How to pitch the Operator
I can pitch basically all off the Playbooks (Solace and Faceless are hard though) but not the Operator. It’s hard to really get them down because they are really diverse.
Here is how it usually goes
“Well they are like Dany Ocean (or Mel if you know Firefly), a lot of stuff going on. They have like 4 jobs at once and have to manage them all at the same time”
but that doesn’t really cover why they are cool and how they play. (i am not sure about this myself since i haven’t seen them in play)
Can you help me out?
(we could also collect general pitches about the other (custom made) playbooks. )
Handler
You have a big scary monster. Think Dragon, Terrasque, Ogre or Landshark. It’s scary, It’s powerfull – the only thing keeping it in control is you.
If you want a huge club to threaten people with, this is it. Keep in mind that the monster is a living thing though and it won’t always do as you wish.
Wrangler
Imagine a guy coming down the street with a big scary Attack Dog on a leash. Now think about him having 9 of those, but it’s not just dogs but Apocalypse World mutant beasties. They are also not on a leash.
You don’t want to cross this guy do you?
Juggernaut
Choppers have a gang, Gunluggers pack massive guns, drivers have a few cars. YOU. HAVE. A. MECH. A massive machine made for mayhem.
Without it you are not as cool but hey, if you have a mech – no reason to leave it right? right?
Y’know, I have never pitched an individual playbook? I’ve always done one of two things. Either I cold-read the person who has paused at the booth and hand them the one I think fits (I have occasionally sold a book just on that – it’s kinda creepy-fun), or I spread the playbooks I am open to having in the game on the table and let players grab the one that they want. If someone’s looking at the cover art but wants to know more, I turn it over tot he back and the text box. If they still want more, I turn to the moves in the playbook.
Guessing playbooks for people sounds like a fun thing to do.
It is! My hits outweigh my misses.
Meguey Baker ‘s playbook booth, like Lucy in Peanuts. Sounds like fun.
that would be awesome
There’s always G+ or twitter :-). Let the great assigning begin!
I’m definitely going to GenCon this year, Meguey, if I see you will you cold read me a playbook?
As for Pitching the Operator, tell the player he can move the story forward just by existing. “You got these jobs you do, right, you have to keep them going to make ends meet. But something has to collapse just based on sheer weight of numbers, man. When that happens you going to need The Driver or The Gunlugger and you can’t trust those guys. This shit is going to be sick.”
That being said the Operator kind of falls apart in groups that are self-motivating. But she’s still kick-ass.
Marshall Miller – it’s far too visual and body language a thing to even try over the internet, I’m afraid.
Matt Capizzi – I’ll be at PAX East this year, but GenCon is a big question mark still.
I really hope you and Vincent do show up. It would be nice to meet you in person and say hello to Vincent again.
You know what is awesome? Not pitching playbooks, not telling war-stories about our old characters, and giving a new player the opportunity to teach me what a hardholder is.
Ross, I think people sometimes have a hard time figuring out the game from Go. But I agree, people are really good at reinventing the wheel when you let them. And it’s so awesome to learn from people and explore together.
Sometimes I feel like we’re Montessori teachers as MCs and that makes the whole thing so much more fulfilling.
Tim Franzke Did you post your Handler playbook somewhere and I missed it? Or is this the same playbook as the Wrangler but just tweaked a little?
If I were trying to pitch the Operator, here’s what I would say.
“You’ve got your finger in every pie, man. You’re involved in everything that goes on around here. Problem is, you’ve gotta keep all the balls in the air or, y’know… shit goes bad. Look, just play this one, it’s seriously the coolest playbook in the game.”
(If they’re familiar with any Apocalypse World based games, just have them read Moonlighting. If they’re not sold, take it away from them and give them something else.)
You know, the Operator is a tight little book. I didn’t get it on first swing, but I’ve really gotten into it.
See. The Gunlugger and the Battlebabe are kind of like Wolverine. They’re solo badasses who hog the spotlight, but are not people-people. When they come to town they have to pitch/advertise themselves and find jobs. And often (unless they take advances) these things are touch and go. One task at a time.
The Operator is already there. Everyone wants him because he’s just that good at getting things done. The Gunlugger has to drop a couple people to make his point. The Operator is meanwhile standing next to the Hardholder already making clink because folks know their worth.
Also, many people (see Angel for example) constantly need Barter to buy ammo, to buy food, to buy fixes for their rides. The operator on the other hand frequently has spare cash. And when things go wrong? Well the game always starts in an interesting place.
Ocean was a clever, but obsessed and broken man. His 11 are all Operators.
Give them a go. If you want to look the lone-wolf badass, this is probably not the book for you. But the operator is many things, and all of them interesting.
Also Meguey Baker here’s to hoping you can make it to GenCon!
It would be neat to compare Meg’s intuitive playbook assignment outcomes with random assignment outcomes. I think that part of why you’d have more hits than misses is because just about anyone can have fun with just about any of the playbooks. They’re all good!
This calls for a What Playbook Are You internet quiz…
Each quiz question presents a piece of fiction and ends with “what do you do.” You have to choose one of four fictional courses of action. Once you pick one, the quiz reveals which move you’ve triggered. At the end, it looks at the moves you’ve made and assigns a playbook. Maybe it has something to say about you, madlib style, based on the fiction you chose.