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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 9040014" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Ok, I figured I'd do a quick post on this to try to clarify how the tactical decision-space of Dungeon World works.  There is a substantial Gamist element of Dungeon World if the GM and players know what they're doing, its just somewhat (though not totally) different than in standard D&D.So here are some concepts I'm going to throw out into a big pile to kind of let you onboard and attempt to integrate and operationalize in your mind.  In Dungeon World & Derivatives:* Some of the challenge is "playing the fiction" to (a) open up your prospective move-space such that the permissible moves available to you are both thematically relevant (therefore earning xp) while (b) also being gamestate potent.* One element of gamestate potency is an outgrowth of your allocated ability modifiers + your playbook moves + synergies with other PCs or the situation that can be marshaled.  So lets say you're a Fighter who has a +2 Wisdom and maybe a move that gives you +1 to Discern Realities (Perception in D&D parlance).  You should be aggressively risking things going awry (a GM making a move that changes the situation adversely on a 6-) and making Discern Realities moves when going into battle and in mid-battle.  You're a trained warrior with an incredible cognitive loop earned by years in the crucible of martial conflict.  You see everything.  In DW that means "make Discern Realities moves to get at least a 7-9," ask your question about the unfolding situation or person (you read situations or persons) and take +1 forward when acting upon that information.  Now use that to Defy Danger to close the gap when the enemy has a range tag advantage on you (you're fighting a Giant with a huge maul and Reach range and you're armed with a Sword of only Close range...you're going to have to Defy Danger to get inside and Hack & Slash or I'm making a hard move against you; dealing the giant's damage and whatever tags go with that like Forceful or Messy....bad stuff...).* Another element of gamestate potency is breadth of competency.  DW characters have enormous baked-in breadth of capability because the basic engine makes it so (via the core play loop + principles, the potency of basic moves, the potency of Inventory, the potency of playbooks).  You can absolutely amplify this both at (i) the PC build stage, (ii) the "playing the fiction" (in-situ) stage, the use Inventory/Gear cleverly.  Combine these three skillfully/aggressively and you will see better or worse results in terms of the trajectory of the gamestate : fiction relationship.* As mentioned above, DW is very, very tag-intensive (as a lot of indie games are).  Range relationships are governed by tags so that fictional relationships are governed by them.  Gear has tags.  Moves (PCs and monsters) have tags.  These create new fiction, new gamestate advantages, or new gamestate obstacles to overcome.  Deft GMing employs these skillfully just like deft playing does.* There are several currencies to manage from Gear currencies (like Ammo 2 and Adventuring Gear 4 and Rations 3), to basic move currencies (like spend Hold when you Defend to do defend-ey stuff), to playbook currencies (embedded in playbook moves).* But you dont' just need to play skillfully.  You also need to thread the thematic needle by playing "Bond-forward" and "Alignment (these are statements of belief and creed etc)-forward" and "Discovery-forward."  Aggressively pursuing these dramatic needs and bringing them into play will earn you xp and advancement.  So its not one axis of "best move" that you're indexing when you make moves in DW.  Its a few ones that make up a matrix.* Good GMing in DW means foregrounding stakes and creating dynamic suites of consequences for players to deal with and choose from as fiction + moves create an ever-resolving situation.  Get a 7-9 on a Defy Danger to grab your buddy (a Follower, say) before he falls into a crevasse?  Ok, you've got their arm by the cuff, but in the effort your ever-important coin purse (laden with coin to loadout supplies/provision in the next town and pay your Follower debts) is coming untied from your belt and is going to be lost to the gloom below if you don't do something.  You can hear the crack of ice and you see the snaking fissure slowly coming your way at 30 paces (Near range) which is a prior established danger.  The Frost Giant in the distance (Far range...you've got some time) toward you is going to cause a complete failure of the ice shelf to swallow you when they eventually get here.  You've got a few immediate dangers pressing upon you (the looming coin purse and the snaking fissure) and one well down the road (the Frost Giant)...but you've got your buddy but the cuff and one hand firmly clasping the ice shelf to stabilizing you up top.  What do you?[HR][/HR]This is the sort of play this produces.  The decisions you make index and create both a dynamic fiction and an attendant dynamic gamestate (a gamestate that is governed by a lot of converging game engine stuff as above).[HR][/HR]EDIT: When you really start to understand the huge diversity of the Gamism element of various PBtA games, you’ll be able to look at a new game like 1000 Arrows and contrast it with Dungeon World and immediately ascertain the “low G” of 1KA vs the much higher G of Dungeon World (this isn’t a hit on 1KA…its a really great Narrativist engine).</blockquote>

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