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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grendel_Khan" data-source="post: 8699764" data-attributes="member: 7028554">Brindlewood is what I'd consider—and I'm fully making up this terminology, with no authority to do so—a second- or third-wave PbtA game, where the number and specificity of moves have been pared way way down, and the extremely specific premise and tone go a long way toward managing what players and GMs would even consider doing, rather than more specific mechanics. There are about four kinds of moves that PCs can do, and "reactions" for the Keeper that are basically all based on reacting to rolls. The players are old ladies who are a part of their community, not reckless adventures bashing their way through every challenge. The tone includes horror, especially as the campaign goes on, but it's also relentlessly "cozy," in order to make those moments of horror more surprising and weighty. So when you mention the idea of a car tailing the PC, or when [USER=16814]@Ovinomancer[/USER] mentions seeing a storm rolling in, imo those aren't really appropriate to the game, at least as an establishing challenge or setup that isn't connected to a roll. That's one of the reasons I was curious about digging into this idea of the GM saying a door is locked. To me it seems like this is a good illustration in the difference between various PbtA games, but also why it can be a little problematic to apply AW's principles to every game it inspired. PbtA games really are remarkably different from one another. I think that's a strength in the approach, but also a challenge.And fwiw [USER=467]@Reynard[/USER] I never recommend AW as anyone's first foray into PbtA. I get the urge to start there, since PbtA started there. It's insanely influential, and if you can grok it you'll be able to pick up any other PbtA game almost instantly. But I think some of the more streamlined games that followed are much easier to pick up. I still reel a bit when I look at one of the extended examples of play in AW and imagine making all of that work seamlessly as a GM. Like I know it happens, and that some people have definitely mastered it. But it's a real high degree of difficulty.</blockquote>

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