Wednesday, July 26, 2017

threats for Apocalypse World

these are some threats I've used for my Apocalypse World games, merely transcribed from my original notes, I've reused some of these two or three times but sometimes I change the names

Whitney ♀
Warlord: Prophet (denounce & overthrow)
12-yr old girl, dark skin, piercing eyes
Cast: cultists +obedient +savage +violent, Teapot♂ Kettle♂ Piehole♂ Stuffing♀
Whitney always has 1-armor
when Whitney wants something and speaks to you roll+cool, 10+ it's cool, 7-9 the stick, 6- the carrot & the stick
when Whitney speaks to a crowd roll+cool, 10+ she doesn't turn on you, 7-9 she leaves you out -1forward, 6- she points to you as a threat
Countdown:
3 o'clock - Whitney offers jobs
6 o'clock - Whitney demands obedience
9 o'clock - her cult grows, in number or strength
10 o'clock - pledge loyalty to Whitney or die
11 o'clock - her cult spreads out to other settlements +influence
12 o'clock - her cult is everywhere, non-cultists are hunted/killed

Doctor Faustus ♂
Grotesque: Mindfucker (craves mastery)
Cast: current patients +stupor, Plumbob♂ geezer, Roark♂ burn victim
Faustus uses an Angel kit on PCs (they roll) with +1stock for 2-barter
Faustus has experimental treatments: complete healing in less than a day but you owe Faustus a favor
Anyone who owes Faustus barter/favor has -3ongoing vs Faustus
Faustus dies at 3-harm; when Faustus dies, all of his former patients take 2-harm ap

Jackson Indifferent
grotesque: cannibal - craves satiety & plenty (doesn't eat meat ever, satiety is not being bothered, plenty is peace)
shaved head, short, glasses, gloves
Jackson Indifferent doesn't get harmed by brainer gear
when Jackson touches you roll+cool, on 10+ Jackson fixates on you, on 7-9 answer 1 question, on a miss Jackson knows what you know
when Jackson fixates on you and you give him something roll+weird, on 10+ take 1harm ap and you felt Jackson in your head, on 7-9 you're at -1ongoing unless you submit to Jackson's desires, on a miss you can submit to Jackson as 7-9 and he can inflict 2harm ap whenever until you submit

Honest Jon ♂
Grotesque: Perversion (craves chaos)
when you want to buy something from Honest Jon roll+sharp, 10+ he's got it and it's for sale at a fair price, 7-9 he's got it but choose 1:
• he's gonna charge you extra
• he's using it, why do you need it?
• it's hidden in a cache somewhere dangerous
6- the MC chooses 1 above and "that's gonna take some time"
when you read Honest Jon, unless you have read a person advanced, you may only ask questions from this list:
• who do you trust the most?
• who is your weakest link?
• what's worrying you right now?
• how can I get you to take an interest in me?
• what are you looking for here?
• where was your last big score?

the Fetch ⚥ - idea from Zak Sabbath's blog
Grotesque: Perversion (craves overthrow)
pick an NPC and ask a player "where do you think they hang out?" their fetch is in that location
all rolls in the presence of the Fetch (including help/interfere) are made with roll+weird instead
Countdown:
3 o'clock - the Fetch offends someone important
6 o'clock - the Fetch invites violence
9 o'clock - the Fetch actively starts shit
10 o'clock - the NPC is killed and the Fetch replaces them, new threat!

it's fucking cold (landscape: prison - contain/deny egress)
push terrain, display something for all to see, hide something, bar the way, disgorge something, take something away
howling winds (terrain: exposed place - expose to danger)
inflict harm, stall someone, hide evidence
blizzard (terrain: shifting ground - cost someone their bearing)
inflict harm, isolate someone, bring someone somewhere

the Deep Ravens gang
brutes: hunting pack (victimize the vulnerable)
Dex - gaunt druggie with a fedex truck (tells stories, make them buy)

Monday, July 10, 2017

apocalypse worlds

I've been running two Apocalypse World games for several months now, one is on Saturdays and the other is Sundays, different players, different worlds, different plots. I've really struggled with the Sunday game, half of the threats have been eliminated and I'm at a loss for what to do. I started to make some of the minor NPCs more relevant in the last session, but the players tend to forget the NPC names a lot too, makes it more difficult to really suck the players into that world. Though now that I think about the Saturday group took some time to create interesting developments as well, most of the NPCs were easy to ignore at first, and the biggest threat was one of the players. But we've also had some player migrations with the Saturday group, cycling through the cast of characters a little, making it hard to form lasting relationships.

I really enjoy playing both games for different reasons, but feel like I might have to drop one soon. The creative energy needed to run two games has been cutting into my standup comedy, and I already felt I needed more momentum to write material. I've started doing a weekly interview podcast and I try to stay two episodes ahead of schedule, and I'm part of a monthly show now as well, though I often feel like I'm just a little too slow compared to the other writers. I probably just need to get more sleep.

Joesky tax? Here's something I just wrote this weekend
the Fetch ⚥ - idea from Zak Sabbath's blog
Grotesque: Perversion (craves overthrow)
pick an NPC and ask a player "where do you think they hang out?" their fetch is in that location
all rolls in the presence of the Fetch (including help/interfere) are made with roll+weird instead
Countdown:
3 o'clock - the Fetch offends someone important
6 o'clock - the Fetch invites violence
9 o'clock - the Fetch actively starts shit
10 o'clock - the NPC is killed and the Fetch replaces them, new threat!