Author: Patrick Henry Downs

The gaming group tonight was discussing how to write rules and design games and somehow that led to these Apocalypse World haikus, both by Willow Palecek

Follow the fiction

Narrate things to trigger moves

To do it, do it

A soft touch, a kiss

It leads to something further

My sex move triggers

a re-write of Direct Brain Whisper Projection for a “cool” character

Wary prey: when you look into somebody’s eyes and speak their name, you can roll+cool to go aggro, without going aggro. If your victim forces your hand, it counts as you seducing or manipulating them on a 10+, your choice.

+stupor is a tag that generally affects followers when they are drugged out of their minds. But what if your character is a follower and joins in with the rest of the drug-taking followers? What sort of game mechanic would you apply to the character under that condition?

Few people are subscribed to the original thread, so I’ll open this question up to the whole community. The player is a time traveler from the future and wants to change the past to fix the mistakes from where they came from. I’m looking for suggestions for questions to add to this move. Questions should be rooted in the fiction and immediate concerns for the player, instead of conceptual questions about the future. (It’s probable that my three questions are already good enough.)

Looking Through Alternative Time: when you deliberately change the future, you can ask a question from the following list:

-who has what I need to keep working toward my goal?

-what is eventually being created or destroyed by my change?

-should I leave this place?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110480132212863692845/posts/BP6eyLNmEAu

It’s not much, but I’ve taken all five of Johnstone Metzger’s Heralds of Hell playbooks and put them into a single pdf file. Let me know if you spot any typos or errors.

I made an introductory brochure for Apocalypse World. Why? Because I am a nerd (and I literally have NOTHING to do at work!)

I’m going to print about dozen or so off and hand them out at PAX East next weekend. If you see me and I have any left, I will give you one.

FUNDED! Anybody who gave $5 will get Vincent’s next playbook: the Space Marine Mammal.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1735777309/sea-dracula-judicial-inquest-at-gamestorm-2013

The Chopper doesn’t have an expansion playbook and I thought that was unfair. So I wrote one myself! Please share your thoughts.

the Pale Horseman

When you send your gang to their total destruction, or kill them all yourself, you lose Pack Alpha and get Wraiths of Wrath.

Wraiths of Wrath: when you call upon the spirits of your fallen gang, roll+hard and choose options. On a hit, the ghosts of your old gang appear from the shadows/fog/whatever and remain for the scene (MC’s call). On a 10+, pick 2. On a 7-9, pick 1:

– they fight for you (1-harm small gang savage ap 2-armor)

– they bring you food or gifts from the psychic maelstrom (worth 1-barter or appropriate gear)

– they stay by your side, frightening or awing any who see them

– they provide transport for up to 15 passengers upon ghostly-but solid bikes

On a miss, they still show up but the MC picks 2 and they are pissed at you.

Then, you can take these in place of new options for your gang or moves from another playbook:

Ghost Riding: whatever hold or group you’re in gets the want: anxiety. If they already have +anxiety then it’s activated whenever you’re around. Whenever you ride your motorcycle, choose 1:

– nobody can touch or hurt you, but you cannot hurt them either

– nothing can stop you, you ride through treacherous landscapes and through blocked passages as if they weren’t there

– you leave a fiery trail, take +1forward if you go aggro while you’re on your bike

– your ride is nearly instantaneous, regardless of distance

The Other Side: whenever you kill somebody, you can immediately open your brain to the psychic maelstrom using +hard instead of +weird.

People have been asking about good questions so I decide to share this. I’ve written generic love letters that could be used in a first session or one-shot for each of the playbooks (and some of the limited edition ones) and I wrote an accompanying file with 3 provocative questions for each playbook. Here are the questions I wrote for those:

ANGEL: How did you get your angel kit? What’s the worst injury you were unable to patch up? Who was the last person you saved from death and what are they to you?

BATTLEBABE: How did you get your guns? Besides killing, what are you best known for doing? Who is upset about the last person you killed, or fucked?

BRAINER: When did you first learn about your freak talents? Who was the last person you had sex with (or deep brain scanned)? How did you make most of your wealth?

CHOPPER: How did you come to be the leader of the gang? What is your gang best known for? Which gang member is the last one you had to make an example of in order to maintain control, tell me about them?

DRIVER: How did you get your car? Who taught you how to drive (might be self-taught but explain)? What is the most untrustworthy thing about (the one who has been on the road with you for days)?

FACELESS: Does your mask have a name of its own, and do you have a different name when you’re not wearing the mask? Why does your mask want to be worn by you? How long have you been having blackouts?

GROTESQUE: What mutated you, or were you born this way? What’s the most offensive or disgusting part of your appearance? How comfortable are you with others’ discomfort?

GUNLUGGER: Excluding sex, what is your primary motivation in life? How transparent are your impulses to others? People don’t think of you much, why does that bother you? Who deserves a bullet?

HARDHOLDER: How did you come to be in charge? Why might your enforcers think less of you? What are your immediate plans for the hold?

HOARDER: How did you find your hoard, or did it find you? Who desperately wants something from your hoard but can’t afford it? Who are you the biggest nuisance to in the community?

HOCUS: What are you most ashamed of? Why might your followers desert you? Which do you hold closer, regret or anger, and explain it?

MAESTRO D: How did you acquire or set up the business? Why do people work for you instead of some other guy? What secret are you keeping in the basement or hole in the ground?

OPERATOR: How do you keep people from getting close to you? You are running out of time, why? Besides trust, what is your most prized possession?

SAVVYHEAD: What important things have you done for the hold? What’s unfinished? Where is your workspace in relation to the hold? How long have you been set up here? Who was hurt by your last experiment?

SKINNER: What is your chosen artform? How do you get paid? When is your food going to run out?

These should be used as lead-in questions to lead into more questions, like “How did you get your angel kit?”

“My mother left it to me.”

“Were you close with her? Did she teach you how to use it? How did she die? Did you try to use the angel kit on her? When was the first time you used the kit then?”

Let the player’s answers guide your line of questioning!