GM role in PvP content

#1

What do you do as MC when your players wonder into PvP territory? (assume they want it and they are on board with it)

Its easy when they fight over something - they are triggering moves and the other can interfere.

It gets more difficult when they are talking. My players are kind of talky types and they talk and ask each other questions then take decision, yes I’ll do it or no I won’t.
At what point should I call for moves? or should I just sit and wait until they seem to hit a wall and cannot agree on what should happen next and then call for moves?

Situation from my last game of Apocalypse World. Players were talking and talking, exchanging arguments and when they drive to a wall they wanted to read the other person with only intent to ask “how can I get you to …” and then do/say that.
I find it dull and boring resolution. Yes it gives the other player opportunity to set price as high as he wants, but on the other hand it forces them to comply, they cannot refuse once they said how to convince them.

Kind regards,
Pawel

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#2

It’s been a while since I’ve read it but hearts of wulin has a pretty interesting system for this you could check out

#3

This sounds like the right resolution to me. Read a person lets you set clear stakes and then act on them. That’s preferable to a skill check or having two players talk in circles without an end point. As MC, you could remind them that there are crises to deal with, they can’t just stand around jawing all day (announce off screen badness) or you can just listen and see where the argument goes.

They could also trigger seduce or manipulate, which (in 2e at least) can give someone a little incentive to cooperate.

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#4

So one thing to always keep in mind is that you don’t ‘call for moves’, you decide when Moves get triggered. The distinction isn’t trivial! If they start to talk past each other, you’ve got a couple of options. If they’re just arguing and spinning their wheels, you can read that as a Golden Opportunity and just make one of your Moves.

If that feels dickish (it isn’t but might feel that way) then ask the one who initiated the conversation what their goal here is as soon as you see it stall or get recursive. Then decide what Move they trigger. If they try to waffle on triggering a Move, then ask the other player what they’re doing etc. of course, you can also just say “looks like you’re trying to convince them, so roll it.”

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#5

I have used the @JimLikesGames approach many times. No one cares about who owns something if it is about to be destroyed by an outsider threat. (E.g. arguments over ownership of the hardhold, magical items, influence of the cult (Hocus) can all be solved this way.