Dungeon World Burning

Dungeon World First Session Questions:
I love the idea of Dungeon Starters like the Goblin Hole, and Modules like the Bloodstone Idol or the Spanterhook Guild. But I also get me the hankering for a group setting generation too, in the vein of Burning Wheel’s Worldburning session guidelines.

So I adapted that process to feed in to the Dungeon World Chargen. As the players are creating characters and establishing bonds and details, ask questions like crazy! Ask these of the players, allowing the others to answer too if they feel so inclined. Remember to address the characters, and use the answers to re-incorporate or make moves. You may even set-up ‘cut scenes’ or flashbacks to introduce the concept of using moves and the move flow from one to another in the ‘turns’ of the conversation.

What does (Character with highest Bond with you) know about the Big Picture, the greater goings on in the world?
What's going on in the world that makes it ripe for YOUR adventures?
What have you seen changing, evolving, or declining in the world?
What is (another character’s) most annoying cultural / racial trait?
What's the conflict in which you (and at least one other character) are involved? What are the sides? What's wrong?
What's the name of the most important place in this setting? Where all the action goes down?
Tell us about the place where you rest your head at night...
What do you know about what (other character) does with their day?
Who underestimated you once? What happened in the aftermath?
What monsters do you fear?
What environment are you most comfortable in?
Tell us all about the last time you visited the nearest mountains, desert, ocean or forest.
Choose one of these one page dungeon maps and keep it. Where did you get this information? What’s the dungeon called? Where is it rumoured to be? What monsters inhabit it? What treasures lie within? What was it once?
Who has a scar? Is it magical or mundane? Emotional or physical?
What’s the name of the wild space do your fear the most?
What's the name of a faraway place that folks talk about, dream about or mutter under their breath about?
Who would you die for?
What is your most prized possession? What would you do if it was stolen or lost?
Who / what do you love above all others?
Who are your hated antagonists? Who is opposing your goals?

Then hit them with this opening scene....
Tell us all of the vision you had in a dream / ritual / meditative state of you all standing a room/ruin/field with your hated antagonists or their minions.
Huh. (another character) What do you think the antagonists want from that meeting? (discern realities)
(Another Character) What do you want from the meeting?

That's where your game begins...

Alternately, Tell us all about when you were all standing at the scene of some great disaster or calamity clearly caused by one of the antagonists.  What's the disaster? How did it happen? What are you going to do about it right now?

I'll be setting up a campaign in two weeks using these questions, the Redbook and I'll let y'all know how it goes :)

Just to clarify, Dungeons Starters are designed, specifically, to not get in the way of the world building part of starting a new game (they shouldn't get in the way of filling out your front sheets as you play through the first session either).  The world building part of the game is one of the game's strengths.  What they provide is starting situation so that you can start just when things get interesting and a crib sheet of things that could come up in play (to take a little pressure off of the GM).  

The starters establish situation by providing a specific set of leading questions, at least one for each PC. For example, the questions in The Goblin Hole establish that the players have just entered a cave, a bit away from civilization, that at one time was occupied by goblins, that something smells, and that your ponies are waiting outside.  It also establishes that one the players has a good reason to be here and that at least one player has sworn to do some specific thing here.  

Those shouldn't be the only questions you ask.  Who did you swear the oath to?  If this is where we needed to go, how did you know about it?  Why will the ponies be safe?  Does it have to do where the entrance to the cavern is?  Why do you hope you don't run into those giant roaches that freak you out?  That smell of elephant dung, what could be big enough to trap an elephant in here?    How far did you travel from the nearest town?  Is that the largest town in the region?  Who's in charge there?  How do they feel about elfish peoples?  Where do the Elfish people come from?  etc.

The questions are there to set up the first scene, provide an anchor for all the other details that you could bring into the game, and always give you something to do right away.  For example, the GM hands out character sheets and immediately has some questions to ask to get the world building started through further Q/A.   Then, when players push into the cave, you can describe something of your own or pick something cool from the list and describe that.  Alternately, you could pick a custom move you like and set up a reason to use it or pick an item for them to discover or creature to encounter.  Treat them like a buffet.

Oh, I know!
I wasn't trying to disclaim your wonderful starters! Like you suggest, they are just more focused 'starting points' for a wonderful game to evolve from! I love love love all of the questions and prompts you have too - Awesome! Thanks so much for elucidating. :)

The ideal in my mind would be to have 100s of your Dungeon starters, almost like 'lists'. Each providing a 'hook' or tidbit for a certain game or start of a game, or possibility of a game session. As something the players can browse through (spout lore even), find in treasure troves, hear about at the tavern, research when not adventuring and the like. What sort of adventures do they want to go on? As immersed in the tapestry of the fiction.

Dungeon world is so freaking good. I just wanted to share some of the questions I ask when I start a game during Chargen.

This questions are so sweet! Just really the inspiration I've been looking for to kick off collaborative world building. Question asking is one of my many weak points as a GM. Thanks again. 

Day-um, that is a good read. Thanks for floating this back up to the top of the forum. I hadn't been looking back that far as things have been moving fast!

I've started tinkering with something similar called a "Begin Session Move." Fancy name for a reminder to myself to properly recap, ask compelling starting questions to establish context with player input, explain goals that were set previously or whatever, and then hit them with an opening action scene. Then they drive from there on out. But now this... I can't wait to use this on my next set of victims, er, players. More and more I realize how important that discussion is at the start and also the End of Session move. I'm really making time for it now.

Also, I hope to be as polite as noofy someday. I swore under my breath when I typed that. It's a work in progress.

So, I hate to critique even mildly such a great idea, but I wanted to toss a few minor points in.

One of the things they tell you when writing or making movies is to never make a thing about what you're talking about.  Yea, confusing I know.

What I'm trying to say is that the big scope questions should be emergent.  If you look at someone and say 'what's the big picture about what's going on in the world' they will likely get blank page syndrome (too many choices, not enough frame to hang them on).

If you look at say the Fighter and say "Have you ever killed in service of someone? Say for money or honor?" that's a localized and intimately personal question.  Since they'll probably say 'yes' then you can say "Did your side win?" indicating a conflict.  Then ask what or who they were fighting, and whether the lordling they fought for still holds that land and what sort of relationship they have.

You then have a place, nobility/authority structure, antagonist, established history etc.

But the point I'm trying to make is that asking for an open-ended big picture (name someone opposing your goals) is very broad and loose.  If you start small (personal) and build up, you get the same inferences and the same results, but it's easier to get folks to help you build.

What is it they say?  It's difficult to fight for an ideal, because it's difficult to grasp the scope of it. Soldiers die for the brother fighting next to them.

Start with the brother, and look for the ideal.  And always remember to ask someone who they have a bond with if folks get stuck (which is normal and happens).

I want to stress that I feel this is a FANTASTIC idea, just probably could use some tweaking and refinement on the exact questions.  Not 100% sure if it's better to try and get some sort of universal list together, or just make a list of 50+ questions that folks select from for their specific groups.  Maybe even some Race/Playbook specific subsets to add to the mix.

I really, really, really dig the 'beginning of session' question idea.  As people play, they get ideas and assume things frequently.  So using such questions to prompt memory, get people in the mood and excited about play, and foreshadow and expand on stuff is pretty great.  Reminds me a bit of the Quarantine Playbook in Apocalypse World, but more group oriented.  And that's pretty darn sweet.

ooooh I'm glad this thread got some love :)
I can say that it works a treat, either as the loosey goosey 'top down' appraoch I suggest, or the more focused playbook specific fishing (The Mountain Witch trick that Stras encourages). Though I can't take the credit, most of this was inspired by BWHQ (Luke, Thor and Judd in particular). If you haven't already, I thoroughly recommend the Adventure Burner's Commentary chapter as a good story games primer for any GM, not just Burning Wheel.

As Both Marshall and Stras advise, these aren't the only questions you ask, they are just the beginnings; the 'tip of the ice berg' that gives you nibbles at the bigger fish down below. The big fish that really tap into the sort of game that you all want to play and get jazzed about.

Wonderful suggestions all, I especially like the idea of a start of session move, very very appealing.

And polite? Why thank you Iserith, you are a most eloquent gentleman yourself, I think the odd expletive is far from disparaging! I tend to swear under my breath too :)