Recurring silly comment about Apocalypse World and similar RPGs

[Faolyn]

Let me ask this - What if the players do something that is not a move, that is they do not look to the GM to see what happens, but whatever they are doing doesn’t map to a move?

That's fine. That's just regular roleplaying then. Game continues as normal.

 

[FrogReaver]

That's fine. That's just regular roleplaying then. Game continues as normal.

Okay. Where are the rules in AW for this?

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Okay. Where are the rules in AW for this?

What's happening that you need rules here?

 

[FrogReaver]

What's happening that you need rules here?

it’s not so much that they are needed, but if you don’t have them and this situation is not discussed in the rules then it would be very reasonable to read the AW rules and come to the conclusion that every action is a move.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

it’s not so much that they are needed, but if you don’t have them and this situation is not discussed in the rules then it would be very reasonable to read the AW rules and come to the conclusion that every action is a move.

All the moves are actions, but not all actions are moves. The player moves are all spelled out: if you're doing x then y. If you're not doing something that could be some value of x, then there's no move.

 

[Kannik]

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

The Warren uses something similar called Threats.

 

[Faolyn]

Okay. Where are the rules in AW for this?

Page 88.

Whenever there’s a pause in the conversation and everyone looks to you to say something, choose one of these things [GM Moves] and say it. They aren’t technical terms or jargon: “announce future badness,” for instance, means think of something bad that’s probably going to happen in the future, and announce it. “Make them buy” means the thing they want? They’re looking to you to tell them if they can have it? If they want it, they have to buy it. And so on.

Then, “what do you do?”

Remember the principles. Remember to address yourself to the characters, remember to misdirect, and remember to never speak your move’s name. Say what happens to the characters as though it were their world that’s the real one.

Here are guidelines for choosing your moves:

Always choose a move that can follow logically from what’s going on in the game’s �ction. It doesn’t have to be the only one, or the most likely, but it does have to make at least some kind of sense.

Generally, limit yourself to a move that’ll (a) set you up for a future harder move, and (b) give the players’ characters some opportunity to act and react. A start to the action, not its conclusion.

However, when a player’s character hands you the perfect opportunity on a golden plate, make as hard and direct a move as you like. It’s not the meaner the better, although mean is often good. Best is: make it irrevocable.

When a player’s character makes a move and the player misses the roll, that’s the cleanest and clearest example there is of an opportunity on a plate. When you’ve been setting something up and it comes together without interference, that counts as an opportunity on a plate too.

But again, unless a player’s character has handed you the opportunity, limit yourself to a move that sets up future moves, your own and the players’ characters’.

 

[FrogReaver]

Page 88.

I’m explicitly talking about situations where the player isn’t looking for the GM to say something. That issue acted but not with a move. I’m not understanding how that rules text applies to such a situation?

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I’m explicitly talking about situations where the player isn’t looking for the GM to say something. That issue acted but not with a move. I’m not understanding how that rules text applies to such a situation?

If the player is not looking to the GM to say something and isn't having their characters make a move, then it's just a conversation. But it should be moving towards one of those things with some urgency.

Absent concrete examples of what you're imagining is happening during these moments of play, I'm kind of at a loss. It's like we're talking about baseball, but only the stuff happening between innings. Like, I'm having a hard time not reading your question as, "yes, but what happens between innings?"

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I can’t really agree those are very clear instructions. There’s nothing showing what having an opportunity handed to you on a silver plater looks like. What should count as a soft move and as a hard move isn’t immediately clear. Its not clear how transitions from one area to another work under these very clear rules, etc.

Sure there is, in context it's quite clear! Honestly, just from the discussion here it's clear this relates to the GM being handed an opportunity. What would that look like in the context of an adventure game? Wouldn't you imagine a situation where a PC (it has to be a PC logically, right?) leaves themselves wide open, like ignoring some obvious immediate source of danger? If so, you got it! I can't think of anything else it could mean, can you?