Races are really accessories in Dungeon World. How can you translate more potent races (or race features) from other settings to Dungeon World?
For instance I'm trying to make an Eberron game using Dungeon World (I think the sytem would work really well for the setting) but when it comes to advantages and new races with special abilities I'm not sure how to proceed.
Changelings can disguise themselves at will into non-specific individuals. I shouldn't give them a level 6-10 thief ability for free that would be too much I think. So what can I do? Create a new move for the changeling saying that they can pass as any other race? Making the disguise more for specific disguise situation?
What about Warforged that don't need to sleep and eat etc. How do you handle it and what's the point for other characters to not take it. How do you balance those choices.
I'd like to add Dragonmarks as well but they are really powerful gifts. Should I create a "race" called Dragonmarked and say that you are simply a dragonmarked version of another (valid) race?
What about Drows in Forgotten Realm? How would you translate their ability to create shadows? All moves? But how does free moves like this balance in the game mechanics?
Related question: Playing Dungeon World in an established setting
Best Answer
Nothing in Dungeon World is a straight conversion of D&D – everything is re-imagined. Even the base classes provided can't be used to convert a D&D character straight across (for example, in stock DW there's no way you can make a Dwarven Druid, while you can easily do so in D&D 3.x without creating a house rules). A straight conversion of new material is never going to be simple. To convert new material, you have to re-imagine it fresh, with the aim of capturing the flavour and style of the material instead of the raw abilities.
For complex or powerful races, you are actually better off creating a new playbook for the race, with a few optional abilities to pick depending on what class they are. So instead of picking up the Fighter book and choosing a Fighter-class Drow racial ability, you pick up the Drow book and pick a Drow-race Fighter class ability. Doing it this way you get a very Dungeon World–style character: they're the one Drow (or Warforged, or Dragonmarked, or …) in the party, and their abilities have a flavour and mix that is unique to them.
You still have the challenge of balancing a new playbook, but you avoid the mess that can easily result from hacking up and rebalancing the existing class books.