So, first session of my #TechnoirWorld game, #Technoir using #ApocalypseWorld and using it pretty straight up. So I haven’t tweaked much, a new move here and there and one new playbook, the Drone Master, heavily inspired by the Beast Master, the Juggernaut and the heritage moves from the Planarch Codex.
And the game was mad good. I think I’m finally understanding the point of Fronts; converting into Fronts an established web of factions and NPCs, built up over six sessions playing Technoir, is actually pretty straightforward and I’m finding it liberating to get a lot of that stuff out of my head. Man, it really builds up in there and you don’t know how cluttered things are until you get it all down on paper.
Genre-wise, cyberpunk has fit neat with many of the apocalypse tropes, as I expected. Augury is mad powerful awesome way to respect the hacking skills of the best hacker in the Twin Cities, a savvyhead who carries his workspace in his head: a nethead I guess.
For example, Wraith cleared a whole city block by inserting info in to the Interface, the all pervasive internet-cum-maelstrom, so everyone thought the collapse of the gun smugglers den and the ensuing munition explosions, was some preliminary stages of an industrial gas leak. Or when Wraith isolated and protected another PC, Grey, from the Interface, making him effectively invisible to all digital-channel perceptions. Grey did disappear from the cyborg syndicate assassins but he also disappeared from Wraith’s view, given Wraith cyber eyes. And the effect bled too, so more and more people on the Skyrail station started disappearing from augmented sight, reminiscent of the Laughing Man I guess.
I’m just waiting to see what happens when Wraith botches his augury, though. Afterall, his augury instruments are in his head, so when they take the brunt of it, it ain’t going to be pretty.
The Drone Master worked well. The Auto-pilot move, giving Mack hold to just make his surveillance drone Bessy to stuff, was smooth and felt about right, though I still might tweak the moves he has to pick from. The impulse hold I held as MC because of some poor rolls was sweet too. For instance, after a pretty tight standoff with January Jade, an NPC, Mack exits carrying a badly injured Wraith. When January collapses the firestairs Mack’s descending, sending him and Wraith hurtling to the bitumen, Mack commands Bessy to shoot January with the submachine guns mounted on her chassis. That’s when I use my 1 hold to activate Bessy’s impulse to butcher, turning on the smgs autofire tag and hitting the whole area with bullets. The end result is the whole shanty construction collapses on another PC, Phase. Who, a day or so later, eventually crawls out of the rubblewith a broken arm and severe frost and majorly pissed for being left for dead. Phase died a few sessions back and was barely resuscitated so she’s taking the building collapse and being left for dead rather badly.
I’m also using Paul_T’s alternate Harm system, which I’m liking so far. It’s quite similar to Technoir’s adjective-based hurt, so it’s been a pretty smooth transition. It certainly seem to keep the focus on the fiction. The players certainly engaged with their injuries in a different way compared with other AW sessions that used the standard countdown-style harm. I may still fiddle with the pain and serious shit list, but I’ll play a bit more with it before making any tweaks. Otherwise, very cool. For example, on his harm roll from the fire escape fall, Wraith got +2 armour from a Mack being a cushion. That went surprisingly well for him.
I’m keen to find out what happens next. Keen as mustard.
Frankly, that sounds freakin awesome.
Cheers. I love the neon and dirt of Technoir and the AW mechanics look like they’re really kickin the pace up a notch. Sweet times!
I am intrigued by the Drone Master, is there a playbook made up somewhere?
Wow, this is the closest i gotten to a report of the Beast Master Playbook.
Oliver Granger Are you going to keep fiddling with and slowly evolve it to be your own hack or still keep it under the basis of AW?
Tim Franzke If the MC allows it, Beast Master is on my list of interesting playbooks to try out.
Steve Moore keewl
Dave Bozarth yeah I’ve posted most of the Drone Master up in this community a week or so ago. I haven’t completely finished it and I want to playtest it more before I rubber stamp and trifold it. See https://plus.google.com/115998734960985532561/posts/V7vyYpKhrPd and its comments.
Tommy Rayburn The way I see it, there’s not much too hack. I mean, I could superficially change the name of moves and stats, but that seems pretty pointless to me. I have built a few custom moves, made some interpretations of what the psychic maelstrom is and what augury does, and layered on heaps of neon colour, but that seems pretty regular fare for AW game. I suppose I could build a genre-pack or something, like here’s some mechaphors I used to play a cyberpunk AW, where the apocalypse didn’t so much go bang as slowly creep into your bed and push you out, steal your house and leave you lying in piss in the gutter. In the rain.
Tim Franzke The first draft of Drone Master was definitely a Beast Master retake, but I don’t think I’m using any moves from it anymore. I ended up making something pretty different for the Drone’s equivalent to Fetch.
Oliver Granger Understandable? Do you have any more PB’s in thought for the future?
Michael Maconachie check this out.
Oliver Granger Have you seen these two AW playbooks?
They feel like with a bit of tweaking could work well for your Technoir.
http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=1723.0
http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=594.0
Tommy Rayburn Yeah, my other AW game I’m playing at the moment is set in space and we’ve worked on an android/replicant called “The Made”. It’s similar to the Synthetic but we didn’t know about that one till after we started polishing the Made. The Synthetic’s cool but too fiddly for our tastes with too many options for builds. We haven’t playtested the Made but obviously it’d be a great fit for cyberpunk.
I hadn’t seen the Scholar before but I’ve got the trifold now.
The only reason I built the Drone Master was because one of my players has a character concept that didn’t fit any of the existing playbooks: official, limited edition or community-made. I initially thought the Driver would work but looking closely it was a bad match. So I built Drone Master to honour the investment he’d built into his character over the half-dozen sessions of Technoir we’d played.
If I come across similar niche character concept, then I’ll build another playbook to support it. I’ve no plans for building ones from conception; though I’d be very happy to be involved if someone wanted to collaborate on something.
I do feel the Synthetic could make a great Technoir character if messed with similar to Kroenen from Hellboy.
I don’t know about Kroenen from Hellboy but I’m sure I’ll agree. I’m also thinking replicants from Bladerunner and genetic superiors from Gattaca.
Oh wow, neat! Is there somewhere where you have all the playbooks, etc, for this up? I’m working on a somewhat more involved hack of Technoir and AW right now, so it’d be great to see what you’ve come up with so far!
Sure but there’s not much to see. The Drone Master I pointed to up thread is the big hack. Otherwise, the Battlebabe, Operator and Savvyhead are straight out of the book with a few custom moves and some hi-tech gear thrown in.
But because we’re running online, I can throw up links to the character sheets, no trifolds but they have all the details. Can’t now though; later tonight with any luck.
Wraith: The Savvyhead Hackers
Technoir training programs: criminal criminal investigator
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X1RQC6hP3C_ek43xU8INavyCyMbG4lk0ihwKuhP3MNA/mobilebasic
Phase: The Battlebabe
Technoir training programs: courier escort bodyguard
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iW8T_xQ8dJleDDIaX3HlOFZGZk35yYbJ-V5xZLeWtmI/mobilebasic
Mack: The Drone Master
Technoir training programs: pilot pilot engineer
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sqt4zpTbMMe-KToZqR-hpk535M-pSIGcV20xwqNMDWk/mobilebasic
Grey: The Operator
Technoir training programs: soldier courier bodyguard
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X1RQC6hP3C_ek43xU8INavyCyMbG4lk0ihwKuhP3MNA/mobilebasic
Interesting…do the tags have mechanical weight? How about notoriety?
We’ve only used +tags for colour and arguing the viability of actions on an adhoc basis. I suspect some of them may develop into custom moves eventually.
Some of the -tags are locked negative adjectives (harm) that have carried into the AW conversion. I use many of these as inspiration and an excuse to trigger soft or even hard moves.
Notoriety is a -tag I’ve developed into a Threat in a Front. It has an accompanying countdown clock so it acts kind of like a harm clock.
Notoriety
Affliction: custom
Impulse: to promote and justify violence
Your mistake was not dying. Now you’re a yard stick for every thug, hard bastard and assassin. Better keep you’re head down, Hero.
If you survive a total bloodbath, actual or rumoured, take 1 Notoriety. Thugs get benefits by knocking you down. You can feel the heat already, can’t you. You lose Notoriety when you prove you’re just not that good (like getting beaten badly by a thug) or you stay down long enough that someone else becomes the new favourite. But there’s some who won’t easily forgive or forget. The MC will tell you when and how much you lose.
Countdown clock
1: you’re often recognised by folk on the street
2–3: and thugs will have a go at you, casually, if its convenient.
4: Now, they’re organised and driven. Expect coordinated muggings and ambushes.
5: Your bounty is named.
6: Many and pressing assassins.