I'd note that character-wise, a lot of stat-substitution moves can be easily envisioned. (Not all of them, granted.)

An example would actually be the gunlugger's battle-hardened. Ordinarily, Hard just means you're good at fighting and good at threatening people. But when you're battle-hardened, you've been at risk of death so damn many times that you are just plain desensitized to fear and personal risk, and so when you have to act under fire, shit, whatever fire you're enduring can't be any worse than the shit you've already gone through, right? Alternately, it may mean that you're good at acting under fire because you just have no fucking cool to lose to begin with. You may be emotionally unstable and unreliable over the long term, and thus suck at things like a steady job (moonlighting) or managing your reputation (reputation, naturally), but when there's an acutely stressful threat right now, like you give two shits and a fuck about the danger, right? Custom moves that actually require you to keep a truly cool head and even hand and thus use Cool will be the pain in the ass for you, but taking risks with life and limb and telling manipulative assholes to fuck off? No sweat. (That said, I can understand your misgivings about it being so non-specific and applying to any kind of acting under fire--personally, I would be fine with my MC limiting the purview of Daryl the Muscle's battle-hardened to resisting fear of violence or pain or the like, and thus letting her risk life and limb in combat or dangerous environments, or manipulation through intimidation, but giving her no such power to resist seduction or accusations of cowardice or more subtle forms of fire to which self-destructive, foolish bravery and aggression does not apply.)

Another example would be the battlebabe's ice cold. It means that you have the cool nerves and willingness to hurt someone and that look in your eyes to threaten someone with violence and have them know that you will follow through. Against a PC, it means that if you know what makes them tick, you can use it to cow them with a threat of violence. What it doesn't mean is that you're actually good at down-and-dirty fighting. Someone with high Cool and ice cold has balls (or ovaries) of steel and doesn't think twice about pulling the trigger when some mutherfucker pushes their luck, but doesn't have the sheer strength and endurance to throw themselves right into the heart of a battle and prevail when others are resisting and fighting back right the fuck now. You have the willingness to use violence, but not necessarily the ability to pit your violence against someone else's (or at least, you're not quite as good at it--a battlebabe with the last statline and one improvement can still be seizing at +1, at least). Of course, that's one of those "more specific" examples.

That said, there are some I don't understand, especially among the limited-edition playbooks. Like the maestro D's you call this hot (using Hot to act under fire? what?) or the touchstone's move that lets them read people with Hard (again, what?).

NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH: in battle, you count as a gang (3-harm gang large), with armor according to the circumstances.

I think 3-harm gang medium would be plenty, but then again, I have done some insane shit even with the move as written. (Really, you want to break the game? Take your well-built mass-seize gunlugger and a measly submachine gun and add indomitable. Bam, armies are now your bitch.)

So how should they be altered for fights where there's melee combat? And how would they differ if some combatants are using guns and others are using melee, or when only melee is involved? What about non-gun ranged weapons, like thrown weapons or bows? What about differences between armed melee and unarmed melee, or, perish the thought, the difference between armed melee vs. guns and unarmed melee vs. guns?

I ask because those scenarios have actually come up in vanilla AW in my experience. Hell, in one of the campaigns I'm in, the MC declared an action not involving a weapon to be cover fire (the driver zipping through the middle of a battle in the mud to kick a curtain of mud into the air to make a distraction for friendlies to escape, though in fairness the pursuers were using primitive weaponry and not a hail of bullets). So of course I'm curious.

Oh, it was pretty simple, really, but... all right, my MC is awesome.

I am so, so sorry. I know you became an angel in order to help people, but really... a doctor is one of those jobs that you *never* want business to be good. And right now, business is a booming. So, what has been the most prevalent ailment that people have required your services in order to treat?
o Disease has broken out amongst several, hampering thier health.
o Knife or gunshot wounds from some infighting and disagreements over divided interests.
o Malnutrition and dehydration because of difficulty getting good food and water.
o Drug overdose and withdrawels. Someone is creating a lot of victims, and the people are indulging.
o Infections from animal attacks, parasites, or some other creature that is preying on the people.
I know you care, even if you pretend otherwise. Help them! I'll be here the whole time, rooting for your success!
Hugs and kisses, The MC

I just picked the disease, and it turned out to be greenlips, a disease caused by mould in the lungs that stretches all the way up to your mouth (hence the green lips), and generally results in death. It can be treated, delaying the inevitable for several years to maybe a decade, but not cured (yet). I began my first session ripping the hardholder's son a new one for making out with a girl who had it and coming in with a case of his own.

How about something similar, but a little less permanent:

When you have sex with someone, roll +Weird: on a 10+ hold 3, on a 7+ hold 1. Either person may spend hold to use a move that the other person can use.

The temporary nature means that it will be used more often and, interestingly, it also allows you to take advantage of moves associated with NPCs.

Damn, this is a spiffy idea. Do this.

"People notice you staring" is a good one for reading a sitch, yes. Though some people might look at some of your hard moves as opportunities, not simply problems. ("I'm looking at the hardest mutherfucker here, obviously, and the only person around worth paying any goddamn attention to. If I offended you, maybe I could make it up to you somehow? Like, buy you a drink? Least I can do, right?")

Quote from: noclue on September 28, 2011, 03:02:59 AM

I would say that if you propose something we both agree is in both our interests, that's not manipulation. If you propose something that you feel is obviously in my best interest, but I resist doing it. If you coerce me into doing it, whether through preying on my greed, libido or fear, that's manipulative. Even if you tell yourself we're both clearly better off. Even if we're objectively better off by any metrics that make sense.

How can you coerce someone with greed or libido? Isn't coercion by definition the use of force or threats? Imagine someone tells you they were coerced into giving up a secret. When you ask how they were coerced, they say they were bribed, they were coerced through their greed. Wouldn't you say them accepting a bribe was totally voluntary, and calling it coercion would be inappropriate?

Oh, I agree that "coercion" would be a funny word to use in such a case. But "manipulation" still works fine. In fact, here we have a fine textbook example of when to roll to manipulate, or to seduce for that matter. You're offering them something they want but still know they shouldn't take, and they're trying to do the thing that's "right" (relative to why they think they shouldn't take the offer) while you're trying to get them to do the thing that feels good.

Now, I don't know about "social violence"--I suppose it depends upon how exactly you define "violence." I might draw the line between social violence and social not-violence based upon, say, whether the two parties involved could still go out for pizza together afterwards, and that standard would suggest that not every usage of seduce or manipulate is social violence. But I suppose it's really up to you.

Okay, I might be defending my initial superficial understanding of the Angel here but since they're PC material, they're de facto independant unless they choose not to be.

Oh, of course. But angels aren't the only people in demand. Consider the skinner, savvyhead, and brainer, all of whom are precious, precious people, yet can have quite shitty Hard.