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Apocalypse World / Re: Landscape Fronts
« on: September 06, 2015, 10:27:41 AM »
Thanks, everyone. This does help. I appreciate the answers.
Brilliant Scheme
Brilliant Scheme
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Apocalypse World / Landscape Fronts
« on: September 01, 2015, 04:54:24 PM »
I posted a little while back about Fronts and I think I have the gyst but one kind of Front still throws me - the Landscape Front.
As I understand it, a Front contains Threats and the Threats each have Countdown Clocks leading relentlessly towards a Dark Future. I can revolve this in my mind regarding a monster advancing towards the city or even a disease that is slowly spreading and infecting the population but how does this work for a Landscape?
Let me give you a specific example. In my current game, I added an old abandoned subway tunnel underneath the city. As a Front, I saw it as a Landscape: Maze but as a Maze, it is only a Threat if the player characters go down into it. The Dark Future, as I have made the subway currently, is that the player characters are hopelessly lost in it and run out of food and water. Again, this only works if they choose to enter it. Unlike other Fronts, the characters can avoid this Dark Future by simply not doing anything and staying at home.
I am not sure but maybe I made this Front incorrectly. Was I supposed to build this Front with a Dark Future that affects player characters if they *don't* explore the subway? So, for example, there might be a bomb or gas leak or something that will affect the surface world if the subway is not conquered.
Feedback is appreciated.
Brilliant Scheme
As I understand it, a Front contains Threats and the Threats each have Countdown Clocks leading relentlessly towards a Dark Future. I can revolve this in my mind regarding a monster advancing towards the city or even a disease that is slowly spreading and infecting the population but how does this work for a Landscape?
Let me give you a specific example. In my current game, I added an old abandoned subway tunnel underneath the city. As a Front, I saw it as a Landscape: Maze but as a Maze, it is only a Threat if the player characters go down into it. The Dark Future, as I have made the subway currently, is that the player characters are hopelessly lost in it and run out of food and water. Again, this only works if they choose to enter it. Unlike other Fronts, the characters can avoid this Dark Future by simply not doing anything and staying at home.
I am not sure but maybe I made this Front incorrectly. Was I supposed to build this Front with a Dark Future that affects player characters if they *don't* explore the subway? So, for example, there might be a bomb or gas leak or something that will affect the surface world if the subway is not conquered.
Feedback is appreciated.
Brilliant Scheme
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Apocalypse World / Re: Treasure and Rewards
« on: August 19, 2015, 07:34:47 PM »
I admit to being a newbie at this game but I am a little surprised by some of these responses. Rewards are definitely mentioned in The Master of Ceremonies' Principles - "Respond with fuckery and intermittent rewards." This is how the game works according to the rules.
Unless your players are gluttons for punishment, the MC has to reward the players some time. It can't all be fuckery. While I am in favor of players making thoughtful characters who have motivations beyond material gain and who will feel rewarded by a great story alone but those players are the exception, not the rule. That does not make them bad players. They just don't think on that level. So I am thinking that there need to be some "superficial rewards" for superficial players.
I have been thinking that a series of ironic rewards might be a good compromise. For example:
What I am trying to do is have stuff that would be treasure that barfs forth apocalyptica. It's not a +5 sword but the players will still feel like they "got" something.
I am open to other ideas but "no rewards" is not an option.
Unless your players are gluttons for punishment, the MC has to reward the players some time. It can't all be fuckery. While I am in favor of players making thoughtful characters who have motivations beyond material gain and who will feel rewarded by a great story alone but those players are the exception, not the rule. That does not make them bad players. They just don't think on that level. So I am thinking that there need to be some "superficial rewards" for superficial players.
I have been thinking that a series of ironic rewards might be a good compromise. For example:
- Suitcase Full of $100 Bills
The currency from the old world has no value now but it could be good for starting a fire.
Suitcase is worth 1 barter. - Leather-bound book
You haven't seen one of these in ages.
Page 50 is bookmarked with a photo of a smiling man, woman, and their two children.
The Prince by Machiavelli. Maybe you can pick up some tips. - Bottle of Champagne
Dom Perignon Rose, 2055 Vintage. You have no idea how old this bottle could be.
Worth 1 barter until opened.
What I am trying to do is have stuff that would be treasure that barfs forth apocalyptica. It's not a +5 sword but the players will still feel like they "got" something.
I am open to other ideas but "no rewards" is not an option.
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Apocalypse World / Treasure and Rewards
« on: August 18, 2015, 11:25:34 AM »
I'm new to the game so please forgive me if I am asking naive questions.
I am a bit confused about "rewards."
When should I give rewards to players and what kind of rewards should I give?
Right now I am still in D&D mode to some extent. D&D makes this kind of thing very clear. Players find a room full of monsters. They kill all the monsters. They get the treasure. This is the pattern that often propels the game forward.
In Apocalypse World, I don't know. Should I give rewards when players make progress against a Front? How much and what kind of treasure/rewards makes sense? If 1-barter is the basic unit of measure, what amount of barter is healthy for loot? 1? 3? 100?
What kind of special items should I offer? I could just adapt some Dungeon World magic items to Apocalypse World but does this make sense? For example, I could make a flying carpet into a jet pack or magic plate mail into riot gear.
I am not trying to turn Apocalypse World into a poor man's D&D but I do want to keep my players motivated. Treasure and rewards gives players that proverbial carrot to move towards as well as validating a job well done. How do other people handle this?
Brilliant Scheme
I am a bit confused about "rewards."
When should I give rewards to players and what kind of rewards should I give?
Right now I am still in D&D mode to some extent. D&D makes this kind of thing very clear. Players find a room full of monsters. They kill all the monsters. They get the treasure. This is the pattern that often propels the game forward.
In Apocalypse World, I don't know. Should I give rewards when players make progress against a Front? How much and what kind of treasure/rewards makes sense? If 1-barter is the basic unit of measure, what amount of barter is healthy for loot? 1? 3? 100?
What kind of special items should I offer? I could just adapt some Dungeon World magic items to Apocalypse World but does this make sense? For example, I could make a flying carpet into a jet pack or magic plate mail into riot gear.
I am not trying to turn Apocalypse World into a poor man's D&D but I do want to keep my players motivated. Treasure and rewards gives players that proverbial carrot to move towards as well as validating a job well done. How do other people handle this?
Brilliant Scheme
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Apocalypse World / Re: Building Fronts - No idea what I am doing
« on: August 06, 2015, 06:36:16 PM »
I don't mind hijacking this thread as long as I can comment on it, too. :)
I am a newb at AW and may not understand how it works properly but the way I took the fundamental Scarcity was that the Scarcity represented how the player characters could overcome the Threats in the Front. It was not only thematic but also mechanical. So, if people are starving in the city, and the Threat is "starvation," the Scarcity is Hunger. The way to combat "starvation" is (obviously) by combating "Hunger." Combating Hunger might mean planting crops or capturing a warehouse of grain or making a run to the old supermarket deep in the mutant Wasteland or some clever idea the players come up with but the point is to get food. If the player characters decide that instead of combating Hunger, they hunt the mutants in the Wasteland, the Threat for "starvation" keeps moving forward, getting worse and worse.
On the same Front, if Bandits are raiding because of the fundamental scarcity of Hunger, they are also best combated by combating Hunger. While player characters can kill the current wave of Bandits, more Bandits are going to appear because there is just not enough food to go around. The Bandit Threat keeps moving forward until there is enough food for everyone.
I get the feeling that this was not how Fronts were intended but I think my misinterpretation could theoretically work.
I am a newb at AW and may not understand how it works properly but the way I took the fundamental Scarcity was that the Scarcity represented how the player characters could overcome the Threats in the Front. It was not only thematic but also mechanical. So, if people are starving in the city, and the Threat is "starvation," the Scarcity is Hunger. The way to combat "starvation" is (obviously) by combating "Hunger." Combating Hunger might mean planting crops or capturing a warehouse of grain or making a run to the old supermarket deep in the mutant Wasteland or some clever idea the players come up with but the point is to get food. If the player characters decide that instead of combating Hunger, they hunt the mutants in the Wasteland, the Threat for "starvation" keeps moving forward, getting worse and worse.
On the same Front, if Bandits are raiding because of the fundamental scarcity of Hunger, they are also best combated by combating Hunger. While player characters can kill the current wave of Bandits, more Bandits are going to appear because there is just not enough food to go around. The Bandit Threat keeps moving forward until there is enough food for everyone.
I get the feeling that this was not how Fronts were intended but I think my misinterpretation could theoretically work.
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Apocalypse World / Re: Building Fronts - No idea what I am doing
« on: August 06, 2015, 08:34:28 AM »
Well, thanks!
I get Fronts much better now and I am a lot more confident about our next game. :)
I get Fronts much better now and I am a lot more confident about our next game. :)
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Apocalypse World / Building Fronts - No idea what I am doing
« on: August 05, 2015, 07:15:16 PM »
So, I am just starting with Apocalypse World as an MC. We have done our first session and built an interesting setting with the players. I like the idea of Fronts but I think I may have misinterpreted them and made something out of them that was not intended. I'll try to explain.
Here is how I am currently looking at Fronts:
MC moves are designed to advance the Fronts. Basically, if I (the MC) am talking, the Fronts are advancing. Players can do whatever they want. They can hide or sit and drink in the cantina or whatever else but the Fronts are slowly closing in and left alone, a dark future will occur. This is intended to reflect a world continuously in decay and spiraling out of control, if not for the actions of the brave player characters. There will be no patron who offers our heroes 100 gold to go rescue the princess (or any other RPG trope). There will just be the steady decay and advancing threats of Apocalypse World which you can handle or suffer the consequences.
As an example, I made this Godzilla Front just for fun. (Godzilla is not really going to be in my game.)
Godzilla's Dark Future is that he destroys the city. If the countdown clock reaches Midnight, that is what happens. On the way to destroying the city is this countdown clock.
Countdown:
12:01-3:00: Distant roars are heard but we do not yet see Godzilla.
3:00-6:00: Godzilla is seen on the horizon.
6:00-9:00: Godzilla is just outside of the city.
9:00-10:00: Godzilla destroys buildings.
10:00-11:00: Godzilla kills key NPCs.
11:00-Midnight: Godzilla destroys the city.
So... this is how I currently think of Fronts. I like this but I know I am wrong.
Godzilla as I have designed him is a Threat, not a Front. I am honestly not sure what a Front would be in this example. The city? Is a Front a place?
Further, the way I am thinking of Fronts is that the players need to be pro-active and deal with these things or the dark future just "happens." There is no battle with Godzilla if his clock reaches midnight. He just destroys the city. The players, however, can intercept him at any point before midnight.
Have I got this all wrong? Someone please give me some insight. I appreciate it.
Brilliant Scheme
Here is how I am currently looking at Fronts:
MC moves are designed to advance the Fronts. Basically, if I (the MC) am talking, the Fronts are advancing. Players can do whatever they want. They can hide or sit and drink in the cantina or whatever else but the Fronts are slowly closing in and left alone, a dark future will occur. This is intended to reflect a world continuously in decay and spiraling out of control, if not for the actions of the brave player characters. There will be no patron who offers our heroes 100 gold to go rescue the princess (or any other RPG trope). There will just be the steady decay and advancing threats of Apocalypse World which you can handle or suffer the consequences.
As an example, I made this Godzilla Front just for fun. (Godzilla is not really going to be in my game.)
Godzilla's Dark Future is that he destroys the city. If the countdown clock reaches Midnight, that is what happens. On the way to destroying the city is this countdown clock.
Countdown:
12:01-3:00: Distant roars are heard but we do not yet see Godzilla.
3:00-6:00: Godzilla is seen on the horizon.
6:00-9:00: Godzilla is just outside of the city.
9:00-10:00: Godzilla destroys buildings.
10:00-11:00: Godzilla kills key NPCs.
11:00-Midnight: Godzilla destroys the city.
So... this is how I currently think of Fronts. I like this but I know I am wrong.
Godzilla as I have designed him is a Threat, not a Front. I am honestly not sure what a Front would be in this example. The city? Is a Front a place?
Further, the way I am thinking of Fronts is that the players need to be pro-active and deal with these things or the dark future just "happens." There is no battle with Godzilla if his clock reaches midnight. He just destroys the city. The players, however, can intercept him at any point before midnight.
Have I got this all wrong? Someone please give me some insight. I appreciate it.
Brilliant Scheme
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