An Arresting Skinner

You can't copywright playing Yo-Yo Ma in the post-apocalypse. That's practically everybody's first character concept!

Quote from: DannyK on August 11, 2010, 08:23:24 PM

I have a Skinner character in mind who's a bony old Asian dude with the world's last cello

Hey, WTF!?!?!? That was MY idea!!!  :)

Maybe it sank right into my subconscious and bubbled up as if it had been born there.  Thanks; that idea is made of awesome. 

Next: Postapocalyptic Yo-Yo Ma as Hardholder.

Quote from: Chris on August 13, 2010, 11:47:55 AM

Quote from: DannyK on August 11, 2010, 08:23:24 PM

I have a Skinner character in mind who's a bony old Asian dude with the world's last cello

Hey, WTF!?!?!? That was MY idea!!!  :)

Maybe it sank right into my subconscious and bubbled up as if it had been born there.  Thanks; that idea is made of awesome. 

Next: Postapocalyptic Yo-Yo Ma as Hardholder.

Yeah, I was just messing with you. I saw that and I was like, where did I see that before? :)

I actually pitched the skinner to my group using that example, and everyone loved it. It has a lot of resonance.

I think it's a big mistake to make it "when the skinner does their schtick" because what you're basically doing is denying the splat its uniqueness.

You don't need to be super hot, really, to grab someone's attention and hold it; I can do it and I'm just a regular guy with kind of a spare tire. You can do it with words or music, posters, dancing, a smell, a calculated gesture, or even simply eye contact. It's easy if you know even a little about the people you're working with.

It's only that skinners are the only people in Apocalypse World who still understand this simple human principle, and even for them it's degraded into stripping. That's what's cool about the skinner; they have this veneer of art and grace but deep down, they are working on the most basic of human needs.

If you make it all about art and culture you're losing the grit.

And you miss out on the SEXO.

Plus how the hell are you gonna be an old man in Apocalypse World? I think everyone in our game was 14, tops.

Truth be told, I think that move is just Vincent's way of getting us to play ninja strippers -- because gamers are usually so reluctant to play that character type.

Yeah it's like the Battlebabe's 'get naked and get armour' move. It's a way of throwing some sexiness in there. I hearby pronounce that making playing a violin arresting is HERESY.

Also, and sorry for the necromancy, I'd like to point out that it's not a move where you can just indefinitely hold someone. You've gotta remove a piece of clothing. Then what? You've held everyone's attention for a moment or three, but when the moment is over, a bunch of ugly motherfuckers with pipes and pistols and arms like tree trunks are staring at you hungrily. Sure, you can keep removing clothing, but once you take your skivvies off you're pretty well fucked if your friends haven't made use of the time you've given them.

And for the Gunlugger example, I'm pretty sure I would count that as a huge distraction. The Gunlugger may be as horny as the next guy, but down to his core he's a Gunlugger. His guns are his life. I'd let the Skinner and his partner put the Gunlugger at a (significant) disadvantage, but getting more than a gun or two away from him before he snaps his attention away isn't something I'd allow. Or maybe I would!

"Mar, you just gonna stand there?"
"Fuck yeah, dude, it's like, magic. She's a magic fuckin' stripper. I'm sold."
"Alright dude."

Make your moves as the MC. If the Skinner is just gonna stand there stripping for all to see, have more people show up. And then more people. Dozens of people stop what they're doing and go nuts when a) the Skinner stops short or b) hits the naked zone and tries to get dressed and bug out.

Give them what they want, but put your bloody fingerprints on it. You wanted attention? You got it!

Make your moves as the MC. If the Skinner is just gonna stand there stripping for all to see, have more people show up. And then more people. Dozens of people stop what they're doing and go nuts when a) the Skinner stops short or b) hits the naked zone and tries to get dressed and bug out.

The solution to this problem, as the Skinner, is simple: go full bore stripper ninja!  Arm her with knives or a sword, and take, as your out of playbook moves, Impossible Reflexes from the Battlebabe book and Devil with a Blade from the Maestro D' playbook.  So yeah, now you're naked and you've got a bunch of worked up people who want you somethin' fierce, but you've got 2-armor and with your sword you're gonna seize their fuckin' family jewels by force rolling +3.  Bring it!

Heh, at that point I'd let the player get away with the stripper ninja thing entirely. They've obviously earned it!

I find it deeply humiliating to admit that this happened recently in one of my games.

What?  Humiliating?  It's totally badass!  hell, i'm planning to do at least half that much with my skinner character in the PbP game I just started.

When I read the move, I immediately pictured a smoky and dangerous bar where the skinner goes to work to allow another PC to steal the thing, or sneak through to the back room. A relaxed situation where it's possible to gain and hold the viewers' attention without them feeling threatened.

The way the ability is written I feel it's too open to gamey abuse. Where it says '...can do nothing but watch..' I'd add in 'provided they don't feel their lives, property or welfare are under threat.'

The way it's written, someone on fire will stand and watch a skinner take their gloves off.

When I read the move, I immediately pictured a smoky and dangerous bar where the skinner goes to work to allow another PC to steal the thing, or sneak through to the back room. A relaxed situation where it's possible to gain and hold the viewers' attention without them feeling threatened.

The way the ability is written I feel it's too open to gamey abuse. Where it says '...can do nothing but watch..' I'd add in 'provided they don't feel their lives, property or welfare are under threat.'

The way it's written, someone on fire will stand and watch a skinner take their gloves off.

Maybe Skinner should be SO BEAUTYFULL, that someone on fire will stand and watch...? ;)


Once more to the "NINJA WAY" ;)..:

What about the move "Artful & gracious" with SWORDMASTERY? I mean, can it be used to attack people like in the Asian movies - all with the outcome "has to give a gift" meaning hold over (any) weapon (any) enemy got before the move? Even NOT TO really HARM anyone - just to GO THROUGH them... See some kung-fu movie, where the hero goues through enemies, taking their weapons - and after that all are ALIVE (and even not hurted)... It is more SKINNER move then Battlebabe (or even Gunlugger), not?!

Once more to the "NINJA WAY" ;)..:

What about the move "Artful & gracious" with SWORDMASTERY? I mean, can it be used to attack people like in the Asian movies - all with the outcome "has to give a gift" meaning hold over (any) weapon (any) enemy got before the move? Even NOT TO really HARM anyone - just to GO THROUGH them... See some kung-fu movie, where the hero goues through enemies, taking their weapons - and after that all are ALIVE (and even not hurted)... It is more SKINNER move then Battlebabe (or even Gunlugger), not?!

No.

If the skinner was "blade dancing" in a fight, they would have to fight normally. Hard rolls and lethal (this is assuming COMBAT). If... say, they won without nary a scratch and a bunch of people were watching the fight take place, it could be argued that the skinner could roll an artful and gracious after the fact targeting the audience.