Fronts

The core of any standard adventure, scenario or game session in Dungeon World flows outward from the fronts to the players; the fronts have their impending dooms, the players react, and in the space between, you play the game to find out what happens. The same is true when presenting a converted adventure. Reading through the module, you’ll have noticed things—NPCs, places of interest, special monsters and organizations that might have an impact on the world or some agenda to carry out. Depending on the size of the adventure, there may be just one or a few of these. Take a look through the list of front types and create one for each group.

I’m going to convert an old adventure I love; I’ve run it a dozen times in a bunch of different systems and I think it’d be a blast to run my Dungeon World group through. I’ve given myself a quick read through to remind myself what the adventure is all about. In this case, there’s a town being menaced in secret by a wicked cult who worships a squamous reptile god. Sounds like fun! The adventure has a secret dungeon, a corrupt religious order, a bunch of smelly troglodytes and, because the whole town is a mess of suspicion and finger-pointing, some very helpless adventurers. It’s a pretty grim start with lots of bad things to choose from. I’ve decided that all that bad stuff falls under two main fronts: The Cultists and The Troglodyte Clan.

Now, I could make the sorcerous naga that lives in the caverns her own front, if I wanted to, or I could add in a campaign front for the Reptile God itself, but I think I’ll only be running this game a few sessions, so I’m going to stay focused. The two fronts I have work together in some ways, but are unique and operate independently, so I’ve separated them.

Create these fronts like you would normally, choosing dangers, impending dooms, and grim portents. Ask one or two stakes questions but be sure to leave yourself lots of room—that’s where you can really tie in the characters. Normally, you’d be pulling these things straight out of the inspiration of your brain, but in this case, you’ve got the module to guide you. Think about the fronts as themes, and the dangers as elements from the pages of your module. Look at the kinds of things your fronts are said to be doing in the adventure and how that might go if the PCs were never there to stop it. What’s the worst that could happen if the fronts were able to run rampant? This kind of reading-between-the-lines will give you ammunition for making your hard moves as you play through the adventure. This step is where you’ll turn those stat-block NPCs into either full-fledged dangers themselves, or members of the front’s cast.

If there are any traps, curses or general effects in the adventure you’d like to write custom moves for, do it now. A lot of old adventures will have elements that call for a “saving throw” to avoid some noisome effect—these can often simply be a cause for a defy danger roll, or can have whole, separate custom moves if necessary. The key here is to capture the intent of the adventure—the spirit of the thing—rather than translate some mechanical element perfectly.

When you’re done, you’ll have a set of fronts that cover the major threats and dangers the characters will face.