So we're a couple sessions in our game, the summary of which I won't provide because I don't feel it'd add much to what others have already established. Plus, I'm not the MC, so it's not my job!

You can't help but think about fiddling with the game as you go along, that's just what the AW engines does, I guess.

So here's a rambling chain of thought about an interesting problem that hasn't yet come up in our game - when, how, why, deny rights?

To start, you'll have to go along with the following - 'rights' are merely duties for everyone else. If you have a right to impose a law on a village or something, that necessarily means that the village has a duty to follow your orders and the neighbouring leaders have a duty not to interfere.

Now, technically, rights are duties for *everyone* else, including the moon, stars, and the mongol hordes, but obviously it doesn't work like that. Every inverted right has a clincher to it, the person, people, place or event that makes it so that you having a right means something rather than nothing.

There's a lot of them, probably! But you're an MC, so you get to choose what sees the light of play. Is the right to lay down the law a right because the villagers follow the liege (why?), or because the warlords nearby respect the claim (why?).

Since you're an MC who has played apoc world, you get to be creative, too, and meld clincher NPCs of different players into one, making triangles. The blacksmith has the right to marry a girl from a family who's say-so determines whether this village will seek protection of the liege this side of the river or that. The guy who gets a life at midwinter for the Wicker-Wise is also part of the War-captain's raiding party.

Or you can leave them dangling alone, making them more of a problem than a node. My labours bear no fruit because the spirit of tilled earth was not sated by the year's sacrifice... What do I do, who do I turn to?

Anyway, this means you don't ever need to decide on the spot on whether you want deny a right or not. You make aesthetic choices and contributions to the game that are useful on their own, and then as these develop, possibilities of denying the players' rights will flow naturally out of the fiction, which at that point will be affected by player and MC alike. Is the clincher in working order? Then the right goes through without a hitch. Is the clincher gone? Well then, friend, you are denied, let your voice pierce the heavens.

So that's a thought.

You might know about my earlier attempt at a playbook, the Abacus, who was a kind of stealthy hitman type. That one failed to take off - mostly because no one, including myself, was able to point at what exactly the playbook was supposed to be doing.

Well, now I've redone it completelly. Instead of being a cool loner assassin type, instead he's now basically a middle manager - a guy who is all about social leverage and the inability to use it gracefully.

You will find yourself caring a lot more about where and how barter is flowing, and you will be very capable of putting other people into trouble while remaining relativelly safe yourself. You lack the ability to have a "final say" in matters, though, and things ought to get away from you unless you take care of various troublesome details well in advance.

You can play post-apoc middlemanagers, loan sharks, dealers and brokers with him.

Inspirations were the Wolf from Pulp Fiction, Buddy from Swimming with Sharks, Fennyman from Shakespear in love, and my own burning inner desire to make a jerk playbook that doesn't screw the other characters.


Names:

Joe, Gray, Moss, Pierce, Case, Jules, Mirth, Rain.

Adams, Bach, Carter, Evans, Young, Thomas, White, Price.
 
QED, Once, Boss's Man, Mirror, Thirteen, Pi, Carver.

Looks:

Man, Woman, or concealed.

Formal wear, vintage wear, casual wear, signature wear, or luxe wear.

Concealed face, sharp face, stern face, fat face or forgettable face.

Deep eyes, dead eyes, calculating eyes, wise eyes, weary eyes.

Tall body, wiry body, pudgy body, crippled body, hard body.

Stats:
Cool+2 Hard-1 Hot-2 Sharp+2 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard0 Hot-1 Sharp+1 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard+1 Hot0 Sharp+1 Weird-1
Cool+2 Hard+1 Hot+1 Sharp-1 Weird0

Abacus's network -

By default, your network costs 2-barter maintenance per session and provides you with services as per your professional agreement. Missing payments means no more service, no more respect. Pick two:
* You've got a rare contact (maybe Milk) for something luxe or rare, like weapons, drugs or transportation.
* You've got two no-nonsense enforcers (maybe Vega and Ezekiel).
* You've got an understanding with the local warlord (maybe Jonathan) that you're the gatekeeper of something necessary, like food, medicine, or gear.
* You've got a front or a patsy (maybe Quentin).
* You've got cachet and an envoy (maybe Trigger) with the distant looming threat (maybe Greer's gang).

Moves:
Pick two:

In the pocket - at the beggining of a session, roll +cool. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to have someone in your network make a move for you as if you were there to do it.

Swimming with sharks - if whoever's in charge around here owes you, you can cash in the debt to use +sharp instead of +hard to aggro, using their retribution as a weapon.

Options - you can spread 1 barter around once per session, getting 1 extra hold any time you get hold for the rest of the session.

Keeping tabs - you can read the sitch regarding anything you spent barter on, even if you're not there.

Served cold - when using time and manpower to pursue someone, roll +cool. On a hit, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend hold 1 for 1 throughout your pursuit to:
* Find the least loyal member of their group.
* Trap, imprison them or remove an escape route.
* Put something left unprotected in danger.
* Hide something important or dangerous in plain view.

Special:
When you have sex with someone, either you get 1 hold on them or they get 1 hold on your network as per In the pocket rules, their choice.

Advancement: The usual, details pending, plus:
Retire as a threat.
Cool+3.


You also get some unimpressive weaponry to start with, and a whopping 5 barter. Improvements might get you a small hold or a moonlighting crew, both of which will benefit from the Network move.

So I wanted to do a playbook that toys with the definition of Cool as "rational" for a while now. This idea has been tossing around in my head for a while now, but only recently the general idea "clicked."

You know James Bond, right? So that's basically a Battlebabe. James Bond is cool because he is the master of his sexuality, which in turn makes him a master at killing things. Sex and lives don't matter to James Battlebond, that's why they're easy things to take.

Now, I'm interested in the converse - someone who achieves control of his life not by mastering their sexuality (or emotions in general), but by by suffocating it, removing it from their lives altogether. So, Leon, the dude from Equillibrium, and such. They're dudes who are cold, calculating, professional but who don't necessarily *want* to be such. So if there's any ideas or criticism, keep the general thrust of the idea in mind, okay?


Names:

Joe, Gray, Moss, Pierce, Case, Jules, Mirth, Rain.

Adams, Bach, Carter, Evans, Young, Thomas, White, Price.
 
QED, Once, Boss's Man, Mirror, Thirteen, Pi, Carver.

Looks:

Man, Woman, or concealed.

Formal wear, vintage wear, utility wear, casual wear, signature wear, or luxe wear.

Concealed face, sharp face, stern face, scarred face, striking face or featureless face.

Deep eyes, dead eyes, calculating eyes, wise eyes, weary eyes.

Tall body, wiry body, crippled body, hard body, or fit body.

Stats:
Cool+2 Hard-1 Hot-2 Sharp+2 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard0 Hot-1 Sharp+1 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard+1 Hot0 Sharp+1 Weird-1
Cool+2 Hard+2 Hot-2 Sharp+1 Weird-2

Hx:
(needs work)

Moves:

Thorough - for every 2-harm you inflict, choose one of the following:
* You break something important.
* You learn something (get 1-hold for read a person/sitch)
* You keep your target from escaping.

Like a ghost - always ignore gang size bonuses. Also, when going for the leader in a battle, roll +cool. On a 10+, you're there ready for a perfect shot, on a 7-9 you're there ready for a shot, but you risk exposure.

Aware - roll +cool instead of +weird to open your brain.

Eye for detail - get a +2 bonus instead of +1 for read a person.
Tools of the trade - get a workshop and stock for making hi-tech weapons or explosives.
Lethal - whether using a weapon or not, always do at least Cool-harm. If there's a weakspot you know of, also do ap-harm.

Special move:
When you have sex, you lose your control. Your partner can have you wake up anyplace they want, good or bad.

Advancement: The usual, details pending, plus:
Retire as a threat.
Cool+3.

Having played Echo Bazaar for a short bit, I now believe I can play this hack and amuse my fellows whilst doing so.

I do not, however, have the faintest idea of how I would go about running it. Will you tell me?

I found a neat possibility in AW hackspace! Precisely, the possibility of a move that goes in the rough form of:

When you do <X>, something(someone) else can roll with stat+yourstat.

Or, to give this vagueness a bit more meat to sink teeth into...

You belong to a company of mercenaries in a war-torn land. Kings and emperors and sky-scorching wizards come and go, but they all need someone both experienced and expendable to do their dirty work. And, when the price is right -- that's you and your men.

The mainstay of your Company starts out as a rag-tag group of greenhorns armed with whatever weaponry they came from home with and sharpened sticks for pikes.

Cool-1 Hard-1 Hot-1 Sharp-1 Weird-1

You have three advancements you can spend to incrase any stat you wish by a +1. When advancing a stat, pick one thing from the appropriate list. You can pick something twice - when picking it the second time, write down "The finest <...> in all of the lands" or something other to that effect.

Cool{
Archers
Horses
Armour&Shields
Swift men
Cunning men
}

Hard{
Swords
Spears
Axes
Sheer numbers
Ferocious men
Proud men
}

Hot{
Contacts
Secrets
Wines&Vixens
Poisons
Assassins
}

Sharp{
Scouts&Sentries
Grizzled veterans
Hard-ass officers
Engineers&Supplies
Disciplined men
}

Weird{
A keepsake from an old battle
A perplexing device
Luck
Circling buzzards
An old hag
A child prophet
}

A Company has all the basic moves, plus special results on a +12.

Under fire - on a 12+, the company fends off attacks completelly. Hold 3. During battle, any member of the Company can spend this hold by to: save their own skin from imminent danger (or) save everyone from imminent danger with a succesful under fire roll.

Seize by force - on a 12+, the company has broken through and seized initiative. Hold 3. During battle, any member of the Company can spend hold this hold by making a +hard roll. When inflicting harm, you can spend this hold to: add ap, ignore size, fear, s-harm.

Manipulate/Seduce a person - on a 12+, you've got them in your pocket. Pick an ally: threat type and hold 3. Any member of the company can then, at any time, spend this hold to make them make their threat move. This hold can be refreshed by 1 up to 3 by getting back in touch with them and seducing/manipulating them some more.

Read a sitch - on a 12+, the company starts making the sitch instead of reacting to it. Hold 3. During battle, any member can spen this hold after a succesful read a sitch roll to pick a question from the list and answer it as you please ("What's the biggest threat? I AM!").

Open your brain - on a 12+, the company unwittingly sets something into motion in the grand scheme of things. Say what will happen, eventually, and hold 3. Either you or the MC can then spend this hold to show omens of things to come. After all the hold is spent, what's forseen will come true within a day.


And the characters!

The Siegeworker

Barrage - when you're providing cover fire, add your cool to the Company's.

The Slayer

Vanguard - when you're leading a charge and killing like crazy, add your hard to the Company's.

The Layer

Vanguard - when you're making somebody feel comfortable, add your hot to the Company's.

The Tactician

Schemes within schemes - when you make a plan and stick to it, add your sharp to the Company's

The Hedgewizard

Foreboding femur When you get a that feeling in your bones and tell them, add your weird to the Company's.




Obviously, the character/move names could use work and this generally needs some working on, but you get the general idea. You do something which gives the Company extra power right then and there, and then she passes the end result back to the players for them to do with as they will.