Dungeon World

I sadly missed out on the ground floor for Dungeon World, but have been running a game from the PDFs for several weeks now. I'm thrilled to be getting a hard copy, finally!Dungeon World is a rules-light, narrative RPG that's more or less a love letter to the classic oldschool dungeon crawls of the late 70's and early 80's. If you started playing D&D as a kid, it runs more or less exactly like how you imagined a fantasy game of exploration and adventure *should* run.If you've run or played Dungeons & Dragons (of any edition) there will be a lot here that's familiar ... and a lot here that just seems weird or doesn't make sense. For example, the Dungeon Master never rolls any dice. And there's no system for initiative once combat starts. And all the rules are broken down into things called "Moves," whatever those are.But on the other side of the coin, you have classic Paladins, Thieves, Clerics, Fighters, Wizards, and the rest, all with rules to make them act exactly like you hoped your characters always *would* act back when you learned to play D&D. Character creation is easy. The rules are mostly written on your sheet. Everything on the player side just plain makes sense. On the DM's side, once you start to understand how Dungeon World works and what your "Moves" are for, it runs like a dream. My prep time after the first session has been almost zero, which is both unsettling and liberating. But every single session has delivered the fun in spades.The core of Dungeon World is the narrative flow. The story. There aren't rules for positioning, flanking, oversized weapons, or any of that. You're sitting at a table with your friends, collaborating and making a cohesive narrative with rules and dice. When a dragon breathes fire on you, sure it does damage. But it also *lights things on fire*. There's no rules for this; it acts more or less like how fire should act. If you attack a goblin's sword arm, it could very well drop its weapon or have to switch hands because you just hit it in the arm with a sharp weapon. It's all based on what the DM and the rest of the group think is appropriate or sensible. The game starts and ends with the narrative, not the rules.Finally, if you need help with the game, there are several vibrant and helpful communities out there, including guides to help those of us who have been running games for 30 years adapt to Dungeon World's paradigm. It's a remarkable achievement, and the authors should be proud.I think that running DW for several weeks has helped make me a better DM overall. And when we go back to D&D soon, I'll be able to take the lessons I learned from this game and use them in my "normal" campaigns. This will stay on my shelf as an interlude; I can't wait to run it more, and my players can't wait to play more. I'm incredibly glad I took the plunge.Added 3/26/13: Some quick notes if you pick this up and get a bit confused...(1) The DM does not roll dice for his "moves." The players' own rolls contribute to finding out what happens. You can roll your own damage, but I prefer to have my players roll for the damage they take. Monsters never roll for "Hack & Slash" or anything like that.(2) There is no initiative. Action in combat is an extension of the rest of the game - a conversation of sorts, with the GM moderating. The DM "throws" the narrative from player to player as appropriate. This is also how the DM can make fights harder or easier.(3) Put the narrative first. Make it matter. But as a DM, look through your own Moves for inspiration. Use "soft moves" to move the story along and use "hard moves" for consequences.(4) The stuff about Fronts? It's confusing at first, but it'll enhance every game you run from here on out. It's a great way of thinking about long-term campaigns.I might add more as I think of them.

This is a tabletop RPG in the tradition of D&D (dungeon crawling, hacking and slashing, etc.). It uses a system from another game called Powered By the Apocalypse (PBTA). It is less rules heavy than its more cumbersome cousin and is more of a story driven RPG. It is hella fun and simple to learn.This sourcebook is very well written.

BRIEF...Excellent RP system that just flows seamlessly no matter what is going on within the game. Character actions, interactions, and unintended reactions both within the party and with the world are just plain fun. Our six person gaming group has enjoyed this immensely with every person finding something to like within the system, and with every character class. Every one of them says its "FUN"!MORE...We have played a handful of sessions now with six seasoned RPer's each with 20-40 years of individual experience with a myriad of systems. The cooperative world-building that a game or campaign which Dungeon World starts with is a breath of fresh air. Each character gets to take part in defining the starting map areas, history, legends, and other details. We will be using this method for some of our other systems as well.Creating a character in the game is fast and easy. We have actually randomly drawn for characters a few time when we play. Each and every person has enjoyed the basic characters included within the game, even with this random draw. The randomness has really created some fun situations and character concepts on the fly. We have also played a few additional classes that we found online which were also a blast. We are going to start a longer term campaign this weekend and now that the players have familiarized themselves with many of the classes, they will be choosing their class.Combat and other gaming play is fast and flows nicely. This system does not have an initiative based turn order which was interesting to try...and it ends up being a marvel to play. I wish other systems were like this! A character simply gets to act, can succeed, partially succeed, or fail. Based on the success of these actions or "moves", the GM's monsters, NPC's, and environments then act or make a "move". I cannot say enough about how well this flows in actual gameplay and how fun it is!Custom "moves" are fun and easy to create. Magic, monsters, and the environment can flow within the game with some imaginative players.I have been a regular GM since the beginning of role-playing games with the one that started it all back in 1974. This game will teach you new things about how to run a game and make it more fun. If you're a player, it will teach you new things about your role. Dungeon World has provided this GM with some exceptional and creative new tools and methods to bring to our table no matter what game we play. For that, I sincerely thank the authors.If you want something that is not too complex to play, but is extremely conducive to quality role-playing interaction, this is the game. Simply put, it puts the ROLE back into ROLE-PLAY.