Category: Powered by the Apocalypse: ApWorld Settings

I liked this analogy so much, I just had to share it.

Originally shared by James Mullen

Apps: Mates, Dates & Spooky Fates

“Imagine this: you wake up tomorrow morning to find out your country has been invaded. The occupying forces are everywhere, with soldiers on every street and in every shop; they’ve even put cameras and propaganda posters in your home while you slept.

You freak out a little more when no-one else seems to care; hell, they haven’t even noticed, and what’s up with that? Your friends, your family, everyfuckingbody, just carrying on like it was a normal day.

Your freak out is complete when the truth finally sinks in: this invasion didn’t happen while you slept, it happened before you were even born; when you woke up this morning, you really woke up. Yesterday, you were just like everybody else, blind to the powerful forces all around you controlling every intimate aspect of your life; today, you can see.

That’s what being a seer is like: all that stuff that most people seem to sort of believe in, to one degree or another, is all real and it’s all right here, not off in some airy-fairy ‘other plane of existence.’ The otherworld is this world and nor are you out of it.”

There’s a basic move that I’m not sure about, so I thought I would ask you all what you think of it.

See Things

This is what you do when you’re a seer in the presence of an apparition; apps don’t like being seen and humans aren’t meant to see apps, so it’s bad all round. When you see things, roll+sight. On a hit, you don’t grow colder; on a 10+, the app doesn’t react to being seen.

Essentially, it’s the default move for learning about the apparitions the PCs face in the game… only the move doesn’t really say that. Also, it looks really passive: the character isn’t doing anything except checking to see if the app reacts to being seen. Is this still a basic move? Or is it a peripheral move? I was thinking of re-modelling it around the read a person move, with the PC being allowed to ask specific questions, but then there are a couple of unique moves in the playbooks that sort of cover that ground.

Opinions?

WIP.

Originally shared by James Mullen

Apps: Mates, Dates & Spooky Fates:

Here’s the other playbook I mentioned yesterday; it’s mostly finished, still needs a sex move and frozen condition.

The Shaman

Your existence is a statement, with your body being the canvas you declare it on; your flesh is yours to do with as you will, so make it beautiful, make it ugly, make it striking, make it serve you.

You get this one:

Body Modification: when you get a new piercing or tattoo, reset your cold to zero and feel the pain. Describe three body modifications you start with.

Then choose one:

Blood Cost: when you rip one of your piercings from your flesh, take +1 pain and feel the pain; take +1 ongoing until you heal a pain bar.

Animate: when you bring one of your tattoos to life & make it real, roll+envy. On a hit, you don’t grow any colder. On a 10+, it’s the real deal and it lasts until you lose sight of it or put it back. On a 7-9, it’s just an illusion. On a miss, it’s just an illusion and you take +1 cold.

Iron Skin: choose one type of damage you have +2 armour against, from blows, blades, bullets or burning.

War Paint: when you expose at least half your body modifications at once, take an additional 1 hold against anybody who doesn’t give you what you want when you make demands.

Spirit Guide: you can stick your nose in against apps without growing any colder.

The player-facing part of the rules are pretty much done, but I keep getting distracted by Pringles Playbooks.

Originally shared by James Mullen

Apps: Mates, Dates & Spooky Fates

I’ve decided to cap the starting playbooks at 9 Seers and 9 Mundanes, but that hasn’t stopped me from creating more playbooks: I can always save them for another time.

Today, I’ve created two Seers, the first being The Terror:

There’s something unnatural inside you, a nasty bug you caught during a run-in with an app; every day, it makes you a little bit stronger and a little bit stranger but also a little bit less human.

Choose two:

Predator:  when you cause pain, your target takes +1 pain; if you take +1 cold at the start of a session, your targets take +2 pain.

Devil’s Eyes: choose whether you can see in the dark or you can see heat; if you take +1 cold at the start of a session, you can see both.

Thrill of the Chase: you can outrun anyone else; if you take +1 cold at the start of a session, you can outrun road vehicles.

Bestial Rage: take +1 anger (anger+3); if you take +1 cold at the start of a session, take +1 ongoing to lash out.

Scent: you may spend 1 hold you have against someone to find them, wherever they are.

Hurt: take -1 cold whenever you get 10+ to feel the pain.

Freeze: you’re a monster and physically transform into something less than human for as long as you are frozen; you lose all ability to communicate and are dedicated to ruthlessly pursuing your most recent goal in the most direct way possible. Take -1 cold if you kill or hospitalise anyone.