Jordan Merwin – Powered by the Apocalypse G+ Archives

Hey everybody, just wanted to ask a few quick questions about the fixer and their gang.

1. I’m interpreting the protection job as what you run when you want to have your associates available for you that session, correct?

2. If a fixer tells his gang to go “deal with a problem”, like assaulting another gang, but does not go himself, would there be a move involved? Or would you just compare the size and harm of the gangs?

I have a fixer who does not have a high meat score and avoids mixing it up personally and enjoys playing someone with henchmen he can send out, and I want to keep the game engaging and dramatic for him.

Thanks!

I love how the Sprawl integrates corporations into the world and ties them to the players, almost making them…

I love how the Sprawl integrates corporations into the world and ties them to the players, almost making them characters in their own right.

Here are the ones my group came up with, I’m really stoked to see them in play. If you’ve got any thoughts, fire away!

Cerberus Cybernetics – A mil-tech and cybertechnogy conglomerate with expansive influence over the government after WW3. “Building a Better You”

Moves:

-Deploy a cutting-edge cyber-operative

-Manipulate the government

-Launch a tactical operation

ARCA Corporation – Focused on fashion and consumer goods, they are secretly involved in biotechnology and genetics research. “Where Fashion Meets Function”

Moves:

-Deploy a bioroid infiltrator

-Cause an unexpected “accident” (Exploding home appliances!)

-Buy out their allies

Paradigm Pharmaceuticals – A shadowy corporation dealing in experimental drug and chemical research, for both medicine and war. There are rumors of AI development in hidden labs as well. “Changing Minds”

Moves:

-Unleash a chemical weapon

-Hide behind a front

-Perform a experiment

Yamakashi Media and Entertainment – A multinational media conglomerate that controls most of the news and promotes exotic sources of entertainment. They have eyes everywhere. “Experience Everything”

Moves:

-Publicize and Expose a Target

-Violate someone’s privacy completely

-Sway public opinion

Karibos Orbital Industries – A venerable construction and manufacturing corporation that owns the planet’s only space elevator. “Holding Up Humanity”

Moves:

-Scorch the Earth

-Strike from Above

-Build a solution

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If you’ve got any awesome ones of your own, please share them too, I’d love to see what other groups have come up with!

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!