75. Warlords

It seems only reasonable that warlords should be the opening threat presented in the text. Warlords are people of power and responsibility. They have gangs they can wield like a weapon, but that also means they have people that they are responsible for. And in a game that uses scarcity as the fuel for its external drama, having someone who needs things and has the power to get them is a vital tool for the MC.

A warlord threat consists of the warlord, plus the gang and other people under the warlord’s control. Choose which kind of warlord:

Slaver (impulse: to own and sell people)
Hive queen (impulse: to consume and swarm)
Prophet (impulse: to denounce and overthrow)
Dictator (impulse: to control)
Collector (impulse: to own)
Alpha wolf (impulse: to hunt and dominate)

So let’s talk for a moment about the beauty of that word “impulse” in this context. Grabbing the Oxford Dictionary’s definition, we get “impulse” defined as “a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act.” Impulses are sudden. Impulses are strong. Impulses are unreflective. In short, there is no choice involved in an impulse. As such, the impulses are related to giving your NPCs a body part to follow around; both are visceral compulsions. My favorite aspect of “impulse” is that it connects to an infinitive verb (to own, to consume, to denounce), which says these threats are defined by their actions, not by what they think or want, but by what they do. Those actions are what gives each threat its own trajectory. They are in motion, they are actively seeking, they are hungry.

Now let’s look at the threat moves. The threat moves for the warlords alone nearly double the amount of moves an MC can make:

Threat moves for warlords:
• Push the battle moves.
• Outflank someone, corner someone, encircle someone.
• Attack someone suddenly, directly, and very hard.
• Attack someone cautiously, holding reserves.
• Seize someone or something, for leverage or information.
• Make a show of force.
• Make a show of discipline.
• Offer to negotiate. Demand concession or obedience.
• Claim territory: move into it, blockade it, assault it.
• Buy out someone’s allies.
• Make a careful study of someone and attack where they’re weak.

I love this list. Even if you weren’t advised to “push the battle moves,” a huge majority of these moves invoke violence and force. Attacking, seizing, claiming, outflanking—these warlords are aggressive motherfuckers. My particular favorite is “offer to negotiate. Demand concession or obedience.” That kills me. The warlord can make overtures of negotiations, but once that discussion is underway (or hell, before that discussion is underway), nothing short of obedience and you giving in to them will satisfy.

That one move points to all the things you can’t do as MC. There is no move that allows you to make your warlord sue for peace. No move lets the warlord surrender. Or share their power. Or hold an election, or put something up for a vote. Your slaver cannot turn their slaves loose, not unless doing so is a way of announcing future badness, or the result of making a careful study of someone in preparation of attacking where they’re weak, or putting someone in a spot. The game compels you down certain paths.

Referencing the list of moves (both in play and out of play) is a subtle form of mind control in its way. Each move suggests something you can have happen in the fiction. You might not have thought about having the warlord buy out someone’s allies, but that move sure gives you an idea. The list opens up all kinds of possibilities, and ideally, you are so excited by those possibilities that you don’t even think about all the possibilities the list points you away from and even denies to you.