Barf Forth Apocalyptica
barf forth apocalyptica => Apocalypse World => Topic started by: nemomeme on August 27, 2010, 12:35:48 PM
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Use this thread if you want to share MC love letters from your campaign. Maybe other MCs will find them helpful
Brendan and switched off MC roles last night for our In The Wake campaign. The more awesome last three letters are his and were great for doing a sort of mini-reboot as his brainer Jackson left the game and I brought in my maestro D', Rice.
Dear Butch, please roll +cool (hard since battle-hardened). On a 10+, choose 1 OR 2. On a 7-9 choose 2. On a miss I'll choose two for you.
• You've spent too much time out in The Wake and have caught the Murk. Symptoms: apathy despair, nightmares. You know vomiting is next if not treated.
• One of the rougher algae farmers, Ricarra, has decided you're not so tough and feels safe fucking with your dad Max as a result.
• you feel an inexplicable desire to explore the Under. You're starting to dream about it.
Dear Linux, please roll +sharp. On a 10+ choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1. On a miss I'll choose 2 for you.
• I will provide you with information about the sphere. You may add one salient fact about its nature.
• You've noticed your assistant Blanche seems uncharacteristically despondent.
• Between Torn's messed up hand and Blanche's attitude it's going to take you longer to unlock the nature of the sphere unless circumstances change somehow.
Dear Jackson Brace, please roll+sharp. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7–9, choose 1. On a miss I"ll choose 2 for you.
• one of your leakers, Corbett from Sagrada, has some intel for you.
• you notice and recognize the person who's been following you: Torn.
• something is seriously wrong with your deep ear plugs!
Dear Rice,
Welcome to Babbel, old buddy. People here have just been dying to see your face! Roll +Hot. On a 10+ pick 1. On a 7-9 pick 2. On a
miss… you know how this goes, right?
• You've been here less than 24 hours and damned if Boo's not already got somebody on your boat.
• After everything you did for her, Dylan's been making eyes at Corbett, that little bitch. If you don't handle this, she's going to jump ship soon.
• Krin's been "drinking." What are you going to do?
Dear Butch,
Yeah some stuff happened in the Under. We'll get to that eventually. What's important right now is what you brought back with you and what you left behind.
Roll +Sharp. On a 10+, pick one thing from either of the following lists. On 7-9, pick one from each list. On a miss pick one from either list,
and I'll do the same.
Something you brought back
• Jackson Brace's revolver
• Jackson Brace's Veil
• Jackson Brace's hand
Something you left down there
• About a pint of B-positive (take 1-Harm)
• Preen, the only medic worth two shits in Babbel or Sagrada
• Your left eye
Dear Linux,
Hey, Butch came back from the Under in one piece! He must have taken your advice. Mark experience.
Looks like one of your kids is working on Rice's barge these days. First tell met the kid's name and gender. Then roll +Hot. On a 10+ answer two of the following questions. On a 7-9, answer one and pick one for me to answer. On a miss, pick two for me to answer and answer the third yourself.
• What does he or she do?
• How does he or she feel about you?
• Who's the father and what happened to him?
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Love and kisses, your MC
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Oh yeah, MC letters are FUN FUN FUN! I love the way they have the potential to weave everything together, like piling random on top of random in the most productive way. Here are mine from our last session:
Dear Ruth,
I’ve been watching and I think you’re doing a great job keeping everybody in Silver’s club healthy and patched up and stuff. Yay you!
It’s been a couple of weeks since the last gig–pretty quiet weeks in fact. But that’s about to change. See, some folks are coming down those stairs right this minute, and the person they’re carrying is pretty messed up!
Roll +Sharp
• 10+ choose 3 of the options below:
• 7-9 choose 1 of them:
o The victim isn’t too fucked up; 9:00 instead of 12:00
o It’s some faceless person as opposed to, say, Lulu
o What happened to the victim isn’t following them down the stairs a minute later
o Someone already did a quick patch-up job, so get free credit for 1 stock already spent!
Have a nice day,
Your MC
Hi Ascott!
What’s happening! That was some caper you pulled with Lita, Waver, and Nero the other day, wasn’t it! I bet you hardly remember what happened, ha, ha.
So let’s see, as I remember, the bunch of you went down to the Cooper Union to see the world’s most valuable guitar. Let’s see how that worked out for you!
Roll +Cool
• 10+ choose 3 options:
• 7-9 choose 2:
o Axl hasn’t changed his booby traps, so no one gets hurt (otherwise 1 harm AP to someone, you pick who)
o Axl hasn’t planted any hidden cameras (or else you know about them already), so he doesn’t see the whole thing
o It doesn’t devolve into a kind of orgy, or maybe it does, but whatever happens is a real moment of beauty in the dark night of the world
o You don’t all end up exposing your brains the bits of psychic maelstrom swirling about that guitar
Oh, and don’t forget to tell Nero what happened, and maybe Axl too.
Have a nice day,
Hey Sliver,
Looks like things are going pretty well for you and your establishment. But that never lasts, does it?
That last gig was a hard show to follow. It’s now a couple of weeks later. You’ve had a few smaller shows and a private meeting to cater. Let’s see how it all went.
Roll + HOT
• 10+ Business has been good! You gain 1 barter, or take 2 barter, but select one of the 7-9 options as well.
• 7-9 Business has been complicated. You gain 1 barter, and choose one:
o Remember Gams, that guy who wants in on your gig? Well that barter you got is a gift from him, along with a note naming the date and time of your next gig, plus a pointed request for an invitation. Thing is, this guy creeps you out. He knows all about you, but you don’t know jack about him. He’s not good news for you.
o You never could have set up your club without Rolfball. He’s the mole who gave you the maps of the underground and showed you where the train car is. You owe him. Now he wants a favor from you. He needs you to hide something really, really hot, just for a couple of days.
o Been wants your club gone. Word on the street is he’s ready to make a hard move on you and it’s coming soon.
Break a leg,
Your MC
Hey Axl!
How are things going with you? You the man!
So it’s a couple of weeks later now, and maybe things have calmed down a bit, maybe you’ve had time to go back to your workshop, play a little guitar, and think about things.
You remember that guy? The one that came through the maelstrom? You keep seeing him in your dreams. Sometimes it’s like you’re following him around and sometimes it’s like he’s looking for you. Oh yeah, and he has a sweet vintage guitar kind of like yours!
Roll +Weird
• 10+ you’ve got this guys number! All the questions below:
• 7-9 the picture isn’t clear, choose 1:
o You get a good, clear look at his face, so you could recognize him again
o You see his place and know where he’s set himself up
o You get a good idea what he’s up to
Good luck, man!
Your MC
Dear Nero,
Things are nice here. How are they with you?
So I was thinking about that thing you did the other night, you, Axl, Waver, and Lita. That was a crazy night: fighting the rag men, breaking into Cooper Union, then sneaking into Mercy on the slight to see the tank; the stuff legends are made of.
So lets see how the whole thing went, shall we? Roll + Sharp
• 10+ Choose 3 from the list:
• 7-9 Choose just 1:
o You get a really good look at the tank and the place where it’s stored; +1 forward
o You get a really good look at the Cooper Union and Axl’s defenses; +1 forward
o Some guy’s been trying to follow you, but you get the tip off, plus his name, and he doesn’t get a good look at you
o You don’t leave Waver with any acknowledgement of expectations, so she doesn’t get any hold on you
Good luck!
Your MC
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Those are ridiculously cool, Tony. I loved the baked-in recaps. These are a great glimpse into your game too. More everyone, more, more!
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I find the tone of these to be most excellent. I love writing to the characters directly, like we're sitting down and having a little chat. Sometimes I'm pitying, sometimes I'm pervy sometimes I just plain love turning the screws.
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The players absolutely LOVED these. These moves might be the best (tough choice, there's a lot of stuff to like) idea in Apocalypse World. These are from the start of session 2 of our game. Note, a couple of these are inspired by stuff I'd seen in the forums, thanks for the ideas!
Dear Ethan,
Since you came to Vatican you’ve had the security to concentrate on your work and at least something to eat each day. In return for a stable workspace and some security you are expected to perform repairs and service for Pope and his men and maintain the machinery of the hold. Pope frequently asks you to repair some gadget found by one of his boys out in the wastes.
You know that off to the East somewhere is a slaver town called Circle Town past the river… nobody likes to go near the river.
While you were away however, things have been going on around the shop.
When you return to the hold from away, please roll+weird. On a 10+, choose 1. On a 7-9, choose 2.
1 Wisher has finished fixing your electric razor for Pope, he’s also already returned it to him, used up half your fuel… and taken credit.
2 Your generator is entirely missing, and there’s a freakish buzzing and scratching sound coming from inside your fridge.
3 Saint Maria of the goggles is waiting at your door when you return, she hasn’t noticed you yet, what do you do?
On a miss we’ll each choose 1.
Cheers!
Your MC
Dear Blue,
Since you came to Vatican, you’ve been asked to provide security for the city and Pope calls upon you to do some of his dirty work from time to time. He provides you with safe lodging and regular meals sometimes in the hall with his closest men or the visiting goggles a few of whom you know by name. Paul, Joseph, Maria.
You know that off to the East somewhere is a slaver town called Circle Town past the river… nobody likes to go near the river.
When you return to the hold from away, please roll+cool. On a 10+, choose 1. On a 7-9, choose 2.
1 You’re driving right? Too bad you didn’t make it back before nightfall, funny how nobody noticed the bullet-holes in the car?
2 You got a new job you’ve got to take care of back at the hold which will pay 2 barter. What is it and who will it piss off? It’s probably not something nice.
3 Somebody has slashed up this girl Ember’s with a knife and she won’t say who, why did she come to your door?
On a miss we’ll each choose 1.
Cheers!
Your MC
Dear Gabriel,
Since you came to Vatican, you’ve been expected to tend to the injured of Popes people and his gang. They do get infected with this mold sometimes, and in the rare case you can save them but it uses up your kit fast. In exchange he allows you safe lodging and at least semi regular meals and a place to call home and grow your garden. Cardinal Newton’s wife Minerva occasionally consults with you about her crops.
You know that off to the East somewhere is a slaver town called Circle Town past the river… nobody likes to go near the river.
When you return to the hold from away, please roll+sharp. On a 10+, choose 1. On a 7-9, choose 2.
1 Someone’s been in your garden, and a bunch of clippings are missing, oh, and there’s blood splattered around.
2 The cannibal Kettle is hiding in your place, he looks terrified. Gel and Ange don’t know what to do.
3 Saint Joseph of the goggles is in town and is looking for you. Word is he’s got an infected man and he expects you to treat him.
On a miss we’ll each choose 1.
Cheers!
Your MC
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wait, so are these beginning-of-session moves?
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Yes, there seem to be unfortunately a number of disconnected threads of them going around.
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Okay, so for some reason I feel like it's been a lot longer between last session and the next than the other sessions have been (but it's not), so I've created some love letters for our game on Tuesday.
Harry, Kyle, and Nathan: If you don't want to see what's going to hit the table on Tuesday, don't read ahead. But you're going to have to roll for it anyway, so it won't ruin it for you (unless, you know, it will, judged by you) if you read ahead.
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Dear Key (the angel),
You've been taking care of poor little Clarion for a while now. Let's see how that's been going. Roll+hard.
On a 10+, you've managed to take care of Clarion well enough without touching him, and so far you've caught no hell for it. Damn impressive.
On a 7-9, choose 1:
-Clarion's begun vomiting blood. You can get him to stop before he dies, but fuck, you have to touch him to give him the stuff he needs.
-Kettle (the shirtless one with meat in his beard) heard rumor that one of his kids disappeared, and the rumor pointed him to you. He's at the door.
On a miss, both.
love & kisses,
your MC
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Dear Dust (the hocus),
The wasting worm has had its way with you for a whole day now! Let's see what's happened while you've been passed out groaning. Roll+sharp.
On a 10+, choose both.
On a 7-9, choose 1.
-You catch Amy red-handed, in your stash, stockpiling medical supplies there.
-Wise is behind some piles in your stash, rifling around and apparently stealing food, the brown distilled stuff, and anything else he can get his hands on.
On a miss, you have a few more med things (detail them as you wish), just like last time, but you're missing a substantial amount of canned food and the brown stuff (you lose 1-barter). It smells like sex and looks like someone got drunk in here and trashed the place. Oh, and isn't that Amy's skirt? And that's Wise's favorite knife over there, too!
love & kisses,
your MC
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Dear CJ,
You've just escaped from Snake's weird fucking gas-drilling death-machine. Why don't we see what happens next? Roll+cool.
On a 10+, choose 1:
-Just as you've set up the perfect ambush outside of the rig Snake's gang starts pouring out of it to finish you off. They count as 1 step smaller than a Small gang, so you've got a significant advantage here.
-You get the fuck away with your hide intact, but you have to leave like now.
On a 7-9, choose 1:
-You've set up a good enough ambush, but Snake takes forever to make a move, and so your guys get lazy and almost taken by surprise as Snake's gang comes out. Treat Snake's crew as a Small gang, so now you're even.
-You can get away clean, but it counts as Acting Under Fire.
On a miss, damn, you've just gotten free of the rig and Lars pops out of the door and grabs Exit, who was dawdling. Now she's in there with Snake and his fuckers.
love & kisses,
your MC
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I. Can't. Wait for the next session.
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We've missed a couple sessions in Sow The Wind. So here's me taking a stab at this part of game design. It's pretty fun.
Dear Hope:
How are things going for you? I hope they've been going well! But you know what they say, when it rains, it pours. Roll +weird, on a 10+, choose one, on a 7-9, choose 2, on a miss, whoo!
* Diamond's found a new kid, bright young boy named Isle, got a knack of doing strange things with the psychic maelstrom. He's not as good as you, not yet, but it might worry you if you were the type to think of Diamond having back-up plans.
* Exit's gotten sick. Probably from not eating right. Probably not eating right because he's spending all his barter on getting you gifts. Sigh, boys.
* Wisher found out. Whoops!
Dear Jeremy:
Life as a savvyhead, busy, busy, busy. Roll +weird, on a 10+, choose two, on a 7-9, choose one, on a miss, well, at least you tried.
* You've managed to fix up most of the bulletholes Rolfball left in your workshop, and can continue working on other projects.
* You notice the mindspout, which is still there, by the way, is acting a little funny on your sensors, and have an opportunity to try to do something about that before it gets a bit less funny.
* Diamond's got a problem, and he's going to come to you for advice, and probably take it, instead of acting on his own best judgment (ha ha ha).
Dear Brace:
Nobody appreciates the Brainer. Let's be nice and give you some opportunities, instead of hardship, yeah? Roll +weird, on a 10+, pick two, on a 7-9, pick one.
* Exit finally gave in to those puppet strings of yours.
* You caught Pierre sniffing around the world's psychic maelstrom before he caught you. You know he's coming, and you're pretty sure he doesn't know you know.
* Some dude named Fianelly offered you a sweet deal on some receptivity drugs. He'd rather sell to you than Gritch, but he's not giving them away, man's gotta eat, yeah?
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I had two players miss last night's game, so I wrote these up for them. Boy, that was fun!
My players: read at your own risk!
Dear Adnan (our savvyhead),
So, there's a bunch of stuff that happened while you were busy working on your infirmary machines and finishing up Exit's car. Here's the big ones:
- Jeanette said Exit doesn't want you trading with any of Grome's people any more, just an ultimatum like that.
- Keeler and Lavender got you all the supplies you needed in the ruined city, but ratdogs fucked Keeler up pretty bad so you put him in the machine for an afternoon; the machine said his brain had been modified like yours was, and he wanted that fixed, so you did and that's that.
- Some of the teenagers from the refugee camp – Dremmer and Isle – got seen nicking some crap and food. Keeler sorted it out, but apparently Isle ran off and he hasn't come back yet.
- Keeler and Lavender came back after investigating some noise over at Mimi's holding, Watertown, and Exit was in the middle of assaulting it. Apparently he won and has taken over. Keeler brought back a woman, Ba. You don't know what the story is there.
During all that, you spent a lot of time in the workshop. In the zone, yeah. Roll +Sharp. On a 10+, choose 3 and on a 7-9 choose 1.
- You've finished Exit's car. Get the Driver playbook and tell me it's stats, same as a Driver defines theirs.
- Ask me to tell you something about the modification you removed from Keeler's brain.
- Ask me to tell you something about the modification you removed from your brain.
- You've spent some time extending the grow room so you can produce more food.
You've spent some time fixing up the fence around the junkyard so people can't just climb over and steal shit whenever.
- Ask me about how trading your food with Ula for Grome's hold is going.
On a miss, you can pick 2 of the questions anyhow but the answers are just gonna be how you think things are.
Love and Kisses
Your MC
Dear Jackson, (our brainer)
Boy howdy, it's taken an age to heal up from that shit. Still, you're all better now, so wipe all that harm off. Awesome.
You been staying with Winkle's clan and they've been looking after you pretty well. You've still been out in a shed and all, but it was a fairly comfy shed.
Here's what you found out about them:
- Winkle, she's in charge and she rules the family with an iron fist. She is firm but fair, mainly firm.
- Her man Tum Tum seems pretty amused about the way she runs things but he doesn't interfere one bit. You think maybe she had another man before him and Bar might not be his kid?
- Bar, she's the second in the family with her man Visage – they seem more of a team effort than Winkle and Tum Tum. They don't take any shit.
- Their kids are Prim and Clarion. Prim's the angel who's been looking after you, about 18 and pretty. Her brother Clarion is a little younger (or maybe they're twins) and hardcase. He's pretty angry.
- Lastly, Ricarra is Winkle's son, and he seems to mainly do work around the farm. He doesn't say much and doesn't seem to like having a stranger around.
The ones killed were Brain, Missed, H and Gnarly. Brain and Gnarly were Winkle's other sons, Missed was Bar's son and H was his woman. They went out looking for that scavenge up in the hills and never came back. Word was that someone over the river – maybe from the junkyard – was boasting about killing them. You promised Winkle you'd find out who was behind it, right? (For those watching at home, Keeler and Adnan - two of the other PCs - were involved in this massacre)
So, you've had a lot of time with them all, and to do your crazy brainer shit. Roll +Weird. On a 10+ choose 3, 7-9 choose 1:
- Take 2 puppet strings hold on any member of the family (you can take this more than once if you want).
- Prim has fallen in love with you. Maybe a kind of “I'll fix this broken thing” sort of love, but you take what you can get.
- You opened your brain to the psychic maelstrom and found out something about the blue tendrils.
- You opened your brain to the psychic maelstrom and found out something about Brain, Missed, H and Gnarly.
- You don't end up owing them 1 extra barter for medical supplies.
- Ask me about what you heard about Grome's plans.
On a miss, you've fallen in love with Prim, plus you opened your brain to find out about the blue tendrils anyhow – ask me how that went.
Ha ha.
Love and Kisses
Your MC
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These are the letters I've written.
For the wounded hardholder after he purged his gang from hyena worshippers:
Dear Daimyo.
Life kind of sucks right now, but hey, you did good out there. Roll +hard for me.
On 10+, choose two.
On 7-9, choose one.
* You still got the fight in you. Heal one Harm right now, in addition to any other harm healed this session.
* You are not visited by Hyena in your fevered dreams.
* You put up a good face. Nobody does anything you wouldn't want them to do while you're gone.
Love and kisses
Your MC
For the Operator, after getting captured by a disease vector:
Dear Nero.
You've been having these coughs this morning, and there is a boil on your cheek. Roll +hard for me.
On 10+, Guess it was nothing.
On 7-9, It's staying.
On a miss, it's gotten worse.
Love and kisses
Your MC
For the Battlebabe, after getting captured and spending a day in Newtons camp:
Dear Canaveral
Roll +hot for me.
On 10+, choose 3.
On 7-9, choose 2.
* Newton has started trusting you
* Brace (or Fuse) has taken a liking to you
* Fuse (or Brace) is not jealous of you
* No-one has stolen anything from your pack when you get it back
I just finished three big ones, that'll see play on monday. I'll post them here then!
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Canaveral! Awesome.
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Oooh, Nero. Don't blow that roll!
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Oooh, Nero. Don't blow that roll!
Oh, he made it alright. But this is what he's up to on monday, after Daimyo had him do maelstrom research on the situation: I'll let you guys take a sneak peek.
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Dear Nero.
Hey man. You've been working your ass off, doing research, listening to the maelstrom, pulling stinky things up from that dark and murky place.
You've been looking at Fox's gifts at night, too. Tell me something about her and what kind of things she has been giving you. Where does she sleep, by the way?
Oh, and you walk in on Joe's Girl just as he's shooting up morphine, and he gives you this "Oh shit." face. You were not supposed to see that. Ask him anything you want, I'll tell you what he answers.
Anyway, things are a litte too hot, or a little too weird. Are you going to sink, or are you going to swim? First, roll your moonlightning. Then roll +weird, and add +2 if you managed to get a good outcome on your obligation gig: That's the good outcome. 10+, choose two good things. 7-9, one good thing and one bad thing. Miss, two bad things.
Good things:
* Ask me any question about Newton. +1 forward.
* Ask me any question about Sunken City. +1 forward.
* You're spending way too much time looking at Fox's gifts. Ask me anything about Fox. Like, what does she like? +1 forward.
Bad things:
* You've started relying on Two Moon. She gains 1 hold over you. If you disobey her, I'll spend it to have you acting under fire. Nail is happy, though. You're all a big happy fucking family, right?
* That she-husk is watching you from the shadows, clawing secrets from your fucking skull. I will ask you a question or two when I feel like it.
* I'm going to ask you how you would do it if you ever where to murder Fox, and you have to tell me. And for some reason, she's been giving you these frightened looks.
Love and kisses
Your MC
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Yeah, I totally stole that "How would you murder X?" from the Sell me on weird-thread. I steal a lot of things.
We're from Gothenburg, Sweden, but I feel that the language of Apocalypse World (the game, not the world) cannot be separated from the game as a whole, so all the hand-outs are in english. Apocalypse World (the world, not the game) is just so american.
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I think this Loveletter part of the game is what makes me consider MC-ing. It´s really a great tool to make your players (and their characters) feel special.
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I think this Loveletter part of the game is what makes me consider MC-ing. It´s really a great tool to make your players (and their characters) feel special.
Oh dang, my players are reading this thread! :D
Yeah, it's also a great tool for me, who cannot help myself from piling things on my players, always adding on your actions so that everything happens in two days time. This way I can summarize and not allow myself to spin off on the players actions too much. Neato.
Oh, and I like how Nero's letter is so... subtle. It's just answers. None of the bad things are really bad (Two Moon is a pretty nice lady, and Nero is good at acting under fire) but they are wrong. It fits very well with Nero's careful-anxious personality.
Daimyos letter is a different beast alltogether, he gets to throw peoples lives around. The game scales up nicely. I like that.
You're getting one too, a fitting one for Canaveral of course.
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Well, I´m a curious bastard, Arvid. And very interested in what kind of stuff Canaveral can be expecting during her days with Newtons travelling cirkus... *grin*
But seriously, reading those letters give me loads of inspiration to use with the more traditional games I´m running now as well as making me want to run "my own" AW.
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Of course I'm not keeping any secrets, but I feel that MC letters should be saved for the session to avoid play before play. No building of expectations and planning, but rather wham, doing it there, in the moment. Creates momentum instead of failure-success anxiety that I know at least me and Glenn (Daimyo's player) to be prone to.
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Just some thoughts on MC letters in general:
Of course I'm not keeping any secrets, but I feel that MC letters should be saved for the session to avoid play before play. No building of expectations and planning, but rather wham, doing it there, in the moment. Creates momentum instead of failure-success anxiety that I know at least me and Glenn (Daimyo's player) to be prone to.
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Two more loveletters for today.
To our hardholder:
Dear Daimyo
So you're going to war. That great ancient beast has followed humanity all through its history, and now it has awoken again, and it's ready to see blood.
But see, the thing is - You've just been to war. You crushed a hardhold, no casualties, sure, but then you went and beat your gang against itself til you rooted the bad parts out, before the bruises from Rustbelt had even healed. A lot of people are still hurt, including you, a few even dead, or reserved for guard duty.
But the rumors have spread. New people are showing up on your doorstep every day, in two's and three's. People who believe in you, people who believe you can let them carve out a good life by killing and looting, people with nowhere else to go. The rot in your fortress has been purged, and your gun is oh so big and so very, very shiny. Everybody loves a winner. Your gang grows large, but it still wears a heavy 2-harm on it's shoulders.
So yeah, sure. Let Newton dance around Sunken City, fight, make allies, dig in, whatever the hell he feels like. You're going to take your time and build a god damn iron hammer coming down on his nest, fast and hard like the burning fucking apocalypse.
Well, now how the fuck are you going to do that. That's up to you Mister General Daimyo, Sir. Time to make some big boy decisions over peoples lives.
Roll +hard. 10+, choose two good things. 7-9, two good things and one bad thing. Miss, one good thing and two bad things. And since you're a greedy bastard, you can choose to take one additional bad and one additional good thing before rolling.
Good things:
* You scrounge up some extra roughnecks and pay them to cover the gaps in your lines. Some from the Kettle family, some from Greentown... Pay 2-barter right now or promise them 3-barter later (Loot not included!) to have your gang heal 1-harm, or increase the home guard.
* You manage to get Exit and Joe's Girl to stitch everyone up and hand out painkillers, even singing them bedtime songs for fucks sake. Heal 1-harm for your gang. Now you owe them 1-barter.
* Hey, I have an idea! You could just plunder Exits tent for frenzy candy and cram that shit into your men before leaving. She, he, whatever the fuck it is, is probably going to leave town for what you've done, though. Doctors, who the fuck needs them, right? New Jerk automatically gets want: disease for this session. Your gang heals 1-harm, and are fucking ready, you know what I mean? Like, they're howling about carcasses for the hyena. That's how ready they are. These guys fight til death.
* You find a good scout or two to spare, and send them out to spend some time by the coast. Once you meet up with them, roll for Read a sitch, with +2.
* You managed to tear Barker away from his gizmos long enough to fix up a mortar from the old armory. You have a precious few shells too, like three of them. Good for tearing things down, and you can also spend your holds on a leadership roll to Make an attack with coordinated artillery. Tell me you're not a happy puppy. Just tell me you aren't happy!
Bad things:
* That fucking hyena is watching you when you sleep, and you can't chase him off. Just watching. Taking hyena notes. Posting it to his friends.
* Soldiers are hungry. You don't quite manage to gather together all the supplies you need, but you pull some strings. New Jerk automatically gets want: hunger for this session, and you owe Greentown one. Like, a big one. And you can't lose Greentown, no siree, then you'll lose your people.
* Oh shit. You can't find your little Rolfball text machine. Where is it?
Love and kisses, and good luck
Your MC
To our Battlebabe, a captive/guest in Newton's camp:
Dear Canaveral
Hey hot baby, smooth sister, hey girl, how are you doing? Oh, you're far away from home, that's how you are doing.
Tell, me do you remember home?
Where are you from, cool girl?
You always seem far away from home. Was there ever a home? Or is the wind your father, the sand your mother? Just a daughter of the apocalypse.
Okay, um, yeah. Whereever you might come from, right now you're in the thick of it, neck deep in messy, tasty possiblities, and they're sticky with trouble. So you'll have to play it cool. Are you cool? Oh hell yeah, you you're the coolest. You were born for it. So roll +cool for me one more time. 10+, choose three good things and a bad thing. 7-9, choose two good things and a bad thing. Miss, two bad things and a good thing. Good luck, baby!
Good things:
* You get one of your weapons back. (Newton keeps the other one hostage)
* You get your horse back.
* Brace cuts you some slack on his leash.
* Ask me anything about Newton or his army. Take a +1 forward when acting on it.
* You find some friends in the camp that thinks you're cool enough to protect from harm. They're a small gang; Leah, Whitmont, Buzz, Dandelion and Meatball.
Bad things:
* Fuse turns up at your bed at night. You're not awake yet, and she has a bunch of friends. Shit. Take one harm for when they give you a beating, and that won't go away while on the move.
* After Fox busted through the camp, Newton had you questioned. He asked about Fox, and then about Daimyo. I might have you roll to interfere against Daimyo. You don't have to do anything, it's just that Newton knows Daimyos tricks from what you've told him. Ha-ha!
* Brace is like a god damn hawk, you can feel his eye on you all the time. I hold 1, and I can spend it to have him seen it coming whenever you do something funny.
Love and kisses
Your MC
-
I made another one. This time, Kreider is the only one who needs to make a move because, poor guy, he got himself in a bad place last game. He's going to be making this roll every session, more or less, until he shakes what's got him.
Dear Kreider
Sleepless nights and hungry, hungry days. Something came loose during that fight with Foster, maybe? More and more you find yourself up all night thinking about that long, dark tunnel and all the rubble and rocks between it and you. There’s the hunger, too. Things aren’t as meager as they have been but still, your stomach rumbles louder than the trucks that come bringing trade. Shouldn’t the boss, at least, get enough to eat? Let’s see how you’re holding up under all this extra pressure.
Roll + Cool
On a 10+ Nothing to see here. Move along.
On a 7-9 I’m going to hold 1, on a miss, I’ll hold 3. I’m going to spend them to…
- Give you -1 when you Manipulate or Seduce
- Offer up +1 for when you Go Aggro or Seize by Force
- Pick something from the Suffer Harm list
- Make you Act Under Fire from the Voice In The Southern Passage.
Shit luck, friend.
Love and kisses,
Your MC
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A voice in a tunnel?
TELL ME MORE
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A voice in a tunnel?
TELL ME MORE
The story goes that Kreider, Pioneer of the Village, came to this site because of some prophetic dream. Here, where he built the bunker, he found a great deep cavern of worked stone and in it, a metal tower of some kind. He's been clearing out the tunnels below ever since.
Lately, though, the Southern Passage calls to him.
He opened his brain to the maelstrom last session, to see what was what. He saw men in HAZMAT suits rushing to close off the tunnel - to seal away forever the treasure buried there. Now he's hearing whispers from that collapsed place. The men have stopped - too afraid and hungry to dig, so he spends the nights alone, hacking away at the rubble with a pickaxe. Thinking. Listening.
(hopefully failing his rolls)
-
Ok, so my first one of these. The PC's are Tork (chopper), Midnight (gunlugger), Raf (angel), Silver (hocus). I've said before that I don't like purely mechanical consequences as outcomes of these letters, but for this one it actually is a narrative thing as Silver caused some serious grief to Raf:
Dear Silver,
How's it hanging? Seems like the sun rose today, so the rest of the guides must have taken care of that while Steinway had you locked up for roughing up a rhymer or causing havoc or just pissing off the Angel or whatever bullshit reason he used to explain it, if he bothered. Speaking of, can you believe how Raf acted? All offended and hurt and accusing just like that? And now you've had to spend a couple perfectly good days in one of the window wells Steinway uses as cells, with the cats all prowling around on the other side of that pane of glass and watching you. Your pretty convinced that, had they wanted to they could have come straight through the glass for you. A couple of the younger ones came up and pawed at the glass, and you can see the inner pane is barely there any more, but the mothers just herded them away after a bit. You could swear they were laughing the whole time.
Anyway. Peanut went a little nuts about you being taken in, loudly working the guides up to take a run at Steinway. It's got everyone in the Prom nervous, and it's not like you and yours are particularily popular to begin with, so dont expect people to be a nicey-nice with you guys for a bit. you should make your fortunes roll to see how things are looking at this very moment for the guides.
Steinway came and had a talk with you about your predicament. Seems the old coot has something he wants done, something that'll make all forgiven, which I'll tell you about in a moment. He's let you go after extracting a promise that you would get it done. Whether or not you live up to that promise, well, that's up to you. So roll +hard: On a 10+ choose 1. 7-9, choose two:
- Steinway, or Treble really, was real emphatic in making his point. You think something might be broken in your shoulder, and breathing ain't exactly an easy thing. Take 3 harm straight up.
- They found the Book on you, and took it. Steinway says he'll return it after.
- The guy who died was one of the Man Man crew, and boy are they pissed about it. Especially his sister Gator. Seems to think the whole thing was your fault, you personally.
On a miss, they're all true. It just ain't fair, huh?
Hugs and Kisses,
the MC
-
I cleaned up some of the text on that last one, but the gist is the same. here are the letters for the gunlugger and the angel as well. The choppers not in the next session, he gets a letter when he comes back for the next one.
Dear Midnight,
Things are looking up for you, aren't they? You and Tork are all buddy buddy now, so you can hang out with the Rollers more. Shithead still has it in for you, but it's not like he's gonna do much to you without the rest of the gang behind him, and besides he's off on that super-secret mission thing with Tork.
Which actually has kind of fucked you over. when Tork took off with Shithead, Dice, Gnarly and III Bullet took over. Whenever you push the issue about heading over to Temple Point, Bullet comes up with another reason they can't spare a guy: looters, protect the bikes, Steinway needs us, man man... yadda yadda. Maybe he's still holding a grudge over that whole "head butting him hard enough to make his nose bleed" thing. I know, right? Such a baby. Anyway, the Rollers have spent the last couple of days holed up in the hall, Occasionally heading out on a foray with Man man to beat up some Gogol Bordello guys, doing a lot of drugs. It's kind of frustrating.
But hey, it's not like everything has been for nothing. All this time among people, you're practically popular. Roll +hot. On 10+ choose 2, 7-9 choose 1
- Despite everything, you've managed to get the stuff to fix up your bike. Looks like you'll be able to get over to Temple point under your own power after all. Tell me who you got it from, and what you promised/did for them.
- All the craziness means you've been in demand. Most importantly, the GB guys have hired you on to bodyguard. Tell me what they offered you, and what/who you're guarding.
- Junk has taken a real shine to you. Not in a horizontal sense (not yet at least) but she's actually shaping up to be someone worth spending some time with. Tell me what you guys are about, and what you dig in her.
On a miss, I'll choose one of these, and tell you how it is. Trust me, you won't be so happy about that.
Anyway I'll let you get on your way, you got things to do, stuff from the past to find, people to kill. Just remember what your brother told you yesterday morning. Or was it the day before? I dunno, the day after you woke up with a cat in your room. But yeah, He told you "keep you chin up and your eyes clear if you don't want to end up like dad. And get a fucking haircut, you look like a goddamned drowned rat." Toodles!
Love and Kisses,
Your MC
Dear Raf,
Shit's been tough, huh buddy? Well listen, we're all rooting for you kiddo, we're behind you 110 percent. I know things have been messed up, what with you having killed that boy and all, but we know you didn't mean it, just like with your sister. It's not your fault, y'know? It's not like people keep dying on you whenever you try to heal them directly so you have to use these blunt instruments instead. Not like people are relying on you and you keep screwing up. Nothing like that at all.
Really It's all that Silver's fault. If she hadn't fucked with you, that boy would be up and about right now, just fine, laughing, singing, having a grand old time. Instead she decided to do.. . whatever it is she did and now he's gone gone gone. So yeah, Not your fault at all.
Things ain't been going so well since... well, y'know. Man Man and Gogol Bordello are all over each other, and Steinway's had to send Treble and his boys out to keep the peace. Which means you've been a little busy, what with all the brouhaha. It's kind of fucked, all the players can't really hit each other direct as it's against the rules, but all their lickspittles and groupies and fans and such take the hints they drop and away it goes. Shit's been nasty, bad enough that Steinway's apparently going to hold a big meetup, what they call a Jam to set things right. here's hoping it works.
But we're glad to see you're keeping shit together. How you doing that? Go ahead and tell me and then come back to this letter. Roll +cool to find out exactly how close to the edge you are. 10+ choose 1, 7-9 choose 2. Regardless, you're down stock, down about half.
- By farming out the easy stuff to shegusa and mox, you've been able to stay ahead of the curve, but barely. Unless shit gets cleared up, you're going to start losing people or having to turn them away untreated.
- Steinway took a turn for the worse. He's stable for now, but the drugs aren't working anymore. You've got him on some powerful shit that's holding him together, just and just, but they're harder to find.
- In the confusion someone has been stealing supplies from the infirmary. Mostly pain pills and the like, so you can still treat people, but it's getting hairy every time you need to do something major.
On a miss, it's all true buddy. Sorry. But hey, one-hundred and ten percent, remember.
Love and Kisses,
Your MC
-
One of the letters I used today to introduce a character. All I knew was that he was either a brainer or a skinner, and he was going to sleep around - a lot! So I took the oppertunity to connect him with the NPCs. (The character was a female skinner, as it turned out)
Hello Mr Skinner!
Hey there, people, I'm ________, they say Im the cutest boy in town - My horse is fast, my teeth are shiney, I tell all the girls they can kiss my hiney.
Oh God, I am the american dream, I do not think I'm too extreme - And I'm a handsome sonofabitch, I'm gonna get a good job 'n be real rich
How are you doing, hot stuff? What are you up to? Riding around with the god damn rescue rangers? That, my friend, is awesome. Tell me, what gave you that idea?
Hey, let's play a game! Give me the names of people of note you've slept with, or had some other kind of intimate and sincere moment with, pick from this list;
Rose, Brace, Two Moon, Fox, Daimyo, Black Kitchen, III, Barker, Razor, Dust Witch, Beastie, Fianelly, Crin, Honeytree (Owns the brothel in New Jerk).
Yes, you can pick as many as you like. Don't be shy!
Now, roll +Cool for how things turned out.
10+ Up to four good endings, plus one bad ending.
7-9 Up to three good endings, at least two bad endings.
Miss, it's a clusterfuck! Everyone wants to kill everybody else, either they want you or they hate you, but they're all making you fucking miserable! I'm going to barf bad endings all over them, you get to pick ONE good ending though. Hahaha!
Good endings:
- You learnt this persons weaknesses.
- You learnt this persons dreams.
- You learnt this persons dark secrets.
- This person gave you a gift.
- This person will give you shelter.
- This person helps you out with something useful.
- This person wants to please you, like so bad.
- This person inspired you to a great work of art.
Bad endings:
- One of them must have you and won't let go.
- One of them wants to use you so they can kill off another person from the list.
- One of them learnt something about you that you don't tell people about.
- One of them did something bad to you.
- One of them, you owe.
- One of them scares you like hell. Perhaps you can't figure them out, or they remind you of someone.
- One of them got you entangled in their business.
- One of them you still have feelings for, but you wish you didn't.
Of course, you learnt something from the experience. Mark one experience for every person you've named after the first one, to maximum of 5 experience.
----
It worked beautifully, and I can recommend it as a custom move for new characters.
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It also allowed the guy to catch up a bit in experience relative to the rest of us: we had all been on or about our sixth advancement when he retired his hardholder to safety and decided to make a new character.
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Another love and kisses letter, for our operator. I wanted to get things rolling since we started the story in a new place at a later date (as mentioned), and also get a better feel for his motivation. Worked swell.
Oh, and it's a long one. I'm sorry.
Nero
Alright, how you doing? You're on the road again, roaming the land with Canaveral, a new friend, and maybe some kind of crew beyond that. Either that, or it's all contacts in different places. Okay, let's see how business have been, shall we? Tell me the names of some of the people you've been working with or working for, pick them from this list;
Rose, Brace, Rolfball, Barker, Scream, Beastie, Fianelly, Crin, Honeytree.
(Honeytree owns the brothel in New Jerk, owns all of Cheapside, some might say.)
Now, roll +Cool.
10+ Hey, cool! Choose one of the names you just mentioned. They owe you one.
7-9 One of them owe you, but you owe another one. It's a little complicated, but otherwise things are floating!
On a miss, shit. I'm going to name one of them, and they're coming for you.
Right now, though you're staying in this place. Maybe it's just a little bunker or farm, maybe it's a hardhold, maybe it's a travelling company. We'll expand on that. Anyway, you've been keeping an eye open, picked up on what's going on. Could be oppurtunities, could be trouble. Pick from this list:
Things going on:
- Things have started to turn ugly with people, and you're going to have to pick the winning side, or learn them to put their differences aside.
- The people by the river are weird. Disconcerting things have been happening to someone you know.
- Someone is keeping to themselves, building something.
- This honest working family just got captured by some asshole.
- Disease and hunger are hitting this place bad. They need help.
- You've recognized one of the important people from New Jerk or Sunken City, but they have no idea you're here.
- Some brave youngsters are preparing for a trip, going to explore a special place that could help them.
- Someone is ruining themselves, and they're going to bring others with them in their fall.
Now tell me which things you've gotten involved in, and...
Why do you do this? Riding around, doing jobs?
Really now, tell me. For each thing.
- For the barter
- Doing the right thing
- You care for someone
- Something or someone you could use
- Getting a good contact or favor
- Gut feeling
- Curiosity
- Other
Finally, roll +Sharp.
10+ Damn, you're sharp! Choose one thing, you've already solved it.
7-9 Choose which things you've gotten involved in. One, you've got an edge on it. One, you've got a bad feeling about, if you picked more than one thing.
Miss, things go looking for you instead.
-
Working on my first set, for a couple players who missed our last session (Chopper and Skinner). The players who were present learned that NPC Wisher wants to take control of the Ford (the proto-hardhold loosely cun by the Hocus, with the help of his comrade the Gunlugger.) The Hocus' NPC acolyte/victim/lover Bowdy was shot and is at death's door. Pierre, NPC member of the Chopper's gang, has been stirring up trouble, and was the one who shot Bowdy. A couple sessions ago, the Hocus inserted a performance by the Skinner into the Maelstrom.
Dear Goldie,
What a difference a day makes! First of all, who’s the young pup/mascot/good luck charm of your gang? Feel free to make up somebody brand new.
That broken arm and bite wounds that Tum-Tum got from the lobos? Not healing so well. Pretty septic, as a matter of fact. He’s delirious, and Mathilda is freaking out.
Word is some hill mutant named Wisher is looking to hire some short-term muscle. Beaucoup junk to be had.
Guess Ula wasn’t the last of the cannibal cult, because Exit found her body the morning after you shot her, missing one brain.
Roll+hard. On a 10+, sweet! Pick 3. On a 7-9, you pick 2. On a miss, I’ll pick 1. Whatever you don’t pick, the alternative is true. (Of course, if you think any of the alternatives would be more fun than the picks, feel free to choose them.)
• Carlos, the doc over in Carny, can fix Tum-Tum right up. Why’s he so happy to help, anyway? Alternative: Carlos would love to use a scalpel on any one of your guys, but not for operating. What’s that all about?
• Wisher things your gang is just what he’s looking for, and wants a meeting. What made him choose you? Alternative: Wisher thinks Roarke’s gang is just what he’s looking for. Why the fuck is Roarke moving in on your turf?
• Holy shit, someone’s brain got eaten! Fortunately, it was Pierre. No great loss. Who found the body, and where? Alternative: holy shit, <insert macot’s name here>’s brain got eaten. The gang is pissed. Again, who found the body, and where?
XXOO,
The MC
Dear June,
That second set you played at Truth’s party? That everyone keeps talking about? You can’t remember a single beat of it. On minute you were fucking Goldie, then suddenly you were chasing after Mice with Truth and Bowdy. Everything between is gone.
Roll+weird. (Yeah, I said weird.) On a 10+, people keep coming up to you, telling you how great you were, how they can still hear your music in their dreams. Spend up to 3 from your playbook’s artful and gracious list during the next session. On a 7-9, spend 1. On a miss, I’ll spend 1 for you. Sometimes fans can be…obsessive.
XXOO,
The MC
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For the Battlebabe turned Angel.
Canaveral
Wow, girl. You're not a troublemaker anymore. You're someone's hero. That makes me so proud!
Things have worked out pretty well after the storm seasons. I mean, you're not rich, but you're learning your trade, and it's not expensive vegetables that makes the best chili, it's eating it in freedom. There's another new side of you too, your weird side. Tell me about that, lie down on this sofa, yes? How long have you been having these dreams?
Okay, back to reality. Roll +Sharp! Yes, Sharp. You're a medical professional now, Dr. Canaveral, ma'm!
10+ Two good things.
7-9 Two good things and one bad thing.
Miss, two good things and two bad things.
Good things:
- Barkers almost done with that idea of yours, he just needs one more thing.
- Your dad grew some, marched up to Rolfball and quit.
- There is this kid who wants to learn everything from you. Bright little one.
- You saved someone's life. Someone we know. Who?
- You did something heroic, but you got some real trouble from it. Pick one of the bad things, or come up with something yourself. Mark experience.
- You came up with this awesome idea, and now you're one barter richer!
Bad things:
- Some kid got something new and scary, and you don't know how to treat it.
- Someone we already know is dying, right now. Who, and why?
- You've been having these dreams about the ruins. You wake up sleepwalking, sometimes.
- Your horse is a retard.
- You messed up somehow. Either you lost a life you shouldn't have, or you saved a life you shouldn't have. Anyway, they're pissed off at you and... oh, here they are! Good luck!
---
I wanted enough bad choices, but went blank when I was writing up them, so finally I just added "Your horse is a retard" for laughs. I got a kick out of it and let it stay - I didn't actually expect (or wanted) Martina to pick it, that would open up the door for some silly fiction. In the end it put a huge grin on her face, so it was totally worth it.
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I love the tone of all of these. So amusing and conversational. Also, it's funny to see where we're emulating the voice of the actual rulebook and where we're injecting our own bits. Like we all have an "MC Character" we're speaking in.
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yeah, it's an interesting tone of voice. It's both a reaffirmation of your love of the characters, a goad to action, as well as injecting some real colour. I always have this weird dichotomy of "the MC is sincere in his sympathy/affection/support" and "The MC is messing with your shit and doing so in front of you and fully aware that you can't do anything about it."
It's pretty awesome.
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My MC voice is 40% Lt. Frinks from 3:16, 10% Computer from Alpha Complex, and 50% me. :-)
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I love the tone of all of these. So amusing and conversational. Also, it's funny to see where we're emulating the voice of the actual rulebook and where we're injecting our own bits. Like we all have an "MC Character" we're speaking in.
Totally. The tone of the book (and therefore game) is very wrapped up in Vincent's writing voice. You can see that voice, whether Vincent's there or not, in any thread about Apocalypse World across the internet, pretty much. I notice that I speak in it while MCing, as well. Weird.
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I know exactly what you mean, yeah?
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My MC voice is always me but in a really sort of false-sympathetic, goadingly curious way. Sort of like "awwe, poor guy, you're in a really rough spot, aren't you? well, grab the dice, let's see how it's going to get worse."
it's really fun.
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I'm starting to work on these for the somewhat-arbitrary downtime between "sessions" of my online game. How do you guys handle these? Are they actual notes that are private between player and MC, or communal property so everyone can see what lucky breaks or tough luck the other players have?
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I'm starting to work on these for the somewhat-arbitrary downtime between "sessions" of my online game. How do you guys handle these? Are they actual notes that are private between player and MC, or communal property so everyone can see what lucky breaks or tough luck the other players have?
When I used mine (see upthread), I printed out individually; they were actual notes for each player, and handed the notes to the players at the beginning of the session. Then, before they rolled, I encouraged the players to read 'em aloud, so we could all see the consequences for each roll outcome.
In short: they're for the individual player, but they're also communal. It's so much more exciting when we all know how they're going to get fucked on a 6 or rise above it all on a 10. It makes the rolls tense!
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I prefer communal. The other players can throw in their two cents, especially if the MC letter includes some questions to the PC, and very often (usually?) their two cents is much shinier than my two cents. And I really like it when the letter includes things that the other players know will cause headaches for their PCs. There's something truly beautiful about players who steadfastly maintain their characters' IC ignorance of brewing conflict when OOC they know the score.
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Totally. The tone of the book (and therefore game) is very wrapped up in Vincent's writing voice. You can see that voice, whether Vincent's there or not, in any thread about Apocalypse World across the internet, pretty much. I notice that I speak in it while MCing, as well. Weird.
I know I can't help swearing whenever I talk about Apocalypse World. Not in an insulting way, mind you, just saying "fucking" this and that all the time, which I don't normally do. :)
I just wrote up my first batch of these for the game that should be happening tonight. It's been like a month and a half since we played, and I'm not even overly optimistic we'll play tonight, but if we do they should be interesting. I might post the text of them and how it goes if I use them.
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We're adding a new player next session, and this is what I cooked up (comments or suggestions welcome)
Well, Driver, you've been on the road a while. You've been running on ethanol and fumes for so long that when you heard a rumor a crazy old guy out in Grand Junction had a way to cook up oil out of rocks, you headed right on over to check on it. Turns out he was just making biodiesel, but he was willing to trade you a generous supply for help with a little bandit problem. Roll +hard, and you can use your car.
On a 10+, good job! Pick 3.
On a 7-9, shit went down, but you managed to salvage something. Pick 1.
On a miss…everything went south.
* the old guy made it, and he'll probably trade with you again
* you've got plenty of fuel for yourself, and extra cans worth 3-barter in the back.
* your car isn't damaged
* you're not being chased
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Totally. The tone of the book (and therefore game) is very wrapped up in Vincent's writing voice. You can see that voice, whether Vincent's there or not, in any thread about Apocalypse World across the internet, pretty much. I notice that I speak in it while MCing, as well. Weird.
I know I can't help swearing whenever I talk about Apocalypse World. Not in an insulting way, mind you, just saying "fucking" this and that all the time, which I don't normally do. :)
I use Apocalypse World as an excuse to cuss more often than normal, too. I made a character who REALLY likes to swear and I'm finding it endlessly amusing. I like to think that in the Time After, words like "fuck" have just sort of bled out their barbs and are a part of the day-to-day lexicon.
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Elsewhere on the internets, John Harper writes "Obviously, the character is not receiving the letter in the game world." YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, MAN.
Dear Quarantine:
Hi there! Sorry, by the way, about the nickname if you don't like it. I take full responsibility, I just thought it'd be fun. Don't be surprised if it catches on, although I'm sure if you tried hard you could get people to refer to you by your "proper" name. But there's only so many hints I can drop in our first correspondence! Gotta save some material for future letters. Although I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am avidly anticipating your use of the ?-isolation rig. Especially since you, yourself, shrugged the world's psychic maelstrom off. Which kind of ironically makes you the weirdo here!
But, down to business. Remembering the Golden Age that was in its final days, while definitely one of the awesomer of your many unique qualities, is all fun and games, but sometimes a man's gotta evaluate his present sitch, am I right? Lucky for you, people talk a lot. I'm not gonna confuse you right off the bat by asking you to roll some dice for me, so let's be straightforward. For each of the following five questions, choose: Either you've heard the answer in passing rumors, and the rumors you've heard happen to be correct, or mark experience when and if you find the answer yourself firsthand. Just circle the ones you want to have already heard with that old pencil in your pack, or say them out loud, or something. I'll know. Because I'm always watching you.
* Who is Rolfball?
* Who is the Hive Queen?
* How is "Key" made?
* What's to the North of Death Canyon?
* What's Allison like in the sack?
* Who put that 20-barter bounty on your head?
xoxo, your biggest fan, the MC
PS: If you don't choose for some reason, I'll choose for you! It'll be fun!
~~~
Dear Allison:
Hi! Sweet when an opportunity just drops into your lap, isn't it? Speaking of Mr. Perfect Teeth, if he asks, and you want to say that you get these letters all the time, just part of this crazy mixed up world that you live in, that's cool. I'll back you up. Wink wink, nudge nudge. On the other hand, you could say its your first, too. I'd understand, and can even see the value in such being the "truth". Or maybe he won't ask at all! In which case, who cares? You know what they say about a life unexamined. Or what they did say, before they all died. Ask "Specialist Jackson, Philip C", HE knows what they said.
As you either know or can guess, I dig choices and trade-offs. So let's get down to business, shall we? Roll the two enclosed dice, and add 2 because of how hard you are. If you get a 10+, for each item on the bad list you choose, pick two good things. On a 7-9, for each good thing you choose, I'll pick a bad thing. On a 6 or less, pick at least three bad things, and if you pick four, I'll pick a good thing for you, as I am such a generous person. (Don't worry about returning to sender. Just say your choices out loud or something. I'll know!)
GOOD THINGS
* Your men have found Quarantine's wife, Tammy! Talk about leverage.
* Business is going great! Don't bother with that wealth roll, just go ahead and take the 10+ result.
* A brainer named Iris has come to Haven, and is offering you her services as a kept brainer for the usual rates.
* Some of your boys got to those buggies from Specialist Jackson's little firefight before the Hive Queen's scavengers did. That brings your total working vehicles up to four, I believe.
BAD THINGS :(
* Bad batch of "Milk". About a dozen people are dead, twice that many sick, and you'll probably want to talk to Lee, your pharmer, about what went wrong.
* A couple of guns have gone missing from the armory. Not enough to be a hardship for your gang or anything, but I'd be concerned about the whereabouts of that grenade tube and sniper rifle, myself.
* Some refugees, dirty, hungry, and obviously diseased, are gonna show up on your doorstep, right when you're busy talking to Quarantine. Awkward!
* Remember when you sent two of your boys... let's say Hammer and Blues, to look into that whole Death Canyon thing Sammy mentioned? Yeah, they haven't come back. Spoiler alert: they're not gonna. That's Death Canyon for you.
xoxo, your biggest fan, the MC
PS: If you tear up this letter or otherwise fail to make your choices correctly or anything silly like that, I'll go ahead and make said choices for you! I promise I will make the best of the opportunity.
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Just a general MC question:
Do you usually start out every session with a love letter to every character? Or just some characters, or just some sessions? Or not at all?
To answer my own question, I've found the players really like them and so I've done one for each character every game. Would feel like something's missing without it, but I'm sure that's not the only way to play the game.
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I'll usually do one if there's been in-game downtime, or if we've missed a few sessions so people could use a refresher.
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After our first session (see AP: At The Gates) we had a week off due to scheduling difficulties and the midwest's biggest snowstorm in years. I wanted to get people back into the feel of the game, as well as introduce some new NPCs and situations to build on during play.
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Hiya Bran,
It's been about a week since that kid Wisher ran off with a double handful of mold. Your shoulder's healed up just fine, and business has been good. That creepy scavenger Como even brought you a new radio from Dry Land. Shiny! But, hey, this is Apocalypse World, man. Roll + weird and see what gifts the Maelstrom's bringing to the party.
On a 10+, choose three from the list below.
On a 7-9, choose two.
On a miss, well, at least you've got your health. For now.
* That acrid smoke coming out of the desalination machine? Totally normal.
* Your greyish-purple thumb must be working overtime! The mold grew back with no problem after Wisher's little stunt.
* That new radio's picking up more than static. Sounds like pirates, and they've gotta be close. Good thing you got a warning, huh?
* Business is booming! Gain 1-barter, and tell me about your best new customer. What's s/he buying? Water? Mold? Gear?
Love and kisses,
Your MC
Hey, Grave. Looks like the neighborhood's getting a little crowded. That tanker out there may be a piece of junk, but it sure is drawing a crowd! Good thing you've got your regulars, huh? Speaking of, let's see how that's going. Roll + hot. On a 10+, answer two of the following questions. On a 7-9, answer one and pick one for me to answer. On a miss, pick two for me to answer, and answer the third yourself.
* That scavenger Como's drifted in again, and he's got oddments a-plenty to trade. What did he sell you, and what did you pay for it?
* Good old Lamprey can always be counted on, right? You've got what he needs, after all. Er…what is it he needs again?
* Couple of guys with holdings down the coast got in a little fight the other day. Right in your club, too! Good thing everyone's packing. When the smoke cleared, who won? And who took a bullet?
Love and kisses,
Your MC
Oh, Storm. You're a sexy beast, and you know it. Of course, if you weren't looking in the mirror, you wouldn't have seen the door to your dressing room start to move. By the time it swings open, you're ready for whatever. And whatever turns out to be….what, exactly? Roll + hot. On a 10+, choose 3 of the options below. On a 7-9, choose 1 of them. On a miss, well….
* Of course they're armed; this is Apocalypse World. But the gun's in the holster, for now.
* The Maelstrom's looking out for you. You automatically roll a 10+ on the Lost move, whether you have it or not.
* At least it's only one of them, right?
* Well, at least it's not Rolfball.
Love and kisses,
Your MC
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Three letters from our last session:
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Hey Bran,
It seems like you've always been here, doesn't it? Tell me about the person who ran the place before Grave moved in. What was their gig? How did Been take over, so he could sell to Grave? Then roll + weird.
On a 10+, if something seems like it ought to be on the platform, but nobody knows where it is, you can tell 'em, just the once.
On a 7-9, you know this place inside out, and you've got some tricks up your sleeve. Hold 1 and spend it to help or interfere with somebody on board, as if you hit the roll with a 10+.
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Hiya Storm,
Sure, your mama just pimped you out like all the other urchins, and when you saw your chance you were gone, gone, gone. But you're pretty, not heartless. Tell me about the thing that was hardest to leave behind, and roll + hot.
On a 10+, choose 2.
On a 7-9, choose 1.
On a miss, I'll choose for you.
* Rolfball doesn't know about it
* Whatever it is, it's still OK
* Gams doesn't have it
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Mr. Grave sir,
You've really moved up in the world, haven't you? What'd you do before this Maestro'D gig, again? Anyway, now you're the top dog--but Been's a goddamn wolf, and he's not in the habit of giving gifts. Tell me what you had to say or do to get him to sell on credit, then roll + cool or sharp, your choice.
On a 10+, you're not hurting as bad as you made out to Been. Gain 1 barter, or take two barter (hey, that much closer to paying off the club!), but choose one of the options below as well.
On a 7-9, gain 1 barter and choose one from the list below.
On a miss, I'll choose for you.
* Been's not just trying to send you a message about paying what you owe; he wants you, and At The Gates, gone.
* That barter you got? It's people, a couple of girls from Uptown one of the scavengers brought in.
* You've always known that Rolfball wants in on your action. Once you set up shop, her little sex barge became the low rent district. What you didn't know is that she's got some serious dirt on you. What was that dark secret, buddy-boy?
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Nods. I considered starting with these but decided to wait a few sessions to see where things were going before jumping in. Bu I am itching tonsink my teeth into this!
-Don