# Dungeon World [site](https://dungeon-world.com/) Dungeon World is a fantasy [[Tabletop Roleplaying Games|TRPG]] with the objective of providing a situation for characters to do amazing things, struggle together, and explore the world. [^main] ## Distinguishing features ### Moves require conditions to be triggered Basic moves have conditions for use, and can only be done once those conditions have been triggered. Basic moves are generic (_hack and slash_, _volley_, _defy danger_, etc). The flavor of a class comes out in the modifiers applied to the ability. Special moves are situational moves that occur rarely, such as just before someone dies (_Last Breath_). Advanced moves are class-specific abilities, but they also have conditions that need to be triggered before they can happen. ### Debilities Debilities are negative conditions resulting from attacks. They represent wounds that are resolved by more than just losing HP. Each ability (the standard ones that [[Dungeons & Dragons]] uses too) has a corresponding debility: weak (STR), shaky (DEX), sick (CON), stunned (INT), scarred (CHA). Debilities also confer a -1 to the corresponding ability modifier. ### Capped progression Characters only play until level 10. At that point, players must choose a new class and character to play. ### Emphasis on interplayer dynamics: Bonds Each character must have a current or pending bond with another character. A bond is a thought or belief about another character in the party, along with a way to act on it. Examples: - *Mouse’s quick thinking saved me from the white dragon we faced. I owe her a boon.* - *Avon proved himself a coward in the dungeons of Xax’takar. He is a dangerous liability to the party and must be watched.* Resolving that bond involves both players agreeing that it is resolved one way or another, and XP is gained by all involved. Upon the resolution of a bond, another one is written, using events from recent sessions as inspiration. ### Fronts Fronts are broad-strokes scenarios with chronological events that will occur with (or without) the characters' intervention. It comes from the saying "fighting on two fronts" and is meant to evoke a sense of suspense as the players realize that things happen in the world even while they're resting. A front can be an adventure front (lasting for a few sessions) or a campaign front (lasting a majority of the campaign). #### Create 2-3 dangers. ##### Types of dangers - Ambitious organizations - misguided good - thieves guild - religious organizations - corrupt government - Planar forces - gods, demons, devils, celestials, generally supernatural forces - Arcane enemies - wizards and magic users - intelligent magical or arcane creatures, like dragons - sentient artifacts - curses and magical effects - Hordes - orcs, barbarians, undead, kobolds - Cursed places Think of moves that each danger might make next. These moves increase tension and give the sense of development and dynamism. ##### Add grim portents. (1-3 for adventure; 3-5 for campaign) What will happen if the danger is not dealt with? Grim portents telegraph what's going to happen next if the characters don't do anything. ##### Choose an impending doom for each danger. An impending doom is what happens at the culmination of a danger. ##### Write 1-3 stakes questions. Stakes are questions that are at the forefront of the party's minds. How are _they_ affected by the dangers? ##### List the general cast of the front. The interested parties and stakeholders who may try to stop the danger, cause it, or profit from it. #### Example Adventure front: The Opening of the White Gate Dangers - College of Arcanists. (They are interested in the gate.) - Move: Learn forbidden knowledge. - The gate itself. - Move: Begins to have an effect on the environment around it. - Argent Seraphim. (The gate was hidden by a race of angels.) - Move: Give dreams of prophecy to followers. Grim portents - The college sends an exhibition to the Gate. - The key is discovered and the first trumpet sounds. - A Champion is chosen. Impending doom: Destruction (apocalypse, ruin, woe) Stakes: 1. Who will be the champion? 2. How will Lux respond to the Light From Beyond? 3. Will the College be able to recruit Avon? [^main]: LaTorra and Koebel (2012). _Dungeon World_. Kobold Productions.