The Sprawl: Discussion – Page 52 – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

I hope this is a good venue for feedback as you’re going into revisiting the layout for final files.

I hope this is a good venue for feedback as you’re going into revisiting the layout for final files. There are two incredibly minor things that appear to be mistakes, but I think it’s the presentation that’s doing this rather than things actually wrong with the rules.

First, the moves that have a 7+ and a 7-9 range. When I saw that 7+ for Mix It Up, it looked like a typo. Whups, they obviously meant 10+, because in AW, moves generally have the structure: “On a 10+, this happens. On a 7-9, this other thing happens. On a miss, this happens.” If a move has that 7+ and 7-9 range effect is in AW, it is either written like “On a 10+, this happens. On a 7-9, that still happens, but these things also happen. On a miss, this other thing happens.” (See the Hocus’ Fortunes move.) Or it’s written like “On a hit, this happens. On a 7-9, these things also happen.” (See Basic Move: Help or Interfere.) Having that 7+ range before a separate 7-9 range makes it a bit unclear.

Related, the Hit the Street move also isn’t as clear upon first reading the results of the roll. First, there’s a range. Then we go up to a higher range. Then we go back down to a lower range. Why aren’t these in order like the following?

Hit the Street. When you go to a Contact for help, roll Style.

On a 10+, you get what you want, plus a little something extra (choose either [intel] or [gear]).

On a 7-9, you get what you want, but choose 2 from the list:

* list item

Because some games have typos and errata to fix mistakes, even though you mean a 7+ result is supposed to cover that 10+ range and 7-9 range, readers may be unsure if that was really meant or if it was supposed to read 10+ instead of 7+.

The second thing that bugs me just a little (and it’s really really minor): why does the countdown clock go up, up, up and terminate at 0? I mean, I know, but it looks weird. Clocks that display military time always display midnight as 0000 hours, but midnight is referred to as both 0000 hours and 2400 hours. When counting up to midnight in this strip, having the last number higher than the previous numbers makes visual sense, even if that’s not exactly how digital clocks work. It just feels strange going up, ratcheting tension higher and higher and then when the tension is highest we drop down to nothing.

Hey everyone!

Hey everyone! I am going to be running The Sprawl for some friends on Roll20 this Sunday, and I wanted a proper character sheet, so I made one. Figured I would share it here. Hopefully it will get added to the official Roll20 repo soon, but for now you can find it here:

https://github.com/chrispwolf/thesprawlrpgsheet

If the GM has a paid roll20 account, they can copy the HTML and CSS code straight into the custom character sheet options on Roll20, and you’ll have working sheets for The Sprawl.

These are really simple, just buttons to roll your stats and some areas where you can paste in moves, cyberwear, contacts, etc. I tested the rolls and they seem to be working fine, but if anyone uses them and has a problem, let me know! They look like this:

Programs: Several playbooks come with more programs than the Processor allows.

Programs: Several playbooks come with more programs than the Processor allows. Does this indicate that they are not active, but can be loaded into the deck if needed?

Hello there !

There is a little pb on the move “mix it up” : description doesn’t match mechanic.

p28 : 7+ : you achieve your objective, 7-9 : choose 2 (you make too much noise. advance the revelant mission clock / you take harm as established in the fiction / an ally take harm / something of value breaks).

Then : “If doing something “quietly” is an explicit part of the objective you might succeed in acting quietly (choosing You achieve your objective) but if you do not choose You make little noise you will be discovered after or during the action for some other reason. If doing something quietly is that important to you, choose that option.”

No option “you make little noise”, this was in the beta mechanic.

And finally, p178 : “Kennedy mixes it up with an Ecuadine Petrochem response team. She rolls a 10+ and chooses you are badly hurt. The MC describes how she is shot by one of their EP-45 Assault Rifles (4-harm). Kennedy takes 4 harm and makes the harm move.”

But there is nothing for 10+ in the mechanic.

Is it possible to have an update or an explanation ?

I’ve played some Dungeon World before and am almost through the rulebook of the sprawl.

I’ve played some Dungeon World before and am almost through the rulebook of the sprawl. My group and I have gone through half of the preparing to play and we’ve gotten a pretty solid Sprawl built to play in. A cyberpunk Vancouver that was once a hub of Russian invasion on America. I’m very excited to get going but I need some advice on how to structure time in the game. I think I can get them started easily by just saying “where are you guys hanging out?” or something like that. But I’m wondering how I can smoothly transmission into the getting the job move. I’m just starting into the chapter about missions but I’m just hoping for some words of encouragement about how to link scenes and stuff. The “putting it all together” of CH. 9 helped a lot! Anyone got tips for a rookie MC for PbtA.

What would the potential impact be of allowing a player to start without any cyberware?

What would the potential impact be of allowing a player to start without any cyberware? I don’t have an imminent game in which to test this, but I thought I’d ask here, because I know of a potential player who may ask.

Hey, just wanted to bounce a question off you guys, and that’s how you handle the Unstoppable Force character as a…

Hey, just wanted to bounce a question off you guys, and that’s how you handle the Unstoppable Force character as a MC asset. Like the terminator, or the hitman from No Country for Old Men. In other words, the Killer, but instead of with the party, coming to get them.

Obviously, you’d make this guy a Threat, with his own threat clock (How long till he finds what or who you care about most), harm clock, and maybe some flavorful custom moves, in addition to some scary weapons, powerful cyberware, and thick armor.

The sticking point I’m having trouble moving past is how to resolve the mechanics with the fiction when it comes to the inevitable showdown, when Killer meets Killer as the clock is about to strike midnight.

I feel like Mix it Up just isn’t the right move to use to resolve this, as it doesn’t really account for this guy’s status as a Bad Dude… a character with a good bonus is just as likely to get past him as they are some bottom-sprawl gang trash. The first thing that pops into my head is to put a penalty on the roll when Mixing it Up with him, but that feels wrong to me.

And what about the killer’s Serious Badass? Can badasses stare down other badasses into shaking and cowering? I feel that following the fiction would lead me to say, “You stare him down, but as you look into his cold steel eyes, you see the same look being shot right back at you.”, and then denying their move. But that’s not really fair to the player, is it?

Or maybe the PCs are meant to be the only big badasses, and threats like this don’t fit into this game? Im new to PbtA games in general, so perhaps I’m just missing something altogether. Thanks for any guidance you can give!

Category: The Sprawl: Discussion