How does one handle difficulty of an action in DW?

In one scene, the charcters were rushing to stop an ogre from cranking up a drawbridge. The theif declared that he threw a rock aimed at jamming the gears of the crank. I allowed this and he got a clear success.

I didn't think much about it until after he succeeded. If I had been playing any other game, I would have put major minuses on this action. He had no special moves applicable and it seemed possible but unlikely.

What would be the best way to handle this in DW? I wonder if there's a general rule of thumb. I can think of other examples -- like jumping a chasm that is just wide enough to challenge a long jumper.

 

Great summary! Thanks!

Thanks for the advice! Here's what the situation was: the party had just encountered a drawbridge across a chasm in the dungeon. The platform on the other side held four archers and a large jailer cranking up the drawbridge. The ranger sent the wolf to jump the gap between the corridor and the rising drawbridge, then attack the guy cranking the bridge.

I gave him that in one move -- wolf over gap to interfere with the guy raising drawbridge. Then I described how the jailer picked up a huge club he had leaning against the wall and asked the players "What do you do?" Some other players acted and when it got to the ranger he shot another target. I declared that the wolf took a blow but then we had a discussion about how that worked.

Thinking about this now, I allowed several players including the ranger to take moves before I made my next move. Because there were archers also involved, I think I would do it differently next time--let fewer players move before I brought a hard moves. Just learning how to pace the alternation of player and GM moves was a factor that made this feel awkward. I mean that I understand that the turn taking is not strictly alternating one for one between player and GM. I think my impulse was the right approach, it just felt strange.