AP: Win(x)field

Hi, all.

I'm a player in Chroma's AW game.  We're long time "mainstream" gamers who are getting a real kick out of the AW freedom and style.

Apocalyptica

One of the players picked a Hardholder, so we got to work creating our new home.  The town is located in an unnatural crevasse (as many nearby towns are) and gets it's power from wind turbines that poke above the top.  Because of those and the nearby junkard/plane graveyard, nobody is actually sure if the place is called Windfield or Wingfield.  Nearby are The Tumbledowns, a massive ruined city that is raided for supplies and tech.  The Tumbledowns are on the shores of a large lake.  The crevasses the towns inhabit all radiate out from the Tumbledowns with disturbing regularity.  Win(x)field has a functioning manufactory but little in the way of food production.  Nearby is The Loops, a massive concrete road structure used by some for races and duels.

Characters

Dart - the hotshot Driver of a red Porche named Sophia.  Young and reckless, he's made some enemies amongst the hi-stakes racing subculture.
Henshaw - the aging Hardholder of Win(x)field who remembers time before the Apocalypse.  He was only a kid, but he was actually there in the Golden Age.  He would rather his goons and citizens were better people, like back in the olden days.
Marylin - a beautiful female Skinner.  A charming companion and conversationalist, never without her lux fur coat.  She's for hire, up to a point.  Newly arrived in town via Dart's car.
Spectre - a Savvyhead based entirely on Weird.  Nobody is really sure what's under those pocketed coveralls, overcoats and goggles, and nobody really wants to find out, either.
Titus - is the new leader of the Red S(x)ns motorcycle gang.  (Nobody is sure on this name either...)  Titus and Boss Jim, the previous leader, went out to The Loops for a private chat and only Titus came back.  The gang packs a punch and is medium sized.
X - an Angel who self-medicates and is also based on Weird. Has the healing touch but doesn't want others to know about it.  Also newly arrived in town.

Recap

We began our campaign in fine form with Henshaw blowing the Holding roll completely and having all his wants rearing their ugly heads.  Idle, hunger and famine.  A lot of talk around the holding places the blame on the Red S(x)ns who have not been out raiding and scavenging for scrap for the manufactory.  And without the manufactory running, there is no money to pay for food from the Z-fishers who have arrived to sell their striped mussels.

In the market, some of Henshaw's Stabbers gang (from Constables) led by Doakes push the peaceful Z-fishers around until they draw a single weapon.  That allows the Stabbers to invoke "Henshaw's Law" and beat them bloody and steal their food.  X witnesses the show and takes the Z-fisher leader back to his hovel to give him some healing.

Titus is minding his own business when Zig-zag, one of the Stabbers, tries to smarten Titus up with a piece of rebar.  Titus slaughters him with a machete and then goes to look for Henshaw to see if they are in a shooting war or what?  Henshaw meets Titus in the street, and they manage to avoid killing each other long enough to make a deal.  Titus and his gang will go scavenging a newly rediscovered police station in the outskirts of the Tumbledowns if Henshaw agrees to throw a party for town big shots (which Titus feels he is) and invites Marylin.

So, Henshaw goes and seeks out Marilyn.  The beautiful woman doesn't seem to want to stay in town for any length of time, but Henshaw likes having her around.  He offers her a house of her own up on the walls of the crevasse to entice her to stay longer.  She agrees to come to the big shot party.

Dart weasels his way into getting hired to do "scouting" for Titus' raiding.  Titus makes Dart promise to tell his friend Marylin that he's a good guy.

Spectre runs the junkyard just outside of town and charges hefty fees for it's repair services.  In a rare move, Spectre comes into town to meet with Henshaw.  Spectre has become concerned with scavengers raiding it's junkyard and works out a deal with Henshaw (after eating his dinner!) to cut it's prices some for him in return for some specific machined parts to make booby traps for the junkyards.

Dart, Titus and the Red S(x)ns drive out to the outskirts of the Tumbledowns that night so they can raid the police station in the morning.  As they're bedding down, they hear gunfire from the area around the police station.  Who the hell is horning in on their raiding?

Hey DH, thanks for starting this!  (He plays Titus, btw...)

It was a great first session (we've got session six scheduled for this Sunday so there's much more to come); Henshaw missing on the Wealth roll as the opening of actual play *really* started things with a bang.

I'll add a few more details to the first session recap later today.

Session 2!

1.  We all got special, unique moves for each character.  They only come up in specific circumstances.  You'll have to come to game to hear them all.
2.  Dart and Titus were out in the wilds, about to do a raid into the Tumbledowns ruin.  Dart is approached that night by Thrice, one of the female bikers, to have a personal party.  Turns out she's Titus' ex.  Titus dumped her when he took over the gang to not play favourites.
3.  In the morning, Titus goes to Dart's car to get him out and scouting, and finds his ex in there.  After threatening his car, Titus gets Dart to go scout, and shows that he still misses his ex, Thrice.
4.  Back in Win(x)field, lots of people are sick from eating the Z-Fisher food.  Seems as an insurance policy against getting their food stolen, they have marked jars that are poisoned.  D'oh!  Henshaw, had the better-feeling remnants of his gang "volunteer" all the healthy members of the town for a food-scavenging detail.  He led them out into the wastes himself.
5.  Marylin was wandering the holding, asking questions about Beckett, a mysterious man from her past who has been seen nearby, but to little avail.
6.  Dart found a small gang of about 10 guys guarding the dig site they were looking for.  Then he came back and reported that there were 7 guys to Titus and drove back to the holding.
7.  Henshaw couldn't scrape any food together but was raising the spirits of his ragtag band, but because of some badly failed rolls they were caught by a "Hawkwind," a psychic wind that can really screw you up.
8.  Speaking of failed rolls, Titus took his gang of 30 hardcore bikers against the 10 guys in the ruins and I failed like 5 rolls in a row to try and fight them, leaving my gang half dead with many serious wounds among the survivors.  Thrice was among the KIAs.  (This was entirely due to me misunderstanding the rules.  There should have been only minor injuries and no deaths.  Sigh.  Next time.)
9.  Marylin stopped in at the Sunset, the bar in the holding.  She was alone with Cattail, the proprietor and tried to use a Skinner move to "charm" her.  Failed her dice roll (noticing a trend?) and the proprietor ended up charming Marylin.  Turns out Cattail has some new drug, Amber, and is trying to get influential people hooked on it...
10.  The dig site in the Tumbledowns that Titus' gang finally took over is an old police station that was buried under rubble so nobody knew it was there.  Chock full of guns and other police gear.  Titus has the bright idea to find some other scrap to give to Henshaw and keep this find for the gang, but the rest of the gang is too shot up and they decide to go home.  Titus rolls to whip them into shape and fails miserably.  Continuing sigh.  The gang bails out leaving Titus and a couple of guys there alone waiting for Henshaw's truck to come and collect the booty.
11.  Of course Henshaw is lying bloody in the wastelands with his followers insane or injured around him.  They round everyone up, though some will never be well and start walking back to the holding.
12.  Back at the holding, Dart and Marylin are waiting for everyone to get back and are getting worried.  When Henshaw still has yet to arrive, Dart takes a truck out and picks up the survivors of the hawkwind.
13.  While he's gone, Marylin sees the remains of the Red S(x)ns come back in shot to hell and without Titus.  They stomp off to their camp and Marylin wisely tells Henshaw's crew to keep everyone away from them.
14.  Dart gets back with Henshaw who declares a town meeting.  Henshaw asks Marylin to back him up on stage.  That meeting degenerates as Doakes, a leading citizen, declares that he works for Parasol and she should take over the town.  (It was Parasol's people originally digging out the police station.)  Henshaw kicks that guy out of town and tells anybody who wants to go to go.  Many do.  Henshaw tries to talk his starving, savage constituents and constabulary into being better people...  (Parasol runs Blackhaven, a nearby holding.)
15.  Back in the Tumbledowns, nobody has yet sent a truck for Titus.  Staying in the Tumbledowns overnight, I open my brain to the Weird and fail the roll miserably, getting the urge to go to the Sunset and try some of the new drug.
16.  Dart is hanging out with the S(x)ns and they decide to go and get Titus.  Dart brings a truck and they load up a ton of barter from the police station.  When they get back safely and the job is done, Dart tries to make peace with Titus and gets a beating from him instead.

Damn good fun!