Hi guys!
Obviously, reading a RPG system and MCing it actively are two different things! I’ve got a whole bunch of questions, if you’ll bear with me.
I thought I’d organize them loosely by themes.
So for this thread, I want to ask about GANGS.
In my group, there is a Gunlugger with the move Not to be fucked with (Ntbfw).
There is also a Chopper, who’s been asking me ever since character creation:
1. Hey Dan! If I had a small gang and it’s working with the Gunlugger who has Ntbfw, does that mean that together, they are considered a Medium gang?
My answer was: uh… hmmm… well, it would depend if they were actually acting together.
(Fun fact: so far, they have not!)
1b. Have you ever had a game with both a Gunlugger and a Chopper in which they aren’t more often than not arguing or fighting each other? 😉
I have googled the matter and searched the interwebs as best as I could.
Many people seemed to think that cohesion was important (i.e. have they been fighting together for a while?).
There’s also the matter of leadership, since this isn’t the Gunlugger’s gang.
However…
2. Now what if the Gunlugger gets his own small gang (through improvement for example)?
My answer: Uh well, he got the improvement during a “counter-raid”, so I proposed that we wait until the next session to introduce said new gang. 🙂
In this particular case, I don’t have any argument against:
small gang + Gunlugger with Ntbfw = medium gang
3. How do YOU interpret Ntbfw?
Mechanically, it says: “in battle, you count as a small gang, with harm and
armor according to your gear.”
So the way I see it is that it affects harm and armor, so when a Gunlugger fights a small gang, there is no adjustment to harm and armor on either side.
And I guess that if ever the Chopper were to fight the Gunlugger on his own, he would suffer a disadvantage, as if fighting a small gang.
But yesterday, I was wondering if any of you ever granted any “fictional bonus” to a PC with Ntbfw? Like does the PC seem larger than life, more intimidating, having eyes behind his head, etc.
4. How do you handle gangs that fight alongside a PC, but don’t actually belong to him?
Last session, the PCs recruited some people to help them on their “counter-raid”. There were enough for a small gang, but they didn’t belong to any of the PCs.
I played them myself (as inexperienced and frightened as they were, they actually didn’t do that much), but I’ve been wondering if I should have let one of the PCs (say the Gunlugger) handle them?
5. Do you ever have individual gang members intervene on their own?
I was googling for answers and came up with that one:
http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=6577.15
TLDR: A member of a Chopper’s gang acted to protect his boss.
The idea that individual members stand out is pretty cool (and in keeping with my understanding of “make everyone human”), but does it take something away from the PCs? I don’t know, like the spotlight? Or making the Chopper too powerful? (In my group, the Chopper has 29 gang members and has named and provided a one-liner for every single one of them.)
What would be your “rules” for individual actions from a gang?
Does that come only through my making an MC move?
That’s it for now.
I’ll provide more details as needed.
Thanks! 🙂
I’d let the gang count as one step larger as long as group cohesion held. Some keeping cool and pack alpha thrown in during the conflict to make sure everyone works well together.
Interesting questions. I’ll stick around to see how others respond.
A character with ntfbw basically fights in a way that you have to treat them as a gang. This will likely mean they put down their own cover fire, causes casual explosions, and in general make it difficult to engage one on one. This is not a person you want next to you while you’re fighting even if they are on your side. I’ve always played it as the character using ntbfw has to fight on their own or damage the members of the gang. Then again, having 2 games engaging an enemy can be a scary thing. You can force your enemy to be stuck between a rock and a psychopath with a gun. I think that you can use leadership or pack alpha to direct the gang to attack without you and then use your actions to make battle moves.
I would interpret it as two different things. Gangs have special rules for combat. This move just says that he fights in a way where the small gang rules are an appropriate shorthand. It’s a mechanical statement. When you have an orange, and a can of soda that “tastes like orange.” you can’t mix them together and have more oranges. That’s how I would call it, anyway.
I interpret it as follows: NTBFW makes your gunlugger count as a small gang in battle. That is a simple +1 modifier just like a regular gang (except when when they are bushwacking people, and so not in battle). If they are combining with, or have their own, gang then ask “Is this a bigger gang?” I think 2 small gangs of 3 or 4 people still combine to be ‘still a small gang’, add a few more to each and they would become a medium gang. I would count the gunlugger as a ‘small’ small gang. They are meeting the minimum requirements of a gang just because they are pure badarse. If adding a few extras would push that into medium gang territory then by all means do so.
I think shortchanging the gunlugger move so they don’t count as a small gang in battle for any reason is an old school gm vs players move and against the principle of being a fan of the characters. On the other hand it’s totally legit to say that the gunlugger seems to be just doing their own thing, not being part of the team and so gets to make their own moves solo rather than being combined with the other gang.
If you have some group that aren’t your gang fight alongside you and follow your orders, hey, guess what, they are your gang! Use them as such the same way that if you picked up someone else’s chainsaw it’s now your chainsaw.
If the Choppers gang has personality that’s awesome. It doesn’t give him too much power…it raises the stakes instead! When Monty eats a bullet and is in a coma, or Georgie Pie decides that ‘she should be in charge of the gang now.
Good points! Thanks guys!