Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Dungeon World Part One

Read Part Two here and Part Three here

Of all the games under the banner of “Powered by the Apocalypse,” Dungeon World is probably the most well-known and played. It’s a variation of the classic dungeon-crawling tabletop rpg games that dominate the hobby. While games like Dungeons & Dragons rely on skill checks and rigid combat systems, Dungeon World takes a fiction-first approach, with all rolls being player-facing. Everything in the game happens as an extension of the player’s actions. There are no modules with structured adventures; instead, Dungeon World encourages improvisation and, at most, a simple dungeon starter outline. As with all the PBtA games, the focus is on playing to discover what happens without having all the steps written down beforehand.

This type of game doesn’t gel with all RPG enthusiasts, but that’s okay because a variety of flavors is always better than one or two. I love this because playing from or running a module loses so much of the fun of exploration & discovery for me. Dungeon World is about the best of these types of games I’ve ever played, but I’m not closed off to more OSR-ish variations. 

For my playthrough, I will, of course, be using the core Dungeon World book. Additionally, to assist in solo play, I am using a copy of Parts Per Million’s Solo Dungeon World. It’s not a perfect or definitive guide to solo play with this game, but it does provide some decent tools and suggestions on how to make it work. Helping to add some more randomness to the mix, I will be using Johnstone Metzger’s Class Warfare to create my playbook rather than using the premade DW ones. Class Warfare provides fragments of classes that can be combined to make something unique. More on that later. Finally, Perilous Wilds Revised Edition will help immensely with its many randomized tables that can build out anything from the world we’re in, to the monsters we fight and more. I will pull from other resources throughout this playthrough, but these four books will be the core guiding my story.

To play, I need a world, and so for a few days, I thought about what would be an exciting setting for me. I kept returning to the game’s name and thought about an actual dungeon world. This led me to create The Celestial Sepulchre of the Eminent Thaumaturge Mujy al-Qurai. Around 10,000 years ago, there was a mighty sorcerer named Mujy al-Qurai. This was during an age when magic energies swirled worldwide, and many people sought to master & control them. Al-Qurai did and used his power to construct a massive subterranean vault. This underground complex stretched thousands of kilometers and was riddled with hexes, spells, curses, and other nasty magical protections. No one knows what lies at the heart of the vault, but countless rumors abound of a treasure trove on a scale never seen before to the secret of cheating death to a doorway that opens into the cornucopia of worlds. 

Time is relentless and more vicious than all the magic in the universe. Al-Qurai did all he could to stop his aging process while raising hordes of monsters he used to wage war against other sorcerers. The ordinary people were trapped in the middle of this chaos. Then, one day, the old man vanished. His armies fractured and ran, hiding in the dark corners of the world, spied occasionally. The vault was forgotten as the humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and other beings built their societies on the ruins of the old ones. 

Around 1,500 years ago, an entrance to the vault was discovered. Rania Calen, founder of the Uvtopian Explorers Guild, found a ruin on the island of Vaeril. At first, it was just a stronghold abandoned by the now departed Eastern Imperial colonizers. These soldiers had built their base atop another ruin they didn’t fully understand. Calen deciphered runes she found deep in the bowels of the stronghold and found a door into the vault. Thankfully, due to her quick-thinking, she avoided the first of many traps left behind. Returning to the surface, she shared her findings and announced the first charter of the Explorers Guild. Those willing journeyed into the earth, where they built a shantytown and did the difficult task of dispelling al-Quari’s seemingly endless magical protections. 

Today, the Guild has shifted operations 74 kilometers deeper into the vault, building the larger and more populated Dungeon Town. Tens of thousands live here now, both those devoted to the exploration and many who provide the labor needed to keep it all going. Merchants, smiths, engineers, and more live in the vast Great Hall of the sepulcher. Three massive pillars on either side of the city hold the stone roof above them. There are tenements built up along these pillars using them as support. The Explorers Guild has a large central guild hall near the center. There’s a marketplace where brave explorers can find whatever they need or desire. There’s also the shadowy Undermarket where you might find things the Guild would rather not have around. 

Our character is Marlow, a Rogue with his Moves derived from the Class Warfare classes Poisoner & Tomb Robber (both rolled randomly). Marlow is a third-generation citizen of Dungeon Town. His mother & father died during a golem attack when Marlow was nine years old, so he was raised by his grandmother, Elba. She was talented in potion-making, where Marlow picked up his poisoning skills. His preferred mixture is goldenroot, an applied potion that makes the target believe the first person they see is their trusted friend. As long as Marlow can keep up the friendly ruse, the target will go along with him but never lose sense of their faculties or do something beyond what they usually would consent to.

Marlow’s closest friend in Dungeon Town is Utiba, a young mage from Malarue, a country across the ocean but still close to the Uvtopian islands. Marlow’s main job is not to explore the vault but to go into the exterior world and retrieve components needed by the magic users attempting to dispel the power left behind underground. Reima is Marlow’s chief contact, a Guild supervisor who is currently directing efforts to depowers The Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters are a series of seven obelisks, each crackling with a distinct form of dark magic. They are arranged in an irregular cluster in the western passage. 

When we meet Marlow, he’s sitting amid the cover of jungle foliage with Utiba. They are peering out from between giant ferns at a crumbling temple in the middle of a humid, dim swamp. Sunlight manages to break the treeline but barely. They watch the temple for a while to see if anyone comes in or out if guards are patrolling the perimeter. Marlow and Utiba’s looks complement each other in oppositional ways. As a lifelong Dungeon Town-er his skin has the notable paleness of a cave dweller. His hood helps shade his light-sensitive eyes from the sun. Utiba, on the other hand, has a dark brown tone & dreadlocks with multicolored jewels and beads woven in. She carries a staff made of geed wood, a tree native to her homeland. It is known to be a great channeler of magic. 

The temple they are watching sits on top of the stronghold of Somerblas, one of the barbarian-kings of Gok. Legends tell of Somberlas’ great battle with Tar-Ishab, a lamassu who sought to topple the barbarian’s kingdom. Their battle raged across the land, night & day, for one whole week. Somberlas defeated his foe, taking a thigh bone from the lamassu. His shamans performed now-forgotten rites over the thigh bone and turned it into a powerful weapon that Somberlas used in his further conquests. When the brutal Eastern Empire came to power, they sacked the stronghold and killed all of Somberlas’ heirs. They also took the thigh bone. The location of that item was recorded by those who hid will and survived and put into the Somberlasian Chronicle, their precious history book. Reima divined that the book was somewhere inside the temple, and this thigh bone contained the sort of magic needed to nullify the next of the Seven Sisters. Marlow and Utiba were dispatched to find the book, bring it back for translation, and then head to the bone’s location.

Marlow believes the temple to be unguarded from the outside and motions to move forward. He & Utiba emerge but quickly learn how other jungle residents are far better at taking in their surroundings. A lizard man emerges from the brush, hooks an arm around Utiba, and quickly runs in leaps and bounds toward the temple entrance. Marlow has no chance at keeping pace, but he pursues, hoping once inside, he can gain an advantage and rescue his partner. He kicks himself for not noticing their attacker lying in wait.

Entering the temple, Marlow is greeted by a flooded chamber, water swirling in a whirlpool fashion. He glimpses the lizard man’s tail disappear beneath the surface, so it seems our hero will need to dive in as well. The pull of the whirlpool is proving to be too much. Marlow can see the hole the lizard has slipped through. He can either submit to the pull of the whirlpool, ending up who knows where or take four points of damage pursuing the lizard. Utiba is his closest friend, so he cannot let her get too far and take the damage.

The next room proves a bit, but not much, drier. It’s a long, narrow hallway with an ankle-deep bog and large splats of algae growing on the surface. The lizard man drops Utiba into it and turns to face Marlow with a hiss, baring his fangs and gripping his spear tighter. Marlow sizes him up, pulls his dagger from his sheath, and leaps into the fray. They wrestle in the murky water that covers the floor, but Marlow can slash the throat of his opponent, ending the lizard man. Utiba is injured and says she must treat her wounds before moving forward. Marlow says he’ll go ahead, and she can catch up when ready.

Coming to the end of this hallway, Marlow looks into a corner room where the wall has crumbled away, allowing a subterranean river to come rushing into the room. Some stones are scattered about to make small perches, but it’s a daunting challenge to cross. Others have attempted the crossing before, their decaying corpses splattered against the vine-covered walls; the bacteria in the water seem to have slowed their decay, giving them a preserved mummy-like appearance.

Marlow dives in, forced to swim against the current to reach the other side. It becomes even more complicated when one of the corpses stirs, pulls itself off the wall, and begins moving towards Marlow. Bracing himself against one of the small stone islands in the middle of this rushing torrent, Marlow reaches into his shirt and touches the carved seashell he wears on a leather strap around his neck. This is a ward of protection Grandmother Elba gave him, a charm made by their ancestors on one of Uvtopis’ many islands. It is meant to protect him from all magic, but as he says the chant, he doesn’t notice how close the corpse has gotten.

The corpse grapples with Marlow and bites for 2 damage. Reaching into his satchel, Marlow pulls one of his vials of goldenroot out and smashes it over the corpse’s head, causing his attacker to pause briefly as the potion takes effect. He releases Marlow and looks around, puzzled. More corpses pull themselves off the wall, and Marlow tells his new “pal” to attack them while Marlow swims his hardest to the exit. 

Some of the water spills over into this flooded thicket. The ceiling has disappeared here, allowing sunlight and tangled thistle bushes to grow from the center. Marlow takes a moment to catch his breath, but a screech pierces the air. Through the wall floats a banshee, a poltergeist of one of Somberlas’ people, its face twisted into a permanent glare, its mouth wailing at the pain it seems to experience for eternity. This is primarily the product of dark magic, and Marlow clutches his ward, muttering the chant. The ward fails, and Marlow’s eardrums are rocked with the piercing cry of hell for 6 damage. 

The banshee looms over Marlow, who feels the room spinning. He sits up and lies to the banshee, claiming he has heard of the ghosts in this place and wants to help as many as he can rest in peace. He just needs to get deeper into the stronghold to find their corpses and bury them. The banshee makes Marlow promise to bring back her silver ring. She believes a lizard person took it off her corpse. Marlow agrees, and she floats away.

The next room has a reed marsh that looks to be actively maintained, a crop for the lizardfolk, Marlow supposes. A lizard man is stationed here and holds a battered sword drawn. Lizardfolk aren’t known for metallurgy, so Marlow assumes he picked it off one of the dead barbarians deeper into the structure. The guard fails to notice Marlow, who quickly hides in the reeds. Marlow reaches a pair of stairs ascending towards the next room, and just as he does, he hears a hiss. The lizard man has spotted him. Marlow goes rushing up into the next chamber.

The rogue is hit with a sense of deep dark magic in this chamber. In the center is a stone altar stained with hundreds of victims’ blood. Grooves along the floor looked to have carried the flow of that blood somewhere. Marlow also senses something in the room observing him. He finds a shadowy corner and posts up, waiting to see what happens when the lizard man enters. His pursuer reaches the top step and, as if remembering something important about this room freezes. A wet gurgling emerges from somewhere in the room. A black substance slides across the stone floor and shapes into a large crocodilian, spouting a mock roar at the lizard man. The lizard turns tail and runs back to the reed marsh.

Marlow wracks his brain for what that might be and remembers reading about it. It’s a chaos ooze, a planar being, something not from this realm. Through dim torchlight, Marlow spots sigils that tell him sacrifices were made here to open the door to worlds & entities beyond. There are three ways out, and Marlow attempts the north exit only to find the ooze stationed there. Instead, the rogue descends to the west.

This is another chamber devoted to the religion of the lizardfolk. Two of them stand watching as a third, wearing ornate clothing, a headdress with feathers pulled from local birds. The priest speaks in a lizard tongue as a child of the forest is bound to a stone block. The forest spirit cries out. Both speak in tongues unfamiliar to Marlow. He feels as if he should prevent this killing and tries tossing some pebbles to draw the attention of one of the attendant lizardfolk, get them close enough, and sprinkle goldenroot on them. His plans fail as it draws all of their attention. The priest scrambles on all fours over the stone table, grabbing a crude staff from against the wall; the other two pull their daggers and run at Marlow.

Marlow determines which is closer and jumps from the stairs onto his foe. The dagger finds the lizard man’s head and plunges in. Marlow makes quick work of him. He turns around and heads back into the main ritual altar, hoping to lead these remaining two to the chaos ooze, but trips and falls flat in front of the gelatinous threat. Taking a chance, he tosses one of the two remaining vials of goldenroot into the ooze. It crushes the glass, allowing the liquid to seep into it. As the two lizard men reach the top of the stairs, the ooze changes colors into a golden glow. Marlow whispers some ancient chants Grandmother Elba taught him, old prayers to the old gods for help. The ooze seems to understand and moves toward the lizard men. A fight begins that gives Marlow time to run down the north exit. 

The swamp-like nature of the temple dries up here, and Marlow realizes he’s now in the remains of Somberlas’ stronghold, under the lizardfolk temple. There is a split in the passage, and he’s unsure which direction to head. He rests for an hour while trying to discern anything he can with his senses. A barbarian ghost appears and rushes towards him, ready to fight. Hoping the third time’s a charm, Marlow clutches his ward and says the chant. The ghost gets within centimeters of him and cannot touch Marlow. The ward glows with protection. Marlow attempts to speak with the ghost, but the entity is so mad & frustrated he passes through a wall. 

Marlow goes right and comes into a large courtyard where Somberlas’ people must have gathered during the day. It’s no longer populated by the barbarian folk, but instead, a wight-wolf has made this his resting spot. Wight-wolves are a spectral species, only called wolves because of their visual similarity and tendency to work in packs. They come from the spirit realms but can pass into the physical world in places where profound death & destruction have occurred. Their favorite prey is the lost souls of the dead, but they can extend themselves and devour the living if hunger strikes them.

The wight-wolf is prowling and ready for a fight. Marlow is unsure if he is. They clash, the wolf drawing blood from the rogue’s left shoulder, its teeth sinking in with a sting. Marlow tries to run past it but finds three more emerging from the shadows. He’s surrounded. The sound of wood against stone draws all of their attention to Utiba, who has just come from the same hallway Marlow used. She’s back in good health, but Marlow can see the spellbook she hangs from a strap across her shoulder is waterlogged, making it less useful. The two begin fighting back against the wight-wolves, taking out one and another. Marlow lights up his ward of protection, which sends the remaining scattering back into the stronghold with yelps. 

Marlow hugs Utiba, making sure she wants to continue. She says some of the algae from the bog was the perfect ingredient for a poultice she was making. Her energy hasn’t been this high in a while. They continue through the stronghold, coming to a chamber that appears to have been used by an armorer. Marlow’s search leads him to find a crude set of armor – chestplate, greaves, bracers – covered in mirrored silver. Angling it in the torchlight, he finds that in the proper position, it is rendered invisible and should do the same for the wearer. Utiba shrugs when he points this out, asking him if he wants to wear it. Marlow supposes this might be helpful and takes a moment to slip them on. 

The next room is the jackpot, a large hall with a throne at the end. It’s Somberlas’ throne room, and the book was said to be kept in a compartment beneath the throne. As Marlow steps out, Utiba checks him with her arm and points. The sound of scraping comes first, and from around a pillar emerges a shambling, mummified barbarian king. Not Somberlas, as he was buried decades before this place was sacked. This would be one of his descendants. The last king of this stronghold. He is undead, dragging a cracked war ax across the floor.

Marlow crosses the room, moving slowly and letting the mirrored armor render him invisible. Utiba says she can create a minor illusion to distract the mummy-king. She assumes that when Marlow grabs the book, he won’t be able to keep the same poses reflecting the light and will be seen. Taking his time, Marlow works his way to the throne, coming close a few times to bump into the mummy-king. He snatches the book but takes cover behind the throne, waiting for Utiba’s magic. She creates the image of a wight-wolf, which draws a roar from the mummy-king. He’s smarter than they bargained and turns to see Marlow halfway across the great hall.

He shuffles faster, trying to raise the ax with arms no longer as strong as they’d been in life. With quick thinking, Marlow grabs his last vial of goldenroot, pulls the cork, and sloshes it all at mummy-king. He sees Marlow first, but Utiba’s staff hitting the stone floor draws his attention to her, not seeing her as a friend. With his back turned, Marlow charges the mummy-king from behind, knocking him to the ground shattering an arm off. 

Marlow reaches Utiba, angry that they won’t get more time to explore this incredible ruin. She grabs the recall coin given to them by Reima, suitable for one use. Both heroes touch the coin, and in a flash, they are back in Reima’s study in the Explorer’s Guild in Dungeon Town. Reima enters, having heard the commotion from outside, and sees Marlow in strange mirrored armor clutching the book.

The book is handed over for translation. Marlow & Utiba speak later after some rest and treatment of their wounds. She thanks him for saving her, and they vow to watch each other’s backs as long as they work together. A bond strengthened. Marlow is also able to make improvements. 

(Leveling up from 1 to 2, Marlow can bump his Intelligence up a point. He also takes a new move. Below is my character sheet as of the end of this session)