Fronts are primarily an organizational tool in DW, vs a thematic one in AW.  They have similarities (they get worse as time goes on, player action can change them, they reflect a world in flux ,etc) but they're different, too. 

Think of it this way - the Campaign Front is the thing that colors the Adventure Fronts.  If the Campaign Front is "the return of the gods of darkness" then the Adventure Fronts should either have something to do with that or be a distraction from it that will give the servants of the gods of darkness some time to get their shit together.

Campaign Front themes and overarches Adventure Fronts.  Adventure Fronts inform and organize dangers.  Portents resolve Dooms, Dooms change the world.

So in this model "Pride" from my earlier example is a thing that goes in the Campaign Front somewhere and feeds adventure fronts? Like: players' cues --> campaign front (incl. dooms) --> adventure front (incl. portents) --> local dangers? Where would I stick "Pride" on the campaign front, and what kind of thing should it be?

Tangent: if DW fronts abdicate the theme-based inspiration function, what do you use instead?

...
Scarcities are a real thing in AW but they are also a thematic thing, so I think any game that wants to shift the inspiration for Fronts should try and reproduce that double-ness if at all possible.

Real thing / Thematic thing: now I have evaluation criteria when riffing off of PC details for freeform front glue.

Thanks, guys!

You might be surprised to know that we all left the first session vaguely unsatisfied.

Partly it's because success was thin on the ground.

Partly it's because I'm inexpert at dungeons (I cut my RPG and GM teeth on AEG's 7th Sea and progressed through Deadlands to Savage Worlds).

Partly it's because we were still figuring out the moves and stuff (we'd all of us played Apocalypse World, but there are important differences to navigate).

Partly it's because I didn't use rules that I've since gleaned from these forums that would have fit perfectly (e.g., mark XP on a missed roll, gang-ups roll multiple damage dice and take the highest, when players do damage the damage roll result = number of mooks that go down in that hit).

But mostly it's because I wasn't paying close enough attention to my players' cues. Heimdal wanted a big-ass monster to vanquish, and Tempi wanted something to backstab and maybe a clever trap to turn against his foes.

These elements were waiting further into the dungeon. To be fair, I expected them to get past the foyer at least.

Ooh, and this: I should have called for more Spout Lore rolls. Especially given the Bard. I shot myself in the foot by not offering anyone the ability to speak goblin (and anyway, it's not like all goblins speak the same language, duh), but a Spout Lore roll for the Bard to know just enough about these goblins' tongue, plus a detail about how he learned it? God, I'm kicking myself.

As an aside, I'm super-stoked about Baldric's Grand Histories of the Known World expertise. Talk about depth and verisimilitude: we'll have constant prompts to tie in the current situation with the march of history. Yes.

Have you got any ideas for fronts or dangers to play with in the background? Will you detail Nook's crossing with the player's using the steading rules?

Yes and yes. I'll remain taciturn in case my players happen upon this. I'll say this: if you're familiar with the goblins' monster moves, you might could guess what comes of those fleeing goblin survivors next.

Are they more like voodoo zombies or goblin-pox crazed zombies or flesh pealing raised from the dead zombies?

A gentleman never tells.

Into the Hole

They're all standing in the tree line away from the rain, peering into the goblin hole. They can hear the odd muffled clank and sometimes a grunt - maybe a goblin expletive?

Heimdal strides forward like a colossus across the clearing, but Tempi jumps in front, "just let me have a look first." Heimdal notices the warren floor slopes downward without any regard for proper drainage, creating a streaming, muddy morass. "Go right ahead, then."

Tempi tiptoes into the hole. A stench washes over him with palpable force as he approaches a crook in the tunnel. He hears strained voices beyond, almost an argument, if goblins are anything like halflings. Distracted, he finds himself thigh-deep in a sinkhole. He's right at the corner; he can probably make it back out without attracting attention, but moving forward would surely alert those voices deeper in. He retreats to report what he heard.

Comment: This was a weak hit on Defy Danger, for which I offered an ugly choice. In hindsight, I'm not sure I like it. I could have done better. Oh, well.

Deilwen asks his god for guidance, and The Faceless One delivers with enthusiasm. His symbol, now a black vapor, takes the form of a lozenge (a shield, perhaps?), and shoots straight down the hole, raising startled cries within. Annoyed and impatient, Heimdal charges in after it, followed by the rest.

Comment: This was the Guidance rote, again a weak hit. He chose to be put in a spot, and thus they lost the element of surprise.

Startled Survivors

The room beyond shares the same low ceiling as the entrance tunnel, forcing the humans to stoop and hobble. It widens to around 20 yards across, with one obvious exit at the opposite side, blocked by a haphazard barrier of piled dross. Luminous fungi cast an eerie green glow across a dozen or so startled goblins. Three goblins brace their spears against the barrier; something pushes against the other side, and these three pay the intruding party no notice.

Baldric pauses to notice that the force on the other side makes no sound. Deilwen notices his holy symbol vapor forming a floating lozenge before one of the goblins. He swings his hammer at its face. The lozenge intercedes, but the hammer passes through unheeded. Still, by some stroke of fortune it merely grazes the goblin's crude armor to no effect. The startled goblin likewise grazes Deilwen. Deilwen wonders whether he interpreted his god correctly.

Comment: Hack 'n' Slash weak hit and crappy damage rolls. I implied that his god had interfered.

Meanwhile, Heimdal ignores the puny goblins and marches to the barricade in search of a real challenge. With the might of The Hammer he smashes it down as if it were cobweb (Fighter's breaking things move, 10+). A daunting big horde of undead goblins issues from within (dubbed "zoblins" by the players). Heimdal manages a swing at one before they swarm and surround him.

Everything Comes Apart and Burns

Comment: Here follows a series of missed rolls to make even the most stalwart player despair. I'm serious, 6- every time they stood a chance of getting ahead; 10+ only when barely recovering. My memory lacks precision here, so I'll summarize.

Chaos reigns as the goblin survivors flee, ignored. Deilwen entreats his god to turn the horde away. His vapor swells and billows out among the horde; it seems to work as Deilwen pushes through to Heimdal. (It didn't. He rolled a miss and the vapor did nothing. Deilwen was now trapped in the midst of the horde with Heimdal.). Heimdal swings at a few zoblins, then powers through to rejoin his companions. Deilwen attempts to kill a few, but strikes the low ceiling and overbalances, landing on his back. Zoblins swarm him, but his armor preserves him for a moment.

Baldric runs a zoblin through the heart, but it merely lurches forward up to the hilt to bite him in the shoulder. He pushes it away, but his rapier remains in its chest as it rejoins the horde.

Tempi stands back, looking for some advantage in the environment. His mind alights upon the torch in his pack, which he promptly lights. He waves it at the zoblins, attempting to scare them back. Instead he ignites them, and the fire quickly spreads among the relatively dry zoblin horde.

Heimdal levels a mighty swing, but loses his grip. He sees The Hammer sail through the entrance tunnel, and shoves his way through burning zoblins to retrieve it.

Deilwen endures until the zoblins move away, distracted by their own burning flesh. At last, his holy symbol returns, and, still lying on his back, Deilwen invokes The Faceless One and casts Speak with the Dead. A nearby zoblin goes still and faces Deilwin. It whispers into his mind even as its body burns away. "We were falling ill,  and Skullthumper used magic to heal us. Then we died." Deilwen rises and grips his hammer.

The Tide Begins to Turn

Flames begin to extinguish from the zoblins in the entry chamber as they run out of fuel. Heimdal leaps again into the fray, bellowing at Baldric to restore the barricade before more zoblins can join their vanguard. Baldric moves to comply, but notices his rapier, still impaling a zoblin, in the chamber beyond where more zoblins begin to shamble in. He snatches up a goblin spear and charges in to retrieve it real quick. He sneaks around the edge of the horde, and is swarmed and bitten again for his trouble.

Deilwen notices Baldric's plight and follows him into the deeper chamber. He Stands in Defense, and together they fight their way back toward their companions. Baldric contrives various schemes to retake his rapier; each fails.

Tempi brandishes his torch and scrambles across the fallen barricade, but trips and drops his torch in the mud, extinguishing it. Heimdal glances over from the fray and mutters a curse. At last, Baldric and Deilwen win free to the barricade, while Tempi, knowing from the look on Baldric's face, performs a stunning display of acrobatics, retrieving Baldric's rapier and making it look easy.

The three work together to hold off the new horde and rebuild the barricade, while Heimdal finishes off the last of the burned out zoblins in the entry chamber. For a few moments, all is quiet.

---

Session End

Baldric resolved his bond with Deilwen, deciding that he will no longer be the butt of any jokes after standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Baldric's body failed to fend off the foulness carried in the zoblins' bites. He contracted an unknown illness and marked down the Weak debility. Everyone marked experience for learning something new about the world. Later, having learned of the XP-for-missed-rolls rule, I awarded everyone three more experience based on the approximate number of missed rolls everyone endured. I should maybe make it four.

Next up is an all-commentary after action review. I'll reflect on what we were there to accomplish, what actually happened, what worked, what didn't, and why. I might muse a bit on what could happen next.

adam I think I've been chasing this same thought around over in blood and guts: http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=4551.0

Our timing is funny.

I bring this up because I find scale in Dungeon World, while useful as an organizing principle, isn't prompting additional ideas for threats the way that scarcities do in Apocalypse World.

I'm looking for that scarcities magic: pick threat --> choose what fictional element it represents --> brainstorm other threats that reflect that element <--> decide how each threat finds expression in the fiction (characters, resources, etc.) --> give it all movement and direction with dark agenda, custom moves, stakes and countdown clocks.

Notice I replaced "fundamental scarcity" with "fictional element" to broaden my perspective. I find I can't just substitute "scale" for "fictional element" and have it work the same way.

For now I think I'll generate fictional elements on the fly based on prompts from the PC's introductions, rather than choosing from a pre-generated list. For example, I'll take the story of The Fighter's signature hammer and the back story I elicited from its player (he found it in the mines, it's a relic of legend, and he had to win many duels to keep it), and think, "what fictional element does this represent?" Let's say "Pride," (in this case his own, and also that of his vanquished rivals). Easy. Pride becomes one of my "fundamental scarcities." I can make fronts about pride all day long.

As long as I guess my players' cues correctly this should work really well, because the story we're telling is then based on the things they've already affirmed interest in.

Thoughts?

I played October. This was a blast. The opening scene made my whole day. In mechanical terms, it went like this: Arresting Skinner ---> Artful and Gracious (weak hit)--> "Corey must have my services" --> Bigs sex show finale with Corey --> Skinner Special (auto 10+ on Hypnotic) --> Victory strut.

Later I enjoined Corey to return to the Family, ostensibly because he should be with the people who've taken care of him all these years, but actually so I could have him keep an eye on fellow faithful Lion for me. Lion wants something exclusive with Lena, which goes against her beliefs, and I lust after Lion for reasons unexplained. Incidentally, we'd established during introductions that Corey was Lena's least favorite follower because he asks uncomfortable questions, but she keeps him around for his mother Elizabeth, who has been vapid and unflinchingly loyal to the Family.

So yeah, we've begun a cultural battle over the moral implications of sex.

The MC part of me can't wait to see what Valentine does next, while the Player part of me dreads it.