First Session

Overview

• The first session begins with character creation — which is also world creation.
  The details on character sheets and the questions you ask establish what Dungeon World
  is like, who lives in it, and what's going on.
• For players, the first session is like every other: play their characters as real
  people and explore. The GM does more — establishing the world and the threats to come.

Prep

• Print: a few copies of the basic moves; one copy of each class sheet (double-sided);
  cleric and wizard spell sheets (double-sided); the GM sheet.
• Read the whole book — especially GM moves and the basic moves — and get acquainted
  with the class moves. Read the fronts rules, but don't create any yet.
• Fill your head: fantastic worlds, strange magic, foul beasts, movies, comics, heroic
  fantasy. Ideas are the bare minimum.
• Optionally plan a bit more: an evil plot, monsters, sketched maps (leave blanks),
  imagined locations.
• The one thing you can't bring is a planned storyline or plot. You don't know the
  heroes or world before you sit down, and concrete planning conflicts with your agenda:
  play to find out what happens.

Getting Started

• Briefly introduce Dungeon World to newcomers: the mechanical basis of moves, the
  classes, then walk them through character creation.
• Your role during creation is threefold: help everyone, ask questions, take notes.
  When a player makes a choice — especially bonds — ask about it, get detail, think
  about what the details mean.
• Set expectations: players play their characters as people — skilled adventurers, but
  real people. You play the rest of the world as a dynamic, changing place.
• Common questions:
  • Are the characters friends? Not necessarily — but they work together as a team
    toward common goals.
  • Are there other wizards? Not really — other workers of arcane magic exist, and
    common folk may call them wizards, but they aren't like you. No GM character will
    ever truly be a wizard (or any other class).
  • What is wealth? The realm's currency, good everywhere, buys mundane things. The
    special stuff — magic weapons — isn't for sale. Not for Wealth, anyway…
  • Is the GM trying to kill us? No — the job is portraying the world, and the world
    is dangerous. You might die; that's not the GM being out to get you.
• Ask questions throughout: interesting facts from bonds, moves, classes, and
  descriptions are fuel for future adventures. When someone mentions the demons that
  slaughtered their village — find out more.
• Answer mechanical questions; turn setting questions around — "Who is the King of
  Torsea?" → "I don't know. Who is it? What is he like?" Say "I don't know" freely and
  collaborate on interesting answers.
• Share your own ideas for the world: the characters are the players' responsibility,
  the world is yours. If you want the game to be about hunting the lost sorcerer-race,
  say so — and work together if they aren't interested.
• After creation, look over your notes, what the players brought, and your own stewing
  ideas. The adventure begins.

The First Adventure

• The first adventure is about discovering the direction of future sessions. Watch
  for unresolved threats and note dangerous things mentioned but not dealt with —
  fuel for sessions to come.
• Start in a tense situation demanding action: at a dungeon entrance, ambushed in a
  swamp, peeking at orc guards through a cracked door, sentenced before King Levus.
  Ask questions immediately — "Who is leading the ambush against you?" "What did you
  do to make King Levus so mad?" Situations stemming directly from the characters are best.
• Watch carefully for triggered moves until players get the hang of it. Early
  narrating-style play is fine — when a move triggers, name it: "It sounds like you're
  trying to…" and walk them through it.
• When a player says "I hack and slash him," ask "So what are you actually doing?
  How? With what?"

First Session Goals

• Establish details, describe — nothing exists in the fiction until you share and
  detail it: looks, who's in charge, the world, the location. Describe everything, but
  briefly enough to expand later. One or two telling details make it real.
• Use what they give you — you needn't bring anything concrete. Their bonds, moves,
  and answers are the meat; use them to fill in the world around the characters.
• Ask questions — when you need more, draw it out: "What does Lux think about
  that?" "Is Avon doing something about it?" Ask one character about another; ask how
  a different character feels or reacts. At a loss? Pause and ask a question.
• Leave blanks — every blank is another cool thing waiting to happen; stock up.
• Look for interesting facts — when an idea jumps out, write it down. The Duke of
  Sorrows being the demon he bargained with is the seed of a whole world.
• Help the players understand the moves — they mostly just describe what their
  character does; the help they'll need is remembering move triggers. Keep an ear out;
  after a few moves they'll remember on their own.
• Give each character a chance to shine — not by tailoring rooms to their skills,
  but by portraying a world with many solutions to every challenge.
• Introduce NPCs — monsters that only attack and blacksmiths that only sell make a
  dead world. Give NPCs life, especially ones players show interest in — but don't
  protect them. The recently deceased Lord of Goblins is as useful for future
  adventures as a living one.

After the First Session

• Relax. Let ideas ferment. Don't rush to the next session.
• Second-session prep takes minutes, maybe an hour: create fronts, maybe make some
  monsters or custom moves, and get an idea of what's going on in the world.