Which version?

I ran the game last Friday for the first time. It was a fun time, I got some useful feedback on how I ran it, and I expect subsequent runs will be even better.

One issue we ran into was that I was unintentionally working with multiple versions. I had the full "Adventurer's Guild" version, and had just gotten the "Red Book" version as well. I figured "Red Book" was the more up-to-date as it was going to be released to the public, so used this for the Basic & Special Moves, and printed off the four playbooks for Fighter, Thief, Wizard, and Cleric classes. I also had the Ranger, Paladin, and Bard printed off from the full AG version, in case someone picked those. These latter three had no playbooks.

Turned out we got a Fighter, a Thief, a Cleric, and a Ranger. Since I had no playbook for the Ranger, I printed the one from the DW Hack. However, as we went through character creation, it became clear that the version of the Ranger in DW Hack was slightly different from the version in full AG. During play we also encountered another few niggling issues, I think, like starting equipment bundles vs starting gold, etc. Not sure if we used some incorrect versions of Moves or not.

So, given that one has access to all three versions:

• DW Hack
• DW full AG
• DW Red Book

Which should be used, which should be ignored, and which are compatible?

Also, will playbooks for the 7 classes in DW full AG version become available sometime? Or are they around somewhere and I'm just missing them?

DW Hack and DW Basic (Red Book) are both subsets of Dungeon World. Unfortunately we ahven't updated the public PDFs for anything but the Red Book lately because we honestly haven't had time.

Okay, thanks Sage. So does that mean that for regular, on-going games - as opposed to demos - the full AG version with no cross-over between Hack and RB would be best? While for demos, stick to Red Book and the 4 classes?

Soon (hopefully after we get back from GenCon) the AG version will be completely compatible with the Red Book version. The Red Book is slightly more up to date, but mostly in small ways: a few changed moves, some slight changes to weight and cost, etc.

For now, if you're already using the AG version, keep using it. You're not missing much. If you're starting something new, I'd use the Red Book classes and moves.

The non-Red Book classes in the full PDF are not quite compatible, mostly because we changed Spout Lore. That said you can probably work around it or fix it yourself on the fly.

Can we get a rundown on the Spout Lore change? I'm running a game for my birthday, and I'll have 5 players, so I'll need to use something that's not in the red book. I'd just like to be able to plan appropriately.

Spout Lore doesn't use questions from a list, which some of the un-updated classes relied on.


Spout Lore (Int)
When you consult your accumulated knowledge about something, roll+Int. On a 10+ the GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the subject relevant to your situation. On a 7-9 the GM will only tell you something interesting—it’s on you to make it useful. The GM might ask you “How do you know this?” Tell them the truth, now.

So with that revision to Spout Lore, what happens on a miss?  "You don't know anything about that?"  Spin falsehood?

There's no fictional positioning with the move, other than thinking about something for a moment.  So it's hard to see what sort of "hard move" the GM would be likely to make.

Just ran this last weekend.  On a miss with spout lore I gave them some correct and incorrect information as a place holder.  I wrote down the information with a star in my notes.  When they came upon the situation the lore applied to started with a harder move based on the miss. 

I ran a couple of games at Gateway over the weekend, on a Spout Lore miss I made a move, often Vomit Forth/Impregnate With Gygaxia (i.e. Show Signs of Doom), sometimes something harder.

There's a little fictional positioning, which you can certainly capitalize on. "Oh, so while you're lost in thought the goblin spy in the bushes moves around behind you, next thing you know there's a goblin on your back, what do you do?" They're certainly focusing on something for a moment, which might mean missing something else. You can also use plenty of other GM moves: "You'e certain you read something about that in your mentor's library, some book called the Liber Cantoratum. If you could get there it would certainly have useful information." (Requirements and ask)

Bad information is a tough thing to pull off well, since the players know their result. Maybe bake that into the move like some of the earlier versions? XP for acting on it (or causing someone else to).