New stats, stats renamed, more basic moves.

The stats look like this:

Cool becomes Cold
Sharp stays Sharp
Hot becomes Lust
Hard becomes Rage
Weird becomes Ruin
And you get a new one Mantle (was Status.)

Add these to the standard Basic moves, drop the open your brain.

Roll +mantle whenever you demand obedience according to your station.

On a 10+, they fall in line.

On a 7-9, they fall in line, but the MC chooses one:

You've lost face in the eyes of you peers
The loyalty of those below you is shaken
Those above you doubt your ability to govern
It breeds contempt
You don't have jurisdiction is this instance, so it'll cost you

On a miss, they don't owe you a blessed thing.

Roll +mantle Whenever you invoke an ancient contract. On a 10+ pick 3. On a 7-9 pick 2.

You know a secret clause or loophole
The cost is not dear or is easily fulfilled
The sanctions aren't severe
The penalties for a breach are not high
You know all that's expected of you

On a miss, you invoked the wrong deal, sucker.

To be clear: clauses are special circumstances that you can exploit to make the rest of the contract less of a burden, or future invocations easier or more beneficial. Basically, it lets you hold one 'yes, but...' or a slight renegotiation. Costs are the things you have to do or sacrifice to keep you end of the deal. Sanctions are things you cannot do or must have (the inverse of costs). Penalties are the shit that rains down when you weasel out on or breach your contract. I know it seems somewhat complicated but that's kinda the idea.  

Roll +cold whenever you take something by cunning, or effect clever plans to keep it. On a 10+ pick 3. On a 7-9 pick 2.

You take absolute hold of it
Your enemy is unawares or surprised
You're not implicated
The effects are long lasting or far reaching

Roll +lust whenever you seek to know someone's desires. On a 10+ hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. Spend 1 to ask 1.

Who do they love?
What are their public ambitions?
What are their private wants and needs?
Who do they resent or what do they despise?
Where are they at, or in what state would you find them?

Roll +ruin when you commit sorcery.
 
[...]

Roll +ruin when you consort with the umbra.

[...]


Questions, comments and concerns are always welcome. The more feedback the better this becomes.

I like these, they're nice. I think +mantle is a cool name for your status, and I like the implications of that being a major part of the game. Have you seen the "Order Hirelings Around" move from Apocalypse D&D? I *really* like the trade-offs it forces on you, but it might not quite reflect the absolute social superiority you're going for.

The +lust read a person move is interesting. In AW hot is more your ability to get people to want to do those things with you, and this move represents your ability to see that they want to do it. Did you feel like sharp would be getting over used if you used it for this too? Or did you want it to be more of an empathy thing? Or did you just want more for 'hot/lust' to do? I'm just curious, I think it'll work out just great.

I wanted all the stats to have two basis moves each for twelve. So, I had to add five.

I didn't mention it but all the basic moves except open your brain are still there, pretty much as written. So, read a person and read a sitch are still there. The extra +lust move is a rewrite of a Maestro D' move, which used +hot.

Having 'they do it' is an interesting option but that's not really what this move is about. They should do it, and probably will on a 10+ but I leave that open. This move is about social standing and bringing it to bear. You don't order people around so much as remind them of their obligations, debts, reliance on you or the possible ramifications of disobedience. However, it's easy to overstep your bounds or misread the tangled web of social capital and power struggles. Honestly, it's really about abusing your power and seeing what you can get away with.

To put it in a modern context, if one was playing some corporate boss and asked for sexual favours from an assistant or intern. Sure, they might do it and never tell anyone about it out of fear, desire, hope, shame &c. But it's also very possible that someone finds out about it. The other board members think you're a pig and loose cannon (lose face in the eyes of your peers.) HR starts an internal investigation (those above you doubt your ability to govern.) Your secretary quits in disgust (the loyalty of those below you is shaken.) Another obvious one is that they demand a promotion, a bonus or to leave your SO before fucking you. (You don't have jurisdiction in this instance, so it'll cost you.)

Cool, all of that makes sense, and in the context of your game, as well as the AW aesthetic, it's probably a good thing to leave whether they do it or not (within all of the parameters set by the move that you just highlighted) up to the fiction and who that character is. I think that social pressures and exchanges are still under developed in RPGs.

Heck, I may steal this move and modify it for A Song of Ice and Fire :)

Great artists and all that.

I think Sharp iss gonna turn into Canny.

 Read a Person is going to move into +mantle and Invoke an Ancient Contract going to be +canny.

Ruin becomes Quiet. Scratch Commit Sorcery and add Take Something by Cunning.

You still get Consort with the Umbra:

Whenever you consort with the umbra by talking with specters, kami and numen roll +quiet.

On a 10+ hold-0. On a 7-9 hold-0 and pick one:

• the umbra is hostile
• the umbra is thin
• the umbra is overwhelming

Spend holds to ask questions; umbra doesn't lie.

Get +1hold ongoing for answering questions.

When you prepare for a particular contingency roll+cold and detail.

On a 10+ +1hold. On a 7-9 +1hold with strings.

Whenever this contingency arises or you bring it into play spend holds to add +holds to a related roll. Max 3-hold.

Gah, these last two moves seem weak to me. Any ideas or critiques?

You still get Consort with the Umbra:

Whenever you consort with the umbra by talking with specters, kami and numen roll +quiet.

On a 10+ hold-0. On a 7-9 hold-0 and pick one:

• the umbra is hostile
• the umbra is thin
• the umbra is overwhelming

Spend holds to ask questions; umbra doesn't lie.

Get +1hold ongoing for answering questions.

Okay, so my understanding of this move is that when you first start out, you hang around Umbra-things and are like "what's up?" and they ask you questions, and when you answer them, you start getting hold that from then on, always you can use to ask questions of the umbra-things. That's pretty interesting (and I sure do hope the MC advice says to use those answered questions in as not-boring a way as possible, always) but it seems like if there's no max to the hold you get, it will quickly spin out of control, but if there's a hard max, people will stop answering questions. So why not something like this:

Get +1 hold forward on your next "Consort with the Umbra" move for each question  answered

(or worded better, if you can think of something)

For this one:

When you prepare for a particular contingency roll+cold and detail.

On a 10+ +1hold. On a 7-9 +1hold with strings.

Whenever this contingency arises or you bring it into play spend holds to add +holds to a related roll. Max 3-hold.

Gah, these last two moves seem weak to me. Any ideas or critiques?

What's your thinking on giving +holds rather than, say, +1 forward or the like? When you think about why this move would be cool to have, what other moves do you see it setting up in particular (obviously moves with hold, but I'm curious to see what direction you're going here specifically)?

The MC (as the umbra) the has to ask. I'm not really worried about spiraling out of control. It's really, it's open your brain but more quantified. I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet. I might just make it open you brain. I like open you brain.

+1foward is only for your next Move, whatever it is. I think that's a kinda lame thing that happens in RPGs sometimes. The MC or the PC tried to contrive it such that they get it / don't get it. If I'm trying to get dirt to use against Roflball and then something else happens, a gun fight say, why do I get +1 to my Visions of Death? I feel like that +1 should come into play when I'm manipulating Roflball later.

As for the all the +holds. I love little mechanical tokens that the PCs can earn and spend. It's an easy carrot. Qualities is taking up between 120% and 230% of my headspace right now.

The prep move is really about encouraging planning, detailing the fiction and driving towards conflict. I feel I had Dirt on Roflball: 2-hold burning a hole in my character sheet, I'd be itching to spend it. Sure, it might be tediousness if all the PCs are prep'ing for action but never taking it. That's just when you hit them with the Front stick.

Additionally, I think it helps characters with low stats still make those moves instead of abandoning them. Oh, and the strings bit. Shit like that drives play too.

Okay, cool, I get what you're going for more now. I also love hold as a mechanic, I was just wondering how exactly you imagined it getting used. Neat.

Yeah, I know +1 forward as written is for whatever next roll you get, and I agree that can sometimes be really fitting (the gunlugger feels just great after doing it!) but also that sometimes it's frustrating. Maybe something to introduce is +1 forward on your next (blah). Or maybe holds would still do that better.

Now, that being said, I think I really like the idea of hold as a 'currency' with specific fictional tags like your example there ("Dirt on Rolfball: 2 Hold"). That sounds pretty hot to me, opening up some mechanically driven longer term inter-character stuff.

For what it's worth, we treat +1 forward pretty much like a hold in our games. You take that +1 when it makes sense, not just on your next roll regardless.

My character sheets have a little spot to write holds and we sometimes record +1s forward there, too, for that reason.

It works well.

I might borrow that Mantle stuff for a thing or other. Looks great for a nobles-heavy setting.