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roleplaying theory, hardcore / Re: Any advice/tips/feedback for running an AW one shot?
« on: September 20, 2016, 09:02:36 PM »
In summation:
"Did you see Mad Max: Fury Road? Did you like it? Ok, it's kinda like that; you play the badass heroes, you do amazingly cool stuff, sometimes things go terribly wrong. Here's the playbooks you can choose from" [places playbooks I want in the game on the table]
They start sifting through playbooks, I watch the players. Who came to the table together? Who lets on they know the game? Who is totally new?
Once someone grabs the Gunlugger, I say "what's you name? Ok, Keeler, tell me a about yourself. Everyone, see the looks and such on your character sheet? Which are you, Keeler? Ok, cool. What weapons do you have? Cool So you know those old water towers? Dremmer's got you tied to a chair up in the bowl of one, and he's pacing back and forth in front of you, whacking a length of chain against his leg. He's sweating and looks really nervous. What did you do to piss off Dremmer so bad he wants to maybe kill you?
While you're thinking about that, which of you grabbed the chopper? Cool, tell me a bit about yourself? Cool. One of your gang, Jackbite, comes screaming in and runs over to you shouting that Keeler's in Dremmer's Tower and it doesn't look good from what they could see from the lookout. What's your Hx with Keeler?
Ok, Keeler, what did you do to piss of Dremmer and get him so scared he's got you tied to a chair? Ok cool. Now you probably want to read a person here - check out these basic moves. [Let them roll, follow up the roll, make sure everyone sees how the dice work.]
Inter-cut fiction with character creation, make sure you are bringing everyone along at roughly the same pace, don't spend more that a couple minutes with any one PC in isolation, get them together in the same location even if it's inside and just outside the water tower, so their actions have effect on each other. Ask questions , sure, but follow their lead like crazy as well. If one of them throws down a Brainer with a violation glove, I am for damn sure going to give them a chance to use it! if they need a second, I give it to them, and once I've got everyone's names, I lean back and recap and make sure everyone is clear on who is where before diving back in.
That is literally it. No further prep for a one-shot than "Dremmer has a PC tied to a chair in a water tower*, the other PCs know about it, go" Start in media res, follow the fiction, ask questions, barf forth apocalyptica: "Ok, so outside there's like this scrubby little stand of pine trees and couple rocks, enough for some cover and some high ground, and across the way there's Dremmer's gang (small gang rules apply) and two-three beat up pickup trucks, one's fitted with a gun turret. You might want to read a sitch there, Chopper PC."
For an example, listen to episode one of +1 Forward: http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/1-forward/apocalypse-world-2nd-edition
"Did you see Mad Max: Fury Road? Did you like it? Ok, it's kinda like that; you play the badass heroes, you do amazingly cool stuff, sometimes things go terribly wrong. Here's the playbooks you can choose from" [places playbooks I want in the game on the table]
They start sifting through playbooks, I watch the players. Who came to the table together? Who lets on they know the game? Who is totally new?
Once someone grabs the Gunlugger, I say "what's you name? Ok, Keeler, tell me a about yourself. Everyone, see the looks and such on your character sheet? Which are you, Keeler? Ok, cool. What weapons do you have? Cool So you know those old water towers? Dremmer's got you tied to a chair up in the bowl of one, and he's pacing back and forth in front of you, whacking a length of chain against his leg. He's sweating and looks really nervous. What did you do to piss off Dremmer so bad he wants to maybe kill you?
While you're thinking about that, which of you grabbed the chopper? Cool, tell me a bit about yourself? Cool. One of your gang, Jackbite, comes screaming in and runs over to you shouting that Keeler's in Dremmer's Tower and it doesn't look good from what they could see from the lookout. What's your Hx with Keeler?
Ok, Keeler, what did you do to piss of Dremmer and get him so scared he's got you tied to a chair? Ok cool. Now you probably want to read a person here - check out these basic moves. [Let them roll, follow up the roll, make sure everyone sees how the dice work.]
Inter-cut fiction with character creation, make sure you are bringing everyone along at roughly the same pace, don't spend more that a couple minutes with any one PC in isolation, get them together in the same location even if it's inside and just outside the water tower, so their actions have effect on each other. Ask questions , sure, but follow their lead like crazy as well. If one of them throws down a Brainer with a violation glove, I am for damn sure going to give them a chance to use it! if they need a second, I give it to them, and once I've got everyone's names, I lean back and recap and make sure everyone is clear on who is where before diving back in.
That is literally it. No further prep for a one-shot than "Dremmer has a PC tied to a chair in a water tower*, the other PCs know about it, go" Start in media res, follow the fiction, ask questions, barf forth apocalyptica: "Ok, so outside there's like this scrubby little stand of pine trees and couple rocks, enough for some cover and some high ground, and across the way there's Dremmer's gang (small gang rules apply) and two-three beat up pickup trucks, one's fitted with a gun turret. You might want to read a sitch there, Chopper PC."
For an example, listen to episode one of +1 Forward: http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/1-forward/apocalypse-world-2nd-edition