We're playing in our own city (greater Boston area, mostly Somerville/Cambridge). So far place names have been based on actual locales, but reinterpreted by post-apocalyptic locals.

Jinx! Us too.

Ours is a cold apocalypse where survivors huddled in underground "cores" which formed the center of many of the current-day settlements. There's "the Yard" (Harvard Yard), inhabited by Yardies, run by someone bearing the inherited title of "Conductor" ever since ex-MBTA employees came on top in a power dispute. Nearby, the PC Chopper Lobster has converted a boathouse in to his own holding, the "Lobster Pot." There's "the Beaverhold" centered around MIT (whose school animal is the Beaver). The neo-neo-classical "Romulus" rules out of Government Center (an actual name of a T-stop). "Lady Belmont" rules feudal-style from the ex-suburb of that name (specifically the McLean hospital). South of the frozen Charles river (just "the river"), the Sox tribes live in "the Fens" (actual modern nickname), brutalizing outsiders and each other with wooden clubs.

Liiive, damn you, liiiive!

I came back to my notes recently and have largely finished a version that I like (full credit to everyone else for most of the work; my major contribution is a take on network similar to the hoard, since that's what I decided I liked best). I'll post it in a day or two once I get done fiddling.

DWeird: I like Market Forces a lot, but I'm not 100% on the third option (“someone pays a debt...”) because it seems unconnected to the lead in (“name someone who doesn’t owe you, but should...”). It should either be replaced with something better or nuked, and then on a hit, the first one is true (someone needs your help) and on a strong hit no-one demands anything.

Unless it’s supposed to represent your general douchebaggery (market forces are always in play; you get to choose whether you're paying your people for marginal benefits provided, getting jingle back without fuss, or putting someone in a useful spot) and you name someone up front just so there’s a referent if you pick the last option? I actually like that quite a bit, so maybe that's the crux you were fond of.

The other question is what do you do if no-one owes you (probably, let us be honest, because it's only the first session) or if a PC is the one who owes you, or whatever, but that probably doesn't have to be in the move, it can be in the "notes" section. Vincent allowed himself some off-charsheet explanatory wordcount, so we can too.

Ah, you're quite right. To clarify: I don't consider them inextricably linked, but if someone wanted to take one with an advance, I'd offer them the other one for free if they were actually going for the Seelie feel. I feel like this is cool for the reasons stated above, plus the fact that the Seelie skins gets both plus one more at chargen, but I wanted to check my thinking.

If you were a player who wanted a some Seelie in their Witch/Fae whatever, would you feel sad you had to take both move separately to get the full package? If you were another player at the table, would you feel like that was too much fiction-control for the cost of one advance?

I like that pretty well. You help people (doesn't say whether they asked for or wanted it!) and get to take their stuff. Maybe take out the "if they want it" clause, at the very least in reference to the person you helped - that way, you can always spemd it to get a 10+ on manipulate, thus giving alternate over-PC leverage.

There were some cool debt moves someone made, including a custom operator move that could just be an Abacus move instead. I'll link to them here when I have time later if no-one beats me to it.

The Selkie has two moves linked to her skin: One lets them swim like the dickens (including swimming away forever) and one lets them have it be stolen from them to force them to do favors (for which they get strings and bonuses).

Am I right in thinking the two are split for elegance's sake, and that another skin (i.e, a Witch – "I made it with a ritual!" – or a Fae "I am a spirit of the ocean!") who took one with an advance could reasonably get the other for free? They seem kind of sad when separated, and given that one is a limited-applicability power and the other is an excuse to be messed with it doesn't seem h4x.

(Obviously Joe isn't going to lead-pipe me in a dark alley if I Choose Poorly, but I thought I'd poll the crowd.)

I still think dice need to come in or else you can create overly deterministic and/or steady states.

Maybe a mechanic like the Hoarder (or, elsewhere on this board, the Turncoat)? Your Network has attributes, one of which is Arrears (arrears doesn't actually make the most sense in this context, but whatever). Bad Stuff goes up when you use your Network's assets. At the beginning of session, GM rolls +Arrears, gains hold to mess with you.

(Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Troubles of LE playbooks...).

Per DWierd's instructions and nerdwerd's suggestion, here's what I might do to the Abacus.

A starting Abacus gets Businessman and 1 other move.

Businessman: as per Moonlighting (with 2-juggling and gigs as defined by your Network) but every time you roll, pay Upkeep. If you don't, pick one vulnerability which is most pressing (rather than just extant). If you miss two payments in a row, well, I guess they're all "most pressing."

note: Some of the vulnerabilities take a little mental massaging to fit in the context of a Network (rather than a gang, hardhold, or followers), but only a little. As usual you have a vulnerability go off twice, it's extra fucking true (also, if your people are idle or deserting, who's working your gigs, your own sweet self?).

Network

By default, your network is a loose-knit group of castaways and cutouts. Upkeep 1-barter, +desertion.

Choose 2 for your bread-and-butter and day-to-day.

You've got a rare contact (Milk) for something luxe or rare, like weapons, drugs, or transportation. +Making Deliveries (1-barter/bushwhacked).

You've got two no-nonsense enforcers (Vega and Ezekiel). +Enforcement (1-barter/overthrown).

You've got an understanding with the local warlord (Jonathan) that you're the gatekeeper of something necessary, like food, medicine, or gear. +Honest Work (1-barter/impoverished).

You've got a front or a patsy (Quentin). +Making Deals (1-barter/shut out).

You've got cachet and an envoy (Trigger) with the distant looming threat (Greer's gang). +Raiding (1-barter/embattled).

Your network is loyal (or maybe they just have nowhere else to go). If aren't paying them, though, they still need to eat. -Desertion, +Idle.

Your people are the best, and they know it, the bastards. Take +1 ongoing to Businessman, Upkeep +1-barter.

Your people are the dregs and the desperate, but you only have to pay for what you get. Take -1 ongoing to Businessman, Upkeep -1-barter.

Choose 1 for your big earners (who else wants in?):

A real whiz, maybe a mechanic (Grass) or a sawbones (Key). +Technical work (2-barter/Shut Out).

A pimp or madame (Dust) and their primo tail (Grace, June, Frost). +Fucking (2-barter/entangled).

A no-nonsense tracker (Jaim) and their sharp-eyed, long-rifled gang. +Compound defense (2-barter/inflitrated).

Some slick hired killers (Cloud and Feather). +Doing Murders (3-barter/embattled), +Reprisals.

Choose 1 for your problems (or Choose 2 and +1 juggling if your ambition exceeds your resources):

You owe a shark (Mercer – for startup costs, recent expansion, expensive tastes?) and they aren't patient about it. +Paying debts (you keep up with them/they come due).

You didn't get where you are without seriously pissing off someone connected (or pissing off someone seriously connected – either way, it's Chack). +Avoiding someone (you keep well clear/they catch you in a bad spot).

You rely heavily on following or appearing to follow a code when you do business (what is it?). +Maintaining your honor (you keep your word and your name/you cross a line).

Choose 1 for your people's totally manageable shortcomings:

They're always ready to ditch for greener pastures. +desertion

They regard you as the lynchpin. +judgement

They have other shit that takes precedence if you aren't paying. +idle

They're assholes. +reprisals

They have seriously split loyalties (or at least someone thinks they should). +obligation.

There's some great stuff here! I've been playing a Star Wars game in Strands of Fate and not digging it, and AWE hacking was probably the next step for my group. I'd love to see anything else you've got; even if I end up going in another direction, it'll definitely save me some wheel-reinventing. I'm particularly curious which other iconic things you turned in to playbooks.

In general with the moves and stats, I'm trying to figure out how to make them more SW and less AW. "Seize by force" and "Go aggro," are, to me, very tied in with my idea of AW-style violence, which is very different from SW-style violence. Likewise, I don't think of most of the SW protagonists who are good at violence as "Hard" (well, maybe Mace Windu).

What are SW heroes? Some of them are Attuned, so that's definitely good. Bold, maybe. Cool might still work, or Slick. Suave, if you wanted to distinguish "good in a tight spot" versus "charming" (Han Solo is both, Ep.IV Luke is maybe the first).

I might make the +1 ongoing(!)/+1 Forward aspect of Trust in the Force a Force Move, just because it's really good on a strong hit. Also, making it explicit how even Han Solo can Trust In the Force (even though he wouldn't call it that), perhaps with a change in the move-triggering language or the move name ("trust your instincts," ferex).

In general I like the idea that people who aren't of the two Jedi playbooks could easily Jedi-ify between "take another playbook's move" and a decent starting Attuned (which is thematically similar, I'm told, to how the latest d20 Star Wars game played it, where anyone Class could be Jedi-ish/force sensitive, but you took the Jedi classes and Force feats if you wanted to specialize in or emphasize that sort of thing).

You should probably tweak the looks and such. I can't personally imagine a Jedi Consular in leather wear (but perhaps you can. :P). Maybe a "race" entry, also: "an ancient race, a lizard race, a furred race, a human (or nearly) race, droid."

The names, also, might do with some more tweaking. I'm sure there's a database of minor character canon names somewhere, and/or http://www.dimfuture.net/starwars/random/generate.php, and/or Monsterhearts-style lists, where they give you a few options and then also describe the categories they're going for ("A sibilant name, a soft-sounding name, a name full of consonants").