Author: Chris Mitchell

So sometimes, a hard move should like, really give it to the player.

So sometimes, a hard move should like, really give it to the player.

So sometimes, a hard move should like, really give it to the player. The MC should be looking to resolve the conflict, to end it in one way or another, swiftly and directly. But sometimes, a hard move is just an escalation. 

I’ve got to remember that.

Dust

Dust

Dust

Overview

The world is gone, of course it is. We all of us live in tent cities. These vasts compounds of interconnected heavy canvas communities are sealed with animal fat and tree resin. They have to be, to stay out of the open. To stay out of the dust. Everything is toxic: the air, the water, the soil, the animals, the people. The people most of all. So we huddle. We protect ourselves. We wear masks in all but the most intimate of settings. We eat what we can grow in caves with water we run through our filtration systems. We live on the knife’s edge. 

Seals

When you’re out in the dust, your ass better be behind a seal. A lot of shit can have a seal: vehicles, tents, sealsuits, etc.

All characters get this one:

Sealed Off

Seals are any piece of equipment that protects you from the dust. Seals can be applied to a lot of shit. Your sealsuit is something you’re almost born into. It’s just what it says it is: a sealed suit that protects the user from dust, specifically airborne dust. It includes a gasmask and heavy, head-to-toe canvas usually sealed with some sort of animal fat. You can also seal off vehicles or tents, whether that tent is just a one man fly or it’s a sprawling hold. 

When you need it, declare what you’ve already sealed and spend your seal; you can spend 0–3 of seal per use. You can resupply it for 2-barter per 1-seal, if your circumstances let you barter for those kind of supplies, i.e. rubber hoses, prepped canvas or leather, sheet plastic, animal fats, rubber cement mixed with bubblegum, whatever. You begin play holding 3-stock.

If you take in the dust out here, whether through water, air, whatever, roll+hard. 

•   On a 10+, spend a few minutes barfing but you’ll be fine.

•   On a 7–9, take 1-harm (ap) now and 1-harm (ap) again in a little while. 

•   On a miss, take 3-harm (ap) now and 3-harm (ap) again in a little while.

When your seal is in question, like maybe you got shot at or the weather’s like ass, roll+seal.

•   On a 10+, you’re sealed up and doing fine for now.

•   On a 7–9, you’ve got a problem with your seal, a leak or a crack, something. Take -1 seal.

•   On a miss, your seal is blown. You’re taking in dust.

After you go into battle with your vehicles, guns, and gear, roll+sharp. 

•   On a 10+, you conserved your resources. Pick one. 

•   On a 7–9, choose two:

      • You’re running dangerously low on fuel

      • You’re running dangerously low on ammo

      • Your gear needs maintenance and repair. You take -1 seal.

When you scavenge in the ruins, roll+sharp.

On a 10+, choose two and find an oddment worth 1-barter. On a

7–9, choose one and find an oddment worth 1-barter:

• You find it quickly.

• You find it with relatively little trouble.

• You find an item that is valuable.

• You find an item that can be used for a seal. +1 seal.

So I was just doing some prep and I noticed that I’ve somehow lost my copy of the Hoarder.

So I was just doing some prep and I noticed that I’ve somehow lost my copy of the Hoarder.

So I was just doing some prep and I noticed that I’ve somehow lost my copy of the Hoarder. I’ll trade any of the LE books, including The Solace, for a copy.

Love Letter for my game tomorrow.

Love Letter for my game tomorrow.

Love Letter for my game tomorrow. I’m working on making it a one-shot that’s con-friendly and whatnot. I’ll put the whole thing up, notes and AP and all, next week. It’s for three to four players, who have just entered a town at the end of a long journey, one they’ve made for different reasons. Below is one love letter for one player, with multiple playbook options. They’re all like that.

The Hope

What’s up? 

Just to end the suspense, yes, they’re still after you. You’re running out of options. Here are the ones you’ve got left:

The Touchstone – So slavers, huh? It’s always goddamned slavers, or mutants, or cannibals or some fucking thing. And you said something, or did something, you always do. It’s just not right, it never is and you know, know, know, that stepping in isn’t going to make the goddamned slightest bit of fucking difference, but there you go. So first, tell me what happened between you and the slavers and why they’re after you. Then fill out your sheet like normal. And then finally, talk to me about the move below.

The Solace – The Work of the shepherd is long work, and lonely. There’s no time for sleep and only the room you can carve out for yourself and your flock. You make your stand and you say, not here, not these. But there are so many hours and only one of you. First, tell me about the wolves, the ones closing in and tell me how they stole your friends, your family away from you. Second, make your character just like normal. And third, talk to me about the move below.

The Hocus – IT tells us, and we speak. IT moves us, and we follow. IT takes from us, and we thank. First, tell me why the Maelstrom, whatever the fuck that is, took your followers, whole and entire, and replaced them with the ravening horde that shares their faces. Second, make your character just like normal, followers and all. Then tell me about this branch of your faith, the one waiting to receive you in the unlikeliest of places, here at the End of the Line. And finally, talk to me about the move below.

The Lamb –

So you picked up a straggler, of course you did. Give me a roll+hot.

On a ten, pick two. On a 7-9, pick one. 

– they’re able to walk.

– they’re able to defend themselves.

– you don’t love them.

Thanks, and thanks for playing. It’s great to have you.

Chris, your MC

The 16 HP Dragon made its rounds earlier this year in the DW realms, but I think it’s important to any AW-based…

The 16 HP Dragon made its rounds earlier this year in the DW realms, but I think it’s important to any AW-based…

The 16 HP Dragon made its rounds earlier this year in the DW realms, but I think it’s important to any AW-based game, or really, any RPG game. 

http://www.latorra.org/2012/05/15/a-16-hp-dragon/

Jonathan Walton’s werewolves post made me think of something I tried and failed to start on the AW boards a while…

Jonathan Walton’s werewolves post made me think of something I tried and failed to start on the AW boards a while…

Jonathan Walton’s werewolves post made me think of something I tried and failed to start on the AW boards a while ago: settings.

Not just playbooks, not just moves, but settings. The full-on accumulation of custom moves and system crap that help make up an Apocalypse World world. 

Like a dust bowl world.

Or a forever winter world.

Or a werewolf world. 

Or etc.

This would be the place where I submit my own to get the ball rolling, but…

I drink.