Space Wurm vs Moonicorn: I finally submitted

I finally succumbed, mostly because of sub rosa hype from certain notables over many months.

I’ve never seen such a crazy color palette in print. It’s readable! But so much pink/puce/mauve/periwinkle/etc.

Initial read via pdf is promising, looks crazy and I can’t quite figure out what sessions might look like, but some really nervy design.

0 thoughts on “Space Wurm vs Moonicorn: I finally submitted”

  1. Yeah love the colours and it just really comes off as a premium quality product. And love the design work a lot, I feel like it sets up a very cool space opera right from the get go, really want to get it to the table.

  2. I bet the printer cried when they saw the depth and saturation of color required. It really is bold and beautiful.

    I remain scandalized that this 300+ page book doesn’t have an index. Johnstone gave it some thought and has a reason it has no index, but he is wrong and every 300+ page book should have an index.

  3. Aaron Griffin not necessary! But there is another supplement called something like “Battle Between The Worlds,” maybe? And it sounds like maybe it’s an early version of the ideas that show up in SWvM? The quick play (one shot) rules reference it a lot, and it’s a source of additional playbooks in the one-shot format.

  4. Shervyn von Hoerl aha, sure.

    That’s something about SWvM I’m having some trouble wrapping my head around: why on earth would you play anything other than the baked in playbooks? They’re so specifically tuned. Like, what would the point be of a space bard or whatever.

  5. I guess I could see the rock star value in the setting, actually. But it seems like the basic DW move set wouldn’t be nearly as neat as what the new books have.

  6. You are right, Paul Beakley I had not read Space Wurm recently and forgotten that bit on pg 318.

    Let me clarify and say that Battle Between the Worlds is self-contained in the same way that Space Wurm is. Neither NEEDS any external thing (except the base Dungeon World rules, maybe).

  7. I think if I had more play experience with DW I wouldn’t feel so…befuddled? Intimidated? At the idea of SWvM as a contained DW campaign setting. Like, I think there are implications about DW advancement and steadings and bonds that play out in SWvM in probably interesting ways.

  8. I think it’s really cool how we can look at the same game and be excited by two completely different things. You are much better at grocking the implications of mechanics than I will ever be and it seems to me that innovative mechanics really interest you, while I am totally a fluff guy. I design a character concept and then play with the blind hope that mechanics will work with me. 😄

  9. Well I’m thinking about it as a gm, too. And to make that work I feel like the mechanisms need to be deeply understood.

    I mean I could run a SMvM Archipelago game as well.

  10. Paul, you can use the Sequence of Play section (p 322) to guide the full game, too, not just the quick play version. After you get it started, I think it’s probably easier to run it the same as Apocalypse World, rather than thinking it needs to be like Dungeon World. The situations in Battle Between the Worlds are also pretty good for kicking things off.

  11. So you dont need DW or Adventures on Dungeon Planet for this? That was my big hold up, because I just haven’t been in the mood to play a game that needs like 4 books.

  12. Johnstone Metzger​​ so…start by introducing SW (ensconced in their place of power, assets and authority on display) and then M (active, in trouble, being rebellious), and then just start setting up scenes relative to your chosen Fronts, I suppose?

    I like that there are threats and villains outside the SW/M relationship. Initially I thought it was nose to nose at all times, but the frenemy possibilities and the obvious triangles (Lover, Mogul, etc) say otherwise.

    I think right now I’m thinking about scenes that don’t feel contrived but I don’t know why that’s lodged in there. Like you’re totally right about running it like AW: the Other and the Mogul are just there together at the…whatever (Spice negotiations, secret police central command, whatever) because they’re framed that way.

    Play-the-day makes no sense at all. I assume in actual play, players start proposing their own scene setups once they understand the fronts and likely settings?

  13. Aaron Griffin You need to know how to run Dungeon World in order to run the quick play version (or be good at running PbtA system, at the very least), but you don’t need any additional rules. Check out the pdf of Battle Between the Worlds (it’s free), the SWvsM quick play is basially the same just with different characters. The regular version of the game uses the DW rules. Any other DW-related product is totally an optional thing.

  14. Paul Beakley Yup, pretty much. Keep track of your fronts and if you think it’s time to interrupt the PCs with your villains doing stuff, frame that scene. Otherwise, call for scenes you want to see, anything about any of the PCs that interests you; or call on somebody who’s had less spotlight time and ask them what they plan to do next and go from there.

  15. I’ve run a tonne of DW, and pretty decently (if I do say so myself), but I kinda feel like I don’t ever have to do that again, you know? But planetary romance really does light a fire for me, as does the stunning look of this game… and since there is zero chance of anybody else in my local group picking it up, I guess I’ll just wait until a day when I have some extra scratch and a strong need for saturated pinks and purples.

  16. Stras Acimovic I’m looking forward to giving it a spin. The heavy-ish dependency on Dungeon World experience has me a teeny bit concerned. The one-shot rules look super amusing, though, and so maybe we just do that.

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