# Creating a Dungeon World story #permanentnote ## Source - [[Dungeon World core book]] - [A Dungeon World SDR](https://exposit.github.io/dw-srd/) ## Keywords - [[topic - role playing games]] - [[how to be a better DM]] ## Related notes - [[dw - front - 100 -save the baron]] ## [Creating Fronts](https://exposit.github.io/dw-srd/dw_fronts.html#creating-fronts) Here’s how a front comes together: - Choose campaign front or adventure front - Create 2-3 dangers - Choose an impending doom for each danger - Add grim portents (1-3 for an adventure front, 3-5 for the campaign front) - Write 1–3 stakes questions - List the general cast of the front ### Choose campaign front or adventure front A campaign is long and includes many adventure fronts An adventure front should be enough for one to three sessions of game. ### Dangers Not every element of your game will warrant a danger—traps, some roving monsters, and other bits of ephemera may just be there to add context but aren’t important enough to warrant inclusion. That’s okay. Fronts are here to keep you apprised of the bigger picture. Dangers are divided into a handful of categories, each with its own name and **impulse**. #### Types of Dangers - Ambitious Organizations - Planar Forces - Arcane Enemies - Hordes - Cursed Places ##### Ambitious Organizations - Misguided Good (_impulse: to do what is “right” no matter the cost_) - Thieves Guild (_impulse: to take by subterfuge_) - Cult (_impulse: to infest from within_) - Religious Organization (_impulse: to establish and follow doctrine_) - Corrupt Government (_impulse: to maintain the status quo_) - Cabal (_impulse: to absorb those in power, to grow_) ###### GM Moves for Ambitious Organizations - Attack someone by stealthy means (kidnapping, etc.) - Attack someone directly (with a gang or single assailant) - Absorb or buy out someone important (an ally, perhaps) - Influence a powerful institution (change a law, manipulate doctrine) - Establish a new rule (within the organization) - Claim territory or resources - Negotiate a deal - Observe a potential foe in great detail #### Planar Forces - God (_impulse: to gather worshippers_) - Demon Prince (_impulse: to open the gates of Hell_) - Elemental Lord (_impulse: to tear down creation to its component parts_) - Force of Chaos (_impulse: to destroy all semblance of order_) - Choir of Angels (_impulse: to pass judgement_) - Construct of Law (_impulse: to eliminate perceived disorder_) ##### GM Moves for Planar Forces - Turn an organization (corrupt or infiltrate with influence) - Give dreams of prophecy - Lay a Curse on a foe - Extract a promise in exchange for a boon - Attack indirectly, through intermediaries - Rarely, when the stars are right, attack directly - Foster rivalries with other, similar powers - Expose someone to a Truth, wanted or otherwise #### Arcane Enemies - Lord of the Undead (_impulse: to seek true immortality_) - Power-mad Wizard (_impulse: to seek magical power_) - Sentient Artifact (_impulse: to find a worthy wielder_) - Ancient Curse (_impulse: to ensnare_) - Chosen One (_impulse: to fulfill or resent their destiny_) - Dragon (_impulse: to hoard gold and jewels, to protect the clutch_) ##### GM Moves for Arcane Enemies - Learn forbidden knowledge - Cast a spell over time and space - Attack a foe with magic, directly or otherwise - Spy on someone with a scrying spell - Recruit a follower or toady - Tempt someone with promises - Demand a sacrifice #### Hordes - Wandering Barbarians (_impulse: to grow strong, to drive their enemies before them_) - Humanoid Vermin (_impulse: to breed, to multiply and consume_) - Underground Dwellers (_impulse: to defend the complex from outsiders_) - Plague of the Undead (_impulse: to spread_) ##### GM Moves for Hordes - Assault a bastion of civilization - Embrace internal chaos - Change direction suddenly - Overwhelm a weaker force - Perform a show of dominance - Abandon an old home, find a new one - Grow in size by breeding or conquest - Appoint a champion - Declare war and act upon that declaration without hesitation or deliberation #### Cursed Places - Abandoned Tower (_impulse: to draw in the weak-willed_) - Unholy Ground (_impulse: to spawn evil_) - Elemental Vortex (_impulse: to grow, to tear apart reality_) - Dark Portal (_impulse: to disgorge demons_) - Shadowland (_impulse: to corrupt or consume the living_) - Place of Power (_impulse: to be controlled or tamed_) ##### GM Moves for Cursed Places - Vomit forth a lesser monster - Spread to an adjacent place - Lure someone in - Grow in intensity or depth - Leave a lingering effect on an inhabitant or visitor - Hide something from sight - Offer power - Dampen magic or increase its effects - Confuse or obfuscate truth or direction - Corrupt a natural law ### Impending doom At the end of every danger’s path is an impending doom. This is the final toll of the bell that signals the danger’s triumphant resolution. When a grim portent comes to pass the impending doom grows stronger, more apparent and present in the world. These are the very bad things that every danger, in some way, seeks to bring into effect. Choose one of the types of impending dooms and give it a concrete form in your front. These often change in play, as the characters meddle in the affairs of the world. Don’t fret, you can change them later. - Tyranny (of the strong over the weak or the few over the many) - Pestilence (the spread of sickness and disease, the end of wellness) - Destruction (apocalypse, ruin and woe) - Usurpation (the chain of order comes apart, someone rightful is displaced) - Impoverishment (enslavement, the abandonment of goodness and right) - Rampant Chaos (laws of reality, of society, or any order is dissolved) When all of the grim portents of a danger come to pass, the impending doom sets in. The danger is then resolved but the setting has changed in some meaningful way. This will almost certainly change the front at large as well. Making sure that these effects reverberate throughout the world is a big part of making them feel real. ### Grim Potent Grim portents are dark designs for what could happen if a danger goes unchecked. Think about what would happen if the danger existed in the world but the PCs didn’t—if all these awful things you’ve conjured up had their run of the world. Scary, huh? The grim portents are your way to codify the plans and machinations of your dangers. A grim portent can be a single interesting event or a chain of steps. When you’re not sure what to do next, push your danger towards resolving a grim portent. More often than not grim portents have a logical order. The orcs tear down the city only after the peace talks fail, for example. A simple front will progress from bad to worse to much worse in a clear path forward. Sometimes, grim portents are unconnected pathways to the impending doom. The early manifestations of danger might not all be related. It’s up to you to decide how complex your front will be. Whenever a danger comes to pass, check the other dangers in the front. In a complex front, you may need to cross off or alter the grim portents. That’s fine, you’re allowed. Keep scale in mind, too. Grim portents don’t all have to be world-shaking. They can simply represent a change in direction for a danger. Some new way for it to cause trouble in the world. Think of your grim portents as possible moves waiting in the wings. When the time is right, unleash them on the world. I’ve chosen a few grim portents for my new front. - The College sends an expedition to the Gate - The Key is discovered - The First Trumpet sounds - A Champion is chosen - The Second Trumpet sounds - The Herald appears - The Gate is Opened When a grim portent comes to pass, check it off—the prophecy has come true! A grim portent that has come to pass might have ramifications for your other fronts, too. Have a quick look when your players aren’t demanding your attention and feel free to make changes. One small grim portent may resound across the whole campaign in subtle ways. You can advance a grim portent descriptively or prescriptively. Descriptively means that you’ve seen the change happen during play, so you mark it off. Maybe the players sided with the goblin tribes against their lizardman enemies—now the goblins control the tunnels. Lo and behold, this was the next step in a grim portent. Prescriptive is when, due to a failed player move or a golden opportunity, you advance the grim portent as your hard move. That step comes to pass, show its effects and keep on asking, “What do you do, now?” ### Stakes Your stakes questions are 1-3 questions about people, places, or groups that you’re interested in. People include PCs and NPCs, your choice. Remember that your agenda includes “Play to find out what happens?” Stakes are a way of reminding yourself what you want to find out. Stakes are concrete and clear. Don’t write stakes about vague feelings or incremental changes. Stakes are about important changes that affect the PCs and the world. A good stakes question is one that, when it’s resolved, means that things will never be the same again. The most important thing about stakes is that you find them interesting. Your stakes should be things that you genuinely want to know, but that you’re also willing to leave to be resolved through play. Once you’ve written it as a stake, it’s out of your hands, you don’t get to just make it up anymore. Now you have to play to find out. Playing to find out is one of the biggest rewards of playing Dungeon World. You’ve written down something tied to events happening in the world that you want to find out about—now you get to do just that. Once you have your stakes your front is ready to play. My stakes questions include, as tailored to my group: - Who will be the champion? - How will Lux respond to the Light From Beyond? - Will the College be able to recruit Avon? ### Description and Cast Write up something short to remind you just what this danger is about, something to describe it in a nutshell. Don’t worry about where it’s going or what could happen—grim portents and the impending doom will handle that for you; you’ll get to those in a bit. If there are multiple people involved in the danger (an orc warlord and his clansmen, a hateful god and his servants) go ahead and give them names and a detail or two now. Leave yourself some space as you’ll be adding to this section as you play. ### Add some colour to the story #### Custom Moves Sometimes a danger will suggest a move that isn’t covered by any existing ones. You can write custom moves to fill the gaps or to add the right effects for the danger. They can be player moves or GM moves, as you see fit. Of course, if you’re writing a player move, keep your hands off the dice and mind the basic structure of a move. A 10+ is a complete success, while a 7–9 is a partial success. On a miss, maybe the custom move does something specific, or maybe not—maybe you just get to make a move or work towards fulfilling a grim portent. The formatting of these moves varies from move to move. For the Opening of the White Gate, I just know some fool PC is going to end up in the light that spills from the gate, so I’m writing a move to show what might occur. When you **stand in the presence of the Light From Beyond**, roll+WIS: ✴On a 10+ you are judged worthy, the Argent Seraphim will grant you a vision or boon. ✴On a 7-9 you are under suspicion and see a vision of what dark fate might befall you if you do not correct your ways. ✴On a miss, thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. # An Example Front: The Opening of the White Gate ## Dangers ### The College of Arcanists (Cabal) **Impulse:** to absorb those in power, to grow #### Grim Portents - The College sends an expedition to the Gate - The Key is discovered - The Gate’s Power is harnessed - The College seizes control **Impending Doom:** Usurpation ### The White Gate (Dark Portal) **Impulse:** to disgorge demons #### Grim Portents - The First Trumpet sounds - The Second Trumpet sounds - The Gate is opened **Impending Doom:** Destruction ### The Argent Seraphim (Choir of Angels) **Impulse:** to pass judgement #### Grim Portents - A Champion is chosen - An organization of power is formed or co-opted - The Herald appears - Judgement is passed **Impending Doom:** Tyranny ## Description and Cast An ancient gate, buried for aeons in the icy north. It opens into a realm of pure light, guarded by the Argent Seraphim. It was crafted only to be opened at Judgement Day, so that the Seraphim could come forth and purge the realm of men. It was recently uncovered by the College of Arcanists, who do not yet understand its terrible power. - Oren Balserus, Arcanist Supreme - Hali’el, voice of the Seraphim - Drudge, a manservant ## Custom Moves When you **stand in the presence of the Light From Beyond**, roll+WIS. ✴On a 10+ you are judged worthy, the Argent Seraphim will grant you a vision or boon. ✴On a 7-9 you are under suspicion and see a vision of what dark fate might befall you if you do not correct your ways. ✴On a miss, thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. ## Stakes - Who will be the Champion? - How will Lux respond to the holy light? - Will the College be able to recruit Avon?