I’ve gone and added more to the draft of TerrorForm, this time covering Phase 2. I’m finding this method of going about the first draft o be very interesting. The Apocalypse World rules are very much a blending of mechanics and fiction, with the setting pouring into what moves are available in a very big way. One of the challenges of working with the system is figuring out what actions to codify as Moves and what actions to leave to the fiction.
Show Me Your Moves
In the first bit of my draft, I highlighted the basic moves in the prose I wrote. If you want them without too much hunting, they are:
- Fight
- Run
- Take Cover
- Scavenge
- Persuade
- Endure
The thing that is bubbling in the back of my mind is how to phrase was you gain when you succeed at these moves, and what the consequences are when you. If you’re not familiar with the system, every roll is 2d6. A 10+ is a success, 7-9 is a partial success, and 6 or less is a failure. There’s an option for a great success as well, at 12+. 12+, you say? How can you get more than 12 when you roll just 2d6? There are modifiers that can apply, but I’ll get to those in a later post.
So, what happens when you succeed at fighting? In game terms, I’d imagine that you’d inflict harm. Great harm, depending on the weapon you wield and the success of your roll. And what happens when you don’t quite succeed, or when you fail? These are the things that I need to figure out, and in my case, setting is the thing that gives me those answers.
The context of these moves is very important to me. The consequences for failing a roll are different if we’re in the wild west or is we’re in a near-apocalypse like in TerrorForm. As well, might not the consequences change depending on the Phase? I know that I want there to be big distinctions between the Phases (which is part of why I’m writing the Phases the way I am right now), but I don’t know yet if those distinctions need to come from the basic moves.
That’s what I’m chewing on right now. Before I get to figuring that out, I’m going to write a bit for the third Phase. Once I have that done, I can figure out exactly what the moves do, then move on to the playbooks (which is where the biggest distinctions between Phases is likely going to be found). If you have thoughts on the moves before then, though, I’d be happy to hear them.
