We're having some problems with the elven one.  A girl tried making an elven fighter, but fightery things often require strength even if it's not your primary (including your base moves).

Guys.

Damage is by class and by weapon.  The simple answer is +1 because that's what's striking.  

Describing a second weapon striking is no different than saying "I fill the sky with arrows" (one of the volley 7-9 moves) and hit the enemy with 10 arrows.  Do I roll 10 damage? No. You're applying D&D logic to a simpler system that doesn't bother with detailed weapon sims.  Why do you do 1d10 and not 2d10 damage? Because damage is by class and your skill at using your weapons.  Do you want to fight with a single sword? Groovy.  Two handed bastard sword? Groovy.  Want to describe yourself wielding a flail? That's cool.  How about TWO flails?  Also cool.  When you start trying to cobble together mechanical bonuses into this is where things start falling apart (but what if I have extra longsword blades on my elbows and knees and describe twirling to slice the enemy up with them?)

+1 or -1 on your to-hit rolls is both boring and very harsh.  We're not talking a casual bonus.  This is a huge swing in hits, and a more radical shift in full successes.

If you simply can't live without the 1 extra damage, I say go for it.  You are after all giving up a shield.  But then wonder, what bonus that 2Her gives someone? (Are you going to have to defy danger every time you try to attack someone with a reach weapon?) On the other hand when a sword gets disarmed, broken, melted by dragonsbreath, eaten by a rust monster (take away stuff) you have a spare sword ... so maybe that's a fine deal after all by default.

I say keep it simple.  Take your class damage, and take whatever the dominant weapon bonus is.  Leave everything else to fictional positioning, and describe yourself fighting however is 'cool' in your mind.

@ (not that) adam : I like the cut of your orcs ser. ALOT.

Also.  Now I have to write me some awesome dwarfs (well played @skinnyghost)!

Attention please: Hack & Slash DOES NOT make a monster deal damage to a player on a 7-9 roll. Check again the description. It says: "the enemy makes an attack against you". If the monster attack would have success it's totally another matter.

Example:
7-9 result on hack and slash:
GM: «you injure the goblin king in the shoulder with your sword; but he recovers fast and charges you with his spear. What do you do?»

Unless I feel a more appropriate monster move is there, I frequently deal damage on a 7-9.  If two people are locked in combat (again everything is mitigated by fictional positioning) it's established that they're swinging at each other: both taking wounds makes perfect sense to me.  Even Conan battling someone would usually come out with cuts and scrapes.  It also seems kind of mathematically off to make someone do an additional roll every middling hit (first you hit them, then they threaten to hit you, then you have to roll to dodge where if you get a 9 or less you probably are just taking the damage anyway) where 6- will hurt you badly.  On a 7-9 you get a bit of what you want (you hit them) and they get a bit of what they want (they hit you, they hold onto the idol, they grab your coinpurse, they speak words that make your ears bleed and claw at the edges of your mind...).

Doing it the other way leaves you with narrative flow problems:  "The wolf charges" I swing my sword! 8! "You hit it... ... it recovers and... charges... ... " I counter it's lunge by shoving a sword in it! 8! "You hit it! And it's snapping at you..." I smack it's face away with my pommel, trying to break it's jaw! 8! ...

Because to me that sounds like the player getting everything they want (not getting hit, and getting a hit off) which is a 10+ no?


My point however was that dealing damage is quick and simple (even as other options are available) so I just used it here because it's a simple 3 line example that was meant to illustrate the narrative shift to a different character >_>

This question of GM narration seems to crop up a number of times.  Check out:
http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=2796.0
He seemed to encounter a similar problem in his AP.

One trick for offscreen cameras is to describe a narrative focus shift.  Let me provide an example:

P1: I slice the wolf open!
GM: That sounds like a hack and slash - roll + STR!
P1: 9!
GM: The wolf latches on your arm, and while you strike it with your sword (whisper: roll damage) it clenches it's teeth, and paws at you (you take d6 damage).
Marlow (P2)! You hear the chewing of jaws on arm-bones while sidling into the shadows, and the sharp yelp of your friend as wolf-teeth hit bone.  What do you do?

Also keep in mind that the concept of a skulking thief isn't necessarily inherent (stealth is a great way to surprise someone, but it's tough to stealth in a 10/10 room).  Avoiding combat extends your life expectancy (significantly), but you can fight alongside someone who opens up an enemy to attack (such as with a defend shield slam) which is how you can slip a backstab in.

Hope that helps!

I'd have them always use a plural pronoun and refer to themselves as 'The Swarm' or 'Children of the Rat God'.  Maybe 'Vermin'.

Rubi,

Questions (even leading questions) are your best friend.

Don't be hard on yourself.  DW is dressed like the games with Dragons in the name we all know and have played forever.  Learning to throw 2d6 is far less of a challenge than learning how to do the back-and-forth discussion, break your players of checking their sheets to use a move to start fiction, and teaching yourself to let go of the preconceptions of what an adventure is and how to structure it.

Start the game in-media rez.  Have someone cut through something, then ask what they're cutting through.  Ask someone else what they're most worried about here.  Ask the cleric what ancient relic of their religion is hidden here.  Ask the thief what treasure they heard was here, and offer them an XP if they find it.

Then look up the monsters, write down the stats for the item the first time you take a bathroom break, and hold on for the wild ride :)