Tabletop RPG · since 2012 · #26 most discussed

Dungeon World

Play heroes in a fantasy adventure driven by conversation, where move triggers decide outcomes and the GM follows the fiction.

6.0

Geek rating

From 13 firsthand play reports in 5 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 6.8.

Player rating— / 10

No visitor ratings yet.

Discussion7.0 / 10

305 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.

Rules weight

Light. Hype 4.7 for its age.

Have you played it?

Rate Dungeon World from 1 to 10. One rating per browser and device; you can change it any time.

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What players say

At the table

Dungeon World gets a mixed but mostly warm response from tables that have run it. Reports describe fast, fiction-first play that early campaigns enjoy, while longer campaigns tend to hit a wall. The notes cover about a dozen firsthand reports, and many are brief.

What works

Combat is quick, with fixed difficulty thresholds and no monster stats to track (thread).
Players describe what they want and the GM decides if a roll is needed. One GM says the moves and rulings cover nearly any action (thread).
Playbooks hold everything a class needs, with motivations and backstory built in. Damage against armor keeps combat fluid (thread).
Players can roll most of the dice, damage included, while the GM does the math and narrates (thread).
Roleplay-heavy groups built deep worlds and characters over roughly two years of play (thread).

What tables struggle with

Long campaigns strain. Two tables hit trouble around level 10, and one forced character retirement (thread).
GMs ran out of fresh twists for failures and partial successes, and play boiled down to Defy Danger. One GM burned out and moved to 5e (thread).
Combat lacks initiative and meaningful action choices for some groups, who also missed skills and the d20 (thread).
Some playbooks are said to need rework, and the d6-pair core roll pushed one poster toward other systems (thread).
One player found it dated as dungeon fantasy, and players can be harder to find than for Dragonbane (thread).

Who it suits

Groups that want story-first play with light rules and fast combat.
Short to mid-length campaigns, or tables that will keep inventing fronts and costs.
Newcomers to fiction-first games.

In players' words

"Initially DWs freedom was exciting and now it feels like a burden." (thread)
"When i play dungeon world it never came to GM fiat. In a way, it would be \"player fiat\", but really what dominates the narrative is genre expectations." (thread)
"I run a loose game and we have a lot of fun." (thread)

The threads behind it

Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.

8.0

Help me choose between Dungeon World and Dragonbane

The thread is mostly about Dragonbane versus Dungeon World, and the few firsthand Dungeon World reports are positive. The original poster loved the fast combat, fixed difficulty thresholds and not having to track monster stats, and another GM says play is driven by genre expectations rather than GM fiat. The only criticisms are that it feels dated as dungeon fantasy and that players are harder to find. 5 firsthand · 43 comments

Open on Reddit

5.5

2 year long Dungeon World campaign, and as a DM getting bored of the system

The original poster ran Dungeon World for two years with two very roleplay-focused players and had real fun for most of it. Eventually the open-ended moves, monster design and combat became a burden, and the table is switching to 5e. Two other commenters who ran it long-term report a similar wall: the game breaks down around level 10, and they ran out of fresh twists for failures and partial successes. 3 firsthand · 64 comments

Open on Reddit

6.5

Looking for a game similar to Dungeon World but with a d20 system

The thread is mostly about alternatives to Dungeon World (13th Age, Daggerheart, Quest, ICON and others), so almost none of it is firsthand play. The original poster's group liked Dungeon World's playbooks, backstory hooks, fluid combat and damage-vs-armor, but they missed initiative, skills and the d20 and wanted a more game-y structure. 2 firsthand · 46 comments

Open on Reddit

6.5

Looking for a system: Dungeon World-like but use polyhedrals

The thread is mostly about finding a Dungeon World alternative that uses a full polyhedral set, and it recommends other games like Kids on Brooms, Dragonbane, Savage Worlds and Cortex Prime. Only two commenters describe running Dungeon World themselves, and both are brief: one has run it a fair bit and finds the playbooks improvable, and the other has players roll nearly all the dice. 2 firsthand · 56 comments

Open on Reddit

8.0

Dungeon World vs burning wheel; Looking for a game that lets players go anywhere and do anything (not really)

The thread is almost entirely about Burning Wheel. The only firsthand Dungeon World report is one GM running a loose, story-first campaign who says it's their favorite system and that their table has a lot of fun. 1 firsthand · 40 comments

Open on Reddit