So I read through Dungeon World and had some questions about it's popularity and use

petemarovic · 11-24-2017, 06:40 AM

I get that it's a big deal, but a few things had me wondering what all the hubbub was about. Why exactly is it so popular?

I read through it and my initial thought was that sure it kinda builds combat in to rest of the game without a separate phase. Although, a lot of games could do this if it was GM'ed that way. But I think the lack of specifically combat-only type 'abilities' also helps.

It's weirdly restricting on classes and races, and even stranger: names. it's baffling.

The main draw I saw was this: Collectibility. How? Well. Playbooks.

Aside from small list of default classes (and another weird restriction of allowing only 1 of each class), there's a wealth of player made custom playbooks touching on anything you can think of. And anyone can do it - playbooks are pretty uniform in how they're built, as it's basically a 2 page character sheet, with the class specifics filled out, and your leveling choices.

Finding, sharing, and creating playbooks for this system I think is the biggest draw and mainstay, as it provides and infinite amount of character options, without being in any way complex on that front. And that's pretty cool.

There's a good amount extra I could do without in the system for sure, but it's decently solid. The page count is far extended due to many non-core items such as creature lists, repeated explanations, and single columns with plenty of spacing. So as a super random personal note I think it could be a much smaller book to have to read through but. Whatever.

What are your thoughts on DW? I know it's popular but I honestly haven't seen much in-depth talk about the system.

11-24-2017, 06:40 AM	#1
petemarovic Join Date: Nov 2017	So I read through Dungeon World and had some questions about it's popularity and use I get that it's a big deal, but a few things had me wondering what all the hubbub was about. Why exactly is it so popular? I read through it and my initial thought was that sure it kinda builds combat in to rest of the game without a separate phase. Although, a lot of games could do this if it was GM'ed that way. But I think the lack of specifically combat-only type 'abilities' also helps. It's weirdly restricting on classes and races, and even stranger: names. it's baffling. The main draw I saw was this: Collectibility. How? Well. Playbooks. Aside from small list of default classes (and another weird restriction of allowing only 1 of each class), there's a wealth of player made custom playbooks touching on anything you can think of. And anyone can do it - playbooks are pretty uniform in how they're built, as it's basically a 2 page character sheet, with the class specifics filled out, and your leveling choices. Finding, sharing, and creating playbooks for this system I think is the biggest draw and mainstay, as it provides and infinite amount of character options, without being in any way complex on that front. And that's pretty cool. There's a good amount extra I could do without in the system for sure, but it's decently solid. The page count is far extended due to many non-core items such as creature lists, repeated explanations, and single columns with plenty of spacing. So as a super random personal note I think it could be a much smaller book to have to read through but. Whatever. What are your thoughts on DW? I know it's popular but I honestly haven't seen much in-depth talk about the system.