Problem: How to Start PCs with Less Basic Moves?

So, here's my problem. I'm working on a hack which will end up extending the length of a standard AW campaign by a factor of three (or so). One of the ways I want to balance the game (since you'll theoretically get three times the advances) is by not starting anyone with the full complement of Basic Moves. (This also works in-game because the characters start as villagers and wouldn't likely have an idea of how to do the things most post-apocalyptic badasses would. A milk-maid, for instance, wouldn't likely know how to Read a Sitch.)

The question is what that does to gameplay. If someone doesn't have Read a Sitch/Person, what happens if their Sharp gets highlighted? Is that even an option? Do they have to unlock the relevant basic move before they can highlight the stat? If not, everyone will be necessarily obsessed with rolling the couple of stats they have open and it will create a situation where everyone is just focused single-mindedly on doing these one or two things to the exclusion of all else. I know people do that in-game anyway, but there's at least the option to tick other boxes when there's six options.

In addition, what happens if the spazzy farmhand stands in front of a knight and says, "Stop, or I'll stab you in your face." He's obviously Going Aggro, but what if that move's not unlocked for him yet? How would that work?

Any ideas?

And I just realized that this should totally be in Blood & Guts. Hm.

I think your example shows the core problem: these are the Basic moves anyone can try so if you drop some there will be bits they can't do so I won't recommend it.

I'd probably just increase XP to 10 per (or 15 per) instead of 5 per, although you could limit something else instead. Off the top of my head maybe one or more of these:
- Drop playbook moves by one.
- Starting characters die at 9 o'clock (ie: less HP).
- Or even bump rolls to 8-10 / 11+, although you would have to pretty careful in doing this.

You might want to take a look that the work me and Johnstone are doing on Bulwark which has, in a sense, more and less basic moves.

Second, you might want to implement something like Qualities, which I see as "half-advances" or "pseudo-advances." For more info on those, look at the Knife and Candle subforum.

Also, yeah, just up the XP too.

Also (4), don't worry too much about having too many advances, I read about AW games that have being going on for 36+ sessions and multiplaybook ultra-advanced characters and the game still runs fine apparently.

AW has one solution already (sort of): If you highlight a stat that somebody can't use, you're an asshole. So, of course, Vincent says you wouldn't do that. So don't do that. And yeah, if you have three stats and two stats to use them, you'll use those two stats all the time.

As for not having all the basic moves, there are lots of solutions:


1. No move, no move. If you don't have go aggro or seize by force, you can't act violently. Your character just doesn't do that. Obviously something will have to happen before your character will turn to violence. This is great for information-collecting moves: you can get what the GM gives you or you can use a move.


2. And/or, you make Act Under Fire a little shittier, and use it whenever you don't have a more appropriate move. Then you an write some new moves to cover all sorts of Acting Under Fire situations, but that are better.

So, you mention characters start as villagers? In that case, I'd give them all Act Under Fire, and maybe Go Aggro or Seize By Force, and then they have to buy the rest of them.


3. Over in Bulwark, we've got some complicated situation with four basic moves and custom moves that expand on those.


4. Qualities! Like Nathan says. Cut out most of the options from the basic moves, and make getting more options into advanced moves. So you could have Read a Sitch but only two questions: "what should I be on the lookout for," and "who's in control here." Then one advanced move lets you ask the question: "what's my best escape route / way in / way through;" and another advanced move lets you ask all the "enemy" questions. Or the various other ways qualities work over in that sub-forum.