I am very tempted to do something very silly.
Namely, to use the moves in Josh Roby's unackbar'd version of the Apocalypse World Hardholder to build an Ackbar-type Officer for Andrew Medeiros's Star Wars World.
Or, rather, a Sisko type officer. A Picard type officer. An Adama.
Someone who runs a large ship that has a lot more going on than just the crew -- people who live and breathe and laugh on the ship, who have their own lives. They live there, but they don't work for the Officer.
I'd also give the officer a carrot for each player character who lives on their ship -- and a carrot to those PCs, too. And when a player character leaves the ship -- when they no longer call it home -- something about it changes.
This here? This is an open call for suggestions for moves, incentives, and other ideas.
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Sounds like that needs minimal changes from a hardholder. Just some sort of global custom move for leaving the ship
ReplyDeleteWhat is the mission of the ship/station?
ReplyDeleteTony Lower-Basch That sounds like a player facing move to me! Maybe a few options, ala the Paladin's Quest move from Dungeon World.
ReplyDelete(Also, Josh? If you say "don't", then I won't use your stuff.)
ReplyDeleteOh have at!
ReplyDeleteAaron Griffin Yeah, I want a little more difference than that. I also need a name.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteThe Governor? The Admiral? The Flag? The Moff?
ReplyDeleteThe Ackbar!
ReplyDelete[That's a terrible name]
ReplyDeleteThe Shepherd
ReplyDeleteJosh Roby That makes me think of Shepherd Book. Its not bad, but its got some baggage for me, ya know?
ReplyDeleteOh frick, now I need a Shepherd playbook!
ReplyDeleteAndrew Medeiros I recommend starting from the Unicorn playbook (if i remember the name ighbt) from Monster Hearts. The one with Integrity as a start.
ReplyDeleteMaybe The Moff.
ReplyDeleteThe way I've got this so far, you command a ship, station, or colony. I've got a list of some of these: corellian corvette, escort gunboat, dreadnought, medical ship, MC80, battlecruiser, cruiser, station, colony.
[ As an aside, I'm open for names of star wars ship classifications. Woookipedia is being mean. ]
I'm using Josh's Control stat, and renamed Wealth to Status Quo. On a 10+, get 3 control and no problem. On a 7-9, at least one want. You can take control of other commands, and add them to your list.
That is: You gain additional ships, colonies, and stations under your command. You built a little empire.
Leadership not only gives you the ability to do stuff in combat, but also dictates the strength of your military -- if you take the move, then you have troopers & starfighters & turbo lasers and crap.
I could rewrite all this soon, but this is where I am now. Open to ideas and suggestions.
FUCK YES MOFF
ReplyDeleteHey William, there's an interesting bit at the end of Brin's most recent post, contrasting Star Trek and Star Wars:
ReplyDeletehttp://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2016/09/to-boldly-go-star-trek-at-fifty.html
TL;DR version: Star Wars rests on the foundational assumption that society and its institutions are completely ineffectual. That sounds true enough to me. How does that weave in to the concept of making a character book that is completely dedicated to fighting that thematic strain?
Oh hey, here's a playbook. Thoughts and ideas very much sought after.
ReplyDeletedocs.google.com - Star Wars Moff
I like it! I really like that intimacy move!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, best parts of anything I put together are stolen.
ReplyDeleteLife is theft.
ReplyDeleteCould you see such a character being played side by side with a Solo and Leia and Skywalker?
ReplyDeleteYou mean Ackbar or Mon Mothma? ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, but as PCs.
ReplyDeleteSo, a whole lot more screen time than just "many bothans died" or "its a twap!"
That's the big concern -- and I guess its always the concern with the hardhholder, too -- that those characters aren't usually the protagonists. Or'm i missing them?
Sisko, Elizabeth Weir, Sheridan, whoever's in charge of Defiance because I couldn't be bothered to keep watching that dumpster fire.
ReplyDeleteYou are right!
ReplyDeleteAlso about Defiance being a dumpster fire. We gave it maybe a single full episode. That was awful. Its apparently all just a video game tie in?
Sisko is absoutely in line with this. He starts with a space station, and expands to also having the Defiant. And then a bunch of other ships towards the end of the series. Weir, too.
Cool. I'm glad you like it! I might bring it to a game night.
Tony Lower-Basch huh.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, Mon Mothma does matter. She's in charge and gives the briefing -- sure and then steps aside to let the heroes do the work.
I've intentionally not included a hierarchy upwards. This Moff doesn't necessarily take orders from a Chancellor or anything. Instead, carving out a little bit of empire -- lower e empire, not The Empire.
That's not quite something we see in Star Wars, but its a lot more similar to the Clone Wars animated series.
Anyway, I think there's maybe a place for it. Though I still enjoyed my scoundrel across from your driver. That was pretty great.
This may be a divide like the Vlog Brothers discussing Batman.
ReplyDeleteYou see Mon Mothma in a position that clearly connotes authority and decision-making power in the fictional world Star Wars is supposed to be set in. She is, as you say, in charge.
I see Mon Mothma walking in, delivering the exposition that needs to be given to get the characters to their next adventure, and vanishing never to be seen again. The fictional world that may or may not exist off the screen doesn't enter my thinking.
All I'm suggesting is that when you try to pull that fictional world into the on-screen world of a game, the Star Wars story structure is going to fight back, hard.
It's sort of the same as when you point out "Hey, Luke is totally a slaver, because droids are obviously sophonts" or "You know, given its orbit the second Death Star must have been held up by AG fields, so once its mass is scattered, it will mostly deorbit catastrophically, rendering Endor a lifeless burning crater landscape." Those are both clearly implied by any logical fictional world, but you can't just say those things as if they were true.
Tony Lower-Basch
ReplyDeleteI adore that Mon Mothma is the archytypical "if you know her name, you're a super nerd'" character, and that this is a discussion which takes that as an absolute given.
Maybe its because I read the Zahn series in formative years -- so, Thrawn & Karrde are both very much star wars characters for me. Garm Bel Iblis, who was off fighting his own war against the empire. Or at least trying too. Mara Jade, of course, but those first three are all examples of the Moff archetype. And in the EU, they matter and have a lot more screen time than they would in theatrical Star Wars.
My view of star wars is forever changed by the Thrawn series. In Jedi when the fleet goes to hyperspace heading to Endor, I don't just see set dressing -- I see a fleet with its own exciting stories. I'd be interested in a Star Wars focusing on Ackbar, rising through the ranks to eventually become Admiral of the Fleet, only to emerge at Endor to see dozens of star destroyers. Everything will be ruined, because -- its a trap!
That failure, and the resultant battle? I want to see those from Ackbar's eyes, not just from Luke and Han's.
Well then, carry on but label clearly, because there are plenty of people who are going to be really surprised by the mismatch between what they think Star Wars is, and what you do. That's a nasty surprise when you're using it as the foundation for getting everyone on the same page.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea! Much as how the Quarantine has a bolded label saying "this is a departure from the genre!"
ReplyDelete