Steve Ellis – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

Inferna (NYPD cop who got energy powers after being caught in a radioactive accident) turned into a energy being…

Inferna (NYPD cop who got energy powers after being caught in a radioactive accident) turned into a energy being when she absorbed a nuclear bomb.

Trash Panda (enhanced talking raccoon) fought against animal control and a Constitution that didn’t extend her human rights but got turned into this years must have plush doll. Still she got her revenge and saved her owner Sickle with advanced trash panda cybernetics.

Sickle .(former Soviet super spy who defected), nearly died to convince her former KGB partner to defect but was saved by her teammate Trash Panda

Culchulainn the Irish demigod struggled with taxes and immigration enforcement but bravely took every energy rifle shot to shield his companions and only warp spasmed once. There was a write in vote from the Irish American community but he wasn’t elected President in 2016. Still he beat up RobotCop!

Devilman (alien representative of the Galactic Authority, a space cop with near magical advanced tech who looked like a demon) was the one to present the evidence that the divisive, populist, orange skinned Mayor Drumpf of NYC and 2016 Republican candidate was being funded and backed by the Russians!

Gonna run my first game of WiP next week, and re-reading the rules, I’m really disliking the Critical Condition…

Gonna run my first game of WiP next week, and re-reading the rules, I’m really disliking the Critical Condition rules of stackable -1 penalties. My thought is to either get rid of the penalty (in comics being beaten up may close a scene but it doesnt seem to stop superheroes from achieving what they need to (e.g Death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday) or to cap it at a flat -1 rather than stacking each critical condition. Has anyone else done something similar?

For the Scholar, when they tap up their Arcane Network, they are offered 3 relics and have to choose one.

For the Scholar, when they tap up their Arcane Network, they are offered 3 relics and have to choose one. What relics have GM’s offered when this move takes place?

Heres a starter 3

Tears from Our Lady of Akita – healing balm (3 harm)

Castro’s Lucky Cigar- armour 2 whilst you smoke it

Sword of Simone de Bolivar the Liberator- stolen from the Museum of Bolivia. It cuts through all bonds.

Its not every day that I run a Queen, but whenever I do, they are especially memorable.

Its not every day that I run a Queen, but whenever I do, they are especially memorable. Today it was Alana, who was the identical Quadruplet of Brenda, Kendra and Elyssia – 4 identical blue eyed girls with straight blonde hair and a psychic link. And what a monster she was, ruling over the Quads and seeing out of their eyes. Then Elyssia tried to express her individuality by dying her hair red without my permission….

So the only copy I have of the Angel playbook is the playtest version with no art on the cover.

So the only copy I have of the Angel playbook is the playtest version with no art on the cover. Was there ever a finalised version that someone could share with us or send me? Thx!

Hi Andrew- looking at backer-kit- there seems to be no way to remove dice from physical pledges?

Hi Andrew- looking at backer-kit- there seems to be no way to remove dice from physical pledges? I dont want the dice (I only use Casino quality anyway) and they have caused huge customs charges in the past when included by books and turn a duty free ‘book’ into a duty collectible ‘game’

So, about the only genre that hasnt been Powered by the Apocalypse yet is Young Adult/teen Future Dystopias- and I’m…

So, about the only genre that hasnt been Powered by the Apocalypse yet is Young Adult/teen Future Dystopias- and I’m thinking of movie series: Hunger Games, Divergent and Maze Runner. SPOILERS for those series below as I deconstruct them.

Seriously- SPOILERS! (if you care about teen dystopia movies/books)

Having watched them recently, I’m spotting the ur-plot and archetypes shared by all and thinking how they would break down into Playbooks:

:The Rebel/Exception/Hero- the lead character who does not conform to convention, and in defying adult society causes its collapse (Katniss/Tris/Thomas)

:The Love Interest (Gale/Four/Teresea (sorta))

:The Collaborator/Yes Man – he conforms to society and betrays the hero to the adults (Peeta/Caleb or Peter/Gally)

:The Tragic Sacrifice – their role is to be the emotional heart of the group, and whose death motivates the Hero- (Rue/Will/Chuck)

:The Manipulative Evil Adult – the force of repression, the Man to rebel against (President Snow/Jeanine/Ava Paige)

:The Good Parent- an adult they can trust who may also die to allow the Hero to lead (Haymitch/Natalie/Alby)

:The Techie/Expert- even in a post-apocalypse, someone knows more than the rest of how things work- they provide exposition to the hero: (Beetee/Tori/Minho)

Plot elements:

Rite of Passage: A selection for your role in society: Tribute Lottery/Faction selection/Glader roles

Rite of Passage: A life threatening contest: Hunger Games/Dauntless Training/The Maze

Destruction of all you hold dear: Massacre of District 12/Abnegation massacre/Greivers attack the Glade

Heroic sacrifice for another/greater good: The heros risks or surrenders all to save others: “They want me- I wont let anyone else be hurt” : Katniss volunteering in HG and risking the Cornucopia and talking to Snow/Tris surrenders to Erudite to stop the suicides/Thomas jumps into the maze to help Alby

Open Rebellion: Mockingjay Rebellion/Dauntless and Factionless allying/Fighting the Greivers and Escaping the Maze

Thoughts? Is there a good mix of playbooks that would make this a fun mash up of the teen drama and coming of age of Monsterhearts with the grim and gritty survival of Apocalypse World? All of these YA future dystopias are about teenagers refusing to define themselves by the choices the established order forces upon them and discovering/becoming themselves and in so doing, destroying the unfair society that victimises them.

Hi

Hi,

I’ve had a quick read through the Beta doc for SCUP- is this the best place to discuss some initial thoughts?

A) first impression- the name is a little lengthy. How about Sword & Crown?

B) Someone described it as Game of Thrones Powered by the Apocalypse, but it feels more like a Joe Abercrombie or Mark Lawrence type of story. (Indeed the Spur is the Prince of Thorns, and Screw is Glotka) because it lacks the high level politics of Westeros – the PC’s arent the heads of major houses or princes of regions, the Crown is relatively small stuff with a holding of a few hundred people. And while it’d be fine for Arya and Hound wandering around (or Brienne and Podrick) or the Brotherhood without Banners, it lacks the scale currently of ASOI&F RPG.

C) – for the PC sheets, can you insert blank sheets for odd number paged characters for ease of double sided printing? In printing out the playbooks I’ve had to go single-sided, leading to some massive character sheets.

Otherwise I look forward to running some of it at our IndieRPG meetup.

Rules Question- in a damaged plane with an NPC pilot and a PC Navigator, who rolls for the Wheels Down manoeuvre?

Rules Question- in a damaged plane with an NPC pilot and a PC Navigator, who rolls for the Wheels Down manoeuvre? Should the NPC’s have stats and rolls (which is against the GM never rolls ethos of Powered by Apocalypse World engine)?

I’ve made the Navigator player roll on behalf of the NPC and using their PCs Skill, but should I be assigning stars and informing the Section Leader so they can make appropriate assignments?

Or is it just GM fiat if a NPC pilot puts a damaged plane down successfully or not? (Again against the PBAW ethos of hard moves trigger in response to rolls of 6-)

Night Witches Session 1 (of 3) ended inauspiciously with unlucky Rufina dead in a crash from a training exercise,…

Night Witches Session 1 (of 3) ended inauspiciously with unlucky Rufina dead in a crash from a training exercise, the Lt hospitalised, and another plane shot down at Voronezh, though Sgt Lisa landed to rescue the unconscious Katya and co-pilot Anya was awarded a Medal of Valour for leading a German Tiger tank away from the downed planes and into the Red Army’s guns.

(I’m running 3 consecutive slots at Conception 2015 with 4 players to see how the campaign rules work. Started with the Engels aerodrome duty station)