Hey again! So, another wave of questions, here it comes..
The Executive & The Honorbound
It seems like their booklet is so focused in their jobs (One about the jobs the board assign to them, and the other about the jobs the group enforcing giri assign to them). In order to make them a group, playing with this booklets, how should i make them join it?
The first idea that pops out is to make the assignments about NPC´s/Organizations that tie with the interests/jobs of the other PC´s
But then there´s that other idea about letting them use their Giri in order to ask for help from others…
Am i loosing something?
First Session
When you go past the worlbuilding phase and take the booklets, you have a bunch of interesting stuff created. But, how do you translate it into the first session? You talk about the mission structure of a crime, or an investigation, but i dont really know if my players would like to play something like that. That´s something ingrained in their jams, at the end of the day. Im guessing, but i think their jams have to be really engaging and proactive in order to make the first session smoothly…? Another idea was to “force” the players to have at least one of the “Goal type” Belief, so i can go along with that?
Thanks in advance!
Why do you have to make them a group?
thats actually a good question… I dont really know why i have that need. I guess i dont want to split the spotlight too much, since i have 4 players and i think it could be boring for the ones not playing at the time..? plus, if we are playing together i assume it´s for playing the interactions between characters and as group that comes like.. more natural? Im afraid that if they are not a group, or a team or whatever, they go solo and i have to “artificially” (using their jams, their booklets and their beliefs ) get them together… Does that make sense? Thats like the answer that pops out automatically when i question myself about the “Group” issue.
A lot of this feels like you’re trying to figure out how to force the players to act in ways you want. Maybe try talking to them and let them decide. It’s not up to you to force them to do things.
Aaron Griffin beat me to it! If the concept of the game the players want to have is something group oriented, cool! But I don’t think needs to be that, there’s Giri and Jam to help you do that, but all the playbooks are strong enough to support their own fiction separate from each other. You can have a plot that touches each of their lives, but they don’t really have be a group all the time.
Spotlight management is easier when that happens but some of the best Apocalypse World games I’ve played in had no more than two of us in a scene at a time until it all culminated at the end.
Those playbooks in particular are good for tying them to other PCs because often their tasks may require help from others, possibly from the PCs. I’d say it’s easier to have groups with those playbooks as Giri tends to be past jobs they’ve done together and what not.
Maybe its for the best to relax a little and trust the group, just flow with the game. Thanks!
If they end up really wanting to be in a group style play, they’ll shove the fiction towards that naturally. First session should sort all that out, as long as you’ve got a lot of open communication happening you’ll find whatever they’re into.
They don’t have to join a group, but sometimes it’s nice to have everyone in one place. In this setting, it’s totally possible for shadowy forces to manipulate events (and digital reality) to weave the disparate threads together.
The trick is to do that without seeming railroady. The PCs could discover the unseen hand. Think Adjustment Team / Bureau. Maybe that’s where the Onomastic’s Iconoclasts come in.