Barf Forth Apocalyptica

barf forth apocalyptica => Apocalypse World => Topic started by: Daniel Levine on August 13, 2010, 01:16:50 PM

Title: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Daniel Levine on August 13, 2010, 01:16:50 PM
Just a technical question, but I couldn't find it in the book or on the boards.

When a Hardholder or an Operator gets Barter from Wealth/Moonlighting, does it roll over from session to session? 

I ask b/c I've got both in my game.  So far, "make them buy" hasn't often seemed like a natural move, and both have rolled well, so both are starting to accumulate 3, 4, 5-barter, easy.  I'm not *sure* that that's a problem, but it feels like one, and I sort of don't want to have to just start dropping in "make them buy" when I don't feel like it to limit how much money (or, in our world, bricks of hash) they have on hand.

The Hardholder's Wealth specifically says that her surplus is "available for the needs of the session."  That sounds like it might imply that, hey, if your Holding is doing well, you've got an extra 1-barter to play with this time, but if you're in the suck next session, turns out you spent that on food or your gang not killing you or something, and it doesn't roll over.  And having an automatic 1-2 barter to play with almost every session seems pretty good even if you can't keep it...

Anyway, just wondering how people use the surplus, whether this is something I should be concerned by, and maybe what the authorial intent was.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: lumpley on August 13, 2010, 01:33:38 PM
Operators' barter surplus carries over from session to session, hardholders' doesn't.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Motipha on August 13, 2010, 02:35:34 PM
And the hocus?  I see him much like the Hardholder, but I want to confirm.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Hans Chung-Otterson on August 13, 2010, 03:56:13 PM
Good question. I just assumed it did for the Hocus, and now my Hocus player is accumulating all kinds of wealth. I'd like to know how it's supposed to work!
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Hans Chung-Otterson on August 14, 2010, 11:17:50 PM
After reading through the Hocus stuff again, I'm just gonna tell my guy that his surplus Barter doesn't roll over every session. I mean, the surplus Violence doesn't, so why should the Barter, right? It seems the most intuitive interpretation of the rules.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Daniel Levine on August 15, 2010, 02:15:15 PM
Thanks! 
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: zornwil on August 17, 2010, 01:05:50 AM
I'm not so sure - the Hocus is like the Operator in that the barter reflected is her own, whereas it states in the text how the Operator differs from the Hardholder in this regard.  And given it's just 1-barter in most cases, and one tends to spend barter (the Hocus often being forced to for his folks, even), it would seem to me it would carry over.  But I do understand the point above re Hardholder and the similarity...lumpley/Victor, any chance to comment?
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: nemomeme on August 17, 2010, 02:01:00 AM
It generally costs one barter to heal a harm.  In one of my two games the PCs collectively took 7 harm in the first session and like 4 or 5 in the third session.  That's expensive!  They've been behind the eight ball the whole time.  Every job that earns you a barter is often going to cost you one or two barter to pull off.  I frankly don't see how the PCs ever keep up and see the opposite problem, if anything, based on the healing rules alone.  There's bribes, everyone in Apocalypse World wants their cut.  Are you certain you're playing your NPCs like real people? :)
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Hans Chung-Otterson on August 17, 2010, 02:16:27 AM
It generally costs one barter to heal a harm.  In one of my two games the PCs collectively took 7 harm in the first session and like 4 or 5 in the third session.  That's expensive!  They've been behind the eight ball the whole time.  Every job that earns you a barter is often going to cost you one or two barter to pull off.  I frankly don't see how the PCs ever keep up and see the opposite problem, if anything, based on the healing rules alone.  There's bribes, everyone in Apocalypse World wants their cut.  Are you certain you're playing your NPCs like real people? :)

Damn, that's good, Matthew. My Hocus player has the thing where when he's in surplus he gets +2 Barter, and he's gotten it both sessions, and he hasn't spent any, so he has like 6 barter right now. His cult hasn't come up much (he hasn't been proactive about using it and last session was all focused on this one threat), but yeah, I need to hit them harder with the barter. And that much harm? My guys are getting off easy. Damn.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: nemomeme on August 17, 2010, 10:57:56 AM
Maybe.  That was the worst case scenario.  I've played/run in four groups and haven't seen a hardholder or a hocus yet so I don't have experience with that. 

Still, scarcity is a pretty fundamental part of Apocalypse World, yeah?  Until they have the capability to make allies, (at least the 6th or 7th session in), every NPC the player characters come across is a "Threat."  Maybe malicious, maybe just needy.  Some of them should definitely be saying stuff like, "You want my help?  Well I'd love to, sure, but man I haven't eaten in two days and I haven't had any fresh water in, like, this year.  Hook a brother up?"

And any time you try to manipulate someone and get a 7-9 they need some concrete assurance right now.  In many cases I think that should be barter.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: lumpley on August 17, 2010, 11:53:29 AM
Officially, a hardholder's barter surplus is the only barter that doesn't accumulate. Everybody else is able to save up from session to session.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Motipha on August 17, 2010, 02:22:47 PM
Officially, a hardholder's barter surplus is the only barter that doesn't accumulate. Everybody else is able to save up from session to session.
*salutes* yessir.  That makes a lot of sense, as the Hardholder seems like the only one that really doesn't have to worry about being out of jingle ever unless his hardhold is in a very bad way.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Selyuna on August 22, 2010, 12:21:09 PM
Officially, a hardholder's barter surplus is the only barter that doesn't accumulate. Everybody else is able to save up from session to session.
Just to be sure - so, if gunlugger gets holding and wealth, he will be able to accumulate barter from surplus?
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: lumpley on August 22, 2010, 12:30:14 PM
Nope! Wealth is the move that doesn't accumulate.
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: Selyuna on August 23, 2010, 08:35:45 AM
Just to be very clear (I don't want to make my player into thinking I am cheating), is this rule somewhere in the text?
He is very suspicious, you know, and I looked through pdf and couldn't find it ;).
Title: Re: Does Operator/Hardholder Barter Accumulate?
Post by: lumpley on August 23, 2010, 08:59:41 AM
I thought it was, but "available for the needs of the session" isn't very explicit, is it?

It won't be a big problem if you forget about it and just let all barter accumulate. In that case, just make a note to yourself to make them buy a lot.