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Apocalypse World / Re: Can Apocalypse World have a happy ending?
« on: January 13, 2013, 03:49:32 PM »
Sure!
The playbooks all have advancement that increases their heft in the game, and the game doesn't really do anything to systematically counter this.
5 advancements and beyond you have a bunch of characters who are the most competent and important people around. This leads to them being in position to pretty much settle the major problems they face - a happy ending.
There's also the fact that you get not only powerful (i.e., hurt dudes better) but transformative abilities opened up beyond 5 advancements, like removing threat status from NPCs or seeing beyond the maelstrom.
Of course, this only means that it's likely that player characters will (eventually) get what they really want. It might be that they want something that doesn't mesh well with what we'd call a happy ending. It might also be the case that the PC's wishes conflict, in which case you'll likely have a more dramatic ending.
Beyond that, though, I seriously doubt the world's ability to resits the PCs is all that great. AW's inherently a bit of a "making a home" story.
The playbooks all have advancement that increases their heft in the game, and the game doesn't really do anything to systematically counter this.
5 advancements and beyond you have a bunch of characters who are the most competent and important people around. This leads to them being in position to pretty much settle the major problems they face - a happy ending.
There's also the fact that you get not only powerful (i.e., hurt dudes better) but transformative abilities opened up beyond 5 advancements, like removing threat status from NPCs or seeing beyond the maelstrom.
Of course, this only means that it's likely that player characters will (eventually) get what they really want. It might be that they want something that doesn't mesh well with what we'd call a happy ending. It might also be the case that the PC's wishes conflict, in which case you'll likely have a more dramatic ending.
Beyond that, though, I seriously doubt the world's ability to resits the PCs is all that great. AW's inherently a bit of a "making a home" story.