I’m running a few sessions of Dungeon World for some new players at my workplace next week and I was wondering what…

I’m running a few sessions of Dungeon World for some new players at my workplace next week and I was wondering what…

I’m running a few sessions of Dungeon World for some new players at my workplace next week and I was wondering what advice you might have.

Most of the players have never played DW and a few of them have never roleplayed before. My main aim is for us to have fun and for them to see that the stories that we can create together in a TTPRG like DW can be personal and dramatic.

I have 8 players interested so I’m thinking of splitting it into two sessions of 4 each. There might be the opportunity for us to play more than session (for one or both groups) as well, and I’d like to come up with something that really shows off DW’s ability to weave a complex narrative in that short time – one that really builds and is centred around the PCs.

I was thinking I’d either run a Dungeon Starter or go with something like Brian Holland’s excellent Adventure Builder. The Starter would give me more to lean on if the players are expecting more of a cohesive ‘plot’ but I expect it would make the adventure feel less personal. Building the plot at the table would almost certainly give them more ‘skin in the game’ but it may be lacking a sense of mounting drama during the session(s).

What do you reckon?

38 thoughts on “I’m running a few sessions of Dungeon World for some new players at my workplace next week and I was wondering what…”

  1. Ben M, it’s actually John Lewis’s Adventure Builder not mine, I just repackaged it a little…

    I’ve used both methods to start new games, but more pressure is on you (IMO) when you use the Adventure Builder because you have to come up with really good questions to ask. The starters usually have a list of good questions that are pertinent to the “adventure”.

  2. Ben M, it’s actually John Lewis’s Adventure Builder not mine, I just repackaged it a little…

    I’ve used both methods to start new games, but more pressure is on you (IMO) when you use the Adventure Builder because you have to come up with really good questions to ask. The starters usually have a list of good questions that are pertinent to the “adventure”.

  3. Sorry for the crediting mistake! Props to John Lewis (and the thread where we discussed this before was only a short while ago! Sorry again John.)

  4. Sorry for the crediting mistake! Props to John Lewis (and the thread where we discussed this before was only a short while ago! Sorry again John.)

  5. … but the potential for us to pull off a great adventure and to have the plays realise that they had a large band in that has a strong draw.

  6. … but the potential for us to pull off a great adventure and to have the plays realise that they had a large band in that has a strong draw.

  7. Why not do 3/3/2, or see if one person from the first couple of groups will double up?

    I would run enough of an adventure that I felt comfortable improvising, to be honest. You can draw the players in with strong starting questions and callbacks to their answers (and in play actions).

    So both! 😀

  8. Why not do 3/3/2, or see if one person from the first couple of groups will double up?

    I would run enough of an adventure that I felt comfortable improvising, to be honest. You can draw the players in with strong starting questions and callbacks to their answers (and in play actions).

    So both! 😀

  9. I can vouch that lunch-hour DW sessions, up to 2-5 players, worked fine for me, three days a week, for much of 2013-2015. Advice? Find what they are interested in and tie them in to work together. One lone wolf can tip the ship sideways.

  10. I can vouch that lunch-hour DW sessions, up to 2-5 players, worked fine for me, three days a week, for much of 2013-2015. Advice? Find what they are interested in and tie them in to work together. One lone wolf can tip the ship sideways.

  11. Also agree that 3 players is the sweet spot. 4 is perfectly fine and fun, but you have to be a little more cognizant of spotlight management and you’ve got that extra node or element to consider when setting up the initial session. For a short-run game, I’d shoot for 3 players.

    As Yochai suggested, Homebrew World is definitely made for this sort of thing. As with One-Shot World, I’ve tried file off almost all of the extraneous bits (“big” stat numbers, most tags, bonds, most of special moves). I’ve also tried to make the Backgrounds really jumpstart backstory and motive and intra-party relations without being very heavy handed.

    Downside is that it’s also drifted quite a bit from baseline DW, and not really suitable for more than a few sessions. So if they’re hooked and want more, the transition to “full” DW will be harder than with One-Shot World.

    The first page of Homebrew World has my general advice on what to bring and what to prep, though experience shows that it can take a while (30-45 minutes) to get rolling. Yochai Gal claims to have some trick for getting into the action within 15 minutes, but I’m yet to wrap my head around that! 🙂

    In addition to stuff I discuss in Homebrew World, I’d also recommend bringing a good lightweight generator. Perilous Wilds is great, though it’s arguably too detailed for a really short run. Mike Riverso’s Fourth Page generators are a good choice… they’re nice and tidy, great for a one-shot. https://www.patreon.com/FourthPageGames

    spoutinglore.blogspot.com – Homebrew World

  12. Also agree that 3 players is the sweet spot. 4 is perfectly fine and fun, but you have to be a little more cognizant of spotlight management and you’ve got that extra node or element to consider when setting up the initial session. For a short-run game, I’d shoot for 3 players.

    As Yochai suggested, Homebrew World is definitely made for this sort of thing. As with One-Shot World, I’ve tried file off almost all of the extraneous bits (“big” stat numbers, most tags, bonds, most of special moves). I’ve also tried to make the Backgrounds really jumpstart backstory and motive and intra-party relations without being very heavy handed.

    Downside is that it’s also drifted quite a bit from baseline DW, and not really suitable for more than a few sessions. So if they’re hooked and want more, the transition to “full” DW will be harder than with One-Shot World.

    The first page of Homebrew World has my general advice on what to bring and what to prep, though experience shows that it can take a while (30-45 minutes) to get rolling. Yochai Gal claims to have some trick for getting into the action within 15 minutes, but I’m yet to wrap my head around that! 🙂

    In addition to stuff I discuss in Homebrew World, I’d also recommend bringing a good lightweight generator. Perilous Wilds is great, though it’s arguably too detailed for a really short run. Mike Riverso’s Fourth Page generators are a good choice… they’re nice and tidy, great for a one-shot. https://www.patreon.com/FourthPageGames

    spoutinglore.blogspot.com – Homebrew World

  13. I’ve been running DW at lunch for one hour sessions for a group of five, although they don’t all always make it.

    It’s been completely homebrewed with tips from all the Gauntlet podcasts on asking them a lot of questions. I even sent around half a dozen questions to the group by email prior to our first session. I also sent a bunch of Pinterest links to photos to figure out what kind of mood they would like to play with and the kind of setting to start with since we have a range of personality types.

    Finally, I haven’t done official roses and thorns, but I do check in about every four games to see if there are interesting scenes they’d like to have with their characters or plot lines they’re like to explore.

    Most of my players had never played before so I’m really happy with the choice to use DW rather than D&D which is what they thought they signed up for. It’s flexible and light enough that we spend about 95% of our time adventuring instead of checking the rule books.

    Have a blast and let them drive is my advice.

  14. I’ve been running DW at lunch for one hour sessions for a group of five, although they don’t all always make it.

    It’s been completely homebrewed with tips from all the Gauntlet podcasts on asking them a lot of questions. I even sent around half a dozen questions to the group by email prior to our first session. I also sent a bunch of Pinterest links to photos to figure out what kind of mood they would like to play with and the kind of setting to start with since we have a range of personality types.

    Finally, I haven’t done official roses and thorns, but I do check in about every four games to see if there are interesting scenes they’d like to have with their characters or plot lines they’re like to explore.

    Most of my players had never played before so I’m really happy with the choice to use DW rather than D&D which is what they thought they signed up for. It’s flexible and light enough that we spend about 95% of our time adventuring instead of checking the rule books.

    Have a blast and let them drive is my advice.

  15. Great advice everyone. I think I’d like to avoid having to learn new move wordings (I know the DW ones well) so I’m leaning towards One Shot World over Homebrew World (but I’d like to try that sometime too).

    I’ll go for 3 players if I can then – your experiences give me confidence that is the right choice.

  16. Great advice everyone. I think I’d like to avoid having to learn new move wordings (I know the DW ones well) so I’m leaning towards One Shot World over Homebrew World (but I’d like to try that sometime too).

    I’ll go for 3 players if I can then – your experiences give me confidence that is the right choice.

  17. Maybe I should have also said that I don’t know if the players are actually interested in (a) TTRPGs and (b) fantasy. And some of them probably don’t know themselves. Normally I’d be running for people who had already decided these were things they wanted and had made some effort to turn up with the right attitude as a result. The work colleagues I am running for next week are trying it out (and it’s on company time – an Xmas treat – so some of them are like “hey, why not?”). This makes me a little uncomfortable. Does it change your advice at all?

  18. Maybe I should have also said that I don’t know if the players are actually interested in (a) TTRPGs and (b) fantasy. And some of them probably don’t know themselves. Normally I’d be running for people who had already decided these were things they wanted and had made some effort to turn up with the right attitude as a result. The work colleagues I am running for next week are trying it out (and it’s on company time – an Xmas treat – so some of them are like “hey, why not?”). This makes me a little uncomfortable. Does it change your advice at all?

  19. Lean into the “conversation” part of the game heavily, because they can probably grok that better than all the Moves early on. Walk them through the rules the first few times they engage with Moves (be very transparent about what you’re doing and why) and they’ll get it.

  20. Lean into the “conversation” part of the game heavily, because they can probably grok that better than all the Moves early on. Walk them through the rules the first few times they engage with Moves (be very transparent about what you’re doing and why) and they’ll get it.

  21. I went with the Valley of the Titans dungeon starter in the end. I wrote two pages of extra notes to add a couple of factions and a lengthy In Medias Res to ease the group into the asking of questions as well as a dramatic scene that required immediate action.

  22. I went with the Valley of the Titans dungeon starter in the end. I wrote two pages of extra notes to add a couple of factions and a lengthy In Medias Res to ease the group into the asking of questions as well as a dramatic scene that required immediate action.

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