I was browsing through the hacks forums, when I came across this one. I'm very excited about this! I have been waiting for such a game for quite a long time.

I attempted to write for myself a game set in a Shtetl a couple of years ago, but I abandoned this project since I couldn't possibly see how to get the players into the Shtetl mindset. Namely, my problem was one of sources. I will try to elaborate:

There is no lack of stories written about the Shtetl, both by Yiddishists and Hebraists (and to a much lesser extent, in Russian and German language texts). However, all the ones I read were for the most part written by and for the sheyne loyte, the educated, urban middle class. The portrayal of the Shtetl in these works is satricial, and the protagonists presented there are for the most part laughable and unheroic (in the sense that things happen to them instead of them doing things). When semi-serious characters are presented, they don't "do" as much as they "reflect".

What I found, then, was a lack of materials to form interesting player characters. I was wondering if you came across the same problem, and what sources will you be using.

Well, to be frank, I never got to use descriptive tags when making new crap. My players have been more than content with the default variety of weapons, and whenever they got new crap, we never felt the need to tag it - if it's a strange high-tech helmet, everyone in the group knows it's +worn. Once your eyes fall out and it sends sticky black tendrils into your empty, bleeding eye sockets, everyone knows it's +implanted. None of us felt any particular need to set it out in writing.

Some examples from my games:

When creating my fronts, I envisioned a cannibal-cult that spreads among the hardholds, encouraging people to "stop raping the land for corn" and eat other cult members instead. I classified this practice as sacrifice, and used it to engage my players with great success.

One of the problems the PCs faced was the the soil was getting progressively less fertile, making the future of the agricultural communities they came from uncertain at best. This was classified as barrier, and caused NPCs to take some very desperate measures.

In another campaign, two of the PCs escorted a local well-connected bigshot to a far-away place, where he died from nano-plague. They left his body and fled, and by the time they came back with a search party, the body was already consumed by the nanobots. I classified the belief that the PCs murdered the bigshot as delusion, and boy, did it create trouble for them.

Ok, so the PCs in my current campaign kicked some ass, and ended up with a holding that they decided the PC Chopper should run.
I've statted the holding, but since it was given to him through the fiction and not through advances, the Chopper doesn't have the wealth move to go along with it. What do I do? Do I let him have it for free? Treat the town as though he automatically failed/7-9'd his wealth roll? Make up crises that rise from his ineptitude?

Hi SJE.

You seem to have the same problem I had before I started playing AW - I was thinking too hard about the game, essentially playing it out in my head before actual play.

Don't sweat it. Follow the rules as written. During the first session, when someone opens their mind to the psychic maelstrom, you'll have a short dialogue. You'll ask him what it looks like, how he does it, what sort of stuff the Maelstrom usually says, and how. They might answer some of this with "dunno, you tell me", which is also fine.

---
For example, during my first campaign, the battlebabe wanted to open his mind. So I asked, "ok, what does it look like?"
-Well, my eyes are rolling in their sockets and they're all white.
-And you're shaking uncontrollably and frothing at the mouth, right? [I try to put my bloody fingerprint on it, but it's ultimately up to the player to accept this]
-Yeah, of course I am.
-And does anyone freaks out when you do it in public? [I'm looking for where they're weak]
-Nah, they're used to it. I'm a freaky guy. [Found it! :)]
-Okay, you've got 7-9, that means a vague hint. Do you say it out loud or does it echo in your mind? [again, looking for where they're weak]
-I gurgle and mumble, but I don't say anything aloud.
-And remind me again, are you trying to get information on anything specific, or just generally useful stuff?
-I basically want to know if it's safe to leave the hold.

If this wasn't the first session, I would've consulted my fronts. Since I'm not allowed to have any prep for the first session, I use this opportunity to reveal off-screen badness.

-As you let the Maelstrom rage inside your brain, you lose control over your body. You hear over and over the words "Junkyard", "Massacre" and "Madness". Obviously, something very wrong is going over at the Junkyard.
---
Each character can have its own way of opening her brain. In my current campaign, the Driver looks for funny shapes in the clouds or listens to the static on the car radio; the Chopper lights a cigarette and gazes at the smoke; the Gunlugger paints with his own blood and talks to his dead uncle.

Based on these answers and your interaction with the player, you can start thinking about the maelstrom. In my first campaign, because of that dialogue, the maelstrom was a physical phenomenon, essentially a sentient swarm of nanobots. In my current game, it's more of a spiritual thing; maybe it's the Spirit World, or some such. I don't like determining what it is in advance, but I don't hold out details about it when I'm asked. Usually, I just turn the questions back at the players: "Is it possible to lobotomize your third eye and cut yourself off from the maelstrom? I don't know. Do you know which part of the brain interacts with the maelstrom? Do you have the workspace, the know-how, the equipment and a willing or properly-subdued subject? Let's have a look at the workspace rules and see what's appropriate".

Sure, no problem, but...

...You're going to have to test this stuff on animals / humans / yourself to make sure it works.

...You'll have to sniff X extensively for several hours/days/weeks.

...You'll have to harvest X's glands.

...Working next to this shit will give you a splitting headache, probably worse.

--
Also, make a custom move about freaky lab accidents.

I think the con prep mentioned here was John Harper's, but I might be wrong. It was two questions: "Who's in charge?" and "who's the thorn in his side"?

Based on that setup, here's my take on distributing the first two playbooks.

Who's in charge? [to that player] Why? Is it because you own the place (Maestro D')? The whole town, maybe (Hardholder)? Is it because you can offer people hope (Touchstone)? Cash (Operator)? Protection from your thugs (Chopper)?

If they chose the Maestro D':
So you've got this place, sure, and you have people working for you. One of them you can't bear to be without, but damn if you trust him. Who is it? [to that player] Is it because you're just too sexy for his own good (Skinner)? Too tough to give a damn (Gunlugger)? Way too freaky (Brainer), or carrying way too many freaks around him (Hocus)?

If they chose the Hardholder:
So it's your town, and you call the shots. But it's never so simple. Who's the biggest thorn in your side? [to that player] Is it because you don't take orders and you don't take shit (Battlebabe)? Is it because you always want what others have (Hoarder)? Or are you full of too much ambition, always working your own angle (Operator)?

If they chose the Touchstone:
So you've got the vision, but that's never enough, is it? You depend on someone else to make your vision come true, and you don't like it one bit. Who is it? [to that player] Is it because the people who follow him listen to you instead (Hocus)? Because the world speaks to you in ways that he can never hear (Brainer)? Because you're the only one who can build and understand the tech that'll make it all work (Savvyhead)? Or are you simply the one with the guns, who won't be afraid to shoot anyone for the sake of the vision, not even him (Gunlugger)?

If they chose the Operator:
You've got this operation, and it keeps you afloat. You've also got this team [points at the group] working for you. Who's your right-hand man, and why does he scare you shitless? [to that player] Is it because scary is the only word that describes you (Faceless)? Because you don't take orders, and you don't take shit (Battlebabe)? Because your only real loyalty is to the road (Driver)? Or is it because your body is the real bread-winner, and without you he'll be nothing (Skinner)?

If they chose the Chopper:
Okay, so you're big and scary and everybody [points at the group] knows you're the boss. One of them has a problem with it, though. Who is it? [to that player] Is it because you're bigger and scarier than him (Faceless)? Smarter (Savvyhead)? Is it because you're the one who has to clean up after his violent shit (Angel)? Or are you taking your orders from a higher authority (Hocus)?

----

Afterwards, spread out the rest of the playbooks before the other players and ask, "what about you? what's your story?".

When I introduced the playbook, plus faceless and sans skinner, to my PG-13 group (teens aged 13-15, most with some experience in D&D, with occasional single-session games of Paranoia and Godlike), the first reaction was "don't choose the ones with the followers, the GM will use them to screw you up".

So initial cast was Gunlugger (guns are cool!), Driver (cars are cool!), Savvyhead (you mean I get to make an anti-matter cannon?), Battlebabe (guns and giant blades are cool!). The Brainer and the Hardholder were taken more reluctantly, and there was lots of group pressure for someone to play the Angel.

In my regular group, which has a varied background, and most recently played Shadowrun, WoD and Exalted, we decided beforehand that the PCs will be rovers, living outside the bounds of what remained from society. The driver was chosen in a heartbeat, followed by the Gunlugger and the Chopper.