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Topics - cds

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Apocalypse World / Are separate story lines normal?
« on: January 03, 2013, 12:11:11 AM »
So, we're just getting rolling on my first AW game, and I'm noticing that so far, the majority of the action seems to involve one character at a time.  For example, they're planning to mount an expedition to capture a rival hold's scout for questioning.  The hardholder and chopper talk about it and the chopper's going to head out with his gang.  So, one PC for that operation while the others do other stuff back at the hold, presumably.

Is this how games tend to go for others?

In some game systems, I know that I as GM would probably structure things so that the whole party would go or the players would just do it on their own.  But I have the impression that that's not exactly the AW way (though I'm not sure I could explain exactly why).  Another approach might be to pursue parallel stories in parallel.  While the chopper is scout-hunting, maybe I switch the focus back and forth between the hunt and whatever's going on at the hold?

I'm also imagining that this will take a fair amount of screen time, so if I do nothing and let it play out then the others are going to be idle for the duration, which isn't fun.  Maybe I should make such things run faster?

I hope you get the idea.  I'm just curious how such things typically run in AW.  Do the PCs all tend to stick together?  Does the MC jump between stories?  Something else?

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Dungeon World / Battle, hard moves, and golden opportunities
« on: September 08, 2012, 08:59:13 AM »
I'm a good part of the way through the prerelease DW book (currently in the monsters chapter), and I've also previously read Apocalypse World, but haven't yet played either.  I have to say, though that I'm finding DW really cool and inspirational.

One of the things which is starting to gel for me, but isn't quite there yet is some of the things which can happen in battle which aren't directly or aren't only HP related.

The 16 HP Dragon thread gives some examples, like the Dragon's bite is messy, so it can rip people apart.  Or the Earth Elemental might turn the ground to quicksand and meld someone into stone.

So, as I understand it, when players miss a roll or ignore a threat I can make as hard a move as I want.  So, for example, if they are confronted by an angry Ankheg, and decide to Spout Lore and roll a 6-, the Ankheg could spray forth acid and destroy the Fighter's signature weapon.  Or, for a less abrupt example, during a fight, a bear could rip someone's arm off in response to a failed Hack and Slash.

Now, doing it like the Ankheg example, right off the bat, probably doesn't lead to satisfying fiction.  It's too abrupt, and feels too unfair, at least to me.  Does DW give any guidance (or do people here have guidance) on how to decide how hard of a move to make?  Is it just based on trying to make an exciting story?

In the systems I'm most used to, like D&D, or Ars Magica or lots of others, this type of thing doesn't usually come up.  You might be severely injured (in a generalized lost HP way) but it's rare that loss of a limb or loss of a character defining object like the signature weapon is on the table (unless you did something specific to risk it maybe).  And I've been in games where the GM destroyed a major possession or maimed a character and it just felt unfair or unwarranted, so I guess I'm trying to figure out how that type of thing fits into DW in a way which makes good stories, not bad ones.


Another question about battles comes from the play example at the end of chapter 2 where Rath gets an "arrow to the knee" and the GM asks what he's going to do about it.  Or somewhere there was an collar bone cracking and I think the suggestion that they probably couldn't use that arm now.  I'm also curious how people work these types of things into fights.  They're not as difficult to fix as losing a limb, since they will probably heal, but they put limitations on the capabilities of the character (can't run or can't use arm), at least for the duration.

I guess part of me wants major events like these to have a mechanism driving them, but DW doesn't have that (or if it does, I didn't catch it).  So, absent a mechanical system, how do people generally decide between, "The arrow hits you in the arm and you drop your weapon," and "The arrow hits you in the arm and you drop your weapon... and your arm is now useless!"


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