Giving players a say in the 6- results. Do you?
I occasionally try to go “ok, so you failed your shot. What else did go wrong?” It depends on the players (and I sure have a veto), but usually the results are fine. Like “So I missed, and the arrow hit… the torch, so we are all in dark now?”
I found that players who occasionally depict their own failures will more generously accept when I make a harsh move on them.
Really really rarely. It is not the players job to decide these things.
Also people often default to “I don’t do what I wanted to do” when “you do what you do and something. Bad happens because of that” or “you are a out to do X but then something horrible happens and you don’t even get to do what you wanted to do” often are things you want to do instead.
I see, so this really depends on the players personalities then. I’m in a group where players would sacrifice their PCs without second thought to advance an awesome story, and I kinda assumed that would be the usual perception of what a PC is there for. Guess survival instinct also got a say.
If we’re sticking to the rules as written, you can of course disclaim decision making, ask questions etc. Asking a loaded question like that is a valid way to go about it. It just shouldn’t be the default and you should remember to ask a question that falls within the purview of the character, without crossing “the line”.
http://mightyatom.blogspot.com/2010/10/apocalypse-world-crossing-line.html
But AW games are inherently hackable/driftable by default, so don’t worry about it too much as long as it’s a thoughtful change that works within the context of your group.
On a 6- the GM makes as hard a move as they like, and that definitely includes giving the players a hard choice or opportunity!
“You can save your arm, but only if you chop off your hand…”
That’s particularly brutal, but giving players hard choices on a 6- is a fun and engaging way to play.
Generally no. Not for reasons of trust or consequence, but more for pacing. Functionally speaking, a 6- most often gives a scene a new thrust, and that kind of transition works best when inertia is maintained.
That said, so fas as I’m concerned, players should have already told you what happens on a 6-. When the description of action is sufficiently well framed to merit a die roll, the implications of success and failure should already be visible, at least in outline. If I cannot see the 6- (or the 7-9) before the dice hit the table, that is the point where I ask some question.
Caveat: I’m speaking generally. There are absolutely situations where I will ignore my own advice. But this is my general take.
When a player totally hoops themselves and is knocking on Death’s door, I’ve had really good luck just asking, “okay, hotshot, how on earth do you survive this?”