongoing" chapter covering day to day sessions, prep, setup and teardown, speeding things up and slowing them down, PC death/retirements/replacements, challenges of higher level play, and how to bring a campaign to a satisfying conclusion.
Why should I play this?
From my perspective, it pulls off the feel of Expeditionary D&D or fantasy-novel-esque play, while keeping things grounded in village life and humanity. Will you go delving into ancient ruins, fight "demons" and undead and fantastic creatures? Almost certainly. Will you also spend time building palisades, lumber camps, delving into relationships platonic and otherwise (and positive and otherwise)? Totally. The fairly natural split between Expedition and Homefront winds up in a somewhat less-strict Forged in the Dark "downtime/score" feel, without the same level of mechanical cuts. Multiple of my players have said it's given them the best experience they've had across any game they've played (specifically the focus on community as lodestone).
Also the setting is just great. Lots of classic D&D (especially 4e) bones there, but Jeremy and crew (his home play group and long-time community members) have gone their own way and created something that sparks the imagination. Generally I just give the Setting Overview to prospective players and they get so excited. And the playbooks are truly excellent, each having authority over some aspect(s) of the setting (eg: nobody will know more about the worship of Danu, the Earthmother, then her Blessed) while comprising moves that tie back to the village vibe. I've made the joke in various places that in part Stonetop seems to have been written as a refutation that players don't care about setting lore, since at least in my games every player wants to discover more about the world and while there's some overlap between players in what interests them, there's differences as well that we all get to learn together!
It also has some of the best magic items anywhere, and magic has a cost. Some of the Consequences on major arcana are world-shattering, but dang if that power isn't alluring... Arcana are also, like almost all elements of the game's design, intended to push play towards PC-goal forward actions. You need to go out into the world to find things/people/places/experiences to unlock steps of your arcana.
Why shouldn't I play this?
While it's a fiction-first "move based" game, it has a lot of them. This gives ample feeling of progression (and multiple potential builds), but if you prefer more concise playbooks this will be a lot. Conversely, if you don't vibe with PBTAs or a focus on fiction-first gaming this probably isn't for you! The intended pacing is somewhat slower than a lot of higher tempo PBTA games as well, with perhaps in-game years passing between Session 1 and your conclusion. On that note, it really shines in what I would consider "campaign length" play - 60+ sessions of 3-4 hours. For me, that's the sweet spot of about what I wanted out of a longer game (as we've approached 60 sessions I've found myself ready for something new), but it's not a nice concise 15-20 session "arc of play" you get from a lot of games in this design category; nor is it an epic 5-10 year game played on a regular schedule. While it does have an expectation of potential PC death (and I've had 1.5 characters go in one game), it's also somewhat heroic (DW is its basis after all) and caring about the PCs and their connections gives a more rewarding experience IME.
It also has a very baked in setting as noted above, if you don't vibe with the overview everything in the game is designed to reinforce it through characters and play. The upside is that you get to share the load when it comes to creativity as the GM with both the book and your players, most of the time the tables and scaffolding in the area or peoples entries are all I need to continue play with minimal to no prep (I average ~1hr prep for every 9-12 hours of play, most of that is thinking about what purpose and design a Site/Dungeon should have).
Link to backerkit where you can purchase (PDFs are available after purchase and actually genuinely nearly complete and perhaps truly done by end of this year).
There's a Discord server primarily aimed at supporters or players that I won't give out the direct link to here, but the author is highly active there, and in fact just did a large round of playbook revisions based on campaign feedback (my ranger player's input on a couple of moves resulted in some much stronger replacements).
What is Stonetop?
A Powered by the Apocalypse game based on the heavily remixed bones of Dungeon World, centered around the titular village in an Iron Age setting (roughly 500ishhh CE). It takes some cues from V. Baker's unpublished "Storming the Wizard's Tower" in terms of tying PCs heavily to premise via the roles in the village, making it a place worth fighting for and improving. It has roughly 300 pages (not like, PF or WOTC size pages mind you) of actionable setting, filled with some ground Truths but so many "maybes" that you as the GM and table get to decide on for yourselves; but without being left completely dangling. Endless scaffolding for creativity. It also has >200 pages of how to play, perhaps the most exhaustive attempt to teach a style of PBTA gaming via text out there - inclusive of an excellent "Game Ongoing" chapter covering day to day sessions, prep, setup and teardown, speeding things up and slowing them down, PC death/retirements/replacements, challenges of higher level play, and how to bring a campaign to a satisfying conclusion.
Why should I play this?
From my perspective, it pulls off the feel of Expeditionary D&D or fantasy-novel-esque play, while keeping things grounded in village life and humanity. Will you go delving into ancient ruins, fight "demons" and undead and fantastic creatures? Almost certainly. Will you also spend time building palisades, lumber camps, delving into relationships platonic and otherwise (and positive and otherwise)? Totally. The fairly natural split between Expedition and Homefront winds up in a somewhat less-strict Forged in the Dark "downtime/score" feel, without the same level of mechanical cuts. Multiple of my players have said it's given them the best experience they've had across any game they've played (specifically the focus on community as lodestone).
Also the setting is just great. Lots of classic D&D (especially 4e) bones there, but Jeremy and crew (his home play group and long-time community members) have gone their own way and created something that sparks the imagination. Generally I just give the Setting Overview to prospective players and they get so excited. And the playbooks are truly excellent, each having authority over some aspect(s) of the setting (eg: nobody will know more about the worship of Danu, the Earthmother, then her Blessed) while comprising moves that tie back to the village vibe. I've made the joke in various places that in part Stonetop seems to have been written as a refutation that players don't care about setting lore, since at least in my games every player wants to discover more about the world and while there's some overlap between players in what interests them, there's differences as well that we all get to learn together!
It also has some of the best magic items anywhere, and magic has a cost. Some of the Consequences on major arcana are world-shattering, but dang if that power isn't alluring... Arcana are also, like almost all elements of the game's design, intended to push play towards PC-goal forward actions. You need to go out into the world to find things/people/places/experiences to unlock steps of your arcana.
Why shouldn't I play this?
While it's a fiction-first "move based" game, it has a lot of them. This gives ample feeling of progression (and multiple potential builds), but if you prefer more concise playbooks this will be a lot. Conversely, if you don't vibe with PBTAs or a focus on fiction-first gaming this probably isn't for you! The intended pacing is somewhat slower than a lot of higher tempo PBTA games as well, with perhaps in-game years passing between Session 1 and your conclusion. On that note, it really shines in what I would consider "campaign length" play - 60+ sessions of 3-4 hours. For me, that's the sweet spot of about what I wanted out of a longer game (as we've approached 60 sessions I've found myself ready for something new), but it's not a nice concise 15-20 session "arc of play" you get from a lot of games in this design category; nor is it an epic 5-10 year game played on a regular schedule. While it does have an expectation of potential PC death (and I've had 1.5 characters go in one game), it's also somewhat heroic (DW is its basis after all) and caring about the PCs and their connections gives a more rewarding experience IME.
It also has a very baked in setting as noted above, if you don't vibe with the overview everything in the game is designed to reinforce it through characters and play. The upside is that you get to share the load when it comes to creativity as the GM with both the book and your players, most of the time the tables and scaffolding in the area or peoples entries are all I need to continue play with minimal to no prep (I average ~1hr prep for every 9-12 hours of play, most of that is thinking about what purpose and design a Site/Dungeon should have).
