Touchstone among the people

I've just started playing a Touchstone in a PBP game. It only now occurred to me that the various "when you go among the people" things on the back aren't moves per se. How have people been treating these? As fairly simple actions requiring a little description (ie move-like) or more like Operator gigs (ie mostly abstracted with maybe an interesting highlight played out here and there) ?

The former strikes me as possibly being too easy. A lot of Touchstones will be offering hope and/or acting with hope on a very regular basis. The end result of that would seem to be that they're well treated by most everyone most of the time, even if it is grudgingly. Then again, maybe that's appropriate.

The end result of that would seem to be that they're well treated by most everyone most of the time, even if it is grudgingly. Then again, maybe that's appropriate.

I think it's when that "hope" starts eroding the control of various "powers" that the fun starts...

I played a Touchstone who went among the people acting with hope and offering hope all the time.

I got shot in the face so much!

As it turns out in a world full of nasty people who need their sheep to stay afraid, controlled, in line, and dependent upon them that not everyone likes hope.

Also turns out that some folks are so afraid that they just want to kill hope, even their own. After all if you know its all done, know it bone deep, then much as it may be bleak at least you know what it is. But what if after all that someone starts trying to pry open the lid? What if all the things you did were wrong? What if you might have to actually be afraid again because it turns out everything isn't over?

The answer seemed to be "Shoot Burn in the face, cause that's where his mouth is" a lot.

Though I will admit, I did end up with a good bit of barter when Burn got on his "offering hope" kick. But then, of course, came the shooting in the face and the stealing of my stuff.

Oh, and to answer the initial question, I usually did it as a narrative thing. Like when everyone else was fucking or fixing their car or whatever, I'd just be like "Burn is down at the bar, talking about the moon landing again" or "Burn starts talking to the guys with the guns about how they can, in fact, feed their children without killing everyone else's."

Which, maybe half the time, would end up turning into a full scene. Like, when we'd get an NPC that responded and we wanted to know why. ("Why is Dremmer so pissed every time you offer her hope?") Or when someone was going to react differently than you might think. ("They bring forth your scratch, sure, but grudgingly" "What's up with that? I read them to see why they're so upset when they seemed so happy before.")

Really, its a cool move to use around the edges, and let grow into something when it expands the world.

Funny you should say "shot in the face". . .
when last we left Nike the Touchstone the local Hardholder had just shot her in the face and left her for dead. I'm thinking 2-armor, Daredevil and maybe even Rasputin are necessary to be a Touchstone.