Oh sure, the disease or whatever that she's carrying would normally be a whole other threat. I think? So, it could be that she's possessed by a maelstrom spirit that likes making things go all to hell, and that craves physical contact to jump from one body to the next. Or... why did everything fall apart and go to shit? You imply it had something to do with her decision to leave. Can you make another threat out of that?

Delusion: Follow your heart. Abandon your responsibilities.

Maybe it doesn't "infect" the Operator per se, but it could certainly permeate around their crews once they see how happy she is.

It's been suggested before. (In response to this thread, for onehttp://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=363.msg3074#msg3074)

As for the original idea - The Quiet Year is great, that might be a good starting point. I think it would be interesting to see how well you can build an Apocalypse World set up and the push the characters into it, rather than letting the players build characters and building the setting around them.

Love Letters sounds like it might be the key to it all.

That's the line I was missing Borogrove. Thanks!

Korik1, create The Mother as a threat and then see if you feel the same way. It's just a specific version of the "Separate them." MC move, right? I think one of my players is excited to play The Child-Thing, how it will turn out in play I don't know.

There's an interesting realisation I'm having with all these playbooks. The Waterbearer's Source is a Threat. The Mother is a Threat. Heck, maybe The Faceless's mask is a Threat. I wonder why I didn't see it before?

I'm sure Vincent already talked about this elsewhere. Being alive in Apocalypse World doesn't make you Cooler, or Sharper. It makes you messed up, violent, spooky, gibbering and liable to lash out. I think that's why Hard and Weird go up so much more. (I remember someone pointing out that the Angel has 2 +1 Hard options. Because you start out trying to put people back together, and then...)

Anyway, Vincent, thanks for the EU print run. I've switched over and it has saved a bit of cash. Does it seem likely there'll be a European hardback run? Also, I'm thinking about starting an AW game in the next month or so. Am I right in thinking that the Keep and Lifestyle rules from AW Fallen Empires can be pretty easily ported into AW2? (Of all the changes, it's "spend barter on lifestyle each session" that has me most excited.) And, I don't know if you're planning on any further previews, but the Vehicle and Prosthetic creation stuff would be very welcome.

Also, is it okay to talk about the game and some of the changes, or should we keep that sort of chat to the patreon forums? I only ask because I'm in the cheap skate "get to look at the game but not talk in the forums" level of donation myself.

Thanks!

Oh my, deliberately unproductive characters are the worst. I think some people are used to either having plots to follow, or GMs that turn any sort of interest or concern that their characters have into a weakness to exploit, so they shy away. I find with these people that opportunities to get involved are not enough - something has to walk up to them and demand a response. Like, what happens when the second most important woman in the compound turns up at the infirmary in labour, after keeping the pregnancy a secret, and is then desperate for Grey to help hide the baby. Can she ignore that?

And I find a good place to start is with relationships. You may not be comfortable asking your mum who Grey is hot for, but you can ask her who her friends are, what she likes doing when she's not in the infirmary, whether she has any family. You could even just straight up ask "Hey, Grey. What's one thing you would change about your setup here if you could?" If she doesn't like making stuff up (and I've had unproductive players who really don't like making stuff up.) then it might not go anywhere, but if you can get her creating details of the world then that's inspiration for you to play with and your mum is likely to be more invested because she made it up. You can also push characters into more precarious positions with love letters if there's a break in play - making her choose, say, between using up large amounts of resources or not saving people. But fundamentally, unproductive characters is not your problem. It's unproductive players. So chat, ask what would be fun for her. Find out if she's actually bored, or if she really enjoys just being there and joining in when it feels right. *shrug* I can't imagine playing like that, but some people are very different.