Can you do the thing? - Hacking in MotW
In a lot of games, capability to do something is placed behind the bar of various skills, feats, spells, and so on. The idea is that if it's not on your sheet then it is assumed you can't do it. This is a perfectly valid approach but it starts to run into problems when it is carried over into a game that operates on the idea that it is never possible to include everything that is possible on a character sheet.
I'm going to use hacking as an example of this because it has come to mind lately.
In the original release of the game, there were no explicit moves related to hacking. The Flake had the closest to it in the form of the move "Net Friends" which specifically referred to connections on the internet rather than your own skill.
Since then we have had several other moves come up to address hacking:
The Hacker with the Dragon Tattoo move in The Gumshoe playbook. (Tome of Mysteries)
The Computers and Electronics field of expertise from The Action Scientist playbook (Slayer's Survival Kit)
Virus Whisperer and some of the Integration options on the The Interface playbook. (Slayer's Survival Kit)
The Hacking weird move. (Slayer's Survival Kit)
So, do you need these moves in order to hack in the game?
If you don't have one of these moves you can still try to get into a computer system. If a hunter doesn't have a move specific to a task but it is still something they could logically have a chance at, you default to using basic moves.
In this case, if you're looking for information on a computer or the internet, using Investigate a Mystery will usually be plenty (or read a bad situation if you're looking for tactical information). If the information they want is found behind security then they might get told they'll have to hack it which might require acting under pressure later to get the full answer.
Alternately, the reverse might occur, the player might act under pressure to get into the system and then investigate a mystery afterwards now with justification for answers that would normally be inaccessible.
Another case could be where someone wants to hack their way through an electronically locked door or to keep themselves out of the security cameras. In both of these cases act under pressure can be used to attempt it.
So if it's possible to hack without the specific moves, why do the specific moves exist? The two main reasons come down to the following:
The first time I encountered the term "justification" in a gameplay sense was in the rule book for Fate Core which specified stunts generally provided one of three benefits:
Mechanical benefit to a common action
Perform an action with one skill that would most often use a different one.
Provide justification that a character can do a thing normally impossible.
A lot of narrative games function by either adding or removing justification. For example, gaining an injury of "broken leg" removes the justification for walking across a room without effort while a stunt of "dragon wings" would provide justification for a character to fly which is normally impossible for a person. For that matter, guns provide the narrative justification for shooting someone far away from you.
A lot of moves in Monster of the Week similarly operate almost entirely stating that a thing is possible or a thing exists:
Mobility - states a vehicle exists
Shapeshifting - states the character can change form
Flight - states the character can fly
Telepathy - states the character can read minds and send messages direct to other people's thoughts.
Narrative justification isn't an all or nothing situation either. If a Mundane describes themselves as a high school cheerleader, I'm likely to give harsher results for trying to hack a computer with act under pressure than a Mundane who described themselves as an IT professional. Likewise, a hunter with a divinely enchanted smartphone is going to be able to get away with more than a hunter with a beat up lap-top.
Narrative games avoid the necessity of precise mechanical simulation of reality by depending on the player and GM's sense of what makes sense within the framework of the story. Monster of the Week in general functions by assuming action horror TV and movies rather than actual physics based reality. This does mean that what is considered justified by default will vary from series to series even if you dealing with the same players.
A B-movie schlock series is going be given less scrutiny than a series that is trying to appear grounded in physical reality.
Just the presence of a move will affect how I treat attempts to do related tasks outside the move. For example, if a character has virus whisperer I'm going to assume they have a higher degree of computer knowledge than most people and will determine their computer related move consequences accordingly even if they're not doing something with viruses.
This will be a lot more familiar to players coming from more number oriented TTRPGs. A lot of playbook moves that provide mechanical benefits do the following:
add a bonus to rolls related to a task or situation
allow you to use a different rating than normal in particular situations
act in some ways like refined or advanced uses of a basic move
condense an extended scene into a single roll.
Preternatural Speed (The Monstrous) provides a +1 ongoing on rolls involving pursuit, chases, and speed. Mystic (The Initiate) provides a +1 forward if the hunter just successfully used their weird basic move. Defensive Adaptation: Whispered Advice (The Host) gives a bonus Hold on read a bad situation even for a miss.
Big Whammy (The Spooky) and Combat Magic (The Spell-Slinger) both allow for using Weird to kick some ass instead of Tough as long as you are using the specific "weapons" attached to them. Likewise come and get me (The Abandoned) allows for using Cool to kick some ass as long as you do it by leading the monster on a chase through dangerous terrain and use that terrain to hurt them instead directly.
There are several moves that add expanded uses for use magic and several moves that add other questions to investigate a mystery or read a bad situation. All of these feel like providing a touch of the benefit of advanced success for these moves. There are several moves that act as a reason to go along with manipulate someone which essentially elevates a 7-9 to a 10+.
When most hunters want to break into a building, this would become a whole scene of looking for a way in via read a bad situation, avoiding attention via act under pressure, and various other moves. Burglary (The Crooked) instead lets you turn that all into one roll. It doesn't prevent you from doing the full scene, but smooths it out. We already know you get in so we don't have to roll act under pressure or read a bad situation every time you want to get past a guard, you just describe how you do it. Likewise Predator and Prey (The Host) lets you roll Cool early to build a number of hold to use for making stealth just happen rather than having to roll for every time you need to hide.
Looking at the Hacking Moves
Hacker with the Dragon Tattoo
This move primarily acts by condensing several things into one roll, combining elements of both investigate a mystery and act under power. This move also brings the whole thing into the realm of a single Rating (Sharp) instead of splitting it between Cool and Sharp. It allows the hunters to get right to the very specific things they want to accomplish and move on within the limits of the options available namely:
Find important information.
Gain access to a place. (ie unlock doors and get past obstacles)
An important note is that it assumes normal computer skills rather than supernatural ones. So, depending on how grounded in reality your series is, it may or may not have access to some systems. That said, having this move implies some skill and thus if you were to try and do computer stuff beyond this, it would justify having the consequences for misses or partial successes being less than it would be for someone else.
Computers and Electronics
This move functions as a refined version of act under pressure with more predictable results and consequences than normal. It also overlaps with weird science a little bit by allowing you to alter the function of a device as well. Though, importantly, it does not do so via weird means, which means that within the context of your setting, you do normal computer and electronic stuff, you're just very good at it. "Something unexpected" still presents a lot of unpredictability, but it still feels a bit more focused than "lesser result, pay a price, or make a hard choice" from act under pressure.
As it compares to hacker with the dragon tattoo and focusing on its hacking application, it primarily gives access to a system as opposed to getting in, doing one or two tasks, and getting out a gain. So it doesn't really condense a scene into a single roll the way the other move does.
As with computers and electronics, this is a refinement of act under pressure and very specifically deals with writing, deploying, and quarantining viruses. You very much are a specialist in this regard. So this move isn't going to directly give you control of a system or deliver information to you, but you could write a program that does leak information to you over time. But it's not necessarily important information as hacker with a dragon tattoo gives you, or specific information the way investigate a mystery does. Or you could write a virus that creates a backdoor for you, justifying an easier attempt to get into the system later.
Integration is one of the mandatory parts of the Interface playbook and presents a number of ways that the hunter is more involved with technology than most people. They operate entirely by narrative justification and adjust the default assumptions of what is possible for the character. Also, these upgrades encompass both super-tech like sci-fi cybernetics and also supernatural elements like someone being a mutant technopath with a magical ability to control tech.
Always Connected - You never have to worry about a stable internet connection, you just have one.
Everything's compatible - So, you have a mac book and need to hack that alien space ship? Sure, you can do that easy.
Security Specialist - You're exceptionally skilled at protecting and breaking into systems.
However, along with the upgrades you also get Faults such as:
Hackable Brain - People can use computers to get into your brain and reprogram it.
Need my gear - Your upgrades aren't internal but represent advanced gear like a power suit or magic smart phone.
Undisciplined - Your code and work is sloppy and there's a lot of flaws and openings you don't notice until its too late.
These tags (and the above explanations are only my interpretations, there's a good reason they're not written out that way in the actual playbook... to allow for multiple interpretations) basically alter the default assumptions of what is and is not possible with other moves. Also, it is always permissible as the Keeper to just decide that a particular move deserves a +1 forward due to something you think is particularly advantageous in the situation.
Also included in integration is the method you gained your tech-related powers and this includes Skillz in which case, you might generally be able to justify out hacking a godling with a magic smartphone using your battered laptop. Because in a lot of fiction, the narrative favors the super-skilled person who can make use of whatever gear they have... you'd still have to roll though. There's just now less justification for the results of a roll being wildly in the favor of the godling.
All right, there are two main things to consider about hacking as compared to the above moves:
Hacking is a basic move and thus has a broader application than playbook moves like those above do. For example, you won't get the detailed virus-related options that virus whisperer gives you.
Hacking is a weird move. That means by default it is not entirely natural. You commune with tech spirits. You have a mutant ability to control computers. You're bonded with an artificial sapience that guides your hacks. Etc. You can use it to represent extreme skill, but by default it is a result of supernatural or super-tech causes.
As to how it operates, it gives you hold which you can spend as you need to and accomplish different tasks. This differentiates it from hacker with a dragon tattoo because that move asks you to "pick two" or "pick one" which means you have to pick immediately, where as this move gives you hold, which you can save for later.
As to the options it provides a mix of the options that both hacker with the dragon tattoo and computers and electronics provide: access and information primarily. Notably, hacker with the dragon tattoo provides an option right off the bat that you can only get with the advanced hacking move: your action leaves no trace.
As it regards Integration, the various upgrades can impact what sort of requirements your use of hacking requires. For example, if you're always connected you don't need to worry about a connection as a requirement and if you're a security specialist you likely will be able to acquire passwords and such easier than other people.
Because Hacking by default assumes an unnatural method, there might be ways to prevent it from working which don't affect normal moves. For example, a person that communes with tech spirits might be stymied if magical wards are placed around the system they're trying to hack. Likewise, super-tech might be blocked by super-tech that has no impact on more normal gear. Or super-tech might find primitive, early computers incomprehensible (unless you're the Interface and everything's compatible, of course.)
Of course if your supernatural hacking is being played as incredible talent, then you might have issues closer to those experienced by hunters with the other moves. I'd still note that this is basically hacking as 90s screenwriters and game devs think hacking works rather than actual hacking, so you'd still have some weird ability to get into things that shouldn't be possible.
All the above moves and options can exist within the same series as they all approach the same concept from different directions and they have overlapping benefits. Of them all, the computers and electronics is probably the one that stands out the least from just doing act under pressure given that it pretty much leaves as a pre-determined use of that move.
And to get back to the original point, this same concept applies to a lot of other real world skills such as:
