Hey all. Thanks for the couple of people who chimed in for the Battlebabe. I’m starting to work on compiling, finally, these words of wisdom into something that should be easy to hand out at the start of a game. Next up I’d like to hear your advice about the Gunlugger.
What is something all Gunluggers should try to do in game? What are some good goals for the most violent person in Apocalypse World? What are some of your best stories of Gunluggers in your game?
I often discourage people from playing the Gunlugger. The moves are not all that interesting and there is a natural player incentive held over from other games to make people play safer than they need to in Apocalypse World. So to play a Gunlugger well, you need to have a straight up FUCKING KNOWLEDGE that you are untouchable. You have to play like you FUCKING KNOW that any time someone fires a gun in their vicinity that it will be the LAST fucking thing they do.
Raymond Chandler said it best, “If your plot is flagging, have a man come in with a gun.” This is good advice for GM’s of other games. But when you play the Gunlugger, you ARE the man with a gun. When you play the Gunlugger you need to adopt this motto, “When this plot is flagging… I’m going to walk in with a gun.” You ARE that device that gets things moving. If you’re playing is safe and trying to keep your character alive all the time, you won’t have fun with this playbook. If you go balls deep and let the world burn in your passing, you’re going to make a mark on what’s left of this world.
Interesting. I’ve never heard of someone saying “No Gunluggers” before. Other playbooks I have, just not this one, but I see your point. A cautious Gunlugger can be a bore.
Also I’m glad you brought up that quote, I can never remember who said it and I use that in my GMing all the time.
So other than “Embracing the Violence” what are some good goals for a person playing a Gunlugger?
have a reason for killing… never back down from it.
Be like Han… shoot first.
It says it right there; make the obvious move. Blow the oppressors head off in the middle of the meeting. Destroy the energy generator that runs on people. Rob Dandelion of her undeserved wealth. Fuck the outcast man you think is hot. Follow the lizard-brain, follow the gut.
One of the most fun AW character I ever played was a gunlugger that rarely pulled her guns out. She only drew them when her intent was to kill. Otherwise, she used a knife or slingshot. For me, figuring out who the character is without the guns was the most important thing for me. Why / how she became this little bundle of death. Embracing the violence is only part of it. You have to be more than the guns or anytime there isn’t combat you will feel like there isn’t much for you to do.
The “guy shows up with a gun” advice works because of all that’s suggested from this potential eruption of violence. What does he want? Who does he want to shoot and why? Who the fuck is he, anyway? How will this change the situation and the characters?
Cautious players need to know that the Gunlugger is a license to give no fucks about threats. Murder hobo players need to know there are consequences to violence beyond more violence. But to me, the key to making an interesting Gunlugger is, “What do they care about?” Why do they fight so hard and how did they get so good? The answers to these can come out in play, but the player should have some idea from the start.
Bryanna Hitchcock is right. There’s an important distinction between murder hobo and a good Gunlugger and that has to do with purpose. You can’t just shoot people. You have to know why, but creating that “Why” is the important part of that playbook. Very good advice.