Here’s an idea for someone to use in an AW hack: MC moves that are “unlocked” when PCs are suffering from conditions.

Here’s an idea for someone to use in an AW hack: MC moves that are “unlocked” when PCs are suffering from conditions.

Here’s an idea for someone to use in an AW hack: MC moves that are “unlocked” when PCs are suffering from conditions.  (Somewhat inspired from the harm moves in Monster of the Week.)

Define a handful of Conditions up front (ala Mouseguard or Torchbearer).  For example: Miserable, Angry, Confused, Afraid, Exhausted, Wounded, Dying.  I’m thinking these are ranked (or at least bucketted) from less severe to more severe.

The standard sort of MC/GM moves would always be available (e.g. announce badness, seperate them, tell them the requirement/sconsequences & ask, etc.)  Also have an MC/GM move of inflict a condition.

If a PC is suffering a condition, new moves become available to the MC for use against that PC.  (I was originally thinking there’d be a different list for each condition, but found there was a lot of overlap.)  Examples:

If a PC is Miserable (or worse):

 – Overstate the consequences or requirements, then ask

 – Make them push themselves to act

If a PC is Angry, *Confused* or Afraid (or worse):

 – Understate the consequences or requirements, then ask

 – Give them a false impression

 – Reveal something they overlooked

 – Ask them to hold steady unless they _

If a PC is Exhausted or Wounded (or worse):

 – Show them their limits

 – Inflict lasting harm

 – Take them out of the action

 – Advance them to Dying

If a PC is Dying:

 – Kill them

(I’m seeing push yourself and hold steady as some sort of basic moves, one to act despite the odds and the other to stand fast in the face of adversity.)

I’m picturing a spot on the GM/MC moves sheet with these listed, and space to jot down which PCs are affected by which conditions. 

Now, much like Threat moves, these aren’t strictly necessary.  But like threat moves, they prompt the MC/GM to do things that they might not do otherwise.

Any immediate thoughts?  Useful?  Overly complex for little benefit?

7 thoughts on “Here’s an idea for someone to use in an AW hack: MC moves that are “unlocked” when PCs are suffering from conditions.”

  1. Change “If” to “When”. Moves can apply to the GM. Moves can apply to the players. Don’t go overboard, but meta moves that apply to the RL people playing the game work fine. 

    Also consider giving the GM hold on failures on a few moves you write. Hold for a PC means a plot coupon to make something happen. Hold for the GM is a hard move coupon, specific to how the move presents it, that the PC can’t complain about. You can make a move too hard for the current situation (and learn from the experience) but when the GM has hold, something specific is going to go down, whenever the GM wants.  

  3. One of the things I find key about MC moves is the chance to mix things up. Like, sometimes you roll bad and I just give you all the goodies because that’s how it goes in my head, and there are wicked strings attached for the future. And sometimes I knock you back hard. And sometimes you have a tough choice to make. Having to wait until a move is unlocked would cramp that, or give it steep direction that may or may not benefit the design of the hack. On the other hand, you could use this as an augment to your count-down clock with little problem.

  4. I like to think of those moves unlocking as adding an extra spice to the GM’s pantry. I’ve got a playbook in development that has a really powerful “sneak in to anywhere” move, with GM hold on failure. With that hold, I can drop the player in somewhere they don’t want to be at will, where it would be a particularly harsh hard move to do the same thing. 

    Aha ! It’s a player agency coupon for the GM. Keep them limited.

  6. Meguey Baker, I totally agree that flexibility to use whatever move feels right is one of the best parts of the AW engine.

    I guess I’m envisioning these “unlocked” moves as things you wouldn’t normally do as an MC. Permission to make harder moves than you normally would make, or screw with the PC’s perception of the world when you normally tell them what the truth requires.

    I really think the threat moves are a good analog. I don’t need Dremmer & his gang to have the move outflank someone, corner someone, encircle someone in order to do. That’s just a specific version of put someone in a spot.  But having that listed as a warlord move make me more likely to do that.

    Likewise, having a move like take them out of the action assocated with a condition like Exhausted isn’t strictly necessary. I could use seperate them or put them in a spot (plus the established fictional of “Fido, you’re exhausted”) to make someone pass out in a fight.  But having a specific condition like Exhausted and an associated move of take them out of the action makes me more likely to do just that. 

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