How to GM Dungeon World (DW 158) Principles (DW 160)

Describe the situation Draw maps, leave blanks

● Tell them what the situation is in concrete terms… ● Leave room for the unknown
● ...give them something to react to - ask “What do you ● Let the maps expand and change
do?”
● Portray a situation that demands a response Address the characters, not the players
● Address the characters by name
Follow the rules
● Adhere to your rules, and the players’ moves Embrace the fantastic
● Watch for moves being triggered ● The world is full of magic and mystery
● Embrace that in your prep and play
Make moves
● Your moves are different than player moves Make a move that follows
● They are specific things you can do to change the ● Your move takes an element of the fiction and brings
flow of the game it to bear against the characters
● Your move should always follow from the fiction
Exploit your prep
● Use knowledge the players don’t of know yet Never speak the name of your move
● You can use that knowledge to do things the players ● Never show the players you’re picking a move from a
don’t know about (Think offscreen too) list

Agenda (DW 159) Give every monster life

Portray a fantastic world
● Guts, guile and bravery against darkness and doom
● Characters who have decided to take up a life of
adventuring in hope of some glorious reward
● Show the players a world in which their characters
can find that adventure
Fill the characters’ lives with adventure
● Work with players to create a world that’s engaging
and dynamic
● Adventures are always caught up in some
world-threatening danger - encourage and foster that
kind of action in the game
Play to find out what happens
● Never presume player actions
● “A Dungeon World adventure portrays a setting in
motion - someplace significant with creatures big and
small pursuing their own goals. As the players come
into conflict with that setting and its denizens, action is
inevitable.”
● Don’t plan too hard
● Monsters are fantastic creatures with their own
motivations
● Give each monster details to bring it to life
Name every person
● Anyone the players speak with must have a name
Ask question and use the answers
● If you don’t know something, or don’t have an idea,
ask the players and use what they say
● Whenever you make a move, end with “What do you
do?”
Be a fan of the characters
● Cheer for their victories and lament their defeats
● “You’re not here to push them in any particular
direction, merely to participate in fiction that features
them and their action.”
Think dangerous
● Everything in the world is a target
● Whenever your eye falls on something you’ve
created, think how it can be put in danger, fall apart or
crumble

Begin and end with the fiction

● Everything you and the players do comes from and
leads to fiction

Think offscreen too

● Sometimes your best move is in the next room…
● Make your move elsewhere and show its effect when
they come into the spotlight