Very interesting. Thank you for sharing that.

Hallo everybody. I decided to create a special custom move to simulate the "Boss at the end of the level" clique, that I need for a forthcoming not-so-Apocalypse-World campaign.

Please, please, please forgive me 'cause I paste here an almost raw automatic google translation of the original move I wrote in Italian. I have no time to give you a better translated text, so I hope this can be barely understandable.

At the end I past the original one in Italian, hoping to be useful to other italian AW fans.

The Boss' Move
When you face a boss, before you make your move, roll+Strength*.
With 10+ choose 1. With 7-9 you choose 1 and MC chooses one. If you fail the roll, you can not make the move that you initially decided, because overwhelmed by the superhuman abilities of the Boss, and he can be reply with a hard move, at the pleasure of MC.

• To succeed in the move, you'll need the help of a couple of PG or PNG important.
• To succeed in the move, you must first create the right opportunity, for example, acting under fire, and in the next round implement the original move.
• You realize that the Boss is fucking robust: henceforth count as if he was wearing additional +1-armor, and can withstand damage as a PG.
• You feel that boss is damn dangerous: his weapons earn +1-damage or +area.
• To make the move to set before you an immediate retaliation: whatever the outcome of the move, you take S-harm due to a counterattack, a backlash that pushes you away, high stress, the entry into a danger zone etc.
• The Boss is waiting for your arrival: from some hidden corners pop out of minions that you had not calculated (Three-Bolts, Fishbone, Verona, maybe even Pedal-to-the-Metal and Ganglion).
• The Boss has a hidden escape route. At any time, the MC during its move can get rid of the boss stage, taking advantage of a distraction, a secret passage, supernatural ability, the interruption of the battle by an external force, etc.. The PCs may still decide to follow his tracks.
• The field of war proves highly beneficial to the Boss: detailing.

* The Strength must be chosen when creating the Boss by the Master of Ceremonies, and it is equivalent to the more obvious features of the Boss. Examples: A boss at the head of a cult of the Vortex able to blend his physical body into the vortex to dodge bullets or attack by surprise by blind spots, such as Strength will feature Weird; Boss by a powerfully built, mutated by radiation up to make a giant 3 meters with arms as big as tree trunks, like Strength will feature Hard.

The Boss's move is rolled once by each PG when it starts to interact actively in the battle or in the scene (help another PG to solve the first choice on the list does not count). Normally the characteristics acquired by a boss remain so until the end of the scene, but the MC can choose to keep all or some, in place to roll again the Boss's move in later scenes.

La Mossa del Boss
Quando affronti un Boss, prima di fare la tua mossa, tira+Forza*. Con 10+ scegli 1. Con 7-9 scegli 1 e il MC sceglie 1. Se fallisci il tiro, non puoi compiere la mossa che avevi inizialmente deciso, perchè soverchiato dalle capacità sovrumane del Boss, e questi può rispondere con una mossa dura, a piacere del MC.
- Per riuscire nella mossa, avrai bisogno dell'aiuto di almeno un paio di PG o PNG importanti.
- Per riuscire nella mossa, dovrai prima creare l'occasione giusta, ad esempio agendo sotto il fuoco, e nel turno successivo attuare la mossa originale.
- Ti accorgi che il Boss è fottutamente robusto: d'ora in poi conta come se avesse addosso +1-armatura supplementare, e può reggere danni come un PG.
- Ti accorgi che il Boss è dannatamente pericoloso: le sue armi guadagnano +1-danno oppure Area.
- Per compiere la mossa ti esporrai ad una rappresaglia immediata: qualunque sia l'esito della mossa, subisci S-danno a causa di un contrattacco, un contraccolpo che ti spinge lontano, forte stress, l'entrata in una zona pericolosa ecc.
- Il Boss si aspettava il tuo arrivo: da alcuni angoli nascosti sbucano fuori dei tirapiedi che non avevi calcolato (Tre Bulloni, Lisca di Pesce, Verona, forse anche A-Manetta e Ganglio).
- Il Boss ha una via di fuga nascosta. In qualunque momento, il MC durante la sua mossa può far sparire di scena il Boss, sfruttando una distrazione, un passaggio segreto, un'abilità sovrannaturale, l'interruzione dello scontro da parte di una forza esterna ecc. I PG potrebbero comunque decidere di seguire le sue tracce.
- Il terreno dello scontro si rivela fortemente vantaggioso per il Boss: dettaglia.

* La Forza dev'essere scelta alla creazione del Boss dal Maestro di Cerimonie, ed equivale alla peculiarità più evidente del Boss. Ad esempio, un boss a capo di un Culto del Vortice, capace di fondere il suo corpo fisico nel vortice per schivare i proiettili o attaccare di sorpresa dagli angoli morti, avrà come Forza la caratteristica Strano. Oppure, un Boss dalla corporatura possente, mutata dalle radiazioni fino a renderlo un gigante di 3 metri con braccia grandi come tronchi, avrà come Forza la caratteristica Duro.

La Mossa del Boss va tirata una sola volta da ogni PG quando inizia ad interagire attivamente nello scontro o nella scena (aiutare un altro PG per risolvere il primo punto della lista non conta). Normalmente le caratteristiche acquisite da un Boss restano tali fino alla fine della scena, ma il MC può decidere di tenerle, tutte o alcune, al posto di far ritirare la Mossa del Boss nelle scene successive.

Hi Vincent.
I own the italian book from Narrattiva, and it's a signed-by-you one! :D
Also I brought the original PDFs directly from you (getting all the LE playbooks at once).
I can define myself a REALLY satisfied fan of you and your work.

Nevertheless, I found several problems with the italian version (and almost generated a flame on the italian forum... not intended, I swear). I disliked some choice/translation they made (however this is just a triviality), and I found several typos, some missing texts, imprecisions etc.
HOWEVER, this topic has nothing to do with my mixed feeling about the official italian version, I'd like to chat about my 1st post.


PS: Useless details about me: I'm a player, master, and true RpG fan. From first editions of D&D, Cthulhu, Cyberpunk etc. I love to study the systems, the mechanics, the balance in RpGs. While my writing ability is quite limited, I love to read english texts and manuals, and I did several proofreading works for english RpG publishers, 'cause I'm quite meticulous. Finally, I did the italian translation of the (old) True20 Companion, and almost re-translated the base manual for the fans, 'cause the official one had a lot of imprecisions.

Hallo everybody. I'm trying to translate (in italian) the Touchstone and other playbooks for my rpg group.

I'd like to ask to lumpley what that "Touchstone" means in his vision. In italian, Touchstone is translated with "Pietra di Paragone", and it sounds not well. So, do you think I can substitute "Touchstone" with "Paragon" or "Champion", that in italian have better translation suited as title for the playbook? Or am I distorting the initial meaning?
If the latter is correct (I'm distorting), then what about a figurative, half-invented, title, like "Nerodiaspro"? -> this is from "Diaspro Nero" (black lydite) that is the name of the stone used as Touchstone.

Also, what about Maestro D'? I can keep that "Maestro" as it is, 'cause in italian it means "Master" and it has a nice sound. But what that D' stands for?

Here other questions about the standard playbook names. While a lot of the playbooks have "common" names, others have curious ones.

"Gunlugger": i found no hints about that one. Wordreference and Urbandictionary gave no help.
"Skinner": what about this one? He should be the magnetic hot boy/girl, but Skinner has negative jargon on urbandictionary, so I'm helpless here.

(I know, here in Italy we have Apocalypse World localized, however I'm still curious about the original names)

Thanks in advance for your attention! :D

Andrea