Author: Joshua Randall

Just saw the movie Upgrade (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/).

Just saw the movie Upgrade (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/).

Just saw the movie Upgrade (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/). It’s a nasty little techno action thriller and a perfect The Sprawl vignette. Worth your $10.50.

PC about to kill another PC

PC about to kill another PC

PC about to kill another PC

In the Harm chapter, Vincent writes (p. 166) that “I’ve never in real life seen a fight between PCs go as far as this example.” Well, I’m about to have one PC kill another PC in my game.

I plan to ask the players involved if they understand the implications and want to go through with this, but damn! I never though I’d see this situation arise to begin with.

Due to a clusterf*ck of epic proportions, the Operator stole the Driver’s car and plowed it into the Chopper’s gang, killing some gang members. The Chopper and Gunlugger have both already shot up the car and the Operator, who’s sitting at 9:00 on the Harm clock.

Now the Gunlugger is stalking towards the wounded Operator, magnum in hand. If the Gunlugger follows through on his intended violence, it’ll be 3-harm from the magnum. This would put the Operator up to 12:00 on the Harm clock. The Operator can take a Debility to stop the Harm, but is that a desirable outcome?

Has anyone ever had PC-on-PC violence go this far? How did you handle it?

Actual Play Report, 1 MC, 2 Player, One-Shot Game

Actual Play Report, 1 MC, 2 Player, One-Shot Game

Actual Play Report, 1 MC, 2 Player, One-Shot Game

Thanks to the people who advised me in my previous post, https://plus.google.com/100377470809152026648/posts/ezHRbeojzuD

Here’s a partially completed Actual Play Report from the session. It ended up being a Driver and a Gunlugger doing a lot of damage to my NPCs, as it should be.

Yet Another ‘Which Playbooks To Use for a One-Shot’ Question

Yet Another ‘Which Playbooks To Use for a One-Shot’ Question

Yet Another ‘Which Playbooks To Use for a One-Shot’ Question

MC’d AW for the first time last week. The players chose Battlebabe, Hocus, and Savvyhead. The Savvyhead didn’t enjoy the game as much given that his moves tie him in mostly with tech, not people.

I could forsee similar problems with the Driver: too mobile, too ‘crap’ dependent.

I’m going to MC AW again with a different group, next week. So, what mix of Playbooks do you recommend for a one-shot with AW newbies?

I know the facile answer is, “Any mix of playbooks works! Do a better job MCing!” But that’s not an interesting answer. What mixes have worked the best, for you?

Yet another question about the rules for violence.

Yet another question about the rules for violence.

Yet another question about the rules for violence.

In the game I described in my ‘What I Did at Origins 2015’ (specifically the OxCorps game = pure Apocalypse World), the following situation arose. I was the player, so I can’t answer from the MC side… but you can pretend to be the MC.

Climactic scene. Azure the Battlebabe (me) has learned there’s a sniper in a church tower overlooking the meet we are about to have with the other bad guys. Azure’s goal is to get into the church tower and neutralize the sniper before her friends arrive.

She gets into the church and sees a rickety staircase up to the tower. Stealth isn’t an option (stairs are too noisy) so she quickly ascends, and…

Azure: I poke my head just through the trapdoor.

MC: As you suspected, you see a sniper rifle set up on a tripod, with a view over the meet location. But you don’t see the sniper.

Azure: [looks around some more] [MC, do you make a move against me here?]

MC: Suddenly the sniper emerges from hiding. He’s got a knife!

Azure: I loudly cock my sawed-off shotgun and order him to halt or I’m gonna blow him away.

MC: Go Aggro, roll +Cool (Battlebabe move, Ice Cold).

[should this have been Seize By Force? forcing the Battlebabe to roll +Hard at -2]

Azure: [gets 10+] He can either force my hand in which case I pull the trigger, or stop moving.

MC: He forces your hand.

Azure: He takes 3 Harm. Actually 4 Harm because it’s a high-powered shotgun.

MC: Sniper is dead.

So… should the Sniper have made a move against Azure while she was ascending the stairs? He had superior position and presumably heard her coming. Failing that should he have made a move against her when she kept looking around for him (after spotting the rifle but not him)? And that final exchange: of course Azure tried to flavor her intent as Go Aggro, but what she really wanted was control of the sniper’s nest (= Seize By Force?).