Underworld Adventurer

The thieves of Dungeon World all owe their loyalty to the Bone Pickers of Royal Bay. Dungeon World has no borderlands for bandit gangs to raid. It settlement, Topside, has a population only in the hundreds presenting only so many homes to burgle. The abilities to achieve near-impossble climbs, to step with cat-like grace, or to open things fastened tight are best honed in the reclamation projects of the guild known as the Bone Pickers rather than traditional marks of the theft. The guild does not take kindly to the unaffiliated practicing the extraordinary skills they teach their members in secret. Those that attempt to find themselves on the receiving end of Guildmaster Swift's firm judgement. She is has also forbid guild members from maliciously injuring a child in any way.  Members of the Bone Pickers learn the skills of the thief as presented under the optional rule for D6 Thief Skills published in Carcass Crawler #1. In addition, they all begin play being able to speak the can...

Magic-users throughout the planes approach the use of the arcane arts and its underpinnings from an endless myriad of practices. The community of pan-plane spellcasters that have found their way to Dungeon World, though, have found they all share the spell book. Occult formulaes scribed into material reality via obtuse ciphers of magical words and/or runes is the quintessential item used in arcane study. This is what ties the community of magic-users in Topside together- spell book culture. The hub of their community is Ashtown Stationers were the tools for creating such books are found. Each magic-user starts their adventuring life with their own fledging treatise on magic featuring a single of the beginning spells. This grimoire must be named and described. Spellcraft Downtime Activity: Decipher a Spell Scroll or Spell Book While the composition of their own occult oeurve is the essential work of this class, adventurers that count themselves among them also collect the spell scrolls...

The halflings found on Dungeon World are some of Topside’s most enthusiastic residents. Rarely did they end up adrift in the Astral Sea due to circumstances of their own making. Due to this, they often crave a chance to build a new stable life in the pocket plane. The kinds of adventure-filled scenarios that lead to planar travel sit at odds with the common halfling culture of centering routine and comfort. Yet, there is often something buried in a halfling’s family ancestral lore that inspired them to make one simple decision that upended everything. Halfling players should roll 1d6 to find out what piece of family history momentarily spurred them on to take a chance: Fey Touched- It is said that your great-great-great-great-grandparent took a fey spouse. Members of your family are often taller than most halflings (up to a towering 4” in height!) and sparser in hair upon the feet. They often can get caught up in a fey-like curiosity unbecoming of a halfling. You know the Elven langua...

Of all the types of adventurers found in Dungeon World, the fighter is the most pervasive. Across the planes, human kind engages in the violence of warfare. As a result, Topside is populated with a panoply of combat-trained adventurers kitted out in a wide ranging assortment of arms and armor. Unlike other player characters, fighters roll d66 for the starting equipment granting a wider array of options compared to other classes. The woolly array found within this adventuring class results in a lack of distinct organization among them. Outside of the licensing office for adventurers, there is little to force a greater structure among the fighter community. There are, however, legends of intuitions of martial training spread word-of-mouth among the network of fighters. They are legends, in part, because both have not seen someone train under them in recent memory. This paths of martial advancement are the Training Dungeons of the Onyx Gardens and the Dragon Knights of Dungeon World. The ...

Dwarves are said to be native to Dungeon World-- made from the maggots that feast on the corpse of Rainbow Queen. Some believe that these dwarves are the origin point of all dwarven kind throughout the planes. Regardless of the veracity of this truth, many dwarves do find themselves at home in the demi-plane. Dwarven hands carved its tunnels and their hands helped lay the stones of its oldest structures. Of the Dwarves native to the pocket dimension, only Brok of the Forge of the World lives in Topside. As a result, he is the default elder of the settlement's dwarven community. With his background in metal working, he has cultivated a community centered around the traders. The community he leads is made up of a diverse smattery of the dwarves found throughout the planes. Here are four of the most common background these dwarves hail from: The Bargainers- Some dwarves are known for their knowledge and skill with gold. Gold is often the most coveted of precious metals. These dwar...

The elven society of Dungeon World is a cosmopolitan one. While it revolves around the elves of the Seedholm estate and its Lady-Bound-In-White, they have a place in their circles for all elves of character and distinction. Different communities of elven kind are bound by spirits tied to core metaphysical concepts and magical expressions of these considerations. Among this diverse elven diaspora in Topside, elves of many backgrounds can find a mentor willing to guide them along the ways of their people.  Elves new to adventuring on Dungeon World typically start knowing one spell tied to their path. Starting elven characters should roll 1d6 to discover from which tradition they come: The Children of Yggdrasil- These elves, sometimes called Green Elves, seek a life embodying the joy found in the breaking of the winter cold and the return of life to the world. They reject ways of what they call “civilization” and embrace a life some might call hedonistic or wild. When it comes to ...

Throughout the realms, adventurers sworn to service of a deity are known as clerics. On other planes, clerics may sometimes arm themselves with bladed weapons. On Dungeon World, however, the memory of Tiamat flesh being cut from her bone by the gods is still stings too sharply. Any cleric wielding any non-blunt weapon while in the demi-plane, regardless of what rules may apply for them in other dimensions, faces the wrath of the Mother of Monsters herself. Of deities, the Game Master is wildly jealous. He may be an immortal being of vast cosmic power but he is not possessing of divinity per say. His time as a patron for spellcasters who forge arcane pacts for a piece of his power has made him jealous of the devotion a cleric bestows upon their deity. The Game Master may be an entity of awesome might but he is also petty. Currently he only acquiesces to clerics serving two deities on Dungeon World: Bahamut and Thor. Bahamut Known as the King of Dragons, the platinum dragon name...

  Cardinal Hill (The Heart of Topside) At the center of Topside sits its necropolis- a hill covered with arching paths lined with sepulchers and sarcophagi. It can be seen from any point in the settlement making it a key directional landmark. All of the graves here sit above ground as the people of Dungeon World have learned the hard way that only bad things come to those that inter the dead in the soil born of Tiamat’s decaying body. 12. The Rose Mausoleum At the top of the hill, a tall mausoleum rises to tower above the settlement. The head of the Grave Wardens based here, the shockingly tweenage High Sexton , claims its pink marble walls protect its inhabitants from the effects of the phlogistan. The structure's entrance is marked by a skull relief that possesses eyes set with rubies. Carved into the floor are the words, “Remember that you must die”. Visitors are known to perform Spiritual Execrises in the form of offerings to the dead they have interred there. The attempts se...

  Royal Bay (Southeast Topside) Bluestone and slate-roofed cottages overlook the harsh rocks lapped by the flow of phlogistan rolling in from the Astral Sea. The remains of beached monstrosities and wrecked astral vessels dragged in by the cosmic tide litter the rocks. 10. The Three Wizards This crumbling coastal estate has been repurposed into lodgings for those lost souls who have yet to establish a permanent domicile in Topside. Callidine , one who speaks with two voices, is like a midwife ushering those newly arrived into life on Dungeon World. The following lodgings can be secured on a monthly basis as no one is just “passing through” Dungeon World: *The Common Room (3gp) - a spot can be found among the tented silks around the room’s pool of fresh water. Those that do must pass a Constitution check or suffer a -1 penalty to attack and damages on their next delve due to bad sleep. Those that fail also have a 1-in-6 chance of falling to memorize a spell (roll for each slot they ...

The Pitch (Northeast Topside) Tall buildings with blackened timber frames line the narrow, dark cobble stone streets of the Pitch. Its smoke choked paths are home to what entertainment there is to be found in Topside. Often light on foot traffic during the day, the district comes alive with pleasure seekers and spectators of Dungeon World's many contests. 7. The Forge of the (Dungeon) World Pressed against the side of Cardinal Hill stretches Topside’s only smithy. It’s large size seems absurd for it houses but a single ironsmith- Brok . The Dungeon World native is a licensed armorer capable of crafting 5 weapons or 3 shields or 1 suit of armor a month. When drinking at the nearby tavern, he is known to fall into sad lamentations about the Splendid Items he used to forge with his dwarven siblings. 8. The Alchemist’s Jug This halfling-run tavern is the last of Topside’s public drinking establishments. While the taps of the rest of the drinking holes long went dry, the Full-Pint fam...

Emerald Terrace (Northwest Topside) Moss-covered paving stones carve a path through the overgrown landscape of Topside’s northwestern quarter. Sparse, ivy-covered residences mark hilly terrain otherwise dotted with pavilions and pagodas. Herds of goats forage grasses in the shadows of small-scale terraced farms. 4. Seedholm Overlooking it all, high on the edge of Dungeon World, sits the baroque manor house that is center to Topside’s elven diaspora. Founded by refugees of a wilted branch of Yggdrasil, the estate was constructed at the site where their migrational samara marooned them on Dungeon World. Their matriarch, the Lady-Bound-in-Leaves , has shrewdly leveraged their colony-ship supplies to position them at the center of Topside’s high society. Their balls and soirees are packed with the who’s-who of Dungeon World’s surface society- often making it the perfect place to Find the Right Buyer for antiquities and curios dragged out of the halls below. 5. Thunder Grove A large but s...