d20 World of Dungeons

Here is a quick conversion of World of Dungeons to a d20-based system. Enjoy d20 World (of Dungeons). Here are the biggest changes:

We use a d20 now. How can you be role-playing if you don’t use a d20? If you roll under a 10, it’s a miss, if you roll 10-19 it’s a partial success, and if you roll a 20 or above it’s a success. Attributes range from -10 to +10, although anything below a -2 is rare. The odds come out approximately the same as PbtA, although the d20 version leans toward partial success. I don’t think the small odds differences between the two dice systems will be felt at the table. See the chart below to compare.

Magic is fleshed out. The magic system in World of Dungeons of summoning demons felt underdeveloped, so I ported in the Wizard’s playbook from Unlimited Dungeons which covers the casting of almost any spell. The move is two full pages, which is the only downside. I wanted to port in magic as done in Freebooters on the Frontier, but that clashed with the non-class nature of World of Dungeons. It just didn’t work. I added that characters can overpower spells through quicksilver or a sacrifice of their attribute scores (looks nervously at Dungeon Crawl Classics) though, so there is sufficient power for budding mages as long as they roll well.

Different organization. I wanted to emphasize the classless potential of the game, so I put the special abilities and skills in different stand-alone sections and then added an archetypes section for guidance. I also added backgrounds to create a life-cycle system. I also removed the names section. Although there are lots of riffs on World of Dungeons (including two named Advanced World of Dungeons), I didn’t add any additional special abilities. I also included some minor edits based on forum answers and replies.

The conversion clocks in at 12 half-pages, so it fits on 3 pages if printed in booklet form.

Why Do this? A couple of reasons. First I had already written something like this (see: my fantasy heartbreaker), and it was mired in rewrites and indecision for years. This was a project with an endpoint that acts as a good start for what I want.

Second, I want to create a lightweight PbtA system that can also be used as a skirmish game. I am looking for a combat shell that would fit into something like Rangers of Shadow Deep and Five Leagues from the Borderlands. The player-facing rolls and moves with choice could create a fun little solo game. This is the opposite of what most serious authors think PbtA games should look like, but we’ll see how it turns out.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or find a typo (I am sure there are plenty) leave a comment and let me know.