Hey, just wanted to bounce a question off you guys, and that’s how you handle the Unstoppable Force character as a MC asset. Like the terminator, or the hitman from No Country for Old Men. In other words, the Killer, but instead of with the party, coming to get them.
Obviously, you’d make this guy a Threat, with his own threat clock (How long till he finds what or who you care about most), harm clock, and maybe some flavorful custom moves, in addition to some scary weapons, powerful cyberware, and thick armor.
The sticking point I’m having trouble moving past is how to resolve the mechanics with the fiction when it comes to the inevitable showdown, when Killer meets Killer as the clock is about to strike midnight.
I feel like Mix it Up just isn’t the right move to use to resolve this, as it doesn’t really account for this guy’s status as a Bad Dude… a character with a good bonus is just as likely to get past him as they are some bottom-sprawl gang trash. The first thing that pops into my head is to put a penalty on the roll when Mixing it Up with him, but that feels wrong to me.
And what about the killer’s Serious Badass? Can badasses stare down other badasses into shaking and cowering? I feel that following the fiction would lead me to say, “You stare him down, but as you look into his cold steel eyes, you see the same look being shot right back at you.”, and then denying their move. But that’s not really fair to the player, is it?
Or maybe the PCs are meant to be the only big badasses, and threats like this don’t fit into this game? Im new to PbtA games in general, so perhaps I’m just missing something altogether. Thanks for any guidance you can give!
I wonder if you could make the difficulty narrative as well. Say, on a 10+ you win by the skin of your teeth. 7-9 you win but man it’s going to hurt. 6- well, he is a killer after all. Something like that. So that your reflecting the 10+ as just barely beating him. If that makes sense.
I can think of a couple of options of the top of my head.
The first is I think what Chalice In Chains is heading towards, a custom move.
When you attempt to kill the CYBERZOMBIE, roll Meat.
10+ you kill it, but take harm.
7-9 you wound it badly, inflict harm as established, everyone takes harm, and it gets away.
6- it gets away and everyone takes harm.
The second option is to give it 2 armour, a badass gun, make it a gang, give it fictional positioning that requires them to be really clever to box it in such that it can’t get away. For this, make the players be really clear about their declared objective in mix it up is. Mix it up lets you achieve an objective that shouldn’t just be “kill this dude”. Add complications and make them choose a single objective: is your objective “kill this dude” or “save the hostages”? Choose.
I’ve run a mission like this, and in practice, I’ve found that if you make it sound badass enough, the players will shit themselves thinking about how much it will murder them and come up with an elaborate plan that will produce the awesome climax that such an opponent requires.
And frankly, if the Killer has the grit to go toe to toe with the Terminator and rolls well enough, then make her describe that awesome scene and celebrate the Killer’s superior badass-itude with high fives for everyone. Be a fan of the characters!
Here’s like, a really basic rough draft:
When the Bad Dude crashes your party roll Edge. On a 10+ choose 3. On a 7-9 choose 2. On a 6- choose 1:
-You can try to fight or otherwise confront the Bad Dude
-You can escape or otherwise evade the Bad Dude
-You won’t lose valued allies or equipment to the Bad Dude
-You get some useful information about the Bad Dude and he doesn’t get any about you
It’s worth noting that the MC gets to say if a character has the right positioning and tools to use a move. If you declare that the Killer just can’t Mix It Up effectively with this asset (the same way you might with a character facing a military tank while holding a pistol) then they can’t make that move. That said, if I was your player in that situation, I’d want a fictionally convincing explanation of why I can’t make the move. Also, Intel and gear spends will come into play as well.
I really like something like Scott Udall’s suggestion of you want to have the mission where the Bad Dude is hunting the characters. Which is to say, exactly how the move looks will depend on how you want the mission to go. What’s the Bad Dude’s motivation? What are the characters doing? Who else is involved and how does the Bad Dude relate to them?
Scott Udall Yeah, I like that version. It’s not just “take harm and…”, it’s “make the players make tough decisions”.
My first question would actually be “Why do you want the Bad Dude in the story? What’s the fun part for the players?” One of the key principles for a lot of Powered by the Apocalypse games is to just let the PCs kill anyone if it’s reasonable. The unstoppable Bad Dude is a really tough balance to strike if you’re just trying to position it that way immediately. It’s far more effective if you can let it emerge naturally, though that has plenty of it’s own challenges, of course.
Mechanically, I’d look at why he’s unstoppable. Could be:
– he does a ton of harm
– he tough as hell (lots of armor)
– he keeps getting back up (maybe that’s a move, like mentioned above?)
As I think through it, usually this Bad Dude is kind of positioned as a force of nature, so I’d probably just use him as a front, basically. Have a countdown clock for finally defeating him and a clock for him accomplishing something terrible. Kind of works like a corp, then. Can’t accomplish much by mixing it up with a corp, you gotta plan bigger.
Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. A lot of really, really good stuff to work with. A custom “showdown” move may be the right thing to go with here, much like Scott was suggesting. Something that represents the more dramatic struggle (and increased likelihood of consequences) between two highly skilled and cyberized fighters.
Essentially, giving the Killer PC an opponent on their level of badassitude. Because what’s more badass than taking down another badass in single combat?
And as to where this guy comes from, I’ve always been a fan of the idea of a Cyber-Revenant, someone the party backstabbed and left for dead, brought back to life by the MegaCorp, and unleashed on a quest for vengeance…
And I wondered if anyone had an opinion on my second question? Is it ever reasonable to state that an NPC is immune to the Killer’s staredown? Or is that unfairly depriving the character of one of their moves?
I wouldn’t do it often, but I think it would be fine to use to highlight a key NPC sometimes. I would make sure to telegraph it (probably counts as showing the barrel of a gun) and would let the Killer keep the hold.
Or maybe let them spend it slightly differently, to send an appropriate message. You know those moments when two bad-asses look at each other and have a meaningful glance.
Maybe the NPC badass doesn’t flinch, but pauses for a moment out of respect for the Killer, giving them a chance to Deal With Shit before Shit Gets Real.
Keeping the same effect but changing the phrasing will probably be sufficient to set the proper tone in most cases.
^^^ great answer.