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Dungeon World for two players
My 19-year-old nephew-in-law is spending the holidays with us, and he's into all kinds of fantasy/RPG-ish video games, and as a result of that has developed a vague but more-or-less accurate idea that "real D&D" is somehow the root of a lot of the stuff he digs. So once he saw a shelf full of D&D and other RPGs on my shelf, he hinted that he'd like to play.
Since she's committed to making sure he has a good time at our house, my non-gamer wife is open to the idea. Hurrah!
I think we're gonna play Dungeon World, because it's the dungeon-y game I'm currently into, and it won't make any difference to them, since they have no gamer-nerd nostalgia for, say, the 1983 Red Box edition.
Any words of advice for playing DW with two players and one GM? (I've actually only played Apocalypse World before, not it's elf-based offspring.)
Since she's committed to making sure he has a good time at our house, my non-gamer wife is open to the idea. Hurrah!
I think we're gonna play Dungeon World, because it's the dungeon-y game I'm currently into, and it won't make any difference to them, since they have no gamer-nerd nostalgia for, say, the 1983 Red Box edition.
Any words of advice for playing DW with two players and one GM? (I've actually only played Apocalypse World before, not it's elf-based offspring.)
Comments
If you have lots of other D&D stuff, use it! I like to have a stack of tiles, poster maps and minis/ cardboard standups handy when playing DW, having found that when a PC discerns reality about a location in the dungeon, I often throw the questions back at them and ask them to choose a suitable tile and plonk their minis down to 'represent' It makes no mechanical difference, but it can give narrative prompts and move cues (especially if the tiles are detailed) and does re-inforce the principle to make maps like crazy!
Say YES (a lot). Unless it really interferes with your prep or previously established fiction, allow the players to narrate stuff in, co-authoring like mad, and then especially re-incorporate that story material.I always have a player's handbook, monster manual and adventurers toolkit on hand for this exact purpose. The blurb is great for introductions, the 'powers' give me descriptive hints for a custom monster moves. I also find the illustrations (pathfinder D&D products in particular) are very useful for 'illustrating' what the fantasy tropes are and helps players draw out their narrative potential.
I would suggest too that you use the Ryan's BBC Xp variant. It works great for flagging and encouraging the players to chase narrative goals rather than moves based on their highlighted stats to level up.
http://anarchangel23.livejournal.com/437462.html
To answer the questions, a) I have no particular questions, just wanted to see if there was any useful advice for me, and b) I'm using one of those awesome little mini-dungeon/inspiration playsets by (I think) Marshall Miller.
Nathan, thanks for the alternate XP link. I will check it out.
Tailor your world according to the principles of the game, not the expectation of reasonable, defeat-able challenges. That said, the use of soft moves instead of "HARD MOVE, YOU DIE!" can help a player understand the danger and threat before them. So if you, in your GMly wisdom, know that the Ogre is going to kick the ever-loving crap out of your players, use soft moves to warn them. Be descriptive, make scary monsters scary without spilling any blood and let the players decide if they want to risk their butts in toe-to-toe battle.