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At its core, Dungeon World 2 is a group conversation in a shared imaginative space, often called "the fiction" or "the narrative". Everybody takes turns describing what happens in the narrative, with Players presenting what their characters do, say, and feel as their characters (PCs), and the GM describing how the world reacts to the PCs’ actions.

Generally, the cycle of the ongoing conversation looks like this:

1. The GM presents a dramatic situation for the PCs to respond to, often making a Move that follows their Agenda and Principles. This may be a tempting opportunity, intriguing clue, dangerous attack, jovial banter, ominous vision, tragic revelation, and/or much more. Often, the GM will end their description by asking "What do you do?" If multiple PCs are involved, the GM may ask them as a group or may focus on a specific PC.

2. The Player(s) describe their response. This may involve a bit of back-and-forth with the GM to clarify some details and what is reasonable to accomplish. Breaking through a barred door with your fists and feet might not be feasible, but if you use a huge axe it may very well be.

3. The GM decides if a Move is triggered. Most Moves begin with a narrative hook in bolded text that "triggers" when met (e.g. “When you engage a foe in battle…”). When this trigger happens the Move usually proceeds as-written, accounting for Fictional Positioning.

4. If a Move is triggered the Player resolves it, usually rolling dice as part of that. Some Moves, like Aid a PC, are meant to boost other Moves, so Players can describe how they trigger them to help another Move. Once a Move is resolved, it changes the fiction going forward.

5. The GM describes how things change, often building upon this change to present the next dramatic situation by returning to Step 1.

The most important, foundational idea that underlies all of Dungeon World 2’s design is a very simple one: no one, Player or GM, should know with certainty what will happen next in the game. In short: play to find out.

This means that everyone trusts each other to discover and lead the action from moment-to-moment, rather than rigidly plan for particular outcomes. By following the Player’s Best Practices, GM Agenda and Principles, as well as the rest of the Moves and procedures presented here, everyone works together to let their actions—and their consequences—guide the conversation forward towards interesting and dramatic situations.

That’s why the adventures we offer you (and the procedures to create them) aren’t structured around specific outcomes or the PCs acting in a certain manner. In contrast, the GM is offered complicated situations and distinct elements to present to the Players, and the PCs actions will determine the possible ways in which things will evolve.

When your PC’s sword breaks in a fight, they can still swing with their fists. When the PCs fail to save the prince’s life, you can roleplay chasing down the assassin. And when someone’s beloved fictional village lies in ruin, your PC can pick up their hammer and help with the rebuilding.

A clean success in DW2 is statistically rare so you'll most often get dice results that imply success mixed with failure and/or a cost. But even total failure is not the end, because you can always deal with the consequences and progress in the fiction.

If your PC loses something—be it an NPC relation, an important possession, or an opportunity they fought hard for—then you have the chance to roleplay how your character deals with loss.

Everyone at the table should work together to have the most fun possible. Even when your PCs are separated or arguing with each other, you as Players are on the same team. As such, here are some of our top recommendations for great cooperation at the table:

• Before starting or continuing an extended Scene on your own, such as the Rogue sneaking off to steal something, check in with the others to see if they’re alright with that, or if they want the spotlight for a bit.
• Before significantly harming or altering another PC—or something important to them—check to see if their Player consents to such harm and/or alteration.
• Try to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. Group dynamics are hard to navigate, and some people can unintentionally be louder or quieter than others. We advise that you listen intently and don’t interrupt when someone else is speaking, and to check with anyone who hasn’t spoken up in a while.
• Treat each other with respect, and uphold boundaries, especially those established through Safety Tools. For example, if the Cleric’s uncle character passing away tragically would make the game less fun (for anyone in the game) then work together and search for another consequence.

Roleplay your character as best as you can. This includes expressing their thoughts, feelings, and motivation(s), either through first person “acting” (e.g. looking sad when your PC feels sad) or third person descriptions (e.g. my character/Duskmantle feels sad…) . We recommend that you start with a relatively simple character concept, then develop nuances and/or reveal details over time.

Finally, we advise that you ask each other questions, in- and out-of-character, and be generous with your responses when asked questions in return.

Safety and patience are for real life (and most NPCs in the fiction), but they rarely make for fun adventures. Your PC shines the brightest when they’re at their limit. As such, we recommend that you roleplay decisively and in the moment, pursuing dangerous fictional objectives/goals and acting on the opportunities that arise in the game. We advise you keep complex plans and preparations offscreen or in flashbacks, as they often abruptly stop the narrative flow.

We think that PCs should be easy to bruise but hard to break. According to the rules, even when in mortal danger, your character will only die when you risk it or choose to (see Face Death). That means that you make dangerous and exciting decisions for your character because their ultimate fate is always in your hands.

Sometimes the GM will start a Scene in medias res; i.e. in the middle of the action. The PCs will be forced to immediately react and do things without much context or preparation, and the Players may feel a bit confused and uncomfortable.

If you’re playing a PC, we recommend you resist the urge to stop and plan, or to renegotiate the Conditions of the Scene. Instead, think about what your character would do and, following one of the Player’s Best Practices described above (“Accept Losses Gracefully”), just roll with it and see where it gets you. We believe everyone in the game will have a much better time playing this way than going for a more cautious, undramatic approach.

The most important question that’ll guide the conversation—and the fiction—is “What do you do?” The GM will most often ask the question to the PCs as a group (after presenting them with a given situation) and, at other times, they’ll prompt a specific PC.

“What do you do?” is an invitation for Players to add to the conversation , to roleplay their characters in the moment, and act in a way that pushes the conversation forward. In this sense, it’s good to remember that action is almost always more dramatic than planning or discussing what to do. The former will most probably advance and/or complicate the fictional situation, while the latter can lead to slowing down or even stopping all dramatic momentum. Remember that another way to express Dungeon World 2’s vision is to say that it’s a game about interesting fantasy people acting decisively under great pressure. So, don’t feel afraid to increase the pressure.

The result of the interaction between conversation and game mechanics is the fiction. That fiction starts building before any dice are rolled during Session Zero, with the Players and GM establishing boundaries and agreeing on certain themes and/or ideas they want to explore. During this session (or even before it) the GM may present the Players with some ideas about the fantasy world they’d like to explore, either inspired by a known fantasy world or one of their own creation. The most important thing to remember here is that, in either case, DW2 is about playing to find out, so no detail or preference should make it so a specific outcome in the fiction is predetermined.

Once gameplay starts, all characters in the fiction have certain abilities (often determined by their Class) or carry possessions (any and all Equipment) that make it so certain actions should be reasonably easier or harder for them to pull off. For example, a diminutive pixie can’t reasonably swing a greataxe—unless there’s an explanation like magic or something else. Those properties and “reasonable”/logical things in the fiction we refer to in general as fictional positioning.

Fictional positioning is a responsibility of everyone in the game; that’s why an important part of the conversation is about clarifying what’s currently happening in the fiction and especially how the PCs are situated in relation to it. Moves interact directly with fictional positioning, as the decision to trigger them—or not—by the GM is often highly dependent on it. Coming back to the example of the diminutive pixie, it’d be well within reason for a GM to declare that the PC cannot Trade Blows with a greataxe they cannot wield!