I’m in the middle of converting The Temple of Elemental Evil to Dungeon World. It is either the hardest or easiest game project I have ever undertaken – I can’t decide which. The basic tension is the fact that old school modules are incredibly detailed (there is a description of literally every building in the intro village of Hommlett). I can hand-wave most of this stuff and just wing it, which is what DW generally recommends, but then the question becomes: Am I running the ToEE or something else?
I am inclined to sticking with the broad outlines of ToEE and not delving too deep into the weeds with it. The big, signature features of the dungeon will be in place, but I’ll probably wing it on everything else as the Hits and Misses dictate.
With towns and narrative encounters, I’ve always had that apprehension when running modules. The authors put a lot of detail into the setting, but it’s just too much to keep in my head sometimes and I hate ruining the rhythm by flipping through the source material just to figure out what kind of masonry framed the smithy. Even when I run more traditional game modules I take the approach that you describe.
For a dungeon, it’s a lot easier to stick to the script since it’s pretty cut and dry: there are X monsters of Y type; they want you dead. Aside from the general tactics and starting state, there isn’t much that most module dictates. I’ve always used this input verbatim. Once the players get going, the encounter’s script is pretty useless anyway.
Are you running ToEE? Hard to say – but I would imagine that no two DMs have run it exactly the same.
With towns and narrative encounters, I’ve always had that apprehension when running modules. The authors put a lot of detail into the setting, but it’s just too much to keep in my head sometimes and I hate ruining the rhythm by flipping through the source material just to figure out what kind of masonry framed the smithy. Even when I run more traditional game modules I take the approach that you describe.
For a dungeon, it’s a lot easier to stick to the script since it’s pretty cut and dry: there are X monsters of Y type; they want you dead. Aside from the general tactics and starting state, there isn’t much that most module dictates. I’ve always used this input verbatim. Once the players get going, the encounter’s script is pretty useless anyway.
Are you running ToEE? Hard to say – but I would imagine that no two DMs have run it exactly the same.
So, is this for an existing campaign or a, well multiple shot? Out of curiosity, have you considered the run time? I was thinking back in the day we just played with no thought as to how long it might take for a module to p!ay out. Also I noticed that is for level 1 through 8. That’s a lot of difference in levels.
So, is this for an existing campaign or a, well multiple shot? Out of curiosity, have you considered the run time? I was thinking back in the day we just played with no thought as to how long it might take for a module to p!ay out. Also I noticed that is for level 1 through 8. That’s a lot of difference in levels.
I have often wondered just how easy or hard it would be to convert classic dungeon crawls to the DW gamescape. On the surface, it seems quite easy. However, you mirror what I was expecting to be a potential issue in that reality of the game design might differ greatly from the created fiction at the table. Regardless, a rose is a rose imo.
I have often wondered just how easy or hard it would be to convert classic dungeon crawls to the DW gamescape. On the surface, it seems quite easy. However, you mirror what I was expecting to be a potential issue in that reality of the game design might differ greatly from the created fiction at the table. Regardless, a rose is a rose imo.
Alan Schwing and Sean Smith I think the only way to do this in DW is to 1) not get hung-up on the details and 2) use custom moves to make the ToEE-ness come alive. A lot of this room-by-room setting detail is kind of pointless in the DW context since the narrative ebb and flow is guided by responding to Hits and Misses, not which space the characters just entered.
The fun part of this exercise will be the custom moves and creating DW versions of items. I can already envision custom moves related to navigating each of the Temple’s elemental nodes, for example. I think this is how we put the “Temple of Elemental Evil” stamp on the whole affair, while still being faithful to the DW play experience.
parrish warren This is for a series of Roll20 sessions (see the calendar). I’m not really sure how many, but it hardly matters, since DW is so good at drop-in/drop-out play. I’ll run it as long as people are showing up.
As for the listed levels, DW doesn’t really have a concept of “difficulty scaling to character level,” so it’s not a big deal. In DW, characters start out awesome, but vulnerable. Every monster in this game is both beatable and dangerous at every level of play (it’s one of the reasons I love this game).
Alan Schwing and Sean Smith I think the only way to do this in DW is to 1) not get hung-up on the details and 2) use custom moves to make the ToEE-ness come alive. A lot of this room-by-room setting detail is kind of pointless in the DW context since the narrative ebb and flow is guided by responding to Hits and Misses, not which space the characters just entered.
The fun part of this exercise will be the custom moves and creating DW versions of items. I can already envision custom moves related to navigating each of the Temple’s elemental nodes, for example. I think this is how we put the “Temple of Elemental Evil” stamp on the whole affair, while still being faithful to the DW play experience.
parrish warren This is for a series of Roll20 sessions (see the calendar). I’m not really sure how many, but it hardly matters, since DW is so good at drop-in/drop-out play. I’ll run it as long as people are showing up.
As for the listed levels, DW doesn’t really have a concept of “difficulty scaling to character level,” so it’s not a big deal. In DW, characters start out awesome, but vulnerable. Every monster in this game is both beatable and dangerous at every level of play (it’s one of the reasons I love this game).