Brainer
THE
BRAINER
☐ get +1 cool (max cool +2) ☐ get a new brainer move
☐ get +1 sharp (max sharp +2) ☐ get a new brainer move
☐ get +1 hard (max hard +2) ☐ get 2 gigs (detail) and moonlighting
☐ get +1 hard (max hard +2) ☐ get a move from another playbook
☐ get a holding (detail) and wealth ☐ get a move from another playbook
THE BRAINER
Introducing
Brainers are the weird psycho psychic mindfucks of Apocalypse World. They have brain control, puppet strings, creepy hearts, dead souls, and eyes like broken things. They stand in your peripheral vision and whisper into your head, staring. They clamp lenses over your eyes and read your secrets.
They’re just the sort of tasteful accoutrement that no well-appointed hardhold can do without.
CREATING A BRAINER
To create your brainer, choose name, look, stats, moves, gear, and Hx.
NAME
Smith · Jones · Jackson · Marsh · Lively · Burroughs · Gritch · Joyette · Iris · Marie · Amiette · Suelle · Cybelle · Pallor · Sin · Charmer · Pity · Brace · Sundown
LOOK
man · woman · ambiguous · transgressing · concealed
high formal wear · clinical wear · fetish–bondage wear · environmental wear improper to the local environment
scarred face · smooth face · pale face · bony face · plump moist face · sweet face
soft eyes · dead eyes · deep eyes · caring eyes · pale eyes · ruined eyes · wet eyes
awkward angular body · soft body · slight body · crippled body · fat body
STATS
Choose one set:
MOVES
You get all the basic moves. Choose 2 brainer moves.
GEAR
You get: 1 small fancy weapon; 2 brainer gear; oddments worth 5‑barter; fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1‑armor (you detail).
Small fancy weapons (choose 1):
HX
Everyone introduces their characters by name, look, and outlook. Take your turn. List the other characters’s names.
Go around again for Hx. On your turn, tell everyone Hx−1. You keep yourself secret.
On the other characters’s turns, choose 1, 2, or all 3:
Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, add +1 to it and write that next to their character’s name. You know everyone better than normal.
At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will name another stat for you to highlight too.
Cool+1 Hard+1 Hot−2 Sharp+1 Weird+2
Cool=0 Hard=0 Hot+1 Sharp=0 Weird+2
Cool+1 Hard−2 Hot−1 Sharp+2 Weird+2
Cool+2 Hard−1 Hot−1 Sharp=0 Weird+2
silenced 9mm (2‑harm close hi‑tech)
ornate dagger (2‑harm hand valuable)
hidden knives (2‑harm hand infinite)
scalpels (3‑harm intimate hi‑tech)
antique handgun (2‑harm close reload loud valuable)
One of them has slept in your presence (knowingly or un-). Ignore whatever number that player tells you; instead, write Hx+3 next to that character’s name.
One of them you’ve been watching carefully for some time, in secret. Ignore whatever number that player tells you; instead, write Hx+3 next to that character’s name.
One of them quite evidently dislikes and distrusts you. Ignore whatever number that player tells you; instead, write Hx+3 next to that character’s name.
If you’re charging someone wealthy for your services, 1‑barter is the going rate for: one successful deep-brain scan; one in-brain puppet command, upon its execution; one week’s employment as a kept brainer.