In version 0.81 at least, there is no manipulation move. The only social pressure move is command. How come?

One thing I believe is a weakness in the experience rules as they are now, is that they move away from the principle behind experience in both vanilla AW and Dark Ages, a principle inherited from the keys of Solar System. That is, that characters get rewarded for doing things, for trying, not for succeeding and achieving goals.

I think this is a very important difference, since having the players roll dice for moves is what drives the action and the drama forward, and rewarding this is good and nudges the players towards doing things with small chances of success, while only rewarding success and achievements steers players away from boldness, and thus is less good.

Hm, I'm probably saying the obvious here, but in that case, regard me as just thinking aloud. :)

Doc Cthulu's suggestion with keys for the careers is nice. I think I would suggest doing it with a number of triggers for each career, and possibly for the origins as well, with checkboxes so the same trigger will not give xp several times before levelling, at which point the marks would be erased.

The xp system, as of 0.8 anyhow, certainly has charm, but I think it is better design to make the advancement rules stimulate good, bold play rather than to try to keep it more logical within the game's fiction.

Looks like the first chance I get to try this will be a single player setup. While I'm not the least anxious about this, I'm curious about whether you have any particular thoughts about it. Maybe add a few crew member NPCs from start, to not make it so lonely aboard the ship, for example. Anything you have tried?

Lovely!

This looks very much like something I've been trying to write for a long time. Glad I looked at it! Thanks!

How would you handle ambushing with DA's moves?

I have a Troll Killer having maneuvered to get in a high position behind a bounty hunter and about to jump down, blade first, assassin's creed style bind and on top of her enemy. In vanilla AW a clear case of going aggro.

In general, as I'm reading the new moves, I'm leaning towards rolling to hold steady to get into a position of backstabbing and then just doing weapon damage or even just kill the victim straight out. Then, if the enemy still lives and maybe strikes back, we would be in a going into battle situation.

In this particular case, the Troll Killer has held steady climbing to the position above and behind the bounty hunter, and she is wearing her bunny cap, allowing her to go unnoticed by her enemies. What now? Jumping down and sinking her blade in the bounty hunter seems like it should mean rolling for something, but if that roll is holding steady, should the bunny cap mean she can leap within sword range without a roll? Nah, don't think so. I think I'll go for another roll for holding steady for jumping down, blade first, and if that succeeds, just have the bounty hunter take sword damage, probably killing her outright.

Am I missing somthing?

1. For the barter move - what's the difference between using 1 barter as leverage and rolling+hot vs using 1-barter for leverage and auto-scoring a 10+? Is this rule there as a money=power thing?

Note that the manipulate move gives the npc room to decide what to ask for themselves. Not certain they'll ask for something you want to give them.

I'd love to playtest the latest version of the rules, if you'd like to send them. I happen to have perfect timing for that at the moment. (Already pitched in for the finished work ;)