Playbook Idea, The Viper´s tongue

This is a sort of savvy & manipulator, behind-the-curtains kind of character I wanted to make. It does many of the things the Skinner already does, but in a different way.

The Viper´s tongue
In these troubled times, being the alpha boy´s quite a job: too many responsibilities, plus you´ll be the one blamed if sth goes wrong. No protection from bullets or crazy people, sadly.
But the viper´s tongue doesn´t take the glory path. He´ll rather act behind the curtains, have others mess their hands while he stands as clean as a princess. Good for him.

When you create your character, define your affiliation group (a gang, cult, working for sb, serving a hardholder, etc.).
You get Behind the curtains:
At the beginning of the session, or when some downplay time has elapsed, roll+SHARP. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1 plus and an obligation, plus another one with a tweak, if you wish.
Spend your hold during the session or prior to it to:
-Know a secret about someone inside the group. (tweak: someone knows you´re watching people)
-Have someone do something for you, and no one will discover you told him (tweak: someone will discover that indeed).
-Influence the group as a whole to take a new direction or do something (tweak: you´ll be blamed if something goes wrong)
-Gain a new, stronger position within the group. (tweak: you make sb fall, and he´ll have his vengeance)
-Get 1-barter (tweak: in exchange for another obligation).

An obligation means the group demands something from you, a service, whatever it is.
On a miss, you get an obligation, and you may choose something from the list (except gaining a stronger position) with a tweak.

Special moves: choose 2
From the back: When you do it from behind or unexpectedly, roll+SHARP instead of HARD to go aggro.
Savvy boy: roll+SHARP instead of HOT when you manipulate someone. If he´s a PC, roll +Hx.
Good sammaritan: when you help somebody without asking for retribution, you get hold 1 over him. While you have hold, they can´t act against you, or get -1 to do it (if PCs).
They may spend 1 of your hold over them if they:
-Give you something you want
-Do something for you (never tell anybody you sent them to do it)
-Act as your eyes and ears
-Become a supporter/ally.
Dirty secrets: when you reach the psychic maelstrom looking for info, roll+WEIRD. Say a name, and on a hit, ask a question from the list:
-What does he contain under the surface?
-Is he involved in a forbidden relationship?
-What sin or mistake haunts her mind?
-Has she got something that doesn´t belong to her?
On a 7-9, you gotta have an input first to get the data. The MC wil ask you one question, and if you answer it you get the secret. The MC will tell you also who knows your secret now.
On a miss, you receive a secret from someone else (MC´s call), plus answer one question from the list. Someone knows your answer, but you don´t know who she is.
If you get a PC´s secret, you get +1Hx with them on your sheet.
I´m nothing!: When trouble arises and you have something to do about it, or are in the middle of it, roll+SHARP. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold to:
-Not to be blamed or deemed responsible for the trouble, offense, etc. If already known responsible, they show mercy instead.
-Make them fail their vigilance upon you for a moment.
-Keep your reputation untouched and clean.
Lord of secrets: When you show somebody you know a secret about him, you hold 2 over him, as in GOOD SAMMARITAN, but you lose it if you uncover the truth.
Veiled message: when you want to deliver a secret message to somebody, or uncover an ugly truth, roll+SHARP and state who will understand the message (and when will he understand it) and who won´t. On a hit, you deliver it. On a 7-9, though, choose 2 complications from the list, the MC will pick one from those and make it true:
-Somebody you didn´t expect understands it too, or intercepts it (if a letter).
-Somebody you didn´t expect understands it all the way wrong, or reacts badly.
-Somebody´s suspecting, and will act accordingly in the future.
-The target of the message understands it sooner or later than what you expected, or gets it incompletely, a little changed, etc.

SPECIAL MOVE: if you and another character have sex, you either get 1 hold over him, as in GOOD SAMMARITAN, or you get to ask a question from the DIRTY SECRETS list, your call.

I might need to drop one of the moves in order to have a shorter list of moves. What do you think?

I would drop Lord of Secrets. The rest are decent, and I especially like I'm Nothing!

The Viper´s tongue
In these troubled times, being the alpha boy´s quite a job: too many responsibilities, plus you´ll be the one blamed if sth goes wrong. No protection from bullets and crazy people, sadly.
But you don´t take the glory path. You´ll rather act behind the curtains, have others mess their hands while you stand as clean as a princess. Good for you.
NAME
Viper, birdie, snake, flea, worm, rata
Tiny, goodboy, grammy, pal, little p., candy, sugar
LOOK
Man, woman, ambiguous or transgressing
scrounge wear, formal wear, luxe wear, fetish wear
sweet face, thin face, grotesque/striking face, pale face, worn face
calculating eyes, indifferent eyes, sharp eyes, cold eyes, big, creepy eyes
crippled body, fat body, small, dwarven body, rangy body, hunched body, childish body, gorgeous body
STATS
Cool+1, hard0, hot+1, sharp+2, weird-1
Cool+1, hard-1, hot0, sharp+2, weird0
Cool+2, hard-2, hot0, sharp+2, weird0
cool+1, hard-1, hot-1, sharp+2, weird+1
VIPER´S TONGUE´S MOVES
Choose 3
Behind the curtains: (you must have an affiliation group to apply to: gang, cult, family, friends, crew, etc.)
At the beginning of the session, or when some downplay time has elapsed, roll+SHARP. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2 with their tweaks.
Spend your hold during the session or prior to it to:
-Know a secret about someone inside the group. (tweak: someone knows you´re watching people)
-Have someone do something for you, and no one will discover you told him (tweak: someone will discover that indeed).
-Influence the group as a whole to take a new direction or do something (tweak: you´ll be blamed if something goes wrong)
-Gain a new, stronger position within the group. (tweak: you make sb fall, and he´ll have his vengeance)
-Get 1-barter (tweak: in exchange for an obligation).
An obligation means the group demands something from you, a service, whatever it is.
On a miss, you get an obligation, and you may choose something from the list (except gaining a stronger position) with a tweak.
From the back: When you do it from behind or unexpectedly, roll+SHARP instead of HARD to go aggro.
Savvy boy: roll+SHARP instead of HOT when you manipulate someone. If he´s a PC, roll +Hx.
Good sammaritan: when you help somebody without asking for retribution, you get hold 1 over him. While you have hold, they can´t act against you; if PCs, it´s acting under fire to go against you.
They may spend 1 of your hold over them if they:
-Give you something you want
-Do something for you (and keep the secret)
-Act as your eyes and ears
-Become a supporter/ally
If you help a PC, you also get +1Hx with her.
Dirty secrets: when you reach the psychic maelstrom looking for info, roll+WEIRD. Say a name, and on a hit, ask a question from the list:
-What does he contain under the surface?
-Is he involved in a forbidden relationship?
-What sin or mistake haunts her mind?
-Has she got something that doesn´t belong to her?
On a 7-9, you gotta have an input first to get the data. The MC wil ask you one question, and if you answer it you get the secret. The MC will tell you also who knows your secret now.
On a miss, you receive a secret from someone else (MC´s call), plus answer one question from the list. Someone knows your answer, but you don´t know who she is.
If you get a PC´s secret, you get +1Hx with them on your sheet.
I´m nothing!: When trouble arises and you have something to do about it, or are in the middle of it, roll+SHARP. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold:
-Not to be blamed or deemed responsible for the trouble, offense, etc. If already known responsible, they show mercy instead.
-to make them fail their vigilance upon you for a moment, or make them underestimate you.
-Keep your reputation untouched and clean.

GEAR
You get:
1 weapon easy to conceal:
-A dagger (2-harm hand)
-Sleeve pistol (2-harm close reload loud)
-Syringe (1-harm intimate)

Plus choose 1:
-drugs (applied, valuable, psi-harm, must be ingested)
-poison (3-harm, applied with the syringe or in food/drink)
-sedatives (s-harm, aplied with the syringe or in food/drink)
-Oddments worth 1-barter

HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook.
Take your turn.
List the other characters´ names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, choose 1 or both:
-Choose somebody you pretend to really like. Tell that player Hx-2.
-Choose somebody to whom you´ve revealed your true nature. Tell that player Hx+1
Tell everyone else Hx-1. You keep your stuff secret.

On the others´ turns, choose 1, 2, or all 3:
-Choose somebody you know a secret about. Whatever number that player tells you, ignore it, and write Hx+3 with him instead.
-Choose somebody who helped you honestly once. Whatever number that player tells you, give it -1 and write it down in your sheet.
-Choose somebody you´ve fooled once. Whatever number that player tells you, add +1 to it and write it down in your sheet.

IMPROVEMENT:
-Get +1Cool (+2 max)
-Get +1hard (+2 max)
-Get +1hot (+2 max)
-Get +1weird (+2 max)
-Get another Viper´s tongue move
-Get another Viper´s tongue move
-Get a gang plus pack alpha
-Get a holding plus wealth
-Get a move from another playbook
-Get a move from another playbook

VIPER´S TONGUE SPECIAL
When you and another character have sex, roll+HARD.
On a 10+, you don´t reveal yourself, but he reveals something to you (as in dirty secrets).
On a 7-9, either no one knows anything new, or both reveal a secret to the other (your call).
On a miss, you reveal him a secret.

THE SECRETS
You may learn secrets from your own moves, from reading somebody, following him in secret, whatever makes sense. It´s up to you and the MC whether any piece of information about sb is actually a secret: generally, it should be something harmful if revealed.
-You may obviously use a secret as leverage over an NPC. You may trade a secret for 1-barter.
-When you suddenly reveal a secret in public, you cause psi-harm to sb involved or affected (if PC, roll +2). If he´s an NPC, choose only the "her sanity shatters" effect if it really makes sense.
When a secret goes public, it obviously stops being a secret.


I think it´s finished. How could I edit it to make it look like a playbook?
Would you change anything from it? Maybe dropping a move or two to make it simpler? What do you think about secret revelations causing psi-harm?

Interesting playbook concept!

Good sammaritan: when you help somebody without asking for retribution,

I think you mean "restitution" here... but asking for retribution for being helpful is very Apocalypse World... *laugh*

One thing I hate: the name.  Doesn't seem to fit at all, doesn't roll off the tongue (pardon me), and I can't see someone introducing themselves as, "Hi, I'm the local Viper's Tongue..."

Perhaps one of the following: The Architect, The Broker, The Cipher, or The Diplomat

Perhaps one of the following: The Architect, The Broker, The Cipher, or The Diplomat

Or maybe L'Éminence grise?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89minence_grise
The painting there is pretty cool too.

Those are some sweet moves. Nice.

I also like the fact that you made a Sharp playbook, it seems that Hard and Weird are so much easier to come by.

One thing I hate: the name.  Doesn't seem to fit at all, doesn't roll off the tongue (pardon me), and I can't see someone introducing themselves as, "Hi, I'm the local Viper's Tongue..."

Perhaps one of the following: The Architect, The Broker, The Cipher, or The Diplomat

I agree that the name's needing an upgrade, but Chroma's suggestions sound kinda benign.

How about some wonkier suggestions: The Whisperer, The Judas, The Two-Face, The Wordsmith, The Oz Wizard, The Weasel

I agree that the name's needing an upgrade, but Chroma's suggestions sound kinda benign.

Sounding benign is the name of the game!  *laugh*  

It's putting a friendly and trustworthy face forward... then backstab!

One thing I hate: the name.  Doesn't seem to fit at all, doesn't roll off the tongue (pardon me), and I can't see someone introducing themselves as, "Hi, I'm the local Viper's Tongue..."

I agree, the name kinda sucks, but in my defense I have to say that, in spanish, "Lengua viperina/bífida" sounds a lot better.
I guess that the Judas, the whisperer, the weasel, the grey eminence, maybe the rogue would work too. I´m still hesitating towards picking a name.

Anyone knows how could I edit the playbook and make it look like the other ones?

If you get a picture for it, I can put together a playbook for you.

Just on the name thing, again: playing off the L'eminence grise idea, you could also have 'The Grey', 'The Grease', and 'The Greyhair' (or 'The Greyhead').

I personally like just "The Viper." 

"Hi, I'm the Viper."

Seems appropiate. 

I decided to pop in and comment that I, too, have been working on a sharp-based playbook that is similar on a lot of levels to this one! Mine is more based around the Man With No Name/Sanjuro figure from those classic films, but there's a lot more similarity between the moves you've made and the moves I've been creating than I am entirely comfortable with!

It looks good, though! I would not mind playtesting one if I can ever get a game going again.

"Hi, I'm the Viper."

I guess it depends on your age...

"The Viper is coming..."

Part 1

Part 2

Punchline - if you want to cut to the chase...

Just on the name thing, again: playing off the L'eminence grise idea, you could also have 'The Grey', 'The Grease', and 'The Greyhair' (or 'The Greyhead').

Oh yeah