Sharing the specific wording of custom moves

I'm wondering when to reveal the specific wording and conversational triggers of custom moves to the PCs. Take some examples from the book:

"If you’re in a fist fight with Rolfball and you take harm, you take s-harm (ap) in addition to the usual harm."

When to share this? The first time someone gets punched by Rolfball? Or should I work to share it earlier? Like, maybe have an NPC tell them "You need to watch out for this motherfucker Rolfball, he's got fists like engine blocks, and when he punches you down you don't get up," and then share the custom move with them?

Likewise, this one:
When you scavenge in the ruins, roll+sharp.
On a 10+, choose two and find an oddment worth 1-barter. On a 7–9, choose one and find an oddment worth 1-barter:
• You find it quickly.
• You find it with relatively little trouble.
• You find an item that is valuable.
• You find an item that is hi-tech

Share it when they discover the ruins? When the ruins are discussed in conversation? Or the first time they scavenge them?

How do folks approach these moves?

These kinds of moves are a great excuse for you to barf forth apocalyptica and announce future badness. So yeah, like you indicated, "You need to watch out for this motherfucker Rolfball, he's got fists like engine blocks, and when he punches you down you don't get up." But then don't bother to share the custom move with them until it mechanically happens. They were warned, after all.

Similarly, if they encounter an NPC who has scavenged something useful in the ruins, perhaps that NPC says something along the lines of, "yeah, you can find all sorts of stuff out there if you're willing to look. O' course you can also end up dead, but that's life, amiright?"

Sometimes a custom move is part of the setting in general, so you can just write it down up front and post it somewhere for your players to read. This will give them the idea that something is even an option (although chances are even if they didn't know it was an option, one or more of them would eventually try it anyway). In my last campaign, I posted rules up front for when you go naked into the void (i.e. when you encounter hard vacuum without a vac-suit) and when you rummage through your oddments for something useful to your present conundrum (because having detailed lists of "gear" sucks and everyone in the setting is assumed to be some level of pack-rat anyway).

But for the vac-suit stuff, I didn't really need to post them beforehand. Everybody sort of understands that being in space without a space suit is pretty bad news, so you can wait until it comes up to actually introduce the mechanics in play. But it always helps to barf apocalyptica first: "'e started to swell up like a balloon, fingers the size o' rat-sausages. And got real cold. Froze t'insides o' his eyeballs too, or so they say! I'd say he was out there no more'n 30 seconds or so, but it messed 'im up but good. He was eventually OK, but now he won't go anywhere near a functioning airlock."

That makes a ton of sense, thanks!

So, in the Rolfball example -- lets say the PCs managed to avoid getting any scuttlebutt about Rolfball before confronting him. Should I forego his fists moves? Or just reveal it the first time I get to make a move with Reveal an Unwelcome Truth?

OK, one question: at the point where they are about to encounter Rolfball's fists, have you said what honesty demands up to that point? If so, then no need to nerf Rolfball - tell 'em the bad news when they encounter it: say what your prep demands. Of course, they could always read a sitch or even read Rolfball, in which case you would answer any questions they are permitted to ask, and you could well find yourself awarding them +1 to avoid the Fists of Rolfball.

Charles

Indeed.

Player (using a read a sitch question): "What should I be on the lookout for?"
MC: "Rolfball's fists. Seriously, the dude has ape hands, and his knuckles are all scarred and lumpy. You suspect that maybe he punches rocks for fun. If he lands one of those ham hocks on you, it's gonna hit like a load of bricks."

My answers are pretty similar to Munin's. If it's a custom move for the setting, and therefore describes a known situation that the PCs themselves would be familiar with, I might show the move up front, so the players understand the options their characters' already know about. Or the perhaps-unusual consequences for certain behaviours.

Otherwise, just wait until it happens; I guarantee everyone will be delighted when you say 'oh hey I have a custom move for that', because custom moves are fucking rad.

Now that said, sometimes if I get a great idea for a custom move and it keeps not quite coming up and I really want somebody to just do it already, I might mention that the move exists -- 'hey by the way, I worked up some moves in case anybody decides to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge, just like fyi...' -- but usually that's not going to be necessary, because if you wrote a custom move for something it is probably because it is super intriguing or super obvious.

I make all of my custom moves with the players, and if I don't, I text it to them during the week so they can chime in. I might not tell them who exactly has got it, but they know when I do. I don't really see any value in surprising them of a risk or challenge, its already risky and challenging, they might as well know the stakes. I have made many many many custom moves however, and in every case where I didnt tell anyone, they often never did the thing to trigger it either.

AW isnt about the mystery behind that door. Its not really suppose to function like: "open the door and roll+weird cause... choose 2." It's suppose to be like, everything in this place is old and dead and battered... except that door to the office right there. It's like... brand-new hardwood, all glossy and immune. It's weird ass shit and doesnt belong. You can even look into the room behind it through the shattered glass, it's crap like out here. But the door... You dont know what to think about that.

That's weird.

I wouldn't have a custom move however, I might just have them open their brains if they open that door. Barth forth weird shit, and ask my questions to form what they see and have them guess why its significant, well have them decide--really. My job is to keep make the world seem real, so whatever this is, it will make some sense from the world's internal logic; probably building on previous weirdness.

Honestly, I've found my players like to be involved with the making of moves anyway. They like to have a say, and the options should feel both scary and rewarding to them. So it works out well. I dont want them to hita  roll they didnt know they had to make, to get soemthing they didnt really want anyway. I dont bother rolling to see if they run into trouble, I just think... has anything interesting been happening? Nope? Well then... Time to make something more complicated then they expected or... did they miss a roll? Well time to make things complicated.

There are exceptions.. The people that can get into other people's mind that listed as an example custom move... that I told them about narratively the first time they got touched. (was my first game ever) I told them the implications very clearly, they felt shit happen. But I didnt have them roll that time, nah. I had them roll the time later when they pissed one of those people off. And that, that was scary fun for them. Just the threat and the weirdness made it cool. And telling them in advance would have made it less cool. This is the only time I would withhold that type of information--and I would release most of it before making them roll, even if they didnt see the move itself until they did.