AW2E: Landfall Marine

50 years ago, the enemies of humanity unleashed a psychic weapon that destroyed all hope for the future. Anticipating the attack and its outcome, a clandestine military project rushed to evacuate Earth. They built secret orbital stations and expanded the hidden Mars base into a functional colony. Their grandchildren - you - grew up dreaming of blue skies and blue seas that no longer exist.

Today, the mission to reclaim Earth begins.

The landfall marine has access to the most powerful weapon system in Apocalypse World, but is caught in a struggle between assimilation and the horrifying and violent mission to reclaim the world for their superiors. Warning: whichever way this plays out, if anybody’s playing a landfall marine, the reclamation mission will be an unignorable central feature of your game.

This is, yes, an update and adaptation of the 1st Ed Space Marine Mammal, except human. I think it worked out well. It brings to the forefront some of the more serious tensions in the playbook, that playing a dolphin didn't really showcase.

It also includes something new to Apocalypse World, which I find pretty exciting: an MC's guide to go along with the playbook, with rules, threats, and MC moves for creating the rest of the reclamation mission.

Hey, and all thanks to my very generous Patreon patrons. Without them, this release wouldn't have been possible. If you dig it, please consider signing up!

My Patreon

Hey, we just launched a Kickstarter for the 2nd Edition book. Check it out if you want:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/226674021/apocalypse-world-2nd-edition

Questions and comments welcome!

-Vincent

Hello!

So the reason we've been out of print all year is because we've been gearing up for a 2nd Edition.

More to come.

-Vincent

Hello!

There's been enough playtesting for Meg and me to draw some conclusions. Here are mine.

1. Do the battle moves work?

They do, as far as they go. They aren't adequate for the entire range of battles that'll come up in play. I don't have a plan for expanding them yet, but my guess is that there will ultimately need to be half a dozen or so moves for getting into battle, suited to different circumstances. We'll see.

2. Is choosing a season move enough to launch play?

Almost, but not quite. I have a solid plan for what to add.

3. Some of you did try co-MCing.

Thank you!

It seems to be working as I'd expect. You've pointed out some things that the future game will need to address, like "if you're co-MCing, who assigns XP?" and "never treat your PC as an NPC."

4. Which people sheet is the most useful?

This question was optimistic. The people system did do the thing I most hoped it would, but at too much cost in time, paper, and distraction from the game otherwise. It'll have to be revised pretty substantially.

5. Very many of you reached the limits of the so-far-designed game.

This includes bounties, the shield wall, undertaking labor, wealth, the sameness of all the weapon and armor choices, creating a shrine, and so on.

I wasn't sure this would happen. This means that you played the game kind of a lot, actually, early playtest though it is, which is a good sign.

6. Did the rights system work?

The conclusion I draw is that, yes, it did, but it's also maddening. I do like to publish maddening rules sometimes, but this isn't one of those times.

I have a plan for how to change it. I think I'll be able to keep what works but make it non-maddening.

7. But...

A lot of you didn't connect with what the game's trying to do. It's not because the game isn't trying to do something! My guess is that it's because the links between what the game's trying to do and how it's approaching it still rely too much on Meg's and my personal working relationships with the subject matter. The players who do connect with the game, I mean, connect with it only because their preexisting take on Dark Age fantasy is compatible with Meg's and mine, not because the game creates a connection.

How much will the game have to change in order to foster that connection for a broader audience? My hope is that some easy-ish design work and maybe clearer communication will do it. I have a solid plan for easy-ish things to try. If they don't work, well, maybe their failures will show better ways forward, or maybe they won't.

8. Going forward.

You should feel free to keep playing, if you're having a good time, of course. We're still interested in hearing how it goes. You'll increasingly find things we haven't designed, but if you're having fun with it, I'm sure you'll come up with good solutions of your own.

I'm no longer asking you to give the game a try. You've done awesome work and helped tremendously. Thank you.

If you haven't yet, please log in at http://lumpley.com/index.php/awda and list the people you've played the game with, including yourself. This is how we'll know who to credit as playtesters in the book. We're relying on you!

-Vincent

Please go to http://lumpley.com/index.php/awda.

Log in or sign up with your email address.

List all of the people you playtested with, by name, including yourself.

Thanks! I'm counting on you!

-Vincent

So I've got Royal Blood, Blood of Eagles, the Old Blood. What would you suggest for Jews? None of your playbook names quite do it.

It doesn't have to be "blood," but I do want to emphasize genealogy over theology.

Should it mention the temple? That's where my instinct goes.

(The text that'll accompany it basically says that your ancestors were displaced here from far away by the Empire of Eagles, to disrupt their power base, which was how the Empire loved to do things.)

Any thoughts?

Tell the player: Yes, you can expect it to work. If it doesn't, that means that something else is going on.

As MC: Play generously, but still, say what honesty and your prep demand.

You'll notice a NON-1-for-1 correspondence between the Troll-Killer's equipment's powers and the example powers for monsters. The player will want to go to the troll and discover, imagine the luck!, that it is vulnerable to just the things they happen to have brought with them. Or, at worst, to something they happen to have seen hanging over someone's hearth. It's not your job to make this be so. It's fine with you if the troll really, truly is a terror to our children and our grandchildren.