Ptolus Dungeon World

This page details how we converted some of the basics from the 3.5-based Ptolus to the Dungeon World system. It is colored by having done this to support an existing campaign, switching to Dungeon World after the characters had already reached the upper-mid levels. At these levels, 3.5 tends to be about "you saved the city!", whereas Dungeon World is designed more towards a "you might starve while hiding from the rat men" sort of aesthetic. Ptolus is a bit more high energy and optimistic than the default of Dungeon World. Still, Dungeon World works very nicely in a big urban setting with lots of factions and obligation, but where dungeon crawling is still the focus of play.

Characters

We opted to use the alternative character creation system spelled out in Class Warfare, as this allowed creation of characters that more readily matched the PCs from our existing campaign. But, even had we started with new first level characters, we still would have done this. The playbooks in Dungeon World were built with an "old school" feel, and that feel isn't a great match to the more cosmopolitan Ptolus. For characters we converted, we adapted them from 3.5's 20-level system to Dungeon World's 10-level system by cutting their 3.5 levels in half.

Some characters required custom moves or even custom specialties (in Class Warfare terms), some of which are detailed below. Most received one or two faction moves (see below), though most starting characters probably would not.

Special Moves

The basic moves remain as is, as do most of the special moves from the book. While in Ptolus, some additional special moves are available.

some setting wide, generic moves

craft something?

share an opinion about the empire...

Outstanding Warrants

The trigger for this special move changes to "when you return to a neighborhood or establishment in which you have caused trouble before".

Cast From a Wand

When you release a spell from a wand, roll+DEX. Take -2 if you lack spell casting ability. Take +1 if the spell is from your schools, spheres or repertoire, or you are otherwise familiar with casting it. Take -1 if the level of the spell equals your level. Take -2 if the level of the spell exceeds your level. On a 10+, the spell is cast. On a miss, On a 7-9, the spell is cast, but choose one:

• The wand cannot be used again for a day.
• The spell generates feedback. You take 1d6 damage.
• You draw unwelcome attention or put yourself in a spot. The GM will tell you how.

On a miss, the wand likely loses its magic, becoming a glorified stick.

Copy a Spell

When you copy a spell in a school you know from one spellbook into yours, roll+INT. On a 10+, the spell is copied perfectly. On a 7-9, the spell is copied, but the GM chooses one:

• You stumble over a booby-trap in the original. You gain a random debility.
• You introduce a flaw into your copy, which you will not notice until you first cast the spell (at which point, you can correct the book). Take -3 forward to casting this spell.
• You run out of room in your spellbook, and must carry an additional book to hold this spell.
• The spell vanishes from the original spellbook.
• The act of copying the spell causes it to go off, affecting a random target.

On a miss, the original spellbook suffers some kind of calamity, ruining its contents.

Faction Moves

While Ptolus, as written, contains factions and politics and such, it still remains largely about dungeon-delving, with the factions probably influencing the hows and whys of such exploration. And, while you could set a game entirely about political intrigue in Ptolus, that game wouldn't be Dungeon World, which is significantly more focused on dungeon-delving than politics. Even importing more political tech from other Powered-by-Apocalypse games (such as replacing Bonds with Strings from Monsterhearts) strays too far. So, how to mine the rich factions and politics of the setting in a way that plays to Dungeon World's strengths? We went with adding "faction moves" to the game.

You you get involved with some faction within the city, the GM may decide to represent your membership in or associate with that faction with a faction move reflecting the advantages and costs of dealing with that faction. The term "faction" casts an intentionally wide net, and might represent a particular guild, noble house, political affiliation, neighbourhood, organisation, society, or even race. Generally, faction moves involve a roll that exchanges possible obligation or other cost for assistance, information, matériel, bonuses or some other advantage. Most such moves will be tailored to the character. Some might be available to any character willing to pay membership dues (see Delver's Guildsman, below). Joining some factions (e.g. the Inverted Pyramid) may be so involved that doing so opens up a new specialisation rather than supplying faction moves.

Delver's Guildsman

When you research an expedition under the city in the Delver's Guild maproom, roll+INT. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2, but other guildsmen get wind of your expedition. On a miss, hold 1, but some of the information you find will turn out to be dangerously misleading (the GM will tell you when). Spend hold while on the expedition to choose one of the following:

• Take +1 to spout lore, discern realities or undertake a perilous journey.
• Recognise a landmark when lost.
• Find a guild waystation.

Ptolus

rich, growing, legion, safe, religion (Church of Lothian, others), exotic (technology, magic items, slaves, drugs), oath (Empire of Tarsis), trade (every steading nearby, most major cities), market, history, arcane, divine, guild (all varieties), craft (metalwork), power (political, divine)

Like all settlements in Dungeon World, Ptolus is a steading, an extremely large and prosperous one. Most locations in the city make available at least one custom move. Some examples:

when you worship at the...

when you enter the Necropolis at night...

when you use the observatory...

and so on.

Specialties

The following are some additional specialties for use with the Class Warfare character creation concept. Most of these exist to better match some d20 or Pathfinder concepts.

Spontaneous Caster

A spontaneous caster connects to magic on an intimate, personal level, naturally manifesting spell-casting ability. This specialty exists to match d20-style sorcerers and other spontaneous casters, casting a more limited selection of spells, more often.

Heirophant

A heirophant forms the basis of characters who can cast both arcane and divine magic. These are a type of Vancian caster that can use spheres of influence as well as schools of magic, though limited to casting spells below their own level.