Noob Question
I’m running my second Apocalypse World session this Saturday. I’m still wrapping my head around Fronts. I mean, I understand the idea behind Fronts, but for some reason or the other I can’t fill out the Fronts sheet.
I’m getting tripped up on the character’s gangs/cults:
Is the population of a hardhold a front?
Is the hardholder’s gang a front?
Is the Hocus’ UFO cult a front?
Thank you for your help.
Usually I make those threats on the home front.
I’d probably start by asking myself “Self, what’s up with [this group of people.]” eg: “Self, what’s up with the people living in the hardhold?” “Not too much, right now, I think, they’re just doing their thing” “Oh, okay… how about that UFO cult?” “Well, those fuckers, they’re getting into some weirdness.” “Hmm….” [Writes up UFO weirdness front, looks for someplace else to stick the hardhold pop.]
Basically if there’s something “up” with a group, try to make a front for them, otherwise stick them with an existing front, or the home front.
I really don’t understand the concept of the homefront
Fuckers that could be a problem, but I’m not sure how yet, is how I usually play it.
To me AW is a game of active listening and note taking as an MC.
Let the players paint the picture of the world from their eyes and take their perceptions and barf forth apocalypta.
A front sheet is a cheat sheet for all of your notes, names and observations. As the players interact with the world around them give them active feedback in the form of NPCs, locations and general odd phenomenon (1980’s Skeletor was always waiting on the edge of the psychic maelstrom).
I would love to sit, discuss and expound on topic in a gamer chat if you are ever so inclined.
The home front is shit that is going on at home (wherever/whatever “home” is) rather than shit that is threatening you from outside.
Like, the NPCs that are part of your holding/gang/crew/cult/whatever, or even just the people in your neighborhood. Remember how they all want stuff and will sometimes cause problems for you? That’s the home front.
The Homefront Front… might exist, might not…
And might have interesting Threats of general social decay such as;
• Rebellious Population among the Hardhold’s Souls
(vents out events involving apathy and despair)
• Alpha Wolf hiding in the Hardholder’s Gang
(vents out events involving brutality and ambition)
• Weird Delusion spreading from within the UFO Cult
(vents out events involving paranoia and ignorance)
• A general landscape Condition of social lack and civil decay
(vents out events involving thievery and fear)
BUT, don’t be a big butt…
Do it only if it’s interesting and/or demanding attention, and forget these examples… use threats that make sense for what’s actually happening, and what the players are involved with. Don’t host a coup d’état or detail the difficulties of civil maintenance, if there is obviously no interest or buy-in from the players, or it isn’t an extension from the Internal Affairs of their own Homeland Details.
The hocus cult should be a threat, and most problems you discover through the games are actually threats. During play though, you might find that several threats have a united cause, such as the threat of travelling the burn-flats while moving to attack Bip the rival hard-holder. When this happens, you should unite them as a front, and work everything together.
The home front is a good place to put threats that haven’t been categorised with other threats.
I’m writing the UFO cult ( The Pathfinders), the population of the vault (the hardhold), and hardholder’s gang as threats.
It looks like the home front will be the best place for all of them, since everybody lives in The Vault.