32 thoughts on “Another one.”

  2. That, being said, on the “quantum of solace” move, you say that everyone who helps gets XP, but you decide who. Does that mean that the Loner can say “no, you didn’t really help me” and deny someone XP?

  6. This Ends Now worries me. Everything in AW is a situation the character is embroiled in. I’m worried this move will become the only move used. I’m not sure what they have to do in order to do it.

  7. This ends now can’t be used in place of every move; its not indomitable.

    Like, say, I roll up on Aglet the chopper. I say, “yeah fuck this guy. This ends now!” Then the MC needs to say “okay, what do you do?”

    I say, “I shoot him” but then I don’t roll This Ends. I CAN’T roll it. See, I’ve triggered a basic move, like Seize, I guess. I have to roll that, and I figure I can’t roll This Ends until I’ve actually done something to end things.

    This Ends doesnt seem to me like it replaces anything; it becomes a button, or a period, on the end of a string of action.

  8. “It’s not indomitable”?

    Indomitable is pretty tightly defined as “… in battle” isn’t it? I know that I make sure my Touchstone is in a fair few battles (fights are just not spectacle enough!) but making every violent contest a total block-war-style bloodbath tends to polarise opinions!

    This End Now seems pretty darn powerful to me. Maybe it should be more like Towering Presence (which has the always-fun “they attack you” option)? Or maybe it should always be “This Shit Ends Now” and relates to whatever terrible shitty things you have Memories about?

  11. At least Towering Presence lets the MC attack you with 7-year-olds and people you don’t actually want to be in a fight with (because you will immediately kill them cos you didn’t take a stun gun and did take Merciless…).

  12. I figured This Ends Now was meant to be when you are socially interacting with those who are expecting you to continue in it. It isn’t a move that achieves something in and of itself, it conveys to those who are going to expect you continue to be involved that you aren’t.

    So if you stand up to a warlord who insists you need to ride out with him on a raid, you could use this and shut that shit down. If you only 7-9 you’ve got your last ride that you owe him. If you hit it 10+ it is in your past now. It is different than just shooting him in the face, because given the nature of the playbook expansion it is totally legit for his gang to now think that you’re the boss and need to keep the raids and lifestyle going.

  13. We’ll just have to agree to disagree, I suppose, as I don’t understand how it replaces any action at all — you still have to take action to trigger it, and if those actions trigger any moves, then there ya go.

  16. I have no problem clarifying the fictional trigger for This Ends Now if need be. The intention is that you can only use it AFTER you’ve dealt with a situation that you don’t want to reoccur, and you have to have actually tried to shut it down, not exacerbate it or take advantage of it, etc. maybe that’s not coming across.

    Jason Morningstar The art is all Joe Mcdaldno, using a process similar to what he did for Monsterhearts. But I don’t know too much about it, honestly. Ask Joe?

  17. P.S. The funny thing about This Ends Now is that it doesn’t actually end things. It just adds then to the baggage that you can potentially trigger later through Things Done and Left Undone.

  18. To clarify: this is what I’m imagining and maybe folks can help with the exact wording.

    I’m playing a Brainer who has This Ends Now. The cult of the tar pits has decided that there’s a dinosaur spirit inside my head, which is what’s causing the Psychic Maelstrom. So they’ve kidnapped me and the local Angel and are forcing the Angel — with the threat of a very slow and painful death — to open my brain the old-fashioned way. Luckily the Chopper teams up with Balls and Jack-Jack, former members of my old crew, and together we set the tar-lands ablaze with rich black smoke that blots out the sun.

    Then, standing amidst the ashes, I trigger This Ends Now, since it feels like we’ve attempted to put a stop to something that was developing here (maybe a Front, but at least this specific Threat). However, I’m the one who has to write down what was ended here, when I add it to my past as a old gig. So I could write “The Dinosaur Spirit Cult (memories/blowback)” or “The Tar-lands (memories/blowback)” or “I’m not responsible for the Psychic Maelstrom (memories/blowback).” And, based on what I write down, it gives the MC a different cue as to what has been ended here and what might reemerge if I later botch a roll on Things Done and Left Undone.

    Does that make sense?

  19. P.S. If I didn’t use the move, nothing has necessarily ended. The MC would be free to have the remnants of the tar pits cult gather back together and start some new mischief, or for their beliefs about the dinosaur spirit to start spreading even though the original cultists are scattered or dead.

  22. Judd Karlman In my mind, the character (with some help) “put an end to things,” i.e. they destroyed the tar-lands and the problem that had emerged from there. It could have happened in a number of other ways. Maybe they killed the leader of the dinosaur cult. Maybe they exposed him as a fraud. Maybe they had the dinosaur cult join their ranks. Maybe the Brainer goes, “yeah, I am the Psychic Maelstrom and you better not mess with me ever again.” Lots of different ways to “end it,” in my mind, all of which involve actually doing stuff, rather than just triggering this move.

  23. Is it a suffix that goes after a move has occurred and I want to make damned sure a thorough job was done or do I use it any time I want to end anything?

  24. You use it after you’ve ended something (and want to make its impact be lasting), which could be a move or not, right? Setting the tar-lands on fire, for example, might not have even been a move. Maybe you just did it.

    The trigger could even be: “When you’ve put an end to something, at least for now, ….”

  28. Judd Karlman Suggestions are totally welcome! That’s why I’m sharing these. I definitely appreciate you pointing out that the current wording is confusing. That’s very helpful.

  29. This ends now.

    When you end something, roll + hard. On a 10+ hold 3 and on a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your holds as you look over the wreckage or deal with the aftermath.

    How could this ending turn to a new kind of trouble?

    What aspect of this trouble have I missed?

    How can I head off future troubles like this one?

    What troubles were born while I ended this one?

    Who have I neglected or hurt most while ending this?

  30. I like it!

    In my mind, though, the entire point of the move is to transform existing problems into old gigs (memories/blowback). If I went more in that direction, I feel like I would want to completely rewrite the first move too (which is possible, just would require a more deeper rethinking).

  31. “Me too” on the Judd Karlman suggestion! The edit makes the design intent more clear to me.

    I really like it as an opportunity to add punctuation to the outcome of another move: either a fullstop or an ellipsis. I think I am going to have trouble using it and not adding: “you and I have unfinished business…”

  32. Okay, so I rewrote the first move from scratch to have it do what I want it to do without being all clever with the gig mechanics. See what you think (not sure what I’m doing with This Ends Now yet):

    Things done and left undone: At the beginning of a session, during downtime, or whenever you Open your brain, remind the MC to ask you a few questions about the dreams and recollections that have been vexing you lately. They might start with one like:

    – What’s your history with ___?

    – Where have you seen trouble like ___ before?

    – Tell us about a time when you ___?

    – Who does ___ remind you of?

    Once you’ve answered their questions, roll+sharp. On a 10+, yeah, it probably happened about like that, and take +1 forward when dealing with things or people from those memories. On a 7-9, close enough, but there’s a few crucial things you left out or got wrong. On a miss, you are completely full of shit, but somebody around here knows what really happened.

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