While different playbooks have unique moves in Apocalypse World for PCs, the GM doesn’t have different moves depending on which playbooks are being used. Masks was one of the first PbtA games, if not the first, to give the Game Master playbook-specific moves.

For instance, for the playbook The Outsider, the GM gets the moves:

  • Draw attention to their differences
  • Make a request from home
  • Introduce a monitor from home
  • Accept and support them in their moments of weakness
  • Provoke their beliefs and practices in tense situations.

For The Protégé:

  • Endanger their mentor 
  • Convey their mistakes
  • Bestow wisdom, wanted or unwanted
  • Hold up a mirror to them
  • Give them exactly what they need, at a cost.

Many of these moves are tied into the character arc and challenges faced by the corresponding playbooks.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians offers three GM moves per playbook:

Chasing Adventure does this as well, and I think any GM of a fantasy PbtA will want to adapt Spencer Moore’s list to their own games.

  • Barbarian
    • Offer temptation to fulfill an appetite, usually with a later cost or consequence
    • Have an NPC treat them differently from others due to being an outsider
    • Present an opportunity to go all out and rampage
  • Bard
    • Present a potential audience for their art
    • Have an NPC recognize them, for better or for worse
    • Offer an opportunity to Speak Softly with someone interesting
  • Cleric
    • Introduce something related to their deity’s domains, such as an environment they control or an enemy they oppose
    • Have a friend or foe seek their aid or advice
    • Give them an opportunity to perform a Miracle
  • Druid
    • Introduce a spirit or creature of the wild in need
    • Tempt their Instinct if they’re in an animal form, usually towards trouble
    • Offer an opportunity to Commune with the spirits
  • Fighter
    • Offer them an opportunity to Demolish something important
    • Present a challenge specially suited to their skills or Signature Weapon
    • Give them an opportunity to scare or intimidate someone, perhaps with later consequences
  • Immolator
    • Have their fire burn something valuable, to them or to another
    • Offer an opportunity for an intimate or enchanting moment with someone important
    • Demand further sacrifice
  • Paladin
    • Endanger the helpless in their presence
    • Test their commitment to their Virtues
    • Introduce a corrupt or rival authority
  • Ranger
    • Give them a fleeing or hidden quarry to Track Down
    • Introduce a bizarre new natural environment
    • Offer an opportunity to set up a trap or ambush
  • Thief
    • Tempt them with riskily acquired Wealth
    • Introduce the authorities that hunt them
    • Present an opportunity trick, poison, or steal
  • Wizard
    • Introduce a magical threat or mystery
    • Offer a costly or dangerous place of great magical power
    • Have an NPC fear or admire their powers

Copyright ©2023 Spencer Moore. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Thinking through how to apply these moves can be useful during session prep: see Prep Technique: Brainstorming Moves in Advance.

(For more on Chasing Adventure, see my review.)

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