It seems I look at the playbooks' crap and go "Oooh, I want that!". The Hardholder is my favorite. But playing as a Skinner, I'm thinking I would have to allow myself to look at NPCs an PCs and their stuff and say "Oooh, I want that!"

Trying to grok the Skinner deeper, feel free to help me:

1) I find it a bit tricky to glean the effectiveness (http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=472.msg4307#msg4307) of the Skinner. All the other playbooks strike me as very clear in how they have power in the world: The Hardholder, The Chopper and the Hocus has power because they can order people around. The Gunlugger and Faceless has the power of violence. The Battlebabe has the power of starting any shit they like and come out on top. The Brainer can mind control. The Driver can go places. The Savvyhead can make anything they like, basically. Etc. From the very start, all these things provide pretty clear and direct a) motivation and direction b) ways to influence the world c) threats that ties into their stuff and/or motivations.

I don't see that to same extent with the Skinner. The Skinner instead has the indirect power to get other people to do something for them.

I think the answer is that the Skinner's a) motivation and direction b) ways to influence the world and c) threats to their stuff and motivations need to become clear in the first session, by introducing the NPCs. Since the NPCs is what are the Skinner's Crap/Stuff. And the Skinner player needs to play boldly to make the most powerful NPCs dependent on them.

Another way I can see for the Skinner to work is if the MC ask the player "What do you have that is so beautiful that everyone wants it? Your music, your voice, your body, the tattoos that you make?" And then make it a truth in the world that this is one of the few unspoilt things of true beauty, that everyone wants. So it's a leverage on basically everyone when rolling to seduce/manipulate.

I'm sure that for another breed of player, the appeal and power of Skinner is obvious, but to me it's a little bit of a mystery. Which brings me to:

2) What are your experiences when playing as a Skinner. In what moments did you feel powerful and cool? In what moments didn't you? Did you feel like your Skinner needed to be sexy? Do the Skinner have to have something that's unspoilt beauty (see above) or can it just be that "sex sells", even if it's as broken and hollow as everything else?

What was your Skinner like?

I like it, makes it a little bit of a sweat to have both an Angel and a Savvyhead at your beck and call as a hardholder if you have to pay it from your "stash". But if you can scrounge it up every time, that's a strong statement of how powerful and valuable you are to your protegés.

A hardholder that provides 2-barter to your lifestyle every session, that's lavish display of power. And a sweet lifestyle that's tough to turn down.

Question 1:
The way I understand it in 2nd ed:
The hardholder can amass more and more barter for every wealth roll, unlike 1st ed.
When somebody is doing gigs for a hardhold, the hardholder has to pay from "his" stack of surplus barter.
Correct?

Question 2:
Can you Manipulate over long distances with one-way radio? Like "Hey, Mister Barker! Stop dumping your waste upstreams, or I will start killing your relatives!"

This whole situation made me laugh out loud, thanks for that. :)

We'll set up a game once the printed 2nd edition rolls around. Maestro D' and Faceless and one or two surprises will feature!

Maybe I still have it in me to write the Faceless and Maestro D' foci?