Author: Kevin “Chroma” Petker

The Whisper is done (for the most par).

The Infected is bubbling along.

That leaves the last member of the Doomed Trinity

Introducing The Returned

Apocalypse World is littered with shattered dreams, broken promises, dashed hopes, and unfinished business. Them guys with the guns, the jackals at the door, don’t care about your plans and desires and put many in an early grave… dead is dead, right? Well, there ain’t no status quos…

Sometimes… sometimes someone comes back…

Your Adversary

If there’s a player character with a gang, followers, or establishment, ask them if they’re you’re adversary. If they say “Yes”, ask them, “Why did yours kill me and mine?” If they say “No.” tell the MC to make a Warlord and ask them, “Why did they kill me and mine?””

• to send a message to others

• you and yours were in the way

• to take what you had

• collateral damage

• just the thrill, you know?

Apocalypse World echoes with the din of bloody battle, the roar of monstrous engines, the screams of those dying in agony and despair: a discordant cacophony of pain, suffering, and the end of hope and life.

And sometimes, if you listen closely, you might hear something worse.

Introducing The Whisper

This is the second of the Doomed Trinity playbooks I’m doing up for my Patreon. It’s basically a ghost, inspired by the old Maelstrom Ghost playbook and experiences in some of the AW campaigns I’ve participated in. This one has a Dissolution Countdown that’s slowly ticking down to its doom.

Here are some sample moves:

“Do you hear what I hear?”: When you open your brain you also get this: s-harm, close, area, loud, centered on you. You are immune to this effect, but any other player characters affected gain +1forward the next time they open their brains.

Signs and portents: With appropriate sacrifice [you choose] from a supplicant you may act as a psychic antenna for augury. The other character will make the roll, but you mark experience regardless of their success.

Also, the Whisper has no hard stat!

It’s a ghost, incorporeal and disembodied… but it can still make its mark.

More to come.

I’m working on a set of playbooks, currently for my Patreon, that I’m calling the Doomed Trinity – each playbook has a countdown clock that’s ticking away to their ultimate, unavoidable doom, but they get to make their mark on Apocalypse World while they can. All three have been inspired by actual play instances in the games I’ve been a part of, so much so I’ve always thought “These could be playbooks”, so, that’s what I’m doing.

The one I’m currently focused on is The Infected, basically some kind of plague carrier. Since it’s a carrier, I’m deciding on ways for it to spread the disease/infection.

Why don’t people just shoot the Infected on sight? Well maybe they chose:

Death Blossom

If your life becomes untenable due to the direct actions of another character, and you choose to die, give an infected move to any player characters involved and fill in a segment on their infection countdown. The MC will determine what happens to any NPCs involved and it won’t be pleasant.

And for the sickophiles:

The Infected Special

If you and another character have sex, erase one segment from your infection countdown and give them an infected move; they also mark experience.

Is this too terrible?