Recurring silly comment about Apocalypse World and similar RPGs

[Campbell]

There is a real issue with PbtA games that are not Apocalypse World assuming high level knowledge of how AW functions in their texts. Particularly when it comes to the process of running the game. A lot of games just give you principles and a list of GM Moves, but they do not provide the high level instructions on how soft moves and hard moves work, how not to always pick the hardest move possible, etc. I think Apocalypse World, Masks and Monsterhearts do a fairly good job, but there are a number of games that really need to put more work into the text.

 

[Campbell]

Having already ordered DW, are the use of fronts widely used in other PbtA games?

The way threats work in Apocalypse World is fairly similar.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Having already ordered DW, are the use of fronts widely used in other PbtA games?

Many PbtA games have so e sinilar type of mechanic. Threats or Doom or something that’s similar but may work slightly differently.

If you dig Dungeon World, but are unsure about anything, I’d recommend picking up Apocalypse World. It has much more complete guidance and would probably enhance your understanding of DW quite a bit.

 

[niklinna]

Because "if you do it, you do it" is not actually all that clear. It doesn't actually tell you how to do it. And I'd wager a lot of PbtA games just happen with the GM handing the players the playbooks to look through (since it's not like they need to look through lists of skills or spells or whatever) and with a list of what the player moves do, not with the players reading the book.

Well, the text goes on to tell you how to do it. But it starts with the catchphrase, and people latch on to that, and, repeated without the rest of the text to back up the catchphrase, people seeing it out of context roll their eyes. I'm one of those people; I think it's a terrible catchphrase—because without the supporting context it's a bare tautology that explains nothing. But the rest of the text is a great explanation of how to enact it.

 

[mamba]

And with PbtA games, having such clearly defined moves can obfuscate this fact.

I would have thought the moves correspond to the buttons you mentioned

 

[Faolyn]

Having already ordered DW, are the use of fronts widely used in other PbtA games?

In my experience, not really. But other games have different ways of organizing challenges.

 

[Faolyn]

Well, the text goes on to tell you how to do it. But it starts with the catchphrase, and people latch on to that, and, repeated without the rest of the text to back up the catchphrase, people seeing it out of context roll their eyes. I'm one of those people; I think it's a terrible catchphrase—because without the supporting context it's a bare tautology that explains nothing. But the rest of the text is a great explanation of how to enact it.

Right but, as I said, most players probably aren't reading the book, and if they ask for help online, they get often snotty answers about how self-evidently true it is without anyone explaining it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I have to admit while I'm not a giant fan of PbtA from what I can see of it, most of the objections I actually see in the wild seem--odd.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Right but, as I said, most players probably aren't reading the book, and if they ask for help online, they get often snotty answers about how self-evidently true it is without anyone explaining it.

Yeah, I definitely have detected an undercurrent of arrogance from some portions of that community, especially the ones who imply that they used to be fans of traditional gaming and have "evolved" past it.

 

[Arilyn]

Every game and play style has a percentage of snobs. As someone who who enjoys a variety of games, I don't see that any particular group is worse than any other.