James Mullen – Page 3 – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

Anyway, here is the thing my brain made while I was trying to get it to do other things: it’s part of a serial supplement for Dungeon World that describes a sci-fi setting and the adventurers who explore it. I don’t think it’s all that bad, but would appreciate feedback. There are potentially seven more of these to come.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iTjRUomaBXaVZwRkd2Nnk1c0k/view?usp=sharing

Guy Milner ran The ‘Hood as a one-shot at a recent PbtA-themed convention here in the UK: here are the set-up notes…

Guy Milner ran The ‘Hood as a one-shot at a recent PbtA-themed convention here in the UK: here are the set-up notes he used. I like the use of the Syndicate as the foe here, it gives a very clear Front for the PCs to bounce off.

Originally shared by Guy Milner

In this post, I promised I’d share my actual prep sheet for the game of The ‘Hood that I ran at Revelation. To recap what I did in advance of the con, I knew my players had prebooked so had them pick playbooks on a loose premise of a northern town estate.…

http://burnafterrunningrpg.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/under-the-hood-lanchester-set-up

I’ve just started my blog about one-shot games, Burn After Running, and one of the first posts is about running The…

Originally shared by Guy Milner

I’ve just started my blog about one-shot games, Burn After Running, and one of the first posts is about running The ‘Hood at Revelation in Sheffield. Might be of interest to anyone planning on running a one-shot game of it!

https://burnafterrunningrpg.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/under-the-hood-pbta-one-shots/

The Guardian has featured a piece on Avery Alder and Monsterhearts.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/booksblog/2017/feb/08/monsterhearts-a-lot-of-queer-youth-are-made-to-feel-monstrous-by-people-around-them

No Sex Please…

No Sex Please…

As part of the RPG Book Club at the Games On Trial community, I was getting some feedback on a modern-day PbtA game about contemporary ghost stories. The main feedback I was getting was that the sex moves in the hack seemed like a punishment: I checked and they were right, most of the playbooks I’d created had sex moves that penalised characters for having sex.

We then got onto the topic of sex moves in general as part of the PbtA package… cutting to the chase, I’m dropping sex moves from this hack, but I’d still like something there to take their place. In other hacks, my sex move equivalents have been double-crossing another character (for a crime hack); falling out and making up (for a kids adventure hack); and entrusting someone with your secret identity (for a superheroes hack.) I’m stumped for an idea for what to use this time though, so I just thought I’d ask: what have you used as an alternative to sex moves in your hack? Or, if it doesn’t use any sort of equivalent to sex moves, why do you feel your hack can do without that sort of thing?

I made an AP report for the game of The ‘Hood I’m MCing for some friends at my home: I’ve interspersed the story…

I made an AP report for the game of The ‘Hood I’m MCing for some friends at my home: I’ve interspersed the story elements with some ‘behind the scenes’ commentary on how we arrived at those places in the fiction.

How many playbooks is a good number for a PbtA hack in it’s basic form, with supplements and additions?

How many playbooks is a good number for a PbtA hack in it’s basic form, with supplements and additions?

Originally shared by James Mullen

Troublemakers: The Dirty Dozen?

Currently, there are 20 core playbooks for this PbtA hack, but some feedback from potential players, and a quick straw poll on of my friends on Facebook, has led me to believe that 12 might be a more appropriate number, especially for hooking in new players who don’t want to be overwhelmed with options.

The current 20 can be found in the link below: if I was to strip this down to 12, which ones should stay and which ones would go? Note that this doesn’t mean deleting those other 8 playbooks, just not including them in the final form of the published game; they would instead join a reserve of bonus playbooks to be used as rewards or incentives.

Here are the 12 I would keep:

The All-Star: worked well in playtest, good all-round character.

The Crush: the friendly, popular kid archetype.

The Devil: the rebellious, misbehaving kid.

The Goth: slightly morbid, slightly weird.

The Knuckle: a big, tough lunk.

The Kook: a true believer, for ‘weird’ adventures.

The Mouth: the smart-mouthed kid who won’t shut up.

The Newcomer: for playing an overtly weird game based around their story.

The Prodigy: the smartest kid on the block.

The Punk: bold, daring, street-sport enthusiast.

The Rat: grubby dumpster diver with lax morals.

The Royal: bossy kid who tells the others what to do.

Do you agree or disagree with my list? Is there one of those you would leave out, or one of the other 8 you would include?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iTjRUomaBXM2lNR1Z1TURWSDA/view?usp=sharing

I have another new game design I’d like to playtest soon: Apps is a PbtA game largely inspired by the TV dramas…

I have another new game design I’d like to playtest soon: Apps is a PbtA game largely inspired by the TV dramas Misfits and The Fades, but suits any story that has a mix of adults and young people, with or without special powers, investigating the supernatural.

This will be the first playtest of this game, which I’m proposing to begin on Tuesday 10th January at 7pm GMT, for 3-4 players, lasting for 3-4 sessions repeating weekly on the same day & time. Attendance at all the sessions of this playtest would be a minimum requirement for players, plus I would also like to complete some game prep beforehand if possible. Comment below if you are interested and available.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iTjRUomaBXN1A3ZlcwbS1FUTA/view?usp=sharing