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Messages - Monte

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Apocalypse World / Re: How to make the Maestro D' life interesting?
« on: October 20, 2011, 11:22:34 AM »
Quote from: Daniel Wood on October 19, 2011, 06:17:00 PM
I mean, you say "it would be like if the gunlugger always had problems with her gun", but there's a pretty important difference: gun trouble is boring.

The hell you say...some of my most interesting moments in the military are when there was Gun Trouble... 

While we were training on how to execute an ambush the S.A.W. beside me decided that it wasn't going to send the rounds down range....instead they backed up in the barrel.  When they rodded it 3 bullet fragments came out of it...if anything would have gone differently I would be telling the story about that one time the barrel exploded...

Or how about when we were practicing raiding a hill and as I come up on a position my M-4 jams and I have to make myself real small before they fire back on me.

or how about that time that one of the Trainees decided he was going to throw the pin and drop the grenade...

or how about that time that I placed my SAW by a wasps nest and I had to go running through the woods with a medic telling me to take off all my clothes...

Gun problems aren't interesting, RIGHT!

<End Rant>

As for the Maestro D'...I like to think of other Maestro D'-like Characters.  For example Miss Kitty (Gunsmoke), Lorne (Angel), & Swearengen (Deadwood).  Their establishments were always getting torn up.  It was the hub of the story for alot of these shows. Without those characters many of the other "PC's" (Stars) and NPC's (Guest Stars) wouldn't have anything to do.

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 24, 2011, 12:37:11 AM »
Quote from: Chris on September 23, 2011, 10:50:30 AM
And the player should step up and work with that. But also, the game just works better when the players are proactive without the MC's constant prompting. The MC framework can be a solution to the problem of passive PC characters, but better to not need it, yeah?

So yeah, sometimes, it absolutely should be something the players do by themselves.

For me, it's the player's job, above everything, to play a protagonist, not just a character. The MC framework gives us a way to help that process, but it's nice to have players that are thinking of their own characters critically and creating interesting, active play.

My favorite quote in all of the book is in the Ungiven Future section...

Quote
Oh like it’s such a big shocker or so difficult to do. I mean, shit,
you’re the MC, you have 30 characters at a time, and your players
shy away from playing 2? The real question is, why don’t people
usually play with more than 1?

It's true the MC is already dealing with 30+ NPC's, lets be nice to him and not make him prompt the PC's to top it off! 

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 18, 2011, 06:20:43 PM »
Quote from: noclue on September 18, 2011, 12:51:29 PM
You need to:
1. Have a character that wants something.
2. Try to figure out how to get what you want.
3. Go and do those things.
and 4. Realize that the character is going to change because of these choices.

Sometimes brutally so.

So, no. Don't just be more adventurous, or violent, or manipulative. Be more willing to go for what you want and more willing to see how things turn out.


I think that should be in the new Players Book.  That is how I would love to have all my players play.

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 09:01:30 PM »
Quote from: noclue on September 17, 2011, 07:54:27 PM
The sniper tower isn't a hard move yet. But then the PC goes to finish off the guard and rolls a partial success. Did he roll Go Agro again? It's not about Tiki any more, it's about killing the guard. So it's Acting Under Fire? And you gave the BB a worse outcome by having the 5 guys knock her out and capture her? Or did you have them deal harm?

Once again this was weeks ago so I am not sure 100% of everything that happened, this being one of the things that is fuzzy. 

As I remembered it when he killed off guard the guard in the tower shot at him.  (No harm done just enough to scare him.) Which set off the warning to other guards in the area and basically gave Quitus a warning that future badness was about to occur.  Giving him the choice of finish off the guy and possibly run into any of Tiki's Guards or find a way out.  He chose to finish of the guy, which by then the reinforcements were seen down the street.  He again had the chance to get out of there or attack.  He choose to Seize by Force by attacking the advancing guards. He failed. Tiki has a welled armed gang. They were a small gang at the time vs a guy.  He ended up getting hit with 4 harm. Dealing some back.  With his harm roll, not sure what he rolled but, instead of sending 4 harm into him, I traded some to knock him out.  The guards brought him to The Mouth of Tiki.  That turned into Quitus insulting The Mouth and being strung up as "the new guard of the west gate."

Once again sorry if vague or doesn't answer all your questions but again this was many sessions ago. 

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 05:49:33 PM »
To tell you the truth this was weeks ago and I am not so sure the Battlebabe rolled a 10+.  As for what move, it was a straight Go Aggro (as a matter of fact I am leaning towards he didn't roll a 10+ since it was a Hard move),  "Take me to Tiki or I'll rip your head from your shoulders".

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 04:02:56 PM »
Quote from: noclue on September 17, 2011, 03:54:46 PM

Expectations appear to be out of whack. How are he other players doing?


The other players are doing fine.  Some have learned that when you do "stupid" stuff bad things happen.  The Gunlugger that loves using Open your mind to the Psychic Mealstrom, has learned that if she rolls bad she is going on a bad trip that may lead to "bad" things.  The Angel has learned that "Damn it Jim you are a healer not an action hero!" when she decided to jump from vehicle to another and got ran over a bus.  The chopper has learned that his pack won't follow him blindly into the fray.  That he will do things he doesn't want to do to keep his gang together. The newest Brainer has learned messing with peoples heads can lead to some real aggressive things happening to them.  But in the end each of them has taken that and made it part of their character and shaped their fiction/story to have the characters grow. 

The other players go visit friends and tell stories about there characters because they are that invested in them and the story that is developing. They seem to work with me to tell a story rather than seeing me as an adversary. (That make sense?)

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 03:12:58 PM »
Quote from: noclue on September 17, 2011, 01:36:03 PM
The MC establishes situation and asks. If the battlebabe's choice is to hell with the consequences they can deal with the consequences. What you don't do is go from killing a guard to jumped by 5 dudes captured and stripped naked and ridiculed without the Battlebabe rolling a miss. The OP's Battlebabe rolled a 10+ followed by a 7-9.

And each junction of escalation (from fighting the guard -> Shots fired at him -> 5 Guards approaching you -> Being brought to The Mouth of Tiki -> Being brought to gate naked)  was either due to him escalating it to the next level through fiction or him failing his roll or sometimes both.

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 03:08:01 PM »
Quote from: NilsH on September 17, 2011, 11:28:34 AM
Quote
If this is how it happened it seems your MC is either cheating or hasn´t read the rules.

Or the third choice he isn't remembering the situation correctly.  I can ensure you if had to "cheat" it was to his benefit. I have read the rules forwards and backwards and when necessary talked with Lumpley and other MC's on certain aspects of the rule book.

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 03:06:07 PM »
Quote from: Shreyas on September 17, 2011, 10:38:26 AM
The thing is that you can be aggressive with your moves without being violent, and it's clear that violence isn't going to work because of the way your MC is running the game. Is it possible that s/he has some animus toward you? Or is this just some kind of misunderstanding?

This is what everyone at the table has tried explaining to him.  You can be aggressive without being violent, or insulting, or etc...  Violence solves some problems sometimes but alot of times it's just going to get you in trouble.  No animus, I have tried to protect his characters more than I have others alot of times.

Quote from: Shreyas on September 17, 2011, 10:38:26 AM
Also don't forget that you can manipulate with barter, which as a skinner you do start with a little of. Artful & Gracious can net you more resources (in the form of barter, information, favors) to use as leverage. Can you get the Operator's move and some gigs?

This is something I just noticed from reading this post.  Urzae seemed to be min/maxing the crap out of these characters from the start.  While I have no problem with this you are only focusing on one or two moves and forgetting that you have other tools that you could be using.  Just cause you have a stat highlighted doesn't mean you can't use another move that may get you in a better position to use a highlighted stat.

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Apocalypse World / Re: Frustrated
« on: September 17, 2011, 03:01:02 PM »
Well I had this long thought out response to this.  Spent like 40 minutes typing it and I believe the Psychic Maelstrom got a hold of it cause it has disappeared.  So here goes a quicker response...

I am the MC for this campaign.  Most of the players have only played D&D & were true Hack & Slash players, relying heavily to the tracks that I railroaded them with.  We all saw a chance to break away from the rails and learn something new here with AW.

The Third, The Hocus, was one of my favorite characters.  I specifically changed fiction that was established and made the world feel less real so that The Third didn't die when he dug himself a hole so deep that two PC's ended up attacking him.  Spent a week trying how to come up with fiction to explain his disappearance and reapperance just for The Third's player to give up on The Third at the end of the session.

Quitus came into town got himself in trouble and couldn't figure out how to get himself out of trouble he put himself into by either making bad choices, not using moves he could have used, and not using chances given him by me to get out of the situation, on top of insulting the largest holder in the area. Instead of playing it out and see where Quitus story would go, his player gave up on him.

Now the newest character Pluto, The Skinner, has done nothing!  She has taken a couple of chances to manipulate the Chopper and one other NPC but for the most part has attempted multiple times to spam Artful and Gracious when the fiction truly doesn't allow for it.  I have multiple times asked Pluto what are you doing to which the answer was nothing really.

I have established that we should play all these as real people.  That when you make bad decisions bad things happen.  The bad may not happen right now but it will happen.  Also, I took this as a chance to have the players provide narrative to the game other than relying on me to give them everything.  Try to have them see me as an MC and not a DM.  So when the PC's look to me to move the story forward cause they can't or won't move the story forward.  I make a move from the book or from one of my fronts.  A lot of the times they are HARD moves.  As I understand it the players have enjoyed this.  It has for the first time in a while allowed them to go tell stories about their characters and the game sessions as if they were watching a tv show or movie rather. 

I like having The Third/Quitus/Pluto's player at the table.  However, if he is not enjoying it or if he believes I am a bad MC he is welcomed to leave or start his own gaming group.  If you want to stay then bring narrative to the story, to do something do it.  If you want to perform explain what you are doing.  If you want to seduce someone explain how you are seducing them!  I should be able to figure out that you are doing a move with out you actually saying the move's name.

Also, know that every problem cannot be solved with a gun or a knife.  That you can't demand, insult, and force people to do things over and over again with out some consequences occurring. And just cause things look bad now doesn't mean that it will be like that all the time.

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Apocalypse World / Re: The Importance of Naming NPC's (Citizen's of Par do not read!)
« on: September 08, 2011, 02:34:33 PM »
Here is the action from G+:

From Luke:
Quote
Ok, I'm going to give meds to Zip because although, I can't save both of Highway's sons, I can try to save one. I'm going to give num nums to Mitchell to ease his pain and will be taking thorough notes of how the disease spreads and it's reactions to num nums. Rourke will be given clear water to see if there is any reaction to it and if it has any positive or adverse effects. In the middle of the night when EVERYONE (even Princess and Leia) is asleep and the infirmary is locked up and the windows blocked off with the plywood shutters we made to help keep sand/dust out from the Dust Hurricane and all the entrances locked up, Converse will die 'due to unforeseen complications of the Blackwater Plague' and Luke in her medical wisdom and for the greater good will dissect him to examine the organs and see how the plague affects them.

From Me (Note: Luke was infected with the Plague in a prior incident):
Quote
Zip - Try to heal him with meds? How much stock are you going to use on him? Roll + Stock

Custom Move:
Heal the Black Water Plague
Roll + Stock
10+ The Plague is healed. They will heal one clock state every 24 hours. For each stock spent after the first day a clock state is removed.
7-9 Spend an additional stock for a super hard strain of the Plague or all your work will be for nothing.
Miss You can do nothing for them, ever.

Mitchell - Numb to the world
Roll + Stock (Stock will be zero)

Rourke - Give Clear Water
Roll + Stock (Stock will be zero)

Converse - death due to unforeseen complications of the Black Water

As you start dissecting Converse you find many pustules of Black Water throughout her body. They seem to attach themselves to three primary areas where there is a large cluster of nerves, blood, or the lungs. The pustules themselves seem to be developing a primitive form of a brain with the larger pustules seeming to try to "get away" from your knife as you carve into them. Every time you do dig into one of them the pustule that has formed on your back seems to dig into your back more and gives you a strong sharp pain.

Hold 3 Spend a hold to:

+1 forward to a Open Your Brain dealing with the Black Water Plague

+ 1 forward when trying to Heal The Black Water Plague

+1 forward when interacting with someone with the Black Water Plague (can be used for Do Something Under Fire, Go Aggro, Seize by Force, Seduce or Manipulate, Read a Person, Help or Interfere)

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Apocalypse World / The Importance of Naming NPC's (Citizen's of Par do not read!)
« on: September 07, 2011, 09:09:24 PM »
That means you RQShades, GET OUT OF HERE!

So last session, Luke (The Angel) came back to Par (a collection of six holds set in former France).  When she got back to her clinic since it wasn't anything major (and at the time I didn't think it was important) I just told her that her two assistants Princess and Leia had four more patients.  Didn't name them actually moved on to a different scene.  Luke's player had to leave shortly after.

The next day I received a text from Luke saying she was going to let heal one, let one die, give water to another, and kill the last so that she could examine the body.  This seemed VERY impersonal so I finally did what I should had done the first time and named the NPC's.  This is the letter Luke received:

Quote
Dear Luke,

Zip and Mitchell are brothers one is 10 the other is 14. Their mother Highway has on occasions, like the day of your life giving and whenever a Dust Hurricane come through, has brought a home cooked meal to you. This was because you attempted but failed to save Zip and Mitchell's father Lincoln. Zip and Mitchell have helped in the infirmary occasionally, when they weren't farming, by cleaning up the blood and mess throughout the infirmary. Princess and Leia let them in the infirmary because the family have always helped Princess, Leia, and you out.

Rourke used to be a member of Tiki's Boys but due to him almost beating Bull, another one of the Boys, to death for no reason he was fired. Shortly afterwards he caught the Plague. Leia tells you that she let Rourke into one of the beds cause she owes him. The reason he attacked Bull was because for Bull has repeatedly raped her for three months. It all stopped when Rourke caught Bull about to attack her again after a recent night when she was leaving her shack. She is begging you to save his life since he has basically helped her gain her life back. Oh yeah by the way, there is a strong possibility that he was that one that infected you.

Converse is one of the richest Merchants in Six Holds of Par. She/he (no one really knows what gender Converse is) has been able to bring "fashion" to the holds and many of the Shiny Rich have taken to Converse's designs. Princess let her/him have one of the beds cause he knows you love the Shiny and thought you may be able to extract some from Converse.

So tell me again which 1 are you giving meds to, which one are you going to let suffer, which one are you giving clear water to drink on, and which one are you going to let die so you can dissect?

From simply naming the NPC's I have so much more to add to the narrative and possibly started a front or two.  Moral of the story...NAME YOUR NPC'S!

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Apocalypse World / Re: Understanding Basic Moves
« on: September 07, 2011, 12:16:15 AM »
Quote from: Pigeon on September 06, 2011, 07:18:34 PM
Quote from: rqshades on September 06, 2011, 06:43:16 PM

Quote from: rqshades on September 06, 2011, 06:43:16 PM
2) An NPC and I both have guns pulled on each other and we start shooting at each other.
Seize by force.

What exactly are you seizing here, the upper hand?

Quote from: rqshades on September 06, 2011, 06:43:16 PM
3) An NPC and I are engaged in a fire fight, guns on both sides, and continue to fire at each other.
Seize by force if anything. In a real game situation, if you're already shooting at somebody, and they're already shooting at you, I might look for an excuse to do something else, since you probably just DID seize by force.

Why wouldn't this just be an act under fire?  With the fire being the NPC's gunfire?


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