DW RPG: Success, and yet Failure

With any roll there is the question of: do I pass? In this RPG, it gets a bit more complicated than than, with degrees of success. These levels of success are given in two different ways, I prefer the version that actually says something about the style of success. (I'll just focus on success for the moment, there is similar degrees for failure.)

"Yes, and" - the best type of success, where you pass and get an extra benefit. "Yes" - a success and you get what you want. "Yes, but" - you get a success, but some other complication happens. It might just be the rolling, or bad target numbers, but our typical rolls put us (sometimes with Story Point boosts) in the "Yes, but" category. Which has two problems.

The first, the "but" component. You get what you want, but something else happens. Which you now have to address. So really, you've just changed one problem for another. So... what success have you really had? At best, you might have changed from a problem you aren't so good at to one that you are, but on the whole it seems a bit of a wash.

The other issue is that, again, this is supposed to be an easier RPG for new GMs to pick up. Now, they have to deal with different levels of success, and come up with bonuses or extra issues depending on the roles. Yeah, no pressure, that's easy.

It does give some great story flexibility (I'll talk later about examples from our actual adventures), but would be more for the experienced among us. Otherwise, it's just more complexity and getting-in-the-way to deal with.

[END]