Playbook - The Hag

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Playbook - The Hag
« on: March 20, 2013, 09:49:39 PM »
Hi everyone!

I wrote a new playbook for the game my friend is running on Monday.

This thing won't fit into every Apocalypse World game. Our game is a very odd, and we're aiming for something like the Dark Tower more then the Road Warrior.

Without further ado :

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2013, 09:49:51 PM »
THE HAG

The Hag lives on the outskirts. Not in, but not out, of the community. They stand at the border, watching the edges of things. They’re the ones you go to if you need something, really need it, and damn the consequences.

NAME
Esmeralda, Bailey, Nix, Julien, Ginny, Gintha, Mab, Black Alice, Angelique, Walter, Randal
A mystic name, a spooky name, an ominous title.

STATS
Cool 1, Hard 1, Hot -2, Sharp 1, Weird 2
Cool -1, Hard -1, Hot 2, Sharp 0, Weird 2
Cool 0, Hard 1, Hot 1, Sharp -1, Weird 2
Cool 1, Hard -1, Hot 0, Sharp 1, Weird 2

MOVES
You get THE CAULDRON, and two other Hag Moves.

HX
Someone acts as your main contact with the community. Tell that person +1.
Someone came to you for a ritual in a time of need. Ask them what you did for them and tell them +2.
For everyone else tell them +0. You are not an easy person to know.

On the others' turns:
for each other character, decide if you've meddled with their lives in the past
if they are a victim of your meddling, take whatever number they tell you and give it +1 and write it next to their name
if you've never meddled with their lives, take whatever number they tell you and write it next to their name

LOOK
Man, woman, ambiguous, transgressing.
Dandy wear, tattered wear, simple wear, mismatched wear, homemade wear.
Burned face, wrinkled face, handsome face, unseen face.
Shining eyes, milky eyes, missing eyes, piercing eyes.
Boney body, misshapen body, hard body, tiny body, crippled body.

GEAR
You have clothing suitable to your look and a symbol of power:
- a leather bag of secrets (+hidden)
- piece of something dead (+horrific)
- a decorated stick (+imposing)
- a relic of the old times (+valuable)

SEX MOVE
When you have sex with another person, you count as being in a Place of Power until they leave your side.

ADVANCEMENTS
- get +1 cool (max cool+2)
- get +1 sharp (max sharp+2)
- get +1 hard (max hard+2)
- get +1 hot (max hot+2)
- get a new hag move
- get a new hag move
- get 2 gigs (detail) and moonlighting
- get followers (detail) and Fortunes
- get a move from another playbook
- get a move from another playbook

- get +1 to any stat (max stat+3)
- retire your character (to safety)
- create a second character to play
- change your character to a new type
- choose 3 basic moves and advance them.
- advance the other 4 basic moves.

HAG MOVES

DIM
As long as you have taken no harm in this scene, if it's possible that nobody is looking at you, you can declare that you are no longer there.

THE SENDING
When you send your spirit to someone roll + weird. On a hit, you find them when they are in a dark and lonely place. On a 7-9, you find them in a dark and lonely place but the MC picks one.
- you do not have much time
- trouble finds you
If someone goes to a dark and lonely place and calls your name, you may go to them as though you rolled a 10.

EVIL EYE
When you spit and curse at a person or a group of people in public hold 1 against them.

Hold an additional 1 against them if :
- you make a big show of it by going after them in the middle of a crowded market, or in front of their gang
- you make yourself bleed, dealing 1 harm (ap) to yourself

You may spend your hold 1 for 1 to cause:
- they take (1 harm, ap) from accident, misfortune, or disease
- they are sickened, blinded, or confused (s-harm, ap)
- they lose their way
- something important to them is lost, broken, or befouled

For every Harm the person or group causes the Hag, she loses one hold.

HEADOLOGY
When you try to Manipulate in a roundabout manner, or through reverse psychology, you roll + sharp instead of roll + hot.

PRICKING IN YOUR THUMBS
When you are in a Place of Power, you gain Augury using the Place as an antenna.

CAULDRON
When you are in a Place of Power and you dedicate yourself to a magical ritual, decide what the ritual will do and tell the MC. The MC will tell you "Sure, no problem, but..." and then pick some of the following.

- it will take hours/days/weeks/months
- you are going to need ______ to help you with it
- it is going to mean exposing yourself to ______
- you must sacrifice ______ to do it
- you will only be able to manage a weaker version unless you ______
- first you must ______
- the outcome will contain unpredictable side effects
- you need something rare, weird, or dangerous
- you need a lot of people to help you do it
- you can only do it this once
- you can only complete the ritual at a particular time
- whatever the effect is, it must be balanced by an opposite effect elsewhere
- you must make a terrible bargain

If you are not in a Place of Power, the only viable Ritual Magic is "Make this place a Place of Power".

GINGERBREAD
Before you roll the dice, when you draw upon a Place of Power you may add 1 to any roll you make. If you do, but you still miss, you have angered the spirits of the Place.

MY EARS ARE BURNING
When you Read a Person you may always ask "What have they been saying about me?" even if you miss.

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2013, 05:02:14 PM »
I really liked the old move that triggered the want or surplus of something, it felt both powerful and fun and witchy. Maybe just something that triggers a tag on a hit? So it can make guzzling cars guzzle it all or long range weapons shoot even longer (plus of course the famine, partying or idleness when you curse or bless a hardhold).

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2013, 06:00:09 PM »
I liked that one too! It was interesting, but hard to use on NPC's.

NPC groups generally don't have clearly defined Wants or Surplus. It made it very difficult to use.

And you don't want to be able to apply ANY Want or Surplus, because most of the time that doesn't make sense, and it's also not really balanced (Hunger and Famine are both wants, but Famine is much worse).

Any idea how I could make it work?

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2013, 04:01:05 AM »
Man shut up and take my money...
Seriously, this is a very "transdimensional" playbook; as you say, it's not for all Aw games, but may well be used in a low fantasy Dungeon World setting, or in Monster Heart, as a substitute witch. That is, not to do crossovers, but as a base to tweak one's campaign towards a desired result (i.e., DW Low Fantasy, MotW 1800's, ecc.)
Thats what I do when I want to change a setting (or a rulesystem, in the early days), start from the PCs, their characters and the actual changes they want to be done to them.

Really, put this on Drivethru...

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2013, 07:56:25 AM »
Any idea how I could make it work?
I wouldn't worry about balance to be honest, some things should just be more careful not to piss off the Hag! Several moves have different mechanics for PC and NPCs so I don't think that's a problem. Evil Eye looks good so that could be the NPC-exclusive part of the move.

Re: Playbook - The Hag
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2013, 02:49:05 PM »
@Uzio

Wow! Thanks, that's nice of you to say!

Porting this playbook to the other Move Engine games would be... unusual. Not sure how that would work.

@Krippler

After thinking it over, I've modified the list of "The Evil Eye" to include activating an established Want as one of the options.

Eeeexcept apparently I cannot edit old posts. Drat.