- +N Foward (move mechanic)- add +N to your next move (not damage) roll result which might be any or apply to a specific move (like +1 forward to hack and slash). The +3 modifier cap still applies.
- +N Hold (move mechanic)- allows you to make N choices later on by hold. Hold must be spent on move that generated it; hold from defend can't be used on trap expert or vice versa, for example
- +N Ongoing (move mechanic)- take +N to all move rolls (not damage) roll result until the condition specified takes place.
- Ability Scores (system component) - measures an adventurer's possession of strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma on a scale of 3-18 for mortals.
- Ability Modifiers - derived from current ability score on a +3 to -3 scale.
- Adept (hireling ) - has at least apprenticed to an arcane expert but is still a novice and not especially powerful.
- Adventure - a fiction that is only intended to last one or a couple of game sessions. Has a simple plot.
- Adventurers- the player characters
- Alignment - a few words that depict your character's moral outlook and behavior they consistently aspire to.
- - any action you can interfere with that has harmful effect: swords, arrow, spells,grabs, charges, etc.
- Almanac (sheet) - written record for a region kept by the GM
- Areas- smaller pieces of geography within a region with at least one distinct feature and point of interest.
- Bolster (move)
- Bonds - feelings, thoughts and shared history that tie characters together.
- Burglar (hireling ) - skilled at larceny, disabling traps and other criminal or shady deeds but not very good at combat.
- Campaign - longer fiction intended to last for an extensive period of time, possibly ending if/when the player characters reach 10th level and complete world-changing events.
- Cantrips - very simple wizard spells which can be cast without counting towards allotment.
- Carouse (move)
- Characteristics- any information like name, race, ability scores, bonds, starting moves, etc., which is displayed in playbook and directly relates to who and what your character is or is capable of.
- Characters - can mean the adventurers (the player characters) or everyone presented in the fiction: adventurers, hirelings, monsters and other NPCs.
- Clerics (class) - warrior-healers who are sworn to the service of a deity.
- Confused (debilities) - causes -1 to wisdom modifier until recovery
- Creature- Living (and Unliving) beings subdivided into beasts, humans, humanoids and monsters.
- Custom Moves - moves created by GM or borrowed from second-party source to enhance an adventure or campaign.
- Damage - anything done to a character which reduces their HP.
- Danger (front component) - five types of threats included in creating and using fronts .
- Danger (encounter component) - Anything, such as monster or trap, that if left unchecked may be harmful.
- Death - 1. what happens to a character who is reduced to 0 HP and fails their Last Breath roll; 2. the entity Death who holds dominion beyond the Black Gates.
- Debilities- hard to heal impairments caused by certain types of attacks. There is one for each ability score.
- Defend (move)
- Defenses (steading) - characteristic of a steading which relates to the quality and quantity of its armed defenders.
- Defy Danger (move)
- Discern Realities (move)
- Discovery - anything the party finds interesting but not immediately threatening.
- Druid (class) - semi-feral shapeshifters who are spiritually tied to nature.
- Dungeon Gear - collection of named items that a character possesses to facilitate adventuring; adventuring gear is a "catch-all" DG item with expendable uses.
- Dungeons - any place where adventurers face monsters and other perils.
- Encounters (component) - dangers and discoveries which the party are exposed to while exploring.
- Encumbrance (move)
- End of Session (move)
- Equipment/Gear - physical items carried or worn by a character
- Fighter (class) - warrior class with a signature weapon which plays a role in their personal story.
- GM - the Game Master who organizes the game, abitrates disputes and interpets/enforces the rules.
- Grim Portents (danger component) - the result of a danger going unchecked; part of a Front .
- Hack & Slash (move)
- Hirelings - minor DM-controlled characters who travel with the adventurers in exchange for payment.
- Hit Points (HP) - a characteristic that defines how much health/life a character possesses. For PCs, it is influenced by class and constitution modifier.
- Impending Doom (danger component) - the final catastrophic outcome of a Front if all the grim portents come to pass.
- Instinct (Monsters) - a monster characteristic which describes an an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior. Also used in creating Instant NPCs
- Keeps (steadings) - steadings found on the edges of civilization specifically built for defense.
- Knacks (NPCs) - way to pursue an Instant NPC instinct.
- Last Breath (move)
- Level - characteristic that is raised through spending XP which grants access to advanced moves and other benefits. Classic DW focusses on level 1 to level 10 adventurers.
- Level Up (move)
- Magic - any ability that goes beyond the physical possible
- Magic Items - non-mundane items that have intrinsic power.
- Make Camp (move)
- Manors (custom steading) - smaller than a village, generally a nobleman's family and servants.
- Map- drawing or diagram with shows spatial relations between places.
- Mark XP - Add 1 to your current XP total.
- Minstrel (hireling) - mundane musicians willing to work for the adventurers.
- Monsters - The advesaries, typically (humanoids, beasts, the undead and planar creatures), that adventurers face in dungeons.
- Moves - Rules that say when they trigger and what effect they have. Always depend on some fictional action and produce a fictional result.
- Outstanding Warrant (move) -
- Paladin (class) - martial servants of divine law and order.
- Parley (move)
- The Perilous Wilds - 1. the dangerous uncivilized wilderness between steadings and dungeons; 2. a popular second-party sourcebook
- Places- regions, areas, steadings and sites.
- Population (steading) - a characteristic of a steading which determines its size and available resources.
- Priest (hireling ) - lower ranking clergy within your realm's organized religions capable of a few minor blessings.
- Protector (hireling ) - mundane bodyguards.
- Prosperity (steading) - a characteristic which determines the economic well-being of a steading.
- Range - generally the distance a character's weapon can reach and harm a target.
- Ranger (class)
- RAW - "Rules As Written" aka a very literal interpretation of published rules, opposed to rules adjusted, altered or otherwise customized by a GM.
- Recover (move)
- Regions- large areas of landscape characterized by its dominant natural feature or political aspect.
- Recruit (move)
- Rotes - simple cleric spells that don't count towards spell allotment.
- Shaky (debilities ) - causes -1 to dexterity modifier until recovery.
- Sick (debilities ) - causes -1 to constitution modifier until recovery.
- Sites- a point of interest within a region, area, steading, etc.,Generally contain an encounter.
- Spellcasting - the arcane and divine magic of the wizard and cleric classes.
- Spells - specific magics that include a name, tag, level and an effect.
- Spout Lore (move)
- Stunned (debilities) - causes -1 to intelligence modifier until recovery.
- Supply (move)
- System Components - the "puzzle pieces" of Dungeon World which work together to create the complete game system. Replacing or customizing one in might require modifying an aspect of another.
- Tags - keywords applied to a variety of game elements like weapons, armor, steadings, and monsters.
- Take Watch (move)
- Thief (class) - stealthy, deceptive adventurer class specializing in poisons and disarming traps.
- Towns - medium-sized steadings with a hundred or so citizens.
- Tracker (hireling) - mundane scouts with only rudimentary camping and hunting skills.
- Treasure - precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects collected in Dungeons or from NPCs elsewhere.
- Undertake Perilous Journey (move)
- Villages -small steadings near some easily exploitable resource, typically off the main roads.
- Volley (move)
- Weak (debility ) - causes -1 to strength modifier until recovery
- Warrior (hireling ) - ordinary mercenaries and men-at-arms.
- Wizard (class) - adventurer class educated in the arcane arts and sciences.
- World Bulding- the GM process of developing a fictional setting and presenting it to players.
- XP - slang for experience points. XP are collected and then spent to acqure new character levels.