I require your example fronts

I want to see more example fronts, especially adventure fronts, especially especially ones you actually used and can talk about what happened.

I think I often think of things that I think are fronts that are actually dangers, and with only one example in the book, I may be drawing some faulty conclusions. I want to see what other people have done.

Thanks in advance.

I adapted a D&D module.... and made some fronts :)
http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=2269.0

Thanks, noofy.

Generally this lack of replies (but high number of thread reads) makes me think I'm not the only one who feels less than confident about fronts. Sage and Adam, take note!

I'd love to see a Front you've set up and be able to discuss where the sticking points where for you, azrianni.

One thing you can do is search for existing DW modules on this forum.  Here is a list that I've found so far:
Black Oak Ridge
Blackmoore
indigo-galleon
The Goblin Hole
The Shallow Sea

And I did not mention above "Into the Gullet of the Graboid" which has more recently been discussed.

Also, Poor Tristram is my Diablo homage front set / adventure thing that might help give you a framework for what goes where.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3269630/Poor_Tristram.pdf

It contains a single adventure and a single campaign front, but since Diablo is the big bad emmer-effer of three full games, you could keep him as the Campaign Front and set up sidelines for all kinds of shenanigans.  The other Evils could be Adventure Fronts or include Zakarum, Kurast, the Sisters, Mount Arreat, Marius, Leah, Adria blah blah as Fronts or Dangers within a Front.

If you want to be broad, with BIG EXPANSIVE fronts, you could totally do Diablo I,II and III as separate fronts and Diablo hisself as the Campaign Front.  Or get granular.  There's space to zoom in and out.

Okay, I dug around and read as many examples as I could dig up. (Couldn't immediately find everything ME listed, but got several of those and some others.) And I'm no less confused:

More than once, people listed fronts with no dangers underneath them, so that fronts aren't collections of dangers, they're just dangers.

Some people listed fronts with their own impulse, impending doom, other people didn't.

WHAT IS A FRONT? I've got a group of intrepid adventurers in a dungeon, and they encountered goblin archers. Are "goblins" a front? A danger? If they're a danger, what's the front they might be in?

Of course I realize it's "do it how you want," but I'd like to understand the intent of the rules as stated for making fronts in a certain way, and to learn from people who've been doing this particular game longer than I have. And I think if I can get comfortable with the front rules, they can make my job easier and more fun.

Where do people start with creating a front? How do you decide X is a front but Z is just a danger within that front?

'cause I'm more confused than I was before.

So, from my experience and from how I read the rules:

Fronts are just collections of (sometimes not so, but usually well) linked dangers; every danger has a general category (ambicious organizations, horde, etc) which determines its moves and a specific type (thief's guild, wandering barbarians, etc.) which determines its Impulse; every danger also has an Impending Doom (destruction, rampant chaos, etc.) and some Grim Portents that lead to it. A front has also some Stakes, which are questions about cornerstones of the front whose answer you are interested in knowing, but that you can discover only during the game, following the choices and the effort of the characters.

An adventure front has usually a few dangers with few grim portents, and is all about what matters here and now in a session-by-session basis.

A campaign front has more dangers and more grim portents and it reaches a broader story arc, encompassing many sessions and various adventure fronts.

A front is "resolved" when its dangers are either a) dealt with, b) no longer relevant, or c) kept growing for future evil (in which case, you move them to the campaign front).

With that in mind, as I discussed earlier, when I have to build a front I start from the character bonds. For every cool bond that spawned a lot of interesting elements like places, enemies, magic items and so on, I create a related danger with an Impending Doom that "threats" the bond itself (or the implied characters' goals); this usually makes every danger interesting to the players and the front well glued as a whole. The stakes of the front usually come up spontaneously at this point. Then I start writing monsters like if there's no tomorrow because I have a monster fetish, and then I add in a cast which I would like to roleplay, trying to make the bad guys the more sympathetic I can get to. Sketch some maps and maybe even a custom move or magic item and usually I feel ready to go.

One of my current fronts is something like this:

THE ELVEN KINGDOM

Stakes
- will the centaurs invade the forest?
- will the necromancer remain unpunished?
- what's the destiny of the elven kingdom?

Cast
- Stratos, proud elvenking
- Charnabon, vampire head of the elven necromancers
- Greymane, centaurs' shamanic leader

Dangers
The Elven Council (misguided good)
- the grief grows too heavy
- the elven council is summoned
Doom: all the elves leave the material plane to rest in the faerie realm (impoverishment) -> two elven characters evolved their bonds in: our marriage will save the elven kingdom

Necromancers (cult)
- one elf is missing
- various people misteriously disappeared (dominated)
Doom: the necromancers seize control of the forest's heart without striking a single blow (tyranny) -> basically half of the characters sworn revenge against the necromancers cult (which infests every major location)

Centaurs (wandering barbarians)
- war begins
- northern defenses fall
- the golden tree falls
Doom: the forest becomes a cursed place (rampant chaos) -> actually, Greymane was controlled by the Empire, which is the actual main antagonist faction

Monsters: elves, centaurs, necromancers, various undeads and forest creatures

Hope this helps.

Very helpful, (not that)--thanks!

One thing you can do is search for existing DW modules on this forum.  Here is a list that I've found so far:
Black Oak Ridge
Blackmoore
indigo-galleon
The Goblin Hole
The Shallow Sea

To clear up some possible confusion: with the exception of the Indigo Galleon, none of these actually have fronts in them.  They're dungeon starters, intended to get you going on your first session. You'd develop your fronts, dangers, etc. after the first session.

Although generic and geared toward D&D, Phillipe does a pretty awesome job of describing the WHY and WHAT of front design. Have a read...
http://critical-hits.com/2010/09/24/re-examining-the-dungeon-section-factions-and-fronts/

A perfectly mundane Adventure Front for you. Note, this hasn't actually been used in a Campaign. I set it up to try to get my head around the way Fronts work, as something very different from the dungeons-and-dark-gods Fronts I've seen before - this one is political. Of course, there's plenty of adventuring to be done - its just that everybody's motivations are less clear.

Death of the Emperor

Description: The Emperor of Heliopolis is dead, felled by a horrific poison. There is no clear or appointed successor, and many forces conspire for the throne.

The Crown of the Sun is a sentient artifact, that rested heavy on the heads of Emperors since the dawn of the Empire. It has slumbered for generations, but the death-agonies of the last Emperor were so horrific that they awoke the Crown's formidable intelligence. It has looked on the current state of the Empire, with its bureaucracy and its Senate and its elections, and it is displeased. It longs for the old days of glory and conquest.
Its impulse is to find a worthy bearer and lead them to glory.
Its moves are:

• Sway the mind of the bearer
• Protect the bearer
• Give the bearer an aura of command
• Lead someone to destruction
• Bestow forbidden knowledge
• Recruit a follower or toady
• Incite desire and conflict
• Demand a sacrifice

Custom player move: Don the Crown of the Sun. Roll +WIS
On a 10+, the Crown finds you worthy, for now. It will aid you.
On a 7-9, the Crown sets a test for you.
On a miss, the Crown decides you are not fit to rule, and will sow your path with obstacles until it changes hands.

Grim portents:

• The Crown is stolen while the Emperor's body lies in rest
• A worthy contender dons the crown and is enfolded in a mantle of glorious light

Impending doom: The Emperor, driven by the Crown of the Sun, abolishes the Senate and becomes a tyrant (Tyranny)


The League of Concerned Citizens are a corrupt government, a cabal with deep pockets and lofty political ambitions.
Their impulse is to seize and maintain an iron grasp on the hearts and minds of the citizenry.
Their moves are:

• Attack someone by stealthy means (kidnapping, etc.)
• Attack someone directly (with a gang or single assailant)
• Absorb or buy out someone important (an ally, perhaps)
• Influence a powerful institution (change a law, manipulate doctrine)
• Establish a new rule (within the organization)
• Claim territory or resources
• Negotiate a deal
• Observe a potential foe in great detail

Grim portents:

• League-sponsored rabble-rousers cause rioting and disorder
• Senators opposed to the League are slandered, threatened, even murdered
• The results of the election come in: An unexpected landslide victory for a little-known contender!

Impending doom: The new Emperor is a pawn of the League (Usurpation)


Tecuh-Tli is a lord of the undead, the lich-priest of the extinct Lizardman nation that once took Heliopolis as its capital. He is magically enslaved, bound as a servant and advisor to the Emperor. With no Emperor on the throne, he is free to scheme, though he cannot directly harm the living.
His impulse is to seek release from his bindings.
His moves are:

• Cast a spell over time and space
• Spy on someone with a scrying spell
• Send forth undead minions
• Tempt someone with promises
• Play factions off against each other
• Travel unseen through secret passageways
• Use magic to confuse and terrify

Grim portents:

• Undead servants start appearing in the employ of various factions
• Tecuh-tli's allies spread panic that a great doom is coming to Heliopolis
• The Abomination Vault beneath the palace is opened to protect against the new danger

Impending doom: Tecuh-Tli uses the tools from the Abomination Vault to reanimate the Lizardman hordes (Destruction)

Stakes:

• Who will be the contenders for the throne?
• Will there be a bloody revolution, or a peaceful election?
• With whom will the PCs ally?
• Who killed the last Emperor, and why?