I created a riverboat captain (a trader but also a pirate) for my players to do business with.
So I’m looking at my notes for him and thinking…
My players have all been playing Apocalypse World for some time now, they’re familiar with the basic moves, they know how to game stat substitution and try to work up towards Ungiven Future advances.
So I’m looking at my notes for this NPC and thinking “I really want to fuck with the players’ expectations about who this guy is. I want him to be inscrutable and distant, but eager and greedy.”
when you read Honest Jon, unless you have the move advanced, you may only ask questions from this list:
– who, on your crew, do you trust the most?
– who is your crew’s weakest link?
– what’s worrying you right now?
– what do you want to get rid of?
– what do you want to hold onto (you won’t take barter for it)?
– how can I get you to take an interest in me?
– where are you headed after this, and when will you be back?
Cool stuff!
I like most of these, but a few of the questions seem like Honest John would freely answer without needing to read him. What he’s getting rid of and what he’s keeping sound should be common knowledge for a trader. His future trade routes would often be known also. These just make good business sense. Changing these to more of why questions would be more interesting to me.
I was trying to make those questions have secret answers. Like “what are you really trying to get rid of?” without repeating the “what’s worrying you?” question. But that’s a good point. Maybe…
– what are you looking for here?
– who are you trading with next?
– where was your last big score?