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Rat Queens and Dungeon World
In my review of Rat Queens, I mentioned that I’m a tabletop RPG geek. So I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this last month:
Yes, it’s true, I’m writing a Rat Queens RPG with the assistance of @skinnyghost and the guts of @Dungeon_World.
— Kurtis Wiebe (@kurtisjwiebe) July 7, 2015
Let me tell you why this is awesome news. A warning: this is going to get fangirly.
Reason being Dungeon World is my current favourite RPG. Like most RPGers, I started out roleplaying with Dungeons & Dragons. I stuck with it for thirteen years. Then, at the beginning of last year, my gaming group started branching out into newer systems. This is a direct result of our GM discovering RollPlay on YouTube. The channel hosts several tabletop RPG campaigns that are played and recorded online. One segment particularly caught our interest: Research and Development. Every 6-8 weeks, the Game Master and a core group of three players would invite a guest to join them in playing a different RPG. And thus we found Dungeon World.
Like D&D, Dungeon World is a fantasy roleplaying system. However, the two systems have some significant differences. Dungeon World is designed to have a stronger focus on roleplaying and story-telling. As such, there are fewer rules and those that are there are intended to promote a more fluid, creative style of play. This sort of system works well for a Rat-Queens-inspired adventuring group. A complicated manoeuvre such as the one Betty, Dee and Violet pull off against the troll that ambushes them would require a complicated series of dice rolls in D&D. This slows down play and the numerous rolls make for a higher chance of failure. In Dungeon World, it is reduced down to just a couple of rolls, giving the players plenty of space to narrate their awesomeness.
Violet, Dee and Betty kick some troll butt in Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery
Should a Dungeon World player fail one of these rolls, they get the consolation of gaining experience points. I love the philosophy behind this: that we learn from our mistakes, not from wholesale slaughter. This means that the focus shifts from simply killing monsters (and sometimes people) to a character’s personal development, and makes for a much more rewarding game from my story-loving perspective.
The simplicity of the rule system makes it a great introduction for beginners. My group consists of three experienced RPGers and one newbie who came from a computer gaming background. One adventure in and you’d never guess that we hadn’t been playing the system for years, let alone which one of us was the newbie. This is especially surprising because our newbie chose to play a spellcasting class, which traditionally have been the hardest to wrap one’s head around. So if Rat Queens has inspired you to try RPGs, Dungeon World is an great place to start and it will make an excellent base for a Rat-Queens-specific RPG.
Adam Koebel
Moving away from the system, the other reason that Kurtis Wieber’s tweet is such good news is his co-author. @skinnyghost is the Twitter handle for Adam Koebel, one of the creators of Dungeon World. I also came across Adam through RollPlay, where he runs a sci-fi space epic called Swan Song and an 80s-flavoured cyberpunk called Mirrorshades (which is probably my favourite RollPlay show). As you’d expect of a RPG designer, he lives and breathes games. But what makes him a perfect creator for a Rat Queens RPG is his inclusivity. In D&D terms, he chooses a chaotic good alignment and asks the fans on his forums to do the same:
We are anti-sexism, anti-racism and anti-homophobia.
We punch up, not down.
We believe in discussion, not argument.
Even though human consciousness might be a cosmic joke, we’re respectful and decent to one another.
We don’t make fun of people for what they love.
We hold each other accountable for this stuff.
Adam is queer himself and always makes an effort to include a diverse range of characters in the games he runs. This makes me confident the diverse content of Rat Queens will be treated with respect and appropriately incorporated into the new RPG.
If you’re into RPGs, either as a player or as a GM, I highly recommend Adam’s RollPlay segment with Steven Lumpkin on GMing called Being Everything Else. It covers topics such as the role of narrative in RPGs, where to get inspiration as a GM and introducing new players to roleplaying. He also has a fantastic discussion of player vs player dynamics on Roll20’s YouTube channel.
Needless to say, I think the Rat Queens RPG is in very good hands and I can’t wait to grab a copy when it’s done.
I’m also curious to see whether this will start a rush of new players among the people I know. What about you? Is a Rat Queens RPG something you’d be interested in playing?
Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.
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edit: Those are some beautiful dice, by the way.
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The dice are from the giant stash Sahaquiel keeps. Not all of our players are interested in having their own set of dice, so we keep plenty on hand. I picked out two I thought would work nicely with the photo.
And on the theme of beautiful dice, Sahaquiel is threatening to buy me something from Artisan Dice for my birthday.
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They're so preeeeetty...are they good dice, though? -and has your newbie developed dice superstitions yet?
Huh. I like the darker wooden and the red 'gator ones, though I'm sad they're from farmed beasts...also if they think bone dice are stupid-hard to make without resin, they're using the wrong bones: pig carpal/tarsals can be made into very fine dice, though I suppose polyhedrals would take creative cutting. Still, the lower limb bones of ungulates (those that're taking all the pressure of a cow, say, on two digits) and antler would - and have for millennia - provided good material for bone plates that modern fixatives would have no trouble gluing together. *ahem* I do spend rather a lot of time staring at/knowing what bones get used for, sorry.
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After our Night Witches game, I think our newbie is well on the way to developing a dice superstition. The black dice behaved themselves, but their white counterparts were atrocious.
No need to apologise! I found it very interesting. I'm definitely not keen on the bone dice and have some serious reservations about the wood ones (where are they sourcing this stuff from?). However, Sahaquiel is so excited about the prospect I've been a bit tentative about voicing my concerns.
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Hee...is that done with, then, the Night Witches game?
I noticed that, too...ach, do mention them, for it is better that he knows all things important to you (like ethics), and I know that you agree there is no Heaven to reward you for shouldering minor sufferings you neither need nor will do you good long-term. Or put it this way: you could bring it up and at worst - if they're unsustainably sourced - get even better dice from somewhere else with Sahaquiel knowing he's pleased you twice as much, or say nothing and forever more play with a ghost of guilt both over the dice's origins and for letting Sahaquiel pay money for something you didn't entirely want/dominate your opinions like a Bad Dragon.
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Night Witches will be running another session this weekend. After that, we'll see.
Sahaquiel seems to have let go of the idea on his own and I'm currently talking him around to buying me a second fountain pen.
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Is Comrade Calls Her Attacks still alive?
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Also, I am now following Adam Koebel because he sounds like an awesome person.
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Also, Adam Koebel is awesome, though I don't agree with some of his nihilist philosophy. However, he does approach games with passion and intelligence.