a re-write of Direct Brain Whisper Projection for a “cool” character
Wary prey: when you look into somebody’s eyes and speak their name, you can roll+cool to go aggro, without going aggro. If your victim forces your hand, it counts as you seducing or manipulating them on a 10+, your choice.
I’m tempted to call it Respect the Fonz
interesting
So lemme see if I’m following you here:
You tell someone to do something, and roll a 10+
They can either do what you want, or have you force their hand.
If you force their hand, they can do it and get +1xp, or not and roll to Act Under Fire.
So they have 3 options:
1. Do it right away and get nothing
2. Do it after you manipulate them and get a 1xp
3. Don’t do it after you manipulate them and roll to Act Under Fire.
It seems like 1 is almost never a good option (Assuming that people want XP)
Because of this, it would make sense to replace the 10+ option with the 10+ option of manipulate… so when you roll +10, you’re not Going Aggro with Cool, you’re manipulating with Cool.
Are you sure the Move shouldn’t just be “Manipulate with Cool”? Are the 7-9 options really worth it?
Sean Musgrave No, you missed a spot. The move doesn’t tell the target to do anything, you just speak their name and then it’s going aggro.
Assuming you roll a 10+ on going aggro the target can force your hand or do what you want, and since this going aggro its assumed that what you want is for them to give you something or get the hell out of your way.
If they force your hand then it’s as if you seduce or manipulate them, your choice. Which effectively changes the move. See, going aggro is like threatening, but manipulating is trying to get something and seducing is trying to get sex. So if they force your hand they allow you to change the move, but you’re still in control.
Assuming your target isn’t following the fiction and just looking to get xp then this gives you the opportunity to fuck with them, since you can change it to a manipulation of “okay, kill your mechanic for me” or “okay, come over here and suck my dick”
At that point, if they’ve forced your hand, they can do what you want (which you’ve had the opportunity to modify in response) and get xp, or else they are acting under fire, in accordance with the seduce/manipulate move.
If this isn’t clear, then how would you suggest I re-word the move to explicitly communicate the alteration of the move from going aggro into a new seduce/manipulate?
It’s worth noting that under go aggro, if you force somebody’s hand you are not giving them what they want (under the description of that move).
I dunno! I don’t get the part of the fiction where you don’t do what The Fonz implied, and then the Fonz asks you to kill your mechanic and suddenly it sounds like an awesome idea. That seems artificial and weird, but that could be just me.
I left the fictional narrative out of the context of the move because I wanted to make sure the mechanics are explained in the language.
Mechanically, you misunderstood the move so I obviously didn’t write it very well.
I don’t think the fiction is as important as getting the description of the move down, but since you’re challenging the fictional narrative of the move: it’s meant to be a bit weird and a bit mind control-y. If you don’t back down from the threat and force his hand then the character’s cool compels you to act in a different (probably non-violent) way, instead of using weird (because he’s not a brainer) or hot (because he’s not a skinner). He’s the Fonz! Or something very like him.
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonzie for context on cool
I admit the move is weird, it’s a bit like housing a trojan move inside of another one and using a stat that doesn’t apply to either move to initiate it. But I think there are weirder and more powerful moves in the “official” playbooks (Hypnotic, Indomitable, Bonefeel, etc.).
But what happens when the victim sucks it up? Where is the damage?
suck it up is beeing manipulated
So, forcing your hand is beeing manipulated, sucking it up is beeing manipulated? Isn’t this just using roll+cool to Manipulate?
Re-read the description for “go aggro,” it’s not manipulation. It’s an intimidation move. It’s specifically designed as “get the hell out of my way/give me that thing, or else I will do violence to you.” In general, sucking it up means “I get the hell out of his way/I give him that thing he wants” and forcing the hand means getting violence inflicted. For this move I’m trying to give the player who goes aggro the opportunity to twist the target’s intentions by being able to alter the move if his hand is forced.
Obviously I have to write it out differently because there’s way too much confusion about what the it does. So back to the drawing board!
Actually, in Go Aggro, “force your hand” and “suck it up” are part of the same thing, and mean you’re bringing the pain on them for not doing what you asked. The other option is for them to cave and do what you want them to.
I’m not sure the move as written is all that great. It’s basically Go Aggro without the threat of harm, so I’m wondering if it’s really just a convoluted way to Seduce or Manipulate… but with different consequences on a 7-9. Basically, on a 7-9 they can choose to get out of your way, instead of S/M’s agreeing to do what you want if you give them something.
I mean, you can’t really Go Aggro on someone without a demand. That’s like putting a gun to someone’s head and asking them to “make a choice,” devoid of context. And if you’re not intending to pull the trigger anyway, it’s basically just Manipulate.
Although I think I read an example of using the possibility of violence as a Manipulation thing; “do what I want or I’ll hurt you” – they can ask you to promise not to hurt them if they do what you want.
I still think of “go aggro” as a “I am threatening you with violence” move, but it has to be followed up with violence the way it’s written. Basically, I was trying to write the move in such a way that you could threaten somebody with violence without having to actually inflict violence but instead leveraging the threat into something else if they force your hand. It didn’t really work.
Yeah, I think when it’s the suggestion of potential violence, rather than the threat of imminent violence, that probably just comes under Manipulation. “If you do what I want, I won’t feed you a knuckle sandwich!”