I know this thread is ancient but something in my real life brought it to my attention again.
Every year, I go to Wasteland Weekend, a post-apocalypse themed festival in California. I run a small operation there and for the last ten years or so, this paragraph has always been in the back of my head when I sit down to design an experience that will be welcoming of the people that usually get passed over by the standard Mad-Max hyper-testosterone aesthetic. I've quoted it to people for years and someone inspired me to finally find the original again so I could share it.

It's our post-apocalypse. What are we going to make of it?

I read a really interesting piece on post-apocalypses and feminism I wish that I could find again. It had looked at a variety of post-apocalypses. In each, had power-based interpersonal hierarchies come to dominate, or had they broken down? And for each, which portion of the audience found it "grim" and "depressing"? The conclusion the piece reported was that straight white dudes tended to find post-apocalypses where power-based interpersonal hierarchies had broken down grim, where, y'know, women and people of color and queer people tended to find the same post-apocalypses optimistic, and considered the post-apocalypses where a dude with a gun or a "pure" vision took control and led with an iron fist to be the grim ones.

I don't count the Faceless in any of the following. The Faceless is a weird heavy but not too far outside the basic playbooks.

I feel like the Extended playbooks say more about their world by their very existence than any of the basic ones. Each one brings a big theme that echoes across everything else. I probably wouldn't allow more than two (preferably one) in any game, just as a way of making sure each one's weirdness can get enough screen time. It might be fun to see all of them crash together but I think two is the maximum for me where it's more fun than headache.

The Quarantine brings some information about the before time, some really cool materials, maybe even eventually the cause of everything. Personally, I'd always let a player start with the psi-null Weird, because it implies something about the people of now. The Waterbearer has a place of law and healing in a world of chaos. They both provide a contrast for the players and characters to the rest of the setting.

The Show's ability to crack open the world is so evocative of an entire world to me. The fact that even one person can use music to wield this sort of raw, unrestrained power means you're not in Mad Max land anymore. You're over in the world of Metalocalypse, Six String Samurai and Brutal Legend. The Show brings an epic quality to the table even if his day to day may be more Spinal Tap and that's before ancient death satellites and souls of the dead. He can change an entire town into fanatical hunters. . .or just a hole in the ground. He almost demands a rival rocker - Tim Curry to his Jack Black, Death to his Buddy or vice versa. Imagine a battle scene where, in addition to the normal gangs of gun toting thugs, two rock gods square off on opposite hills, cracking the world.

The News says there's radio. This isn't something that's normally assumed. All of a sudden there's The Media and everyone gets to have an opinion on it and be effected by it. Breaking Now alone is going to have a huge impact on the game. Now the session starts with EVERYONE knowing that Ba and the Rippers are massing in Radon Canyon for a huge assault on the player's home town. . .and Ba knows that everyone knows!

Then you've got the Child Thing of the Maelstrom. He hides in it, he runs from the invisible Terminator Wolves who want him dead. Your threats just got a lot weirder.

It depends a lot on the way the game is set up. By the time my Quarantine was pulling consistent high rolls, it was less a question of success and more a question of not having many good options, or not knowing the long term consequences. Sure, The MITties will help, but they need you to assassinate the rogue psyker. Now you have to choose between shooting an innocent man or pissing off the faction with scary future tech. You can undoubtedly succeed at either, so which is more important? Your ideals or the innocent people in town that will be collateral damage if you start a war? You can get an extra +3 to either choice but it doesn't make it the right choice.

I think so. It's still pretty easy to stack rolls, Quarantines are built for i, so I'll use that as an example.

a solid non-weird stat line, potentially Cool +3
Read the Sitch for +1
Get help for +1 and give that person XP
Ask someone for advice because you're Eager To Know for +1
and another if it's an Oftener Right Savvyhead. +1
They're both variations in Insight but the "when you do" for both is satisfied by a single conversation. Add in things like Perfect Instincts, Consummate Performer, Reputation and vehicles rules and you  can go right off the chart.

I played this character in my first AW game. Stacking all of that up isn't too difficult. There's a lot of XP or potential XP to encourage other players to help. I'd say I was at +3-4 more often than I was at +5 or 6 but when it matters enough to take the time, it's available. One thing that I noticed is that in the long run, 7-9 results make for much more interesting games than consistent 10+. Having to make tough choices is way more fun to me than having a "you win" button.

At +5, you will never miss a roll entirely. Anything more than this is honestly overkill unless you really need to hit 12+ on your Manipulate roll. You'll get that 12+ about 2/3 of the time.
At +4 you'll fail one time out of 36 and hit a 10+ more than 2/3 of the time.

I will say that the Gunlugger shadowing the tank, waiting for the driver to take a shit so he can use his sniper rifle is a scene that I want to see. It's still shooting things but it's so much cooler than just "I shoot Ba's gang with my machine gun. They die."

Yeah, the basic Chopper cost of living doesn't change but keeping the gang at full strength may increase it when the opening presents itself.

your gang’s self-sufficient, able to provide for itself by raiding and scavenging. It gets +rich.

Rich (cue): outside of battle, the gang always has a little scratch, a little jingle.

Yes, you should check with your MC. Here are some things that implies to me as a straw-MC:
I'm not going to expect the Chopper to chip in towards the lifestyle cost of the gang or maintenance of their bikes unless he also took one of the drawbacks that brings those concerns back into play like vulnerabilities to breakdown, grounded or obligation. Otherwise that note about a few months maintenance on a vehicle being 1-barter is a hard move (take their stuff) that I have in reserve. 15 bikes take maybe 5 barter a month to maintain. Most of the time it's background detail but when I need something to throw at The Chopper, there it is. Failed that manipulate roll? Rolfball will refuse and remind you that your gang has been going through a lot of parts lately. He's been ok running up a tab so far but now the bill is due before he'll do any more work and it's (1, 3, 5, whatever) barter. Don't have it? Better go get it before the gas tanks are empty.

The gang always has enough stuff around to get a few drinks at the Maestro's Establishment or similar. Without it, they get drinks by going into the bar and clobbering anyone who gets between the and the hooch or by the Chopper either paying or using Fucking Thieves to come up with something valuable.

The key phrase to me is self sufficient. Without that, at least some of the cost of lifestyle and maintenance for 15 violent bastards and their bikes falls to the Chopper.

I think the main downside of this "adventuring" mode is that it takes the characters away from the web of relationships they establish with NPC characters.

Well, you've got the folks in the town of the week. They change often, sure. That's more work for the MC but for the other players it's decidedly a mixed blessing. They don't come in knowing the relationships at play or who's motivated by what. So every attempt to pick up more fuel or supplies requires learning at least some of that from scratch and getting your nose into it. Are they going to be scared of the Brainer? Expect the Hocus to solve their problems as a wandering holy person? Will the PC's have to backtrack to an old business acquaintance who tried to kill them last time because she's the only one who can move their "treasure"?

Check out Firefly for a good mix of drama, relationships and adventuring for a traveling crew. Badger, Mr Miska and Patience are all running characters. The Alliance (Threat Type - Warlord, Dictator) collectively has a relationship of some sort with most of the characters. Steal the treasure is the smallest part of each "session". Can the Skinner talk the locals out of jailing the crew? Are they going to sell the cargo to their dangerous employer now that they know it's medicine or risk his wrath by giving it to people who need it?

Unless you've got an entire party of solo characters like the Battlebabe and the Gunlugger, someone's going to have a gang, or a couple of helpers or a venue or something. Those folks will give you running relationships but also a wild card element in each new town. Do you really want to let the Hardholder's (a ship can be a Hold and a vehicle, right?) small gang (Jayne is Not To Be Fucked With) going off on his own in a new town? What happens when he takes the Alliance's offer to sell out the Angel?