Thursday, February 28, 2013

Story Based Games/ Road Trip Gaming

So this afternoon, while I was supposed to be teaching saxophone lessons, but had a few cancellations, I finished reading through Dungeon World. Personally, I've never played a game so based on story (I try to make my games a good 50/50 mix of roleplay/combat), but found it quite interesting. It definitely had some ideas that I am thinking about stealing, especially on the GM side. It is all stuff that I'm sure any good DM is doing already, but hey, I never said I was a GOOD DM ;)

I think some people will have a problem with Dungeon World, because at times it is basically telling you how to roleplay. My problem was just how often I felt it repeated itself. It was however, a quick and easy read (and quite long too, so that was surprising). The suggested names were a bit silly, but I think may be helpful for those of your friends who have never roleplayed before, or like for my group, where picking a name seems to be the toughest decisions for some of my players. The mechanics are really simple, usually just 2d6 with 6- meaning you usually fail, 7-9 succeed but with complications, 10+ being a good success. Granted this deviates a bit at times. Really lightweight game, all about creating a group story with your players. Sounds like a pretty fun game to me, but I'm not sure I could keep something like that up for an entire campaign.

I don't know if I'll run this anytime soon, but my players and I will be taking a roadtrip up to Maine this summer. I'm thinking in the car, while driving, it may be an easy game to play (especially since I'll be doing most of the driving, and it seems the DM doesn't need to do much rolling). I once ran a short 1e AD&D adventure during a roadtrip (luckily was a passenger) but never while driving. The simplified mechanics and base around story telling may make this a perfect fit.

Has anyone else ever tried this?

3 comments:

  1. Just need to ask where in Maine are you going too? I am a Maine gamer and would love to run or play a game with some fellow gamers from away. Maybe we can connect.

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  2. I'll be in Phippsburg, but I know Bath and Brunswick are pretty close by. Portland isn't too much of a drive for a one-shot either. Definitely would enjoy connecting with some people up there to play with.

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    1. Phippsburg is a nice town. Great place to get away. I am in Belfast which is about an hour and a half up the coast. May not work but I will think on if I know some gamers we could meet in your area.

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