People have been asking about good questions so I decide to share this.

People have been asking about good questions so I decide to share this.

People have been asking about good questions so I decide to share this. I’ve written generic love letters that could be used in a first session or one-shot for each of the playbooks (and some of the limited edition ones) and I wrote an accompanying file with 3 provocative questions for each playbook. Here are the questions I wrote for those:

ANGEL: How did you get your angel kit? What’s the worst injury you were unable to patch up? Who was the last person you saved from death and what are they to you?

BATTLEBABE: How did you get your guns? Besides killing, what are you best known for doing? Who is upset about the last person you killed, or fucked?

BRAINER: When did you first learn about your freak talents? Who was the last person you had sex with (or deep brain scanned)? How did you make most of your wealth?

CHOPPER: How did you come to be the leader of the gang? What is your gang best known for? Which gang member is the last one you had to make an example of in order to maintain control, tell me about them?

DRIVER: How did you get your car? Who taught you how to drive (might be self-taught but explain)? What is the most untrustworthy thing about (the one who has been on the road with you for days)?

FACELESS: Does your mask have a name of its own, and do you have a different name when you’re not wearing the mask? Why does your mask want to be worn by you? How long have you been having blackouts?

GROTESQUE: What mutated you, or were you born this way? What’s the most offensive or disgusting part of your appearance? How comfortable are you with others’ discomfort?

GUNLUGGER: Excluding sex, what is your primary motivation in life? How transparent are your impulses to others? People don’t think of you much, why does that bother you? Who deserves a bullet?

HARDHOLDER: How did you come to be in charge? Why might your enforcers think less of you? What are your immediate plans for the hold?

HOARDER: How did you find your hoard, or did it find you? Who desperately wants something from your hoard but can’t afford it? Who are you the biggest nuisance to in the community?

HOCUS: What are you most ashamed of? Why might your followers desert you? Which do you hold closer, regret or anger, and explain it?

MAESTRO D: How did you acquire or set up the business? Why do people work for you instead of some other guy? What secret are you keeping in the basement or hole in the ground?

OPERATOR: How do you keep people from getting close to you? You are running out of time, why? Besides trust, what is your most prized possession?

SAVVYHEAD: What important things have you done for the hold? What’s unfinished? Where is your workspace in relation to the hold? How long have you been set up here? Who was hurt by your last experiment?

SKINNER: What is your chosen artform? How do you get paid? When is your food going to run out?

These should be used as lead-in questions to lead into more questions, like “How did you get your angel kit?”

“My mother left it to me.”

“Were you close with her? Did she teach you how to use it? How did she die? Did you try to use the angel kit on her? When was the first time you used the kit then?”

Let the player’s answers guide your line of questioning!

13 thoughts on “People have been asking about good questions so I decide to share this.”

  1. All of those are solid questions. Also mix it up with questions that are not directed specifically at that playbook.

    Who is one person you have trusted? Do you still trust them? Why or why not?

    What’s one thing you hope to do in your life? What’s holding you back?

    Where do you feel safe? What does that place look like?

    What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen?

    What reminds you of home?

    What is your most unexpected possession?

    What would people be surprised to learn about you?

    What did you eat last? What flavor do you most like?

    What’s the story behind your most visible scar?

    What grief (or anger, or hope) do you still carry?

    What do you feel most grateful for or proud of? Ashamed of?

    Have you ever killed a person? Why? How? What do you still carry from that experience?

    Have you ever seen a person die? How? What do you still carry from that experience?

    Have you ever birthed or helped at the birth of a child? What do you still carry from that experience?

    Who is the oldest person you know and how long have they known you?

    What is your sharpest memory from childhood? From adolescence? From five years ago?

  2. I like to ask about siblings, parents, normal life stuff.

    I’ve also sprung off of character’s names. Like asking “Have your, or your parents, ever seen an actual sunset?” or “Did your parents pick your name because they knew, or did you pick your name after you found out about yourself?” That one led to asking, “So what did your mother name you?”

  3. These are insanely good. I’d look for specific questions that touch on all major aspects of character background that make this person interesting, or create a sense of urgency or tension about them:

    * Physical descriptors that aren’t covered by the multiple choice questions or starting Moves

    * Relationships with those whom they care about most

    * Attitude, beliefs, their general opinion of the world

    * Motivation and secret desires or regrets for doing what they do

    * Past jobs, skills and areas of expertise they are known for

    * Reputation in the community, what do others say about them

    * Rivalries and conflict with people standing in the way of them getting what they want

  4. Definitely. I also like open questions that can have totally unexpected answer types.

    Though, to be honest, my favorite is asking what exactly they are carrying around for barter. You get all sorts of neat answers like canned rations, still good MREs, perpetually warm stones, ammo they can’t use, bio-diesel, weird bolts that fit the kind of bike the local gangs ride, and written promises of repayment from a local warlord who always keeps his word.

  5. Wrangler

    What does your pack eat? Where are you getting that stuff from?

    Why does Cosplay have an unhealthy fascination for your pack? 

    Who did you fuck last and why did it end bad? 

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