“There are no status quos in Apocalypse World”

In 2010, Vincent and Meg Baker published Apocalypse World and inspired a wave of independent game design. These games often identified themselves as “Powered by the Apocalypse” (PbtA).

From Dec 2012 through March of 2019, Google+ was a hotbed of table-top RPG discussion. The “Powered by the Apocalypse” community was active until the very end of the platform, and many games had their own communities.

But there are no status quos in this Apocalypse World, and Google looked through crosshairs and made their move: take away their stuff. By the time you read this, Google+ will be no more.

This archive, however, will persist. It’s a collection of all the “pbta” communities I could find in the last days before the shutdown. A vault, attempting to preserve the golden age of legend. If I didn’t include your community here, I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. I did my best. (See also: the Dungeon World and Blades in the Dark archives.)

There are other places to talk about PbtA games, of course. The conversation continues in the ungiven future. These are the places I know of:

May you all retire to safety.

At long last, a new version of the playtest kit for my Cold War espionage game “The Service”!

At long last, a new version of the playtest kit for my Cold War espionage game “The Service”!

At long last, a new version of the playtest kit for my Cold War espionage game “The Service”!

It’s a (mainly) mission-based game that is made to emulate the kind of gritty, bureaucratic, dirt-under-your-fingernails espionage that you would encounter in Le Carré, Len Deighton or The Sandbaggers.

I had an earlier version up here a while ago. A lot of this will be familiar if you already saw that one, but I’ve overhauled bits and pieces throughout.

Big shout-out to Acronico Meia Noite who came up with most of the Crises and provided me with much needed help and encouragement. Huge thanks also to Marshall Miller for giving a lot of extremely well-though out feedback to the previous version.

If you notice mistakes, faults, typos or stuff that makes your blood boil, I’m super grateful for any feedback! This is still a work in progress, so anything that makes it better is much appreciated.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ySGypMo2OkBG0tmZkeV5Fj8d83SfnoE1

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ySGypMo2OkBG0tmZkeV5Fj8d83SfnoE1

#mysthea2e campaign in the kickstarter today!

#mysthea2e campaign in the kickstarter today!

#mysthea2e campaign in the kickstarter today! Based on the #pbta engine, and the strong #legacy2e evolution, based on #tabulagames fantastic setting.

This may be our swam song in G+, but lets say goodbye with a bang!

Check it out there

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1549920133/mysthea-legends-from-the-borderlands/description

One last Kickstarter before notifications die on our beloved G+

One last Kickstarter before notifications die on our beloved G+

One last Kickstarter before notifications die on our beloved G+

The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk PbtA game of bioengineered bounty hunters in space is now live! It’s a little Cowboy Bebop, a little Blade Runner and there’s links to the QuickStart on the page. Give it a try.

One of the stretch goals is to have Mabel Harper adapt the game to an OSR framework. If we reach our funding goal, you’ll be walking away with two cyberpunk games, not just one!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samjokopublishing/the-veil-inheritance-a-biopunk-tabletop-roleplayin?ref=project_tweet

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samjokopublishing/the-veil-inheritance-a-biopunk-tabletop-roleplayin?ref=project_tweet

Episode 35 is now live! We interview Hayley & Vee from Storybrewers about their PBTA game Alas for the Awful Sea.

Episode 35 is now live! We interview Hayley & Vee from Storybrewers about their PBTA game Alas for the Awful Sea.

Originally shared by Matt Kay

Episode 35 is now live! We interview Hayley & Vee from Storybrewers about their PBTA game Alas for the Awful Sea.

http://mbcast.co/35

As our Patreon is now live, “Bloodied” Patrons will get early access of our review for this game (episode 36) delivered tomorrow or Monday. “Sullied” Patrons will be able to dial in tonight at 21:00 GMT to listen live over Discord.

http://mbcast.co/patreon

Assuming a system roughly equal to Apocalypse World, what does a piece of gear that gives 3-armor do to the game?

Assuming a system roughly equal to Apocalypse World, what does a piece of gear that gives 3-armor do to the game?

Assuming a system roughly equal to Apocalypse World, what does a piece of gear that gives 3-armor do to the game? Does it utterly break it?

Close to the end of this place, we start our journey!

Close to the end of this place, we start our journey!

Close to the end of this place, we start our journey!

The journey to save them it’s only begun!!! Join to #TheOrderoftheLast

Available NOW in PDF: The Order of the Last by @JulioMatosMKT

A module for Adam Koebel & Sage LaTorra fantasy RPG #DungeonWorld, playing out the saga of a desperate journey guided by faith.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/267636/The-Order-of-the-Last

Dear Apocalyptians!

Dear Apocalyptians!

Dear Apocalyptians!

I hereby present you with a unique opportunity to behead Marie Antoinette herself for just a few bucks! It goes without saying that I suggest such an act not for mere bloody entertainment but to save countless innocent lifes from the undead queen’s devilish intrigues! Satisfaction guaranteed!

In other words, I’ve just released All Heads Are Off, a two-layered mystery for Monster of the Week and other tabletop RPGs about a scheme of beheaded, undead French aristocrats. It’s available on DriveThruRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/267441/All-Heads-Are-Off

So this is “Will You Do the Fandango?”

So this is “Will You Do the Fandango?”

So this is “Will You Do the Fandango?”

It’s a bit raw, and maybe a bit too out there to be relevant to a lot of PbtA-fans, but I got awarded a prize for it in the itch.io “Gaming Like it’s 1923” game jam that Randy Lubin hosted and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t quite proud of that.

It’s a microgame based on Rex Ingram’s film “Scaramouche” (1923), a film that entered the public domain this year. The characters play as a touring troupe of swashbuckling Commedia dell’Arte performers in pre-revolutionary France.

I think there’s some typos in there, probably quite a few sentences that could be better, and an old reference to gaining drama points from acting on your Keys that I hadn’t changed to reflect the way the Keys work on the Playbooks.

Anyway, if you want to check it out, here’s the file. Let me know if I messed up the sharing options (again…).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YGJh3-uh-vxWfLxePjESzI-20uQH5W8G/view?usp=drive_web