[RPG] Should I worry about players abusing the Know-It-All move

dungeon-world

I'm concerned about this move of the Wizard:

Know-It-All

When another player’s character comes to you for advice
and you tell them what you think is best, they get +1 forward when
following your advice and you mark experience if they do.

What keeps every player from constantly asking questions like, "I am under attack. Shall I defy danger?"? It seems like all PCs in a party with a Wizard would always have +1 forward, and in no time they would have a level 10 Wizard in the party.

Best Answer

Let's have another look at the Know-It-All move (emphasis mine).

Know-It-All

When another player’s character comes to you for advice and you tell them what you think is best, they get +1 forward when following your advice and you mark experience if they do.

Now let's look at your proposed scenario: the Fighter is under attack and you've asked him the all-important question "What do you do?". In this scenario there are plenty of barriers to the Fighter getting his +1 forward and the Wizard gaining his experience. They could be overcome if the fiction allows it but would take some doing.

  • If the Fighter (the character, not the player) tries to ask the Wizard's advice, I'd say that's a golden opportunity to have the enemy take advantage of his distraction and follow through on whatever injury they were about to inflict. Even if the Fighter manages to shout out a question, by the time he gets an answer it'll probably be too late.
  • Could you even consider a shouted question in a desperate situation to be "coming to the Wizard for advice"? I certainly wouldn't say that yelling "What do I do!?" would count and thus the triggering condition for Know-it-all isn't met.
  • Even if our Fighter somehow overcomes the first two obstacles, there's still the problem that the Wizard can't just tell him to "Defy Danger!". Not only does such a phrase leave the fourth wall in tatters but it's not even advice that the Fighter (again the character, not the player) can act upon, so no +1 forward and no experience marked.

All in all, what you should remember is that Dungeon World is always Fiction-First. Your players don't tell you what moves they're using, they tell you what their characters are doing. If their fictional actions trigger a move then you as the GM let them know that they're about to trigger a move and ask if that's what they want to do.