Aid +2
Apocalypse World 2e uses Aid +2 instead of Aid +1. I think this is due to how difficult Aid / Interfere is to hit. Interfere is great for solving player disputes, but Aid gets tried once and I find it impossible to get players to engage with this rule when it’s so hard to achieve and the reward sounds so meagre. I’ve had plenty of people argue the maths to me, but all the players I’ve had aren’t strong on maths. They try Aid, in practice it’s shit, so they never do it again. Bear in mind I’m not talking about a static group here, I get new players every week. No one likes Aid – I even spend 10 minutes explaining how important it is and they don’t like it when they try it.
This leads to me doing what I call Turret-GMing. I turn to face each player and talk only to them, going around the table. This style is a bit stressful for me as I see players getting bored waiting to be aimed at.
I tried Aid +2 yesterday, and players experimented with Aid / Interfere more. People got involved in each other’s turns. Mechanically, the +2 had no effect on the game – no one rolled a result where the extra 1 mattered. But the dynamic at the table was more positive. Teamwork was worth trying.
I’m going to maintain this house-rule for now, and see how it rides out. I may be wrong, and it may be a fault in my style. But I prefer play to be more of discussion where everyone feels they can contribute – this change does a lot to achieve that.
What are your thoughts on this?
Aid +1 is fine as long as you don’t wait for them to say “I use the aid move” when their statements suggest one person is helping another you call the aid move. I like to use burning Wheel’s let it ride concept to head off all of my players trying the same task all at once
I like the way Uncharted Worlds does it: aid raises success level one step from 6- to 7-9 to 10+, and Interfere lowers it one step
Aaron Griffin Yeah same here I think it definitely makes it feel that the aider has a big impact. I think I may hack it for future DW games
Here’s the revised version we’re using for Stonetop, if anyone’s interested. It’s largely cribbed from Uncharted Worlds.
AID OR INTERFERE
When you help or hinder someone making a move, say how you do it and roll…
…+STR if you employ brute force
…+DEX if you act with speed or finesse
…+CON if you do it by holding steady
…+INT if you exploit a pertinent detail
…+WIS if you anticipate their behavior
…+CHA if you use subterfuge, charm, or wiles
On a 10+, you shift the result of their roll one step for the better (if you aid) or worse (if you interfere); on a 7-9, the GM will tell you what else is required to get involved, or the additional cost of doing so. You can back down and stay out of it, or accept the GM’s offer and shift the result of the roll as if you rolled 10+.
A “shift” is moving the result up or down one tier in the basic result ladder. For example, if you aid someone who rolls a 6-, it would become a 7-9 result, and a 7-9 result woulf become a 10+. If you Aid a move that has a special clause on a 12+, you turn a 10-11 into a 12+; if you Interfere with such a move, you turn a 12+ into a normal 10+ result.
Aaron Griffin Now this would have made a huge impact on an Interfere roll that occurred yesterday. One player hit Interfere, but the other player scraped a 7 after being reduced from a 9. I will probably try this (but not right away as they’ll worry about having to deal with new house rules every week).
Jeremy Strandberg This would go down well with one of my players who wants to roll WIS for absolutely anything. I prefer the Bonds as it pushes her out of her comfort zone, even though she’s a cleric and always has an excuse to Interfere.
Jeremy Strandberg As usual, YOINK! 😀
Aaron Griffin Sure, that makes sense. It should work with rolling +BOND just as well. There’s been a lot of chatter about dropping bonds for other mechanics, like “flags.”
In Stonetop, bonds are a per-session resource. You can tap one on a roll you make against or on behalf of the bond-ee to add a +1 to your roll, or on a roll they make against you to impose a -1. Only 1 bond can be tapped per roll (on either side… rolling party gets last word), and you have to justify the bond making a difference. They untap at the end of each session. (Also, you can have bonds with NPCs, and probably will have more with them than with PCs.)
Hey, so this option I’ve been trying has been based on the downloadable playsheets listing the wrong rules.
It says nothing about a bonus on 7-9, so I’ve ruled it that way. That typo has actually made my games a lot worse.
Not sure whether this +2 business is still relevant in light of that – will see next session.