I posted here about my difficulties with combat in a recent US game I ran. I’m still not entirely sure how to do it and I’m always looking for more examples of play in AW games.
I found this really great write-up from the Dungeon World side of things called “A 16 HP Dragon”, very inspirational: http://www.latorra.org/2012/05/15/a-16-hp-dragon/
Classic. 😀
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US isn’t really about combat the way dungeon world is. There aren’t usually epic swordfights; there’s someone using a shotgun to blast you out of your apartment.
When advanced, the combat move lets you win in one 12+.
I actually think combat in US is super important. Violence is a huge part of this kind of fiction.
David Hayes – Have you had a chance to look over the long example in the book?
Oh, yeah, re-read it lots and have run 9 US games (an entire story arc with resolution of two fundamental threats). And I agree: violence is a big part of these stories. At this point my misunderstanding is on me, and maybe I need to be a player of AW for a while and surrender of my usual GM post.
This post about DW is helping me a lot: http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=1651.msg9617#msg9617
One thing I read today that is helping to transform my understanding is that we don’t “take turns” when chatting with NPCs, we don’t “take turns” when investigating a scary situation, yet I have an expectation that we “take turns” in combat. If anything, it’s the more artificial situation given the loose, narrative flow of the rest of the game.
I think a big part of it is my lack of pacing of soft moves vs. hard moves and feeling like “doing damage to the PCs” was part of my job. Viewed that way, a fiat “the demon swipes you for 3 harm, what do you do?” is unfair and not dramatically satisfying; we’re back to spreadsheets bonking each other, not very interesting.
Ah, playing AW is great! It really helps make clear how to MC because you get to understand both sides of the conversation.
In general, I always just try to follow the fiction. Like I’ll think “Will this demon shoot The Hunter? Yeah. He would. ‘Okay, dude. Take 3 harm from the shotgun blast as the demon unloads into your back.'” 😀
I think my years-and-years of D&D and GURPS and White Wolf and what-have-you have ingrained in me this weird sense of fairness… like, if the dice didn’t say it then it’s just me saying it and that’s not fair.
But that’s a false choice, anyway, ‘cuz as DM in those games I’m the one that creates situations and I can guide them towards deadly ultra-violence where the dice come out or I don’t. So, hooray for examining base assumptions I guess.
And thanks for listening. ( =