Which of the following 4 games would be the best introduction to the PbtA games.

Which of the following 4 games would be the best introduction to the PbtA games.

Which of the following 4 games would be the best introduction to the PbtA games. Keep in mind that I’m coming for 30 years if “standard” rpgs.

1) Dungeon World

2) The Sprawl

3) Apocalypse World 2e

4) Tremulus

I just want to run a few sessions to wrap my head around the game to see if the style is a good fit for me.

20 thoughts on “Which of the following 4 games would be the best introduction to the PbtA games.”

  5. I’m with Slade on this one. Play a game that doesn’t have a lot of historical fallbacks for you. AW is going to be new in setting, tone, AND system and will kick the tires on it much better

  6. AW is just so awesome. And like folks are saying, it pulls off the bandaid and puts people in a completely different headspace. I think DW is a great “soft intro,” but nothing really compares to the original!

  7. I know the instinct is DW since it’s most like dnd, but I think that makes it harder to highlight why pbta is different. I’d go AW. It has easily recognizable source material, a theme that let’s players be badasses, and let’s the players imerse themselves in a new type of game.

  9. I’d go AW too. You really understand to whole thing when you tried to understand AW with a try/error mindset: play, go back to the book, play, go back to the book. Every other game is more understandable once you played AW for a few sessions (I recommande at least 5-6).

  10. thanks everyone this is very informative. Just to clarify..what I mean by “traditional” is only that the game has a single GM. Vampire, Call of Cthulhu, D&D, Shadowrun etc.

    1) I would love to play a game of any Pbta but that’s not realistic where I live, So I’ll have to figure it out as I go.

    2) my plan is to expose some of my players to some very different games over the next 4 months. I want to run Aw DW, the Sprawl, Temulus and The End of the World: Zombie apocalypse each for about 3 weeks so that we can experience new concepts. Could be very inspirational lol

  12. Just play a campaign of Apocalypse World. Most of those games are built for campaign play. Switching games every few weeks will feel unsatisfying and confusing. Apocalypse World campaigns tend to have a natural arc of 10-15 sessions. See what your players want to play after one complete game.

  15. Apocalypse World really explains well the structure and logic behind the game, especially the second edition. It will be different from what you know, but it will tell you what you need to figure it out.

    I really do not recommend Dungeon World as first PbtA, because if you have lots of d&d experience it’s easy to try and run it like a d&d game, and not really get what the core differences are.

    Tremulus isn’t the best implementation of The engine either, so I wouldn’t start from there.

  16. I actually started with Tremulus and find it a really great gateway because the game is made for a one-shot.

    After that I found AW.

    Either of those will do you well.

  17. Apocalypse World has a lot of funky terminology that isn’t obvious on first glance, that being said, everyone is correct about it being the best intro because it doesn’t have D&D baggage.

    The Sprawl is awesome, but has some extra stuff that you might want to build up to.

    I think Sagas of the Icelanders, The Warren, Masks, or Mashed are even better intros to PbtA, but that’s not what you asked.

  18. I’m not familiar with Sprawl, but I’ve owned and played the other three. My history with PbtA is one of being the person who introduces a gaming circle most familiar with games like D&D and Savage Worlds to PbtA systems.

    Of those three, I would easily recommend Apocalypse World itself.

    Dungeon world is a fine game, but it presents the trap of being too much like what has gone before. It’s easy to play just like D&D and never actually expose yourself to what makes PbtA work. I suspect the same dynamic might apply to the Sprawl.

    Tremulus is clearly written by someone with a deep love for the lovecraft mythos, but who did not have the best understanding of the PbtA system or what makes games in that system work. It’s a flawed game rather than a bad one, but I certainly don’t recommend it as your first exposure to PbtA or a way to learn more about how PbtA games work.

    Apocalypse world is a fun game to play, and the book is steeped in the flavor of the setting and infused with the philosophy of the system. On top of that, the uniqueness of the setting means that you and your other players are somewhat less likely to carry over habits from previous games that aren’t a good fit for PbtA.

    That said, when I said that the book is steeped in flavor and infused with philosophy, I meant it. The prose of the book is atypical for an RPG, and for some readers/players that ads an extra layer of understanding, but for others it’s just confusing. So if you’ve read Apocalypse World and feel like you just don’t get it, then I have a second recommendation:

    MonsterHearts. Even if you aren’t interested in the game’s genre, MonsterHearts is the most approachable explanation I’ve seen in a PbtA game. Not only does it clearly articulate the philosophy and style of PbtA play, it provides a clear compare-and-contrast exercise that lets you see how carefully each of these games is tuned to the particular genre and stories that they explore. It was reading the first editions of both of those games in near tandem that truly let me “get” PbtA.

  20. Thanks again, I think considering my situation I will pick up a copy of Apocalypse World and give that a read perhaps run it. Due to the time frame that I am working with it will be impossible to run more than a one shot or two and I really just want to get to The Sprawl and Tremulus so I’ll have to see how things shake out.

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