He held it up together, kept his vision in the face of the apocalypse and tried to save the last remnants of the Golden Age for a dozen sessions.

Then last game, the then-brainer-now-hocus teared up a rift in reality itself to show his people what was miles away.

"Uncle, how do you react to that ?
-I don't, Uncle doesn't see shit like this, I never open myself to the maelstrom.
-No, you don't get it. It's not a vision. It's real, like, right before your eyes. He really teared up a hole in reality itself. That's no metaphor."
-I... He..."

And he broke, right then.

The player is quite distressed, btw. He really took his role of protector of the remnants of the old world quite at heart, despite our regular reminders of no status quo.

Uncle is also the only character who hasn't changed playbook or made another character yet. In fact that player never took any advanced option.

I think becoming a touchstone could be an interesting option. Poor sap.

And then John was a zombie I think I got it. Not like "Vincent put a joke in there" got it, more like "if you tilt your head and squint a litte" got it.

Opening your brain to the psychic maelstrom is really the character getting a direct line to you, the MC.

So next time I'm MCing I'm go try this: whenever a character opens their brain to the psychic maelstrom, I'm just gonna be me. Take a step back, casually review the situation like I'm watching a TV show and tell them whatever I feel about it, how I can direct this better. Like "yeah, don't you think it's a little boring all this? I think storming someone all guns blazing, gang and all, is a great idea." And when they blow it, I'm gonna judge them as I would some character in a show and give them what I think they deserve. Mean is good, of course, 6- and all, but not necessarily. "Yeah, Uncle is a dick, always picking on the weaker and all. A fucking bully. I'm going to show him how it feel to be bullied upon, should teach'im a lesson or three."

So? Am I onto something? Is it so obvious how come I didn't get it before? Or is it so far-fetched it's like "the death star is real an ovum and the starfighters are spematozoids"? A good idea? A boring one? A stupid one? Or what?

The following: 100% my opinion and analysis. Not saying "Hack & Slash" sucks per se. Just trying to figure out and express why I never liked it.

Familiar with the dice and cloud stuff on anyway? It's just a fancy way to say "you have the fiction we're talking about, you have the material stuff you play with, and rule go from the fiction, trigger some rules, and the result of the rules should inform the players as directly and interestingly as possible what happens next in the fiction".

So. Taking something by force in AW:

When you take something by force, roll +hard.
On a hit, choose options. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7–9, choose 2:
• you take definite hold of it
• you suffer little harm
• you inflict terrible harm
• you impress, dismay or frighten your enemy

Notice how the results you choose might inform you about "dice" stuff, but all of them will tell you something significant about the fiction? Like "you suffer little harm" means that a) in the real world, you notch -1harm than you should on your counter but and it is super important, b) in the fiction, it shows. Like NPCs would say things like "damn, he went against three guys and he wasn't harmed that much, and those guys were totally dismayed after that!" It's written from the point of view of the character.

And on a miss, of course, what happens is a MC move, which are 100% fictional, 100% "cloud stuff" (and sometimes will trigger more "dice" stuff but that's consequential).

Going Aggro is even more cloud stuff.

Now, look at Hack & Slash :

When you attack an enemy in melee, roll+Str. On a 10+ you deal your damage to the enemy and avoid their attack. At your option, you may choose to do +1d6 damage but expose yourself to the enemy's attack. On a 7–9, you deal your damage to the enemy and the enemy makes an attack against you.

The only good thing you can get is "you deal damage to the enemy", which is like mostly "dice" stuff, with a little side-dish of "cloud" (yay, my attack connect!), and frankly a little boring compared to stuff like "take definite hold" or "impress or dismay your opponent". Your 10+ option benefit is pure "dice" stuff and say nothing about the fiction. Only the accumulation of damage will come back to the cloud when the enemy hits 0 HP.

All the pure "cloud" stuff is 100% bad, against the character (the enemy attack, or the hard move on a 6-). You might say that "avoid their attack" is cloud stuff, but isn't it just another way to say "nothing (important) happens" ?

Volley is evocative with a lot of cloud stuff. Ditto Defend. Hack & Slash ? Not enough cloud stuff for me.

So, La Boîte à Heuhh is paying me for a french version of a certain roleplaying game we all know and love, and so far it hasn't been easy, but it wasn't any hassle. Then I stumbled upon that sentence in the Rules : Basic Moves section, in the examples for reading a person :

Bran promises to reboot Jeanette’s brain off Tum Tums’, but it’s definitely worth knowing what Tum Tum intends, so he watches them carefully while they’re talking.

What does V. Baker mean by "Bran promises to reboot Jeanette's brain off Tum Tum's" ? I mean, I get that Bran is a savvyhead and all and can do freaky shit with people's brain provided he got a life support unit, but what ? They're both consenting to it ? What's in there for Jeanette ? I don't quite get it.

Just noticed this on the first page of Murderous Ghosts.

Nifty. It's a nice shortcut for "this game wouldn't have been possible without AW and uses some core idea behind the game."

What are the conditions to use this logo for my own AW hack if I commercialize it ? "Using some of the rules ?" "wanting to do so ?" "Being named Vincent Baker ?"

I'm a little very curious about how AW got started and I'd like to take a peek at that fabled playtest document some of you priviledged bunch got access to in the early days. Can some good soul help me get it or is it a BFA taboo that will make V. Baker launch a fatwah at me or something ?

Am I even asking that in the right forum ?

What's in there? Inquiring minds want to know.

Good idea or not?

I've got this brainer in the game I'm MCing who's really into exploring the whole thing. I'm thinking I'd make the whole thing a threat, or even a front. The maelstrom makes a wicked landscape.

Now, the problem I might have is

Creating a front means making decisions about backstory and about NPC motivations. Real decisions, binding ones, that call for creativity, attention and care.

...and I'm not sure "binding" the maelstrom to anything would be a good idea. The maelstrom is interesting and useful because it's proteiform and maleable. I fear making it into a full fledged threat might kill that.

So, anyone did it or thought about it ? Pros, cons ?