Category: Powered by the Apocalypse: Discussion

So here’s a little idea I had over in the comments of a post in DW community.

So here’s a little idea I had over in the comments of a post in DW community.

So here’s a little idea I had over in the comments of a post in DW community.

“Make your move, but never speak its name” or some variation of it is a pretty common MC rule in most *W games. What if it were a PC rule, too? What if it was against the rules to say “Go Aggro” or “Turn Someone On” or whatever, and you just had to describe what you were doing in sufficient detail to make it completely unambiguous before you picked up the dice?

I dig the idea, but I’m curious what you all think.

So, I was inspired by the new Solace playbook to write up a Wolf playbook. Here it is:

So, I was inspired by the new Solace playbook to write up a Wolf playbook. Here it is:

So, I was inspired by the new Solace playbook to write up a Wolf playbook. Here it is:

the Wolf

The world is a dangerous place filled with smoke and mirrors, it’s a steaming pile of crap where others bicker and fight over meaningless twaddle. They circle each other like dogs, waiting to bite the closest friend with a leg up. You’re in this world too, but you see through the smoke, you’re above the crap, and you have the leash. You just have to teach them all who’s really in charge.

NAME

Clyde, Defoe, Dwayne, Flyboy, Joker, Jonah, Maniac, Pinky, Pooch, Zist

Ariel, Beatrix, Bobbie, Cleo, Cora, Hildy, Jo, Maddy, Paramour, Xenia

STATS

Cool +2, Hard +1, Hot -1, Sharp +0, Weird +1

Cool +2, Hard -1, Hot -1, Sharp +2, Weird +0

Cool +2, Hard -1, Hot +0, Sharp +1, Weird +1

Cool +2, Hard +2, Hot -1, Sharp -1, Weird +0

MOVES

You get all the basic moves. You get 2 Wolf moves.

LOOK

Man, woman, ambiguous, transgressing, or concealed.

Casual wear, fashionable wear, fetish wear, or environmental wear appropriate to the local environment.

Broken face, calm face, lovely face, ugly face, scarred face, or wild face.

Calm eyes, laughing eyes, clear eyes, piercing eyes, or wild eyes.

Curvy body, slim body, fat body, skinny body, or small body.

HX

On your turn, tell everyone Hx-1. You’re closed off.

On the others’ turns, for each, ask yourself: can I twist them to my purpose? Can I use them to foment chaos and discord?

• If either answer is yes: whatever number that player tells you, give it +1 and write it next to their character’s name. They’re part of your pack, whether they know it or not.

• If both answers are no: whatever number that player tells you, write it next to their character’s name.

GEAR

You get:

• 1 handy weapon

• oddments worth 1-barter

• fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1-armor (you detail)

• a suitcase full of secrets

Handy weapons (choose 1):

• 9mm (2-harm close loud)

• big knife (2-harm hand)

• hunting rifle (2-harm far loud)

• machete (3-harm hand messy)

• magnum (3-harm close reload loud)

• sawed-off (3-harm close reload messy)

MOVES

Bluesight: When you open your brain to the psychic maelstrom, roll +Cool instead of +Weird.

Expert eye: When you read a person, roll +Cool instead of +Sharp.

He’s got a gun!: When you’re in a tense situation, you can say something crazy or sudden and roll+cool. On a hit, other people present react with violence before doing anything else. Choose options. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 1:

• you are not targeted in the initial exchange

• somebody takes a blow meant for you

• you get away from the fight

• name one of the characters present, if they strike first they mark experience, it it’s an NPC they definitely strike first

• name one of the player’s characters that is not present, they show up and start the fight, if they don’t want to they’re acting under fire

On a miss, nobody needs to start fighting if they don’t want to and you are no longer exempt from getting hit first if they do.

Howling in the wind: At the end of the session, when you would normally choose a character who knows you better, instead, consider each of the other players’ characters and decide whether or not they helped to destroy something of stability and goodness. All that did, tell them to add +1 to their Hx with you on their sheet. You can tell none of them, any of them, or all of them, as you see fit.

Closing in: At the beginning of the session, before highlighting stats, announce a stat and that one cannot be highlighted this session by either players or the MC. You may never select Weird with this move.

Survival instinct: At the beginning of the session, roll+weird. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. At any time, you can spend your hold to avoid 1 segment of damage inflicted upon you. On a miss, the MC will tell you about somebody new who wants you dead.

Taking care of business: At the beginning of the session, name another player’s character. If they inflict harm on anyone other than you during the session, then at the end of the session, you both mark experience.

SPECIAL

When you and another character have sex, you can let their sex move activate, or you can stop it and then use it yourself.

SUITCASE OF SECRETS

You carry something connected to the apocalypse and it drives you purposefully forward. What is it? (choose 1):

• a book filled with names

• a small device that glows

• a gun that shoots something other than bullets

• thousands of slips of green paper

• a mask made of human skin and a knife carved from bone

• a gigantic insect

• black and white photographs

• dozens of objects (you detail; could be coffee cups, lighters, cassette tapes, cell phones, etc.)

What is it? ________________________________________________

By default, your suitcase holds 1-secret. At the beginning of the session, roll+weird. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2:

• Your suitcase holds 2-secrets. Choose this again for 3-secrets.

• Your suitcase can obscure you from scrutiny. Anyone who reads you is acting under fire.

• Your suitcase is always in hand and deflects others attack. +1armor.

• Your suitcase is a conduit to the psychic maelstrom. You can spend 1-secret to automatically roll 10+ when opening your brain.

• Your suitcase is a curious object. Anybody who sees it today must open their brain or suffer -1ongoing for the rest of the session.

On a miss, the default stands.

Whenever any player’s character attempts to go aggro, seize by force, or read a person against you, subtract your suitcase’s secrets from the roll.

When you consult the suitcase, roll+secret. On a 10+, hold 2. On 7-9, hold 1. You can be spend hold 1-for-1 from the following list:

•  Your suitcase vomits forth goods worth 1-barter for you.

•  Your suitcase has food inside. Enough to feed one person for one week.

•  Your suitcase has a weapon inside (tell the MC it’s either a distinctive weapon or a weapon that gives pause, your call, and the MC will give you something suitable).

•  Your suitcase impresses, awes, or frightens everyone present. They will now treat you with admiration, fear, or revulsion, as appropriate.

IMPROVEMENT

+1 Cool (max. +3)

+1 Hard (max. +3)

+1 Sharp (max. +3)

+1 Weird (max. +3)

get a new Wolf move

get a new Wolf move

get followers (detail) and Fortunes

get a gang (detail) and Leadership

get a move from another playbook

get a move from another playbook

So apparently I can’t share with my Circles and a Community at the same time…

So apparently I can’t share with my Circles and a Community at the same time…

So apparently I can’t share with my Circles and a Community at the same time…

I ran our first Apocalypse World session for 2013 last night. The group consists of a Brainer, Gunlugger, and Savvyhead. It’s been a couple of months since we last played, so it took a while for everyone to remember what was going on!

The group’s working for a holding based in the Tower Bridge in the middle of London, which is allied with a holding based in the Tower of London itself. Last year they were mostly concerned about marauding bikies from the Brick Field, slave raiders from the Barrier Siltway holding (who were on a “recruitment drive” because their workforce was dying of a mystery illness), and that the Tower’s holder looked like they may have plans to fully annexe the Bridge or start a war.

This session they uncovered another problem – toxic waste is leeching into Hackney Marsh and contaminating the river. Because the Thames Barrier was closed before the end of the world, it’s built up a massive silt deposit that makes for great farmland, but has also caused the river to rise and slow. So, the contamination is slowly spreading upstream, and will eventually affect the Bridge’s farmland, leading to sickness and death as seen at the Barrier.

They’re working on a plan to get the Tower to deal with the toxic leak, while they assimilate refugees from the Barrier, and use their extra numbers to take over the Tower before it takes over the Bridge. Hopefully the Brickheads will hold back on their attacks until everything’s under control!

 😉