Loving my Unchartered Worlds. I’ve arrived in sector from Traveller with a powdering of Dungeon World play; so a little light on the PbtA experience…
I’m still getting my head around the one roll removal of a threat. This threat might be a squad of security goons. Fiction first and all that, if a PC has a laser pistol they can take all the goons out if they make their Move – I assume with a flurry of pin point shots? What benefit to having a weapon with a spray capability? Does that just change the way you describe the take-down?
Also, in the wild theatre at the table, if multiple charcaters get in on the goon slaying, do they all get to roll their Move at the same time? Does the fiction judge who gets the first roll? If that roll is successful the others look on in awe or even contribute with the helping move (book not with me – I loved that move).?
I’m ‘Bracing for Impact’ 🙂
The way I figure it, a spray weapon let’s one person treat a group of enemies as a single Threat when otherwise they would be multiple threats. More than one fire team, multiple points of cover, flanking positions, and all that fictional jazz that would normally make a gunfight hell for one PC? Get a weapon with Spray, and it’s the great equalizer.
Yep, Alfred Rudzki has it right.
As mentioned in the “Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight” sub-section in Sector 04 (page 48), weapon upgrades allow you greater diversity in how you approach a problem. A Spray weapon can take out swarms of tiny creatures, while the guy with a regular pistol just looks silly shooting the bugs one by one.
For multiple characters tackling threats, the GM has a few options:
– Sequential rolls (my least favorite)
– Split the goons to provide enough fun/threats for everybody
– Ask who the “leader” is (the one making the Move, and how others are joining in the brawl/combat (Get Involved).
For the last one, if the “leader” rolls 10+, have all the participants describe their actions as a group. They won the fight!
On a 7-9 or 6-, ask “how do you turn the tide of this combat”. Act like it’s a tag-in during a wrestling match, and all of a sudden a teammate is doing an elbow drop from the nearest turnbuckle. If the combat roll is still not a success, throw in yet another character to roll.
Remember that the characters share victory, but they also share consequences (AND possibly exacerbate the situation with partial and failed Get Involved)
Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply! 🙂
I think there is some fluidity in the way that threats should be handled that I hadn’t really picked up. The guy with the laser pistol might take out some of the goons with a 10+ but the threat remains, if changed.
That lack of precision, which I can see the strengths of, is the biggest thing I’ll have to get used to.