Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8700918" data-attributes="member: 42582">Why assume I'm envisaging play that doesn't conform to the agenda and principles?I was contributing to a particular discussion, about when the GM can make moves and what those moves might include. And whether and when "The door is locked" might be a possible expression, in the fiction, of a GM-move. And more generally, whether and when a GM can introduce fiction that thwarts a player's hope or expectation for what their PC is going to achieve.AW is not Burning Wheel. There is no principle of "Say 'yes' or roll the dice". To put it another way, not every action declaration by the players for their PCs puts a limit on what the GM can say next. Some do: the ones that trigger player-side moves. But some don't: the ones that just continue the conversation, and invite the GM to play their part in that. Is it unskilled play for the players to declare actions that don't trigger player-side moves? Eg, and to go back to [USER=99817]@chaochou[/USER]'s example, is it unskilled play for the player to have their PC ask Dremmer for petrol rather than Go Aggro? My view is: in the abstract we can't tell. Why is the player having their PC ask Dremmer rather than threaten them? Because the player is a newbie who doesn't get the game and genre? Then maybe the GM should clarify things, and/or give the chance of a take-back (as we see in some of the play examples in the rulebook). Is the player having their PC follow through on a promise they made to Birdie? Maybe risking getting shot in the leg by Dremmer is worth it!The GM's goal is to make Apocalypse World seem real, not to make the game feel like an exercise in mechanical optimisation.Is it flawed GMing to describe a rusty gyrocopter sitting in the yard of the abandoned stronghold, without any further announcement of future badness (black smoke or dustclouds on the horizon, the sound of the engines of Dremmer's gang approaching, or whatever else)? Or is it enough that this is a Landscape, Displaying something for all to see (or perhaps Disgorging something)? I don't see how there can be an answer, in the abstract.The GM's goal is to make the PCs' lives not boring. I don't think that finding a rusty gyrocopter is inherently boring!</blockquote>

Verification