One of the things I love the best about Dungeon World is how little preparation is needed to run a game. Indeed, too much perpetration is a bad thing. The point of the game is cooperative storytelling so creating a detailed plot is counter to this ideal.
Having run a couple of sessions I can say that running an adventure by the seat of my pants was easy and fun. I’m sad to have missed my Wednesday night game but a sore throat kept me from it. As I recovered I thought about some of the issues that I’d been having and how to fix them.
Dungeon World challenges the GM to constantly improvise responses. Sometimes this is as easy as having a monster make an attack in combat or revealing some new obstacle for the players. My biggest problem was with spell casters who failed their rolls and chose to “receive unwanted attention.” In combat, as I said, this is easy. It is more challenging outside of combat when there is nothing around to provide the unwanted attention.
The trick, I have discovered, is to think about this before the event occurs. Most planned activities in Dungeon World are called Moves and creating a couple of custom Moves for a specific location can go a long way towards easing the burden during play. They can be generic or tie into the dungeon the GM is building.
To this end I present a number of GM moves for miscast spells. These are true GM moves and require no rolling, nor should they be named to the players when triggered.
Wandering Monster
The activity is taking longer than normal. A group of wandering monsters stumbles upon your party.
My first breakthrough in Dungeon World was the realization that there is no “round” of combat or defined casting time. Generally a spell caster names the spell they cast and makes their roll. The pace of the conversation between GM and players prevents the Wizard from being a rapid-fire Magic Missile gatling gun. This also means that when the result of the Move is a 7-9 the spell is taking longer. This is a reasonable time to introduce a random encounter, especially if the party is in the lair of a creature that would send patrols out.
Spell Backfire
Describe the spell backfiring and the negative consequences. The caster may abort the spell, losing it, or suffer the effects.
This is not the same as the player choosing to lose the spell. Instead this uses the Move of putting the character in a spot. They can choose between the two options. This is good for players that never voluntarily lose a spell.
Attract Spirits
The divine magic of the cleric attracts the souls of fallen adventurers trapped on this plane.
These souls could be used to distract or annoy the players. They could even be used to benefit the party, perhaps warning them of upcoming dangers. It all depends on the players.
Attract a Devil
Attracted by arcane energy a devil appears to tempt and advise the Wizard.
The Wizard’s version of Attract Spirits. The nice thing about these two Moves is that they can be used multiple times, gaining power with each miscast.
Outward Signs
The effects of poorly channeled divine/arcane power become visible on the caster.
The caster glows, crackles with energy or is somehow made less stealthy.
Epiphany
Replace the cast spell with a spell of the player’s choice. This lasts until the spell is miscast or the player communes/prepares spells.
Reveal Location
The arcane/divine energies reveals that an enemy has been looking for you, and they’ve now found you.
Now that I’ve turned my mind to it I’ve found it easy to create these custom Moves. I think this type of thought exercise is the best way to prepare for Dungeon World. There is no plot to railroad your players with and that creative muscle will be well exercised before the stress of actual play.
I think the trick is to ask yourself what could go wrong and introduce it. I have one last Move to suggest: Do nothing. One could argue that given enough time and lack of distractions a caster is going to accomplish their goal without problems. Save the rolls for combat. If you want to introduce some action into a dull point do it as a normal GM move.
Front and back view. Nomad Alguacil with HMG for Infinity the Game by Corvus Belli. Painting by Tyler Provick.
