Playbooks for Charity

I was just thinking a little bit about exclusive playbooks, like the Maestro'D and Faceless...

Since these are things that are being given away in a limited but more-or-less promotional manner, they're obviously not really part of whatever long-term money strategy Vincent has for the game.

Still, some work has gone into layout and setup on these, which gives them value.  So, one way of maybe getting them into the hands of people who want them but haven't attended various promotional events might be to give them as rewards for donations to certain charities picked (or not) by the people who designed the playbooks. 

It might end up being too complicated to coordinate (or just not of interest to the creators), but I like the idea of getting a playbook for a masked killing machine in return for donating money to a children's toy fund or food bank.

Hmm.

I love the idea of featuring little add-ons to raise money for charity. Especially if it were somehow related to the charity in question - a playbook that's associated with visions and portents, to raise money for mobile optometry workshops in third world countries, or something like that.

As someone who owns that illustrious Maestro D' playbook, I feel a certain amount of covetousness towards it. It was special, and I got it, making me special. If any old person can score their own copy simply by doing their civic duty and being a good Samaritan, well, man, what gives!

I guess I'd be most ecstatic if the idea of fundraiser-playbooks were divorced from those special early-adopter-reward-playbooks.

Ha ha!

I also have the Maestro'D playbook, thanks to preordering.  I guess I'm just one of those people who experiences the words "convention exclusive" like a knife in the eyeball.

Get used to it! If I have my way, there'll be so many exclusive playbooks that every Apocalypse World player you meet will have a different mix.

Get used to it! If I have my way, there'll be so many exclusive playbooks that every Apocalypse World player you meet will have a different mix.

The way to do this would be to make new playbooks but don't distribute the PDF. Just hand out like 30 playbooks at the next con you're at. Then people will really value them and have to get a friend of a friend to loan them their Lumdummer playbook just so they can photocopy it. That sounds rad to me, anyway.

As a completionist, this idea makes me very sad.

Only because I'm totally neurotic about catching 'em all, so to speak.

Adam,

If you're a completionist, it sounds like this set-up is ideal for you. Because maintaining a complete collection will be *hard as fuck*, but it'll all be about social sleuthing, and not at all about buying.

And maintaining a complete set will carry so much prestige. In a year, if you have the Maestro D', Faceless, Boar-Hunter, the Slave Lord, the Harpy, the Sea Dog, the Farmhand and the Silent Killer... well, you'll be the only person besides Vincent with them all. Massive prestige that transcends mere buying power.

and the Silent Killer...

At last, a playbook that actually uses "It's not just murder, it's an art" move in the advanced fuckery chapter. Sold!

Adam,

If you're a completionist, it sounds like this set-up is ideal for you. Because maintaining a complete collection will be *hard as fuck*, but it'll all be about social sleuthing, and not at all about buying.

And maintaining a complete set will carry so much prestige. In a year, if you have the Maestro D', Faceless, Boar-Hunter, the Slave Lord, the Harpy, the Sea Dog, the Farmhand and the Silent Killer... well, you'll be the only person besides Vincent with them all. Massive prestige that transcends mere buying power.

yes! This is why my idea is good. It's like collecting the copy of a copy of your favorite band's first demo that they sent to the record label. Wouldn't that be fucking hot? Way more fun & rewarding, even if you don't get 'em all. Because, let's be honest, otherwise you'll get them all and they'll be sitting on your hard drive as PDFs and maybe you read them once but seriously? They don't all get used. But that Slave Lord (wtf awesome) you had to scam off that smelly dude at Dreamation for the last half of your burrito, that you will make fucking sure sees play.

As a completionist, this idea makes me very sad.

Only because I'm totally neurotic about catching 'em all, so to speak.

Agreed, I'm the same way, and also saddened by this. I'd gladly pay for future Character Playbooks collections though, but I definitely want them all.  :)

Joe and Vincent... I don't understand you two.  :)

I've always been bothered by exclusivity.  I've got the Maestro D' playbook too, and it's great, but I don't feel "special" because I'm one of the people that has it.  I want everyone to get to see the cool awesome things.

This idea that they're more likely to see play if you only have a few that were hard to get I think is bogus.  The Maestro D' is cool, but no one was jazzed about it in my player group, and I wasn't surprised.  To take a non-hypothetical example, if I had the Faceless playbook, I bet someone would have been interested in that one.  If I've got access to a wide variety, there is more likely to be things that people I'm playing with will dig; if I only have a few random ultra-rare ones, there's a good chance the only reason they're cool to me and my friends are because they're ultra-rare, not because anyone actually wants to play with them.

But whatever, it's not my game.  If you want to make AW playbooks into the rpg equivalent of trading cards, go for it.

My guess is that Vincent isn't exactly going to start churning out playbooks and then handing them out to ecret-say uddies-bay all over the continent.

It's more about the "Hack it to hell!" attitude that AW is sporting. Every playgroup can have a different set of playbooks because someone in that group made something unique! They may or may not share, but still... They made stuff, now it's their thing, and the group is now different from another group.

For instance, Drivers in games I run will have a move that allows them to take shortcuts through the maelstorm. How much do you really care about that? Does it deprive you of anything?

So there you go.

Adam,

If you're a completionist, it sounds like this set-up is ideal for you. Because maintaining a complete collection will be *hard as fuck*, but it'll all be about social sleuthing, and not at all about buying.

And maintaining a complete set will carry so much prestige. In a year, if you have the Maestro D', Faceless, Boar-Hunter, the Slave Lord, the Harpy, the Sea Dog, the Farmhand and the Silent Killer... well, you'll be the only person besides Vincent with them all. Massive prestige that transcends mere buying power.

It would suck for us international patrons of lumpley games... I mean, as long as I am living in Australia I will never be able to justify going to GenCon, or any North American conventions... and Vincent is unlikely to be coming down here, so we won't be picking up any special playbooks of our own. It's a nice thought... if you're willing and able to attend a variety of North American conventions and events... but if you're stuck at the arse end of the world... you'd be less thrilled at the concept.

You'd be surprised at how far asking politely will get you.

The next exclusive won't be for a con, same as the first one wasn't.

Take it easy, stressed-out people! All will be well.