How does the Hardholder work out in actual play? I know that it creates a lot of setting fiction when you take it, but is this unfairly limiting to other players who may want a more nomadic-style? Does it keep the groups foot nailed to the floor or encourage turtling behavior?
How does the Hardholder work out in actual play?
How does the Hardholder work out in actual play?
I played a hardholder of a “train” (was a convoy of vehicles, trying to drive through the snow-ridden land towards a big settlement). As the “train” was moving we also had smaller vehicles that could make separate trips (there was a driver with his tank, and my character’s old gang from his chopper days).
A moving hardhold is always a cool idea. But the group’s mobility, or lack thereof, is something that should be discussed as people are choosing playbooks.
I don’t think the choice of any playbook is more or less limiting than anyone else. The playbooks are all giant flags and picking the Hardholder is the player saying “I wanna play a game where being the responsible for place/community/whatever is a thing”. The hold could be as nomadic or non-nomadic as it needs to be for your game.
I think the only playbook that may stand out a bit in that regard is the Driver, which demands movement in some kind of vehicle.
If a Hardholder limits other players they should talk about it
Personally, I don’t see any real issue with having characters with two different outlooks in this regard. If trouble comes to the hold, the driver/chopper might feel that they can cut and run, whereas the hardholder can’t. That’s going to be a really interesting scene or in-character discussion.
Also (and probably a bit obvious) every scene doesn’t have to have every character in them.
And, as said above, when people are picking playbooks this should be up for discussion
It’s never caused an issue in play in my experience. It usually works out that when you start making characters together, if someone picks the Hardholder, then you just sort of come to a consensus on how that works for the group. Like does that mean its a static hardhold, and everyone is based there? Or is it a travelling, nomadic hardhold that we’re all part of? Does the Driver maybe work for the Hardholder? What about the Gunlugger? etc etc.
First session usually establishes the way the Hardholder fits into the group basically.
And if someone is playing the Hardholder, that doesn’t mean anything about where the other characters live/spend their time. My first AW game had a hardhold that three of five PCs lived in. The other PCs visited pretty frequently, but they also started shit with other nearby communities and spent more time fighting against the environment.
In my experience, the presence of an hardholder focus the game on the hold, more than on the outside.
This said, the other characters don’t have to stay in the hold – they can travel around doing their own things, or stuff for the holder – damn, the holder itself does not have to stay in the hold – they may be called outside to make alliance, or stuff like that.
What is true is that – as any other playbook- the presence of a hh makes you focus on some element of the apocalypse. In this case, that’s the hold – what important npcs are there? Who are the guys that compose the hh’s gang, and which kind of relationship do they have with the hh? What lies in the bottom floors of the savvyhead laboratories? Who is angered by the hh harsh methods? (etc)