Playing Apocalypse World: lessons learned
1 – Make your 10+ rolls count.
When you deal with a problem, make sure you do so in such a way as it STAYS dealt with and can’t jump up & be a problem again in 10 minutes. Otherwise you’re just running to stand still all the time.
2- Play to your strengths
If you have Hot -1, you’re not going to be a wheeler dealer, talking your way around problems. It’s just not going to work. Same goes for trying to be a tough guy with Hard -1.
Anyone got anything else?
The problem with your number 1 is that in AW, the rule is ‘there is no status quo’. So no matter what you do, if you don’t keep actively dealing with your problems, they will just continue to get worse. Though I admit as an MC if a player impressively deals with a problem I won’t make it come back to haunt them for a good while.
Fronts matter. 10+ only succeeds on the current front (assuming it resolves the front).
3. Laugh off your 10+ successes. Half-ass it so that interesting stuff keeps happening.
4. Play to your weaknesses.
5: watch the world burn
To expand off of Jason’s excellent number 4 a quote form a ridiculous movie but that works.
“Hell no. Don’t attack their weaknesses, attack their strengths. That’s where the action is”
get the players to do that!
I ever learned your #1 and #2 lessons.
When I MC, 10+ rolls are solid hits, usually awesome things. But they don’t solve all problems.
And playing to a -1 doesn’t mean your PC sucks at it. It just means when they try to use that tactic, things often go awry. A miss doesn’t always mean failure. That’s what makes AW so interesting, it isn’t a binary thing.
Just out of interest, how many of those responding would self identify primarily as a player, as opposed to an MC?
I’ve played more AW than I’ve run but I like both.
Fair enough. A few of the points above sounded very MC-centric to me, but maybe I’m off base
Characters in anguish and fleeing from or dealing with the terrible mess they made is far more entertaining than Everything Going Right. Maybe they make it through, maybe the world burns down around them. Lets play to find out!
Sometimes someone will highlight your -1 hot because they just want to see your character be hot that day. OK so your not great at it, but you go for it anyway. And if some hard moves come at you, cool shit’s getting interesting now.
Just to be clear, in no way do I believe that everything should go right or that failure should ( or can) be avoided. But surely that means that it’s more important to make your own moves as hard as possible, to grasp at whatever fleeting glory you can.
And if there are things your character is good at, for Petes’ sake do them.
Admittedly not the only way to play AW, but valid, surely?
Absolutely valid!
Characters should get a chance to be awesome and shine. Sometimes, characters get to be flawed, make bad decisions, and just plain screw up.
Sometimes, what’s the most dramatic, exciting, and fun for the player isn’t what’s best for the character.
I probably play as much as I GM, but I GM the same way as I play, by making it up as I go along, and looking for something that will hook into the character, and draw them into acting, be it in their best interests or not.
I am both a player and a GM. My rule #1 is always “Have a good time”
Craig Vial Totally valid.
Play towards highlighted stats. Other than that, whether you’re doing your +3 stat stuff or your -1 stat stuff is going to depend on the fiction, and either one is probably going to make life interesting and complicated.
You’re all probably right. Coming to AW from a trad background has been quite a culture shock
My rule is basically (regardless of MC/Player): If there is something my character would do, do it. Either (s)he will get something (s)he wants, or something interesting will happen and I’ll be entertained. Sometimes both. Win-Win.