How about taking one of the hardholds that is a Threat from the first Front and instead/also making them a Threat in the second -- a hold that has already somehow given in to decay/savagery/hyena worship? I mostly suggest this because you have like three hardholds in the first Front, and also because I think Threat crossovers are awesome.

Yeah! I think that'll be a countdown thingie!

At first I thought crossing fronts were a problem, but now I think it's a pretty good idea - Like, how the decay of the hyena worshippers can provoke the Peacewater cult into action, or somesuch.

Yes, I suppose it makes more sense to group fronts according to fundamental scarcity and agenda, rather than according to geographics and organisations.

Great feedback, guys! What do you think about these fronts?

The Ambition Front
Agenda/dark future: The people of New Jerk and the vassal hardholds starts to abandon their ruthless hardholder, in the wake of this violence and conflict breaks out, the establishment (PCs), their friends and pretty much anyone suffers for it.
Threats:
- Rolfball and his sybarite bikers, raiding the hardholds, in effect stealing what New Jerk wishes to take in taxes, and leaving hardholds frustrated with the lack of protection from New Jerk.
- A warlord seeking to unite the smaller hardholds against New Jerk
- Rustbelt, the Hardhold
- Mudkips, the Hardhold
- Sunken City, the Hardhold
- Two Moon and The Peacewater Cult, spreading the message that regime is corrupt and heading towards its own destruction.
Stakes: Will Rustbelt go to war against New Jerk? Who will find solace in the Peacewater Cult?

The Decay Front
Agenda/dark future: The people of the region fall into savagery, rejecting humanity for pleasure, savage strength and plunder.
Threats:
- The Pit, an evolutionary fucked-up breeding ground for wild dogs that fight, fuck and eat. When there's nothing to eat, they swarm the land, threatening travellers and supply routes, the weak strings that still hold a remnant of civilization together.
- An affliction, way of the hyena. The soldiers of New Jerk are savage men and women, with an unhealthy fascination for hyenas. Some of them, and some of the inhabitants have started going to The Pit to fight and eat (and fuck?) with the wild dogs.
- A grotesque mutant, a dog breeder/worshipper.
Stakes: Who joins the pack mindset? Who suffers for it? Who leaves town for it? Is this or that destroyed?

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I've saved the Hunger front til later, I think the hardholder player could get pissy if I started picking apart his hardhold right away. The players have made clear though, that they're interested in putting down rebellion and fighting the cult, so they should both be in there. Does it make sense to put them in the same front, to you?

I feel that I need to introduce more NPCs before I set stakes and make countdowns.

Hey guys!

I've run my first session of AW. We have a hardholder, a battlebabe and an operator. They are all resident in New Jerk, a sprawling hub of decadence (300 inhabitants, want: hunger, disease, reprisals, savagery). The hardholder is a commander of an old fort full of savage warriors, and the hardhold just kind of grew  around that fort and the protection it offers. The operator and battlebabe are pretty much loyal to him.

I have some fronts I'm considering, but I'm not totally sure about them. Take a look:

Splitting New Jerk (Decay? Ambition? Ignorance?)
Threats: Two Moon's cult of peace and water, and the savage dog worshippers.
Dark future: People pledges loyalty to either of both groups, and tension rises until an all out war breaks out in New Jerk. Two Moon's cult fortifies in the only water supply, the dog worshippers goes amok and brings ruin to the hardhold.

Postapoc California power balance (Ambition)
Threats: A Warlord, several smaller hardholds.
Agenda: Unite the smaller hardholds and throw off the tyrrany of New Jerk, who raids/taxes the area. The influx of barter and commerce ends, and people are killed in skirmishes.

Famine (Hunger)
Threats: Raiders, drought, collapsed trade routs.
Dark future: The swelling population of New Jerk starves.

My questions:
1) You can't really beat Famine. Hunger it will always be a Want as long as New Jerk is so big. Is that a problem?
Perhaps I should rewrite it into "The famine of year X", have it be a beatable challenge.

2) When a fronts doesn't really threaten anything except the characters power and influence, is that a problem?

3) I don't really have any good NPCs to make clear stakes for these fronts. Does that mean I should stay in "first session-mode," exploring the characters, introducing NPCs? We didn't have as much time for that as I'd liked, maybe. I did like, zero prep. Just a little imagery daydreaming.

4) The regional front is basically a PCs vs Warlord thingie. Is that a problem? Can entire hardholds be threats?
 
Also, I'd like to know what it takes for an hardholder to improve on his hardhold. Does the hardholder have to buy bustling market if his hardhold is to have one, or can that happen through play? Or are you required to both reach it in play and solidify it with an improvement?

Thanks!