Hi, guys.
I’m here just to say that my first mission (I was the MC) was a total fun, epic, awesome blast!
I MCed (is this the correct verb? hehe) for a hacker and a soldier. First time ever, for both, in The Sprawl/Apocalypse Engine. They loved the interaction and how they can create/change the world and its history. We all came from D&D but I have been working with Dungeon World/Spirit of 77 for a while.
The mission was simple: retrieve a safe deposit box from a bank. The soldier used to do some security jobs for this banking corporation and knew two or three workers needing money that could help in the mission.
The hacker managed to create a fake record saying that the safe deposit would be requested by a security team (guided by the soldier).
But, as always, rolls go bad and, suddenly, they were locked inside the vault, with a lot of drones and security forces surrounding the building.
The players were amazed and always talking/thinking how they would get out of this mess.
Sadly my time ran out (3 hour session) and I had to leave. Next week we’ll continue.
I had to share with you all this great moment we had.
To Hamish: dude….dude….great work!
That is a very encouraging account.
I don’t know if an old dog can learn new tricks. I have read some new-style game systems like Fate Core, Fiasco, and Powered by the Apocalypse, but am never sure that I “get it”.
What do you think is the really, really essential thing to know?
I have been playing RPGs for….I don’t know, 15 years I think. I’ve played AD&D, D&D 3.0, D&D 5.0, GURPS, Vampire, and whole bunch of other systems.
If you are aiming to be a MC or Master my advice is: let go all those pesky rules and mindsets from previous games. In DW or The Sprawl you don’t need to track how many feets a player walked, nor how many attacks he/she can do with this or that skill level.
Read the corebooks and just have fun in the game! Your player want to jump on the wall (parkour style) while firing a shotgun? No problem! Just throw the dice and see what happens.
He/she got a 7-9, for example, maybe he/she managed to fire, but slipped and now is exposed to enemy fire.
Failure? Sorry, but your adversary managed to shot you right in the gut, take 3-harm and pray you don’t die right away.
It takes time to change how we MC, sometimes. I was used to initiative, turns and etc. But I changed that. Now, I’m always jumping from this to that player and asking what the others are doing all the time. Often I see myself with a combat mess to manage: many actions happening at same time targeting a lot of characters, but it’s getting easier everyday.
It took me one session to “convert” my group from D&D to Dungeon World and The Sprawl. I had to explain the moves and how this particular RPG works, but, in the end, it paid well!
If you need any help or have any questions, just ask. I’m here to help.
(sorry for the wall of text)
The most important thing to remember is that in Powered by the Apocalypse games, you play to find out what happens next. Don’t need to plan out every aspect. It’s liberating once you get the hang of it.Pierre Savoie
Thanks, Fernando Gomes! I love hearing about new or new-to-PtbA players and MCs having a blast with the game! Here’s to many more epic sessions!
=)
It’s good to be playing RPG again.
Today, in my group’s message app, they were talking about the setting (we are playing in 2099 and a lot of things happened in Brazil: wars, nuclear power plants blowing, etc), trying to “convert” the other players to PtbA/The Sprawl. It’s soooo good to see the players excited about the next session and talking about the characters they’ve met in the mission.
Also, I’m, finally, writing my book, gathering all I can from what is happening during the sessions. I have a plotline and I’m testing it on our missions.