Category: Powered by the Apocalypse: ApWorld Settings

I’ve been writing some things and failing to share them properly, so apologies if this is a repost, but here you go.

This particular game is still bereft of a name. For the moment, let’s call it Belief. It’s a modern-day fantasy of the type you’re probably quite familiar with, demons in the shadows and angels in the background, fairy tales are based on actual events and someone, somewhere is probably trying to make money off it. The most direct influence for this game is the film Constantine, itself inspired by the Hellblazer comics, but it also takes notes from Hellraiser and the RPGs Kult and Urban Shadows. A quick disclaimer: Urban Shadows is really good and if you have the cash to hand, I recommend you take a look at it. That being said, I still think there’s a niche for me here to try something quick and simple along similar lines.

The essential setup of Belief is that God is real, and the world of mortals is a hollow shell, highly detailed but lacking in “true” substance. Tomorrow will be much the same as today. Yesterday was nothing special. Of course from the perspective of a mortal, life is precious and vital and full of interesting particulars, but what do they know? Angels and demons walk the Earth, inspiring and seducing and manipulating the favoured of God’s creations to adjust the celestial balance through the power of free will. Meanwhile, creatures of myth and legend struggle to survive in the modern world, even as secret societies and privately funded “research groups” seek to take control of these ancient powers for their own benefit.

You could be a regular person suddenly finding out that things are not as expected in a traumatic fashion. You could be well aware that there are “Irregular Events” that occur with disturbing regularity, and part of a small group entrusted to deal with them. You could be one of these Events, trying to stay relevant and alive as the world rolls on. And remember how we said the world was a shell? What lies beneath is up to you to discover.

Belief runs on a stripped down Apocalypse Engine (aka Powered by the Apocalypse, by I like my way of saying it better). By stripped down, I mean to the core. Characters are rated from 1 to +2 for Faith, Justice, Strength and Wisdom (aka Beliefs). When it comes to the crunch and dice are needed, you roll 2d6 and add the stat that make sense. Your result determines whether you succeed in your goal, whether you avoid a cost, and whether you avoid a complication. 6 gets one, 7-9 gets two and 10+ gets three. I want to see characters that can push themselves to succeed with the power of their convictions, even if they’re only otherwise mediocre.

Success is what you make it. A cost hits you straight away – you put the guy down but you get hurt in return, you get bumped to the top of the queue but your wallet is now empty, something immediate like that. A complication is more of a “soft move” in AW parlance. You blast the bad guys like an action hero and then hear the sirens rapidly approaching, or your black market buddy comes up with the goods and just needs a teensy favour in return. Yes, it is possible under this paradigm to succeed even if you’re looking at snake eyes. Yes, the GM is entitled to make your cost and complication suck so hard if you do. It is entirely and exactly your choice.

The other side of the character is their Balance. There are four aspects to this, being Sun, Moon, Earth and Stars. The Sun represents humanity, Stars the angelic beings, Earth the demonic and Moon the primal. This part is still somewhat under development, but I’m thinking that perhaps your Balance comes into play when you exercise particular abilities, like a charm of warding taught by an angel would have you roll +Stars, or using a ghost-hunter’s high-tech dowsing wand would roll +Sun. Let’s say a mortal starting character probably has a balance of +1 in their Beliefs, and all zeroes in their Balance. All subject to negotiation, of course – it’s your game.

Your character can take four wounds before becoming insensible, with the fifth being a killing blow. The first two will get better with time, the third needs professional attention and the fourth needs immediate attention. You can “ignore” one wound by reducing one of your Beliefs by one, similar to a Debility in Apocalypse World, and just like a Debility you can only do this once per stat. Regular folk can only take two wounds, three at best. This game isn’t about them. Call fists one wound, a weapon or handgun two, a shotgun blast or a speeding car three and wing it from there.

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