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Topics - gregpogor

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1
Apocalypse World / Our hardholder broke tonight.
« on: November 15, 2013, 04:03:21 AM »
He held it up together, kept his vision in the face of the apocalypse and tried to save the last remnants of the Golden Age for a dozen sessions.

Then last game, the then-brainer-now-hocus teared up a rift in reality itself to show his people what was miles away.

"Uncle, how do you react to that ?
-I don't, Uncle doesn't see shit like this, I never open myself to the maelstrom.
-No, you don't get it. It's not a vision. It's real, like, right before your eyes. He really teared up a hole in reality itself. That's no metaphor."
-I... He..."

And he broke, right then.

The player is quite distressed, btw. He really took his role of protector of the remnants of the old world quite at heart, despite our regular reminders of no status quo.

Uncle is also the only character who hasn't changed playbook or made another character yet. In fact that player never took any advanced option.

I think becoming a touchstone could be an interesting option. Poor sap.

2
Monster of the Week / Hunters and Sex
« on: November 07, 2012, 06:48:42 AM »
So, there's no specials in MotW.

And here I am, watching Supernatural for the umpteen time, and there's lots of sex. I mean, capital-l Lots. And it's relevant, too. Dean Winchester definitely classify for "get +1 and if you want, give +1 to your partner" special, or maybe the "it's not like it means anything" special. Sammy get his freak on less often, but it's still a couple time a season, and it counts likewise.

I started to think about the other source materials. Buffy ? A lot of people get some, and it's relevant. Angel ? Well, having (or not having) sex is actually a big deal for the titular character, and others get plot-relevant sex couple times a season too. X-Files is less sexually gratifying for their heroes, but damn, Fringe has a relevant sex scene in the first half of the first episode.

So, why not ?

3
Apocalypse World / It's you. You are the psychic maelstrom.
« on: November 02, 2012, 08:42:04 AM »
And then John was a zombie I think I got it. Not like "Vincent put a joke in there" got it, more like "if you tilt your head and squint a litte" got it.

Opening your brain to the psychic maelstrom is really the character getting a direct line to you, the MC.

So next time I'm MCing I'm go try this: whenever a character opens their brain to the psychic maelstrom, I'm just gonna be me. Take a step back, casually review the situation like I'm watching a TV show and tell them whatever I feel about it, how I can direct this better. Like "yeah, don't you think it's a little boring all this? I think storming someone all guns blazing, gang and all, is a great idea." And when they blow it, I'm gonna judge them as I would some character in a show and give them what I think they deserve. Mean is good, of course, 6- and all, but not necessarily. "Yeah, Uncle is a dick, always picking on the weaker and all. A fucking bully. I'm going to show him how it feel to be bullied upon, should teach'im a lesson or three."

So? Am I onto something? Is it so obvious how come I didn't get it before? Or is it so far-fetched it's like "the death star is real an ovum and the starfighters are spematozoids"? A good idea? A boring one? A stupid one? Or what?

4
Apocalypse World / Apocalypse World in French...
« on: September 29, 2012, 04:05:38 AM »
...is go.

The beast of a PDF is now in the hands of the printers and all. I've handled both the translation and the lay out ; it's been six, seven months of work and a hell of a ride.

Oh, and Vincent? Let me join the italian team and from the bottom of my heart, fuck you.

5
Dungeon World / I just got what I don't like about Hack & Slash.
« on: May 18, 2012, 07:12:55 AM »
The following: 100% my opinion and analysis. Not saying "Hack & Slash" sucks per se. Just trying to figure out and express why I never liked it.

Familiar with the dice and cloud stuff on anyway? It's just a fancy way to say "you have the fiction we're talking about, you have the material stuff you play with, and rule go from the fiction, trigger some rules, and the result of the rules should inform the players as directly and interestingly as possible what happens next in the fiction".

So. Taking something by force in AW:
Quote
When you take something by force, roll +hard.
On a hit, choose options. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7–9, choose 2:
• you take definite hold of it
• you suffer little harm
• you inflict terrible harm
• you impress, dismay or frighten your enemy

Notice how the results you choose might inform you about "dice" stuff, but all of them will tell you something significant about the fiction? Like "you suffer little harm" means that a) in the real world, you notch -1harm than you should on your counter but and it is super important, b) in the fiction, it shows. Like NPCs would say things like "damn, he went against three guys and he wasn't harmed that much, and those guys were totally dismayed after that!" It's written from the point of view of the character.

And on a miss, of course, what happens is a MC move, which are 100% fictional, 100% "cloud stuff" (and sometimes will trigger more "dice" stuff but that's consequential).

Going Aggro is even more cloud stuff.

Now, look at Hack & Slash :
Quote
When you attack an enemy in melee, roll+Str. On a 10+ you deal your damage to the enemy and avoid their attack. At your option, you may choose to do +1d6 damage but expose yourself to the enemy's attack. On a 7–9, you deal your damage to the enemy and the enemy makes an attack against you.

The only good thing you can get is "you deal damage to the enemy", which is like mostly "dice" stuff, with a little side-dish of "cloud" (yay, my attack connect!), and frankly a little boring compared to stuff like "take definite hold" or "impress or dismay your opponent". Your 10+ option benefit is pure "dice" stuff and say nothing about the fiction. Only the accumulation of damage will come back to the cloud when the enemy hits 0 HP.

All the pure "cloud" stuff is 100% bad, against the character (the enemy attack, or the hard move on a 6-). You might say that "avoid their attack" is cloud stuff, but isn't it just another way to say "nothing (important) happens" ?

Volley is evocative with a lot of cloud stuff. Ditto Defend. Hack & Slash ? Not enough cloud stuff for me.

6
you know how it goes. you've got this game lying around that you really like because it's the most depraved thing you'd like to play, unlike THOSE other depraved games that suck because hey, we only kill puppies in this one, it's not like we rape them or anything. god forbid that. but the rules kinda suck because it that was made before the author had the strange idea to try his games before publishing it. but he did that new game that's all the shit right now and you want to convert the rules. because that's a constructive thing to do with your time and it will be considered a major cultural milestone in a few centuries, no doubt.

so here's how it goes.

when you kill puppies for satan, roll +fucked up.

when you want to freak people out roll +fucked up.

when you're escaping a bad situation kicking and screaming and scratching faces roll +mean.

when you tell somebody to do it, or else, roll +mean.

when you latch unto people until they do your binding like the weasely little fuck you are, roll +relentness.

when you look around for a weakness to exploit, roll +cold. oh and here's the questions the gm has to answer to, you can ask anything else but he's probably going to tell you to go fuck yourself.

when you recieve the punishment you deserve roll +harm suffered and you want to miss that one.

when you try to pass as normal, roll +how many people hate you and you want to miss that one too.

when you summon the power of satan spend evil and roll +evil spent.

and don't you expect to get some nifty playbooks with nice photoshopped pictures or anything because you get squat. you still have to write your own character sheet. maybe i'll type you a summary for those moves on my old remington, yeah, the one that's missing both shift keys.

7
So, La Boîte à Heuhh is paying me for a french version of a certain roleplaying game we all know and love, and so far it hasn't been easy, but it wasn't any hassle. Then I stumbled upon that sentence in the Rules : Basic Moves section, in the examples for reading a person :

Quote from: Apocalypse World, p. 202
Bran promises to reboot Jeanette’s brain off Tum Tums’, but it’s definitely worth knowing what Tum Tum intends, so he watches them carefully while they’re talking.

What does V. Baker mean by "Bran promises to reboot Jeanette's brain off Tum Tum's" ? I mean, I get that Bran is a savvyhead and all and can do freaky shit with people's brain provided he got a life support unit, but what ? They're both consenting to it ? What's in there for Jeanette ? I don't quite get it.

8
Dungeon World / I don't like the latest Turn Undead
« on: April 05, 2012, 05:43:08 AM »
I liked the one from the red box. I liked how it could be used as a tool to repulse them and as a way to control them. From what I gathered, the original turn undead move from Apocalypse D&D was based on going aggro. How about something like

Turn Undead (Wis)
When you hold forth your holy symbol facing mindless undeads and give them a direct order, roll +Wis. On a 10+ the undead horde choose:
• they do what they're told
• you inflict your damage die + your level, spread however you like
On a 7-9 they can also choose:
• they let you pass wherever you want to go
• they slowly get the hell out of here
• they freeze and stand there until someone does something to them


Which issues would you have with this one?

9
other lumpley games / "Powered by the Apocalypse"
« on: December 11, 2011, 08:13:21 AM »
Just noticed this on the first page of Murderous Ghosts.

Nifty. It's a nice shortcut for "this game wouldn't have been possible without AW and uses some core idea behind the game."

What are the conditions to use this logo for my own AW hack if I commercialize it ? "Using some of the rules ?" "wanting to do so ?" "Being named Vincent Baker ?"

10
Apocalypse World / +implanted : what did you do with it ?
« on: November 12, 2011, 05:00:38 AM »
Dunno why but the implanted tag caught my eye first time I read the book and I'm a little bit sad that the only stuff in the playbook using it is the Skinner's tattoo.

I know — there's dust and sand and shit and surgery is deadly nowadays, but hey, Angels and Savvyheads are weird and can manage stuff like that. Me, I'd like to throw in some high-tech compound somewhere on the map, a place with white plastic corridors running underneath the earth, with AI and nanostuff and shit, where the Battlebabe can be grafted a gauss rifle in her own left arm.

So anyway, people, did you use that damn tag for something other than Dune's tattoos and for what, pray tell ?

11
blood & guts / Is the playtest document still available somewhere ?
« on: November 01, 2011, 09:48:28 AM »
I'm a little very curious about how AW got started and I'd like to take a peek at that fabled playtest document some of you priviledged bunch got access to in the early days. Can some good soul help me get it or is it a BFA taboo that will make V. Baker launch a fatwah at me or something ?

Am I even asking that in the right forum ?

12
Apocalypse World / Obvious Question re: Skinner's Move Hypnotic
« on: October 31, 2011, 04:00:46 AM »
So, if a Skinner uses Hypnotic on a NPC, I as a MC decides when they spend hold, right ? For reference :

Quote
Hypnotic: when you have time and solitude with someone, they
become fixated upon you. Roll+hot. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9,
hold 2. They can spend your hold, 1 for 1, by:
• giving you something you want
• acting as your eyes and ears
• fighting to protect you
• doing something you tell them to


When I do so, is this a MC move ? I mean, when a NPC act as the Skinner's eyes and hears, do I announce future badness, put the Skinner in a spot or separate hir from the rest of the group?

My guts tell me so, but I'm curious what you all think, guys.

13
Apocalypse World / So, that players' refbook to come...
« on: September 01, 2011, 07:42:30 AM »
What's in there? Inquiring minds want to know.

14
Apocalypse World / Help - my skinner want a workshop
« on: June 17, 2011, 01:03:26 PM »
The skinner in the game I'm MCing is perfume-based. He does displays of head-twisting fragrances that influence people's minds. Until now we modeled that with his Artful & gracious move, but he decided he'd like a more extensive workshop to work on special stuff. How would you do it ?

So far, I'm going for : "sure, no problem, but first you need to..." and choose a handfull option in the workshop list. Since the group's going for some loot in the ruins next session, he should get what he need pretty fast (not easily, though). But I envisaged to simply make him spend one advance on a move from another playbook, and make him take the angel's laboratory move with a few tweaks.

BtW, what would be the "anatomy" of his workshop? "When you're creating new substances or figuring out some chemist shit..." maybe ?

Those are the obvious choices. Any creative idea ?

15
Good idea or not?

I've got this brainer in the game I'm MCing who's really into exploring the whole thing. I'm thinking I'd make the whole thing a threat, or even a front. The maelstrom makes a wicked landscape.

Now, the problem I might have is

Quote from: Apocalypse World, p. 136
Creating a front means making decisions about backstory and about NPC motivations. Real decisions, binding ones, that call for creativity, attention and care.

...and I'm not sure "binding" the maelstrom to anything would be a good idea. The maelstrom is interesting and useful because it's proteiform and maleable. I fear making it into a full fledged threat might kill that.

So, anyone did it or thought about it ? Pros, cons ?

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