1 question

 Hi all
thanks in advance to all that will help me on this:

there is a limit to a "bonus" to a roll ? i explain better.
if you have + 3 stat and + 1 forward from a source, you can have a + 4 or there is a "cap" of the bonus to rolls ?
i am not finding it ...

There is not. Stacking bonuses tends to be very difficult, though.

last night i had a player with a + 2 stat, getting a + 2 from the "Help or interfere" action of another player.
That summed to + 4
in another situation, another player with a + 3 stat and a + 1forward (thanks to a move where he rolled a 10) got the + 4
those 2 situations prompted the question.

i reckon that even if 1 player get helped from 2 or + mates the max bonus from help or interfere is  + 1 or + 2, not summed, wichever is the greatest right ?

while +1 forward and + (from help and interfere) sums
but i am not sure if different sources sums or i have to consider just the greatest of the various sources to add to the roll

thanks
tommy

Other players helping one in particular are risking quite a bit (if anyone fails the MC gets to make a hard move), and presumably not doing as much stuff on their own, so yeah, that can happen and is quite powerful, if risky. It's other bonuses that are rare.

But that doesn't change the fact that all bonuses stack with each other. A player with a +3 stat, three people helping them, and +1 forward could get a +10 on their roll in theory. That won't happen a lot, but no rule prevents it.

ok, gotcha.
and yes, i reckon it will not be a "regular" situation, but wanted to be sure that was actually possible and not our reading of the rules.
anyway, thanks

You still only get help from the best rolled help, right? (But now you can roll help AFTER the roll to be helped has been made.)

I think so. It's still pretty easy to stack rolls, Quarantines are built for i, so I'll use that as an example.

a solid non-weird stat line, potentially Cool +3
Read the Sitch for +1
Get help for +1 and give that person XP
Ask someone for advice because you're Eager To Know for +1
and another if it's an Oftener Right Savvyhead. +1
They're both variations in Insight but the "when you do" for both is satisfied by a single conversation. Add in things like Perfect Instincts, Consummate Performer, Reputation and vehicles rules and you  can go right off the chart.

I played this character in my first AW game. Stacking all of that up isn't too difficult. There's a lot of XP or potential XP to encourage other players to help. I'd say I was at +3-4 more often than I was at +5 or 6 but when it matters enough to take the time, it's available. One thing that I noticed is that in the long run, 7-9 results make for much more interesting games than consistent 10+. Having to make tough choices is way more fun to me than having a "you win" button.

At +5, you will never miss a roll entirely. Anything more than this is honestly overkill unless you really need to hit 12+ on your Manipulate roll. You'll get that 12+ about 2/3 of the time.
At +4 you'll fail one time out of 36 and hit a 10+ more than 2/3 of the time.

PC-NPC-PC triangles.

Sure, you're eager to know or your friend's oftener right or whatever, but would you really go to them while your ex is on their arm? And I agree that the gunlugger could help you by providing covering fire, but would you really ask or count on it if you knew they were pissed about what you said/did to Isle?


And you might seem at ease around the table, but when you live in Apocalypse World and are one of it's paragons of coolness, sharpness, hotness and crazy brilliance while being hard as fuck you do stuff when you do it, in accordance to the rythm of the conversation/lay of things - because at any time that +5 forward will be spent on a pissed off-boyfriend heading your way! The MC are really not doing their job if they let you accumulate and sum up bonuses while making everyone's lives boring.

Yeah, you've got a +3 cool and hard in your statline, but your friends around the rpg-table said they wanted you to interact with people in the setting and reflected it in their hightlights.


... and speakiing of highlights. The game will end very soon when the GM recognize that the players' regulary roll with a 4% chance of failure. Any game will need a bit of uncertainty, Apocalypse World just as much.

A rare time you'll actually bang the Gunlugger just as you go tell the Warlord to sod off and leave everyone alone, as the Savvyhead believed was the best option, while the News and the Skinner both inspire you or something, while the Brainer helps... hopefull that's cool as the nordic hell and whatever will rize in said Warlord's dust be not boring!

If you happen to not like the idea of bonuses stacking, or it's causing people to behave in odd ways in attempt to guarantee a success... cap what stacks.

We set it up like this:
Help (stacks with everything but other help rolls, best bonus applies).
Read a Sitch bonuses (stack with everything)
Other +1 forwards / ongoing effects (only the highest or lowest bonus/penalty count. If you've both bonuses and penalties, get the total, and give a bonus/penalty capped at the highest/lowest single bonus/penalty.)

But other people let everything stack. I just don't like anything that removes all sense of risk, so that's how we roll things.

It depends a lot on the way the game is set up. By the time my Quarantine was pulling consistent high rolls, it was less a question of success and more a question of not having many good options, or not knowing the long term consequences. Sure, The MITties will help, but they need you to assassinate the rogue psyker. Now you have to choose between shooting an innocent man or pissing off the faction with scary future tech. You can undoubtedly succeed at either, so which is more important? Your ideals or the innocent people in town that will be collateral damage if you start a war? You can get an extra +3 to either choice but it doesn't make it the right choice.