Playbook Concept: The Suit

So, I've been toying with the idea of post-apocalypse + cyberpunk. The world below is that of the apocalypse we all know by now, but there are also higher-ups, in the great towers of steel and glass, seeking to use the resources left to maintain their own luxurious lifestyle. The Suit is an agent of these people, sent down to secure their interests. They have enough leeway to do interesting things, but are still ultimately cogs of the corporate machinery.

I'm figuring that the central pillar of this playbook is fucking up the economy like a Western blood diamond trader strolling around in Congo. The Suit has cash, not barter, and loads of it, enough to set anyone up for life, just as long as they can make use of it. Thus, everyone should have access to this move:

Flush: When you offer someone substantial cash payment, take increase Expenses by one and roll +Hot. On a 10+, they do whatever you please, led by the promise of untold riches. On a 7-9, they also do what you want, but either you or they attract unwanted attention. On a miss, your cash is no good here, and you've marked yourself out as a lucrative target. If you use this move on a PC, just increase Expenses by one and offer them to hold one if they do as you say -- if they do, they can spend their hold to use this move, just once (they obviously don't increase Expenses, since they don't have an account).

Expenses is a tally on how your much you're costing your corporate overlords. At the start of every session, roll +Expenses. On a 6-, things are good, no sweat. On a 7-9, (I don't really know what would be suitable here.). On a 10+, management wonders what the hell you are doing. You are cut off from using Flush until you provide some concrete results.

Your corporation has one specific goal in mind. Decide on one threat type: Collector, Dictator, Hive Queen or Slaver (though probably not by outright picking the type -- corporate lingo synonyms of these would be a welcome addition). Whenever you decisively and successfully follow through on your goal (i.e., follows the threat impulse of your corporation), Expenses resets to 0.

Other than that... this should probably be a Hot playbook. "Looks" needs a section on different smiles (cold smile, crooked smile, enthusiastic smile, mocking smile, pearly white smile). Some playbook moves, but probably not all, should cover new things to do with Expenses.

Thoughts?

This is an interesting concept.  It is specific to a particular kind of apocalypse, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.  One thing you might want to keep in the back of your head though is: how does "cash" translate into barter?  What is one unit of Expenses really worth?  Are we talking setting someone up for one hell of a night?  A weekend?  A year of luxury?  Set for life?  A single unit of barter is low-class rent for a month.

Also, a cash economy implies certain additional things about the apocalypse.  You might want to think through the ramifications of who mints the currency, what guarantees they make to back it, how much confidence people have in it, whether there are any restrictions on its use, etc.

As for moves that use it, how about:
When you pay good money for good information about someone, take +1Expenses and roll+Hot.  On a 10+ pick 3, on a 7-9 pick 1.

• where can I find them?
• who do they know, like and/or trust?
• what or who do they love best?
• are they a threat to me or my company?
• who is pulling their strings?
• what is their biggest asset?
• what is their biggest liability?

Flush: When you offer someone substantial cash payment, take increase Expenses by one and roll +Hot. On a 10+, they do whatever you please, led by the promise of untold riches. On a 7-9, they also do what you want, but either you or they attract unwanted attention. On a miss, your cash is no good here, and you've marked yourself out as a lucrative target. If you use this move on a PC, just increase Expenses by one and offer them to hold one if they do as you say -- if they do, they can spend their hold to use this move, just once (they obviously don't increase Expenses, since they don't have an account).

This seems strictly worse than simply seducing or manipulating, and also strictly worse than spending 1-barter for an auto 10+ on seduce/manipulate. If 1-expense roughly equals 1-barter, it should be at least as good as that. If 1-expense is worth more, then, well, it should be maybe better.

Still, conceptually I like this idea, but. Hm!
Have you seen the hoarder? What about a hoarder where the corporation is your hoard? Seems like a weird yet awesome idea (but, still, I think it'd be cool to see this playbook develop out).

- Alex

If you're interested in cyber punk apocalypse world, this may be of interest to you: http://leftoblique.net/wp/2013/08/12/three-small-aw-hacks/ (scroll down to the AW Noir section).

This would definitely be a "don't consider these ideas binding" playbook, specifically intended for an apocalypse with some type of capitalist structure remaining.

Yes, 1-expense should be considerably more than 1-barter. Perhaps the Flush move could be more like the Touchstone's different "hope" things -- as long as the Suit stays in favour with their employer and keeps handing out money, everyone is eager to please and serve them, and they get what they want. However, it should also come with a downside -- the influx of cash should disrupt things, make people debase themselves, perhaps give some bright motherfucker the idea to ransom or blackmail you.

Actually increasing Expenses should probably be intended for more significant expenditures, ones that are "start a new life" kind of money for someone in the wastelands. Remember, the point is that the Suit is essentially a first world person in a third world country, with all the discrepancies in income and ugly colonialist baggage that it implies.

The Hoarder is really my least favourite playbook, at least out of the ones I've played with. As an MC, I found that spending my hold to make the Hoarder want things is not the least interesting, and far less organic than most other mechanics of the game. The less this design takes from that source, the better.

The Hoarder is really my least favourite playbook, at least out of the ones I've played with. As an MC, I found that spending my hold to make the Hoarder want things is not the least interesting, and far less organic than most other mechanics of the game. The less this design takes from that source, the better.

A little off topic, but I've had an almost completely different experience.  Maybe it's because my Hoarder player does "shifty and covetous" so well, or maybe it's just the nature of what's in his hoard ("pretty things," and "relics and junk from the golden age past").  Spending the hold to make him want things leads to interesting situations because it means he'll typically want the things that other people already have.  Things they keep because they are beautiful or intrinsically valuable or to which they have some sentimental attachment.  That ancient Hello Kitty key fob that you keep because your mother wore it as a necklace and it's all you have to remember her by?  Yeah, he wants that.  And he'll do devious shit to get it.  Why?  Probably because it's important to you.  When shit goes missing, he's the first one people suspect even if he didn't have anything to do with it, something that has produced fun drama in and of itself.  And I can't wait for the first time the Chopper misses his fucking thieves roll, because there's a decent chance the Hoarder actually did take the thing, at which point all hell will break loose.

Yeah, I don't have a problem with the Hoarder having to nick things, it's the fact that it is administrated from the MC's side of the game that bugs me. No other playbook has a mechanic which says "you need to do this now" as bluntly, and which requires the MC to keep track of hold in the same way.