AP: Gamma Road

Glen, another great AP post!

I have a question for you, though: were you one of those people that read the MCing advice and was like "oh yeah, that's how I always do it", or is this style new(ish) to you? I ask because your description of using the moves and fronts and the results that come from them is just crystal clear and really organic, and it sounds like a blast. I still haven't had a chance to run, and I'm a bit nervous I'll pick it up quickly and easily, so I'm curious from what background you're coming at these moves. Thanks!

Well, I have run a lot of stuff in the past. I think that this particular style is somewhat similar to what I used to do, kinda, in some of my old Shadowrun games, especially when I finally mostly ignored the rules in those books (The whole system gave me fucking hives, but I loved the setting) and played fast and loose, which means little to no "here's what happens at this point of the story" kind of preparation.

I'd stumble along, and go with logical consequences for the actions of the players. Sometimes it would work really well, and there were some memorable moments where I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next, but it was fun to find out with a random 50/50 roll here, and a "you need (random) successes" there.

Even there I'd sometimes get stuck thinking of what to do, and sort of throw out something that would end up being lame. There was very little GM support for this sort of gaming, and we weren't using the rules system much at all, as it didn't give us anything in terms of satisfaction or interesting consequences.

But what the rules and procedures in Apocalypse World allow me to do is jog my mind. If I follow the instructions, I can play in this loose fashion, but never be scrambling around trying to figure out what to do next.  I have a set of moves, I have a set of threats.  These moves and threats have very provocative effects, and can really push the characters to act.

The player moves allow me to push for a hard response move with a miss, not necessarily doing harm, but giving me permission to have things occur.

For example, when the crayfish loomed, Navarre tried to blow it away, but failed the roll.  This allowed me to have the creature grab and toss his shotgun into the murky water (Take away their stuff). A hard move that didn't get any protests, because it's established as rules that failing a roll means I can follow up with a move in response. God help me if I tried something like that in Shadowrun, there simply isn't any kind of rules in Shadowrun that gives me the agency to do this.

As a side note, the list of names was something I did in other games. I'd cross off names from a list and place them into the game, as needs dictated. It was a useful tool, and it's neat that Vincent included it.

Very cool, I appreciate your feedback. I can't wait to run a game of AW or at least using the "MC techniques" of AW. Unfortunately, I've done a lot more thinking of running games than actually running over the years, and I'd like to correct that. In the game I'm playing in right now (the 'Apocalypse Wave' game advertised hereabouts a while back) I'm trying to pay attention to how the MC is using the moves and such like (despite his misdirection and not naming :) ) so that I can run a kickass game of my own in the near future. Thanks for helping me do the same with your game that I'm not playing in!

Some interesting things happened shortly after JC and Lemieux took Goldie to Roverville. 

Goldie was asked to a private dinner with King Millions. (I had fun with this: a can of Cat food, full of protein and quite delicious when you mix it with a can of onion soup. I compared it to spongy meatloaf) During that Dinner, I had Millions propose to her that she replace Monk as his personal guard, confessing that he was quite taken with her.  He even suggested that she could be his Queen He was worried about Monk's loyalty, (Future Badness), and wanted someone that he could trust with his life, and his heart. (Offer Opportunity). 

Goldie compromises, not wanting to settle down with Millions replying with a hair toss and "Sorry, Honey. I'm not that kind of woman!" but agreeing to protect the convoy for a week in exchange for fuel and food.

The next leg of the journey takes them through a part called the dustbin.  I started having a lot of fun with countdowns here.  Getting through the dustbin required a +sharp check to maneuver through a whirlwind of lead infused dust, that glittered in the night with it's own radioactive light.  The faster they made it through the dustbin the less the people were inflicted with Dust cough, an affliction that had it's own countdown.

In addition, as they travelled through the dustbin, at each point in the countdown they'd encounter different things, for example the bones of a city, coated in this dust.  This is where an attempted ambush occurred.

Again, I presented the situation, following my moves, and asked what happened. I used one of the bike gang to ask this question, as I find it keeps people in "the moment".  Goldie worked quite quickly getting masks on all of her gang, (acting under fire, getting an 11 on the roll). which reduced the speed of her countdown with the dust cough.  I also had the whirlwind of dust separate the gang from the convoy(more moves) and make some of Lemieux's various gadgets not work properly in the storm (activate stuff's downside, his high tech stuff).

The ambush, which was the first really big fight, was a group of cannibals who lived in the sewers of the old town.  Parcher was the leader, and his lieutenants Harrow and Still led a group of 40 crazed, starved monsters to the convoy. 

Combat was pretty awesome, medium gangs are terrifying.  I had them come out of the storm, covered armor made from plastic bags, wearing old snorkeling gear and cut out water jugs to protect them from the lead dust.  For the first little bit, it was JC verses this huge force, and he did what he could to inspire Monk's gang to fight back.  I had several of Roverville get taken away, the cannibals already carving into them to take the choice cuts back to their sewer. 

Then Goldie and Lemieux returned.  Lemieux ran over a bunch of them (I quickly looked up the vehicle rules, and man, very easy stuff), and Goldie's group faced off against the larger gang.  I name the Roverville people taken, using Amy, as well as a little girl name Penelope, her mom Clarion and husband Foster.  A Take by Force roll later Goldie managed to take back the terrified people from the larger gang, and inflicted massive casualties.  I had the other gang fight back, and a harm roll later indicated that Goldie and her gang took some injuries, and a casualty. 

For Goldie's injuries, Daniel had her grab Penelope and protect the girl with her own body, as several cannibals beat on Goldie with tenderizing chains and stab at her with long knives. 

Her gang's casualty was a chance for me to look through crosshairs.  I target one of Goldie's gang, one of the named ones, an older biker named Hooch.  I have Parcher take out Hooch with a spear carved from the pole of a street sign, impaling the old biker and then taking a bite out of his neck.  Parcher is this seven foot tall monster, all corded muscle, and Hooch shudders and dies.

Goldie goes ballistic, and goes one on one with Parcher.  Parcher's troops are in full retreat at this point, so I have him point at Goldie and shout "you and me, right now".  They run at each other, and A take by force roll (knocked out of the park) later, Parcher is cut to pieces, mounted on his own spear like a grotesque sign, with "don't fuck with Goldie's girls written in his own blood".

Goldie only takes a small cut from the attack (the harm roll was a miss, and her armor ate up the rest), and the gang gathers up Hooch. 

Meanwhile, JC is in combat with Harrow, one of the cannibals.  He had Amy in his grasp, and he is able to wrestle Harrow to the ground, and disable him (take by force).  JC takes the cannibal prisoner. This is pretty awesome, and causes all kinds of trouble later.

I ask what Goldie's Girls do when one of their own dies.  This creates a very poignant scene where the solemn bikers each take a small item off of Hooch, a tangible piece to remember him by.  They keep his weapon and leathers on him, arrange him on the ground, and pay their respect.   

Goldie looks at Fleece and says "someday, you'll earn his Ride" and pins one of Hooch's belongings onto Fleece's shirt.  Hooch's bike is strapped to the RVs, and the gang proceeds to loot and strip the bodies of the cannibals, giving the plastic armor and facemasks to the convoy to protect them against the dust cough (a great idea that lowers their countdown). The gang proceeds to take trophies in the form of teeth and ears from the fallen foes "for Hooch!". 

A series of great rolls later gets them out of the Dustbin, and into sight of Six Blades, one of the holdings controlled by Hugo (flying his red and black flag).  Lemieux, working to reverse the effects of the Dust Cough, needs to trade for items in Six Blades to get something together, (the Workshop needs are great stuff), so Lemieux, JC, JC's pet cannibal Harrow, Goldie and a trio of her Lieutenants (Lars, Diamond, and Blues) head into Six Blades. 

Six Blades is named after the six working windmills the city is built around, which allows the city to produce power.  It's stored in a half a hundred car batteries, and can be used to charge any electronic device found in the wastes.  The theme of the town is rusted out vehicles, used as storefronts and dwellings.  A wall of twisted automobiles rings the city, and a makeshift flamethrower sits on the holding's front wall.

Their meeting with the Six Blades council is interesting, as JC makes use of his reputation move.  Now, the council consisted of the technician Tum Tum, the Hugo representative Grome, and the married couple Fuse and Ula.  JC's reputation as a Former professional Slaver (this was a result of a successful roll! Colin wanted to go there, so I didn't object) made Grome happy, and he showed him around to where some of Dremmer's Collectors were selling off a group of slaves. 

While shopping in the market, Lemieux decided he wanted his own slave, and bought one from Dremmer's Collectors.  Enter Osiris, one of the most beaten down characters I've ever played.  The Collectors knew JC, and greeted him warmly, but mentioned that he had been "out of the game" for a few years. 

Meanwhile, Goldie checked out the city's defenses.  (Acting under Fire led to a huge success) She determined that there was only a small garrison of Hugo's men here, but they were fairly well protected in the holding. 

The group gets together afterward to discuss their options.  Goldie is adamant to kill Grome, and JC uses manipulation to convince Goldie to do it his way.  (that Xp carrot is awesome and irresistible!)

JC meets with Grome privately and discusses the state of Hugo's Union (finding out that Grome has thrown his lot with Dremmer, who is planning a coup against Hugo, and is looking for agents to work for him).  Meanwhile, Lemieux cooks up some delicious food to distract Hugo's troops, and Goldie neutralizes the front guards quietly and gets the door open for her Gang.

Some awesome rolls have it go off without a hitch.  As the men are enjoying their food, they're caught unawares by Goldie's gang. Lemieux threatens them (going aggro), they surrender, and then Kyle, with a flourish, advances Lemieux to have a gang.  The leader, Hobbs, throws in his lot with Lemieux, who accepts his offer of protection. In fiction advancement!

Meanwhile, JC shoots Grome in the face, killing him.  Goldie heads over and replaces Hugo's flag with Grome's corpse flapping in the breeze.

She then tells Fuse and Ula to give her gang food and booze or "we'll burn this fucking place to the ground."  Another Aggro move is successful!

A party commences, and we ended it for the night, as it was very, very late.

Oh, there was one little moment I forgot.  It was again, a logical followup of the way the narrative went, but again a move I can do. 

When Goldie went to her gang to attack Six Blades, Blues rebelled.  He was angry that they were letting Harrow, one of the cannibals, walk around breathing, especially after what happened with Hooch.  (putting Goldie into a spot).  She had a make a pack Alpha check to keep Blues from disrespecting her, and it was a really tense moment in the game.  She managed to get Blues to back down after cuffing him in the face and planting a few choice kicks on him when he went down, but I established the gang's hostility to Harrow and JC for letting Harrow live.  It was a great moment, again using the people the characters care about to make the neat conflicts occur.

In addition, JC picked up the Followers advance at the end of the game, represented by members of Roverville, Six Blades, and even a few members of Goldie's gang (!) and Lemieux's security detail (!!).  This had really neat effects in the next session, as now there's these groups who all believe in JC's postcards, the dream of a better place called "The Florida Keys". 

The Venn type diagrams of someone who is both Goldie's Girl and believes in JC's dream is really good stuff.

The Venn type diagrams of someone who is both Goldie's Girl and believes in JC's dream is really good stuff.

Okay, so I know this is basically "make PC-NPC-PC triangles" but the venn diagram image just made me realize the "NPC" vertex of the triangle can a) be groups, and b) have interesting mechanical ramifications (e.g. be part of a gang and part of followers). So awesome.

Last session was great, and it was recorded!  The audio recording was much better quality than I thought it would be, it was crazy hot and we had two fans blowing, but the mic was put up high and it didn't get the usual "fan roar" effect.  I guess this is why they make boom mikes the way they do.  Plus I did a lot of tweaks on audacity, including cutting out a couple of aside conversations and some pauses.

At any rate, the game went a very quick 4 hours, and it was a joy all the way through.  I'm again following my moves, looking through crosshairs, saying what the fiction demands. 

The one thing I'm guilty about here is not asking for a few more rolls, and asking a bunch more questions.  I also need to work on my juggling of screentime for all the players involved.  Listening to the game a second time gave me some insights on how we play, and it was neat to hear how the fiction gets constructed. 

Here is the Link. 

I only listened to the first quarter or so before I had to stop for the sake of small ears entering the room, but it sounds like you were all having a blast.

Another great session just ended.  Daniel couldn't make it, so Goldie and her Girls had gone out into the wastes, likely seeing if Fleece was made of the right stuff for the gang.  I was thinking of having a custom move set up for Daniel to roll when he got back to figure out what they were doing in the meantime. 

I like the idea of a custom move for players returning from absence.  It gets them into the action, and decides what befell them while the others were slogging it through the World. 

With two players, it was very intimate, and the two characters got a lot of chances to get into all kinds of trouble.  Advances also happened a lot quicker, with only two players, the rate of advancement jumped quite a bit, and by the end each had 2 improvements.  Lemieux explored some of the driver moves, and JC got Harder. We did play over 5 hours, with a couple of breaks. Does that sound about right, in terms of improvement? 

I got them to make a lot more rolls, and tried to go as hard as I could when missed.  However, they also have horseshoes shoved up their asses, because a lot of the rolls were 10s and 12s, except harm, which were 3's and 4's. 

They're now heading into Ungiven future territory, moving into session 5 next week. They're both really excited about that, and discussing where their advancements are going to go. 

It was recorded, and I'll try to get the recording up in the next day or three.  It's been tremendous fun, and things are yet aginst different.  No Status is Quo!

Tonight's latest session was amazing, but I committed the criminal act of not recording it.  I've lost my recorder, which is a source of great consternation!  I might have to resort to using my laptop or something in the future.

Big things happened in this session. Here are a couple of highlights.

Lemieux repaired a CB Radio antenna, cannibalizing most of the dirtbikes to get the parts he needed.  I had recently made the Psychic Maelstrom a threat in the form of a landscape (a mirage), and I made a threat move for it to reveal something. 

Normally CB radios have 40 channels.  This CB radio was now able to go to channel 41.  When Lemieux clicked to channel 41, he found that he could speak with those that had died along the way.  He proceeded to have a conversation with King Millions and then Penny's mother.  This intense strangeness causes Lemieux to abandon the Savvyhead path and wander off into the desert, returning as a scantily clad Battlebabe (Lemieux had advanced and was unsure what to take, and the situation was perfect for choosing a new character class).  He took visions of death as his battlebabe move as "he has spoken to the dead."

My second move was when Lemieux and Goldie were trying to find Penny in Roverville, and I decided that Harrow, JC's pet cannibal was going to pull a threat move.  I made it quite subtle but very dangerous, Penny getting her cigarette lit (the Cigarette was given to her earlier by JC) by Harrow, using a lighter, in a dark part of Roverville's RVs. (Grotesque move - Threaten someone, directly or by implication)

Goldie completely flips out and proceeded to kill him, using her crowbar to bash his head in.  (Taking by Force) though not before he stabbed her in the sides with his carving knives, which were partially deflected, but (due to a 10 on the harm move) still quite damaging. Harrow is then thrown onto a bonfire and the bikers dance around it.  They hated Harrow for a while now, and having him dead represents a big morale boost to the bikers.

This sparked a rather vocal discussion between JC and Goldie. Harrow was part of JC's crew, and it broke one of the rules they had established regarding each other's gangs.  JC asked for "A life for a life", to which Goldie immediately offered Blues.  JC 
agrees.

Lemieux and Goldie then plan to sabotage Blue's bike.  JC didn't mean for them to kill Blues, he wanted Blues to replace Harrow.  However, all the players agreed that the miscommunication would depend on whether or not JC can read the situation properly and correct the misconception.  JC fails the roll, and the miscommunication stands. 

It serves to contract the characters nicely.  JC's definition of a life for a life was a replacement asset for an asset lost, and Goldie and Lemieux see it as "an eye for an eye". 

Lemieux sneaks up to the bike and makes the adjustments quickly (Acting under fire) while Goldie attempts to distract her girls from their bikes, retelling the story of the Cannibals over the bones of Harrow.  (also acting under fire). 

Lemieux succeeds, but Goldie fails.  I have a few of the girls see Lemieux, but do nothing. This puts them complicit in Blue's eventual fate.  Goldie refers this assassination as "The worst kept secret in the gang". 

Then I perform some truly awful fuckery.  Goldie orders Blues AND Juck to scout ahead.  Neither return.  When Goldie heads down the road, she sees that Blues vehicle lost control, and careened into Juck's bike.  Both men were now dead. 

Again, Goldie gets what she wants, but I twisted it.  In addition, a few of the gang know that Goldie set up Blues to die, and in the process had Juck, a relative innocent to this dispute in the gang, killed as well.

What makes this worse is that not only is Goldie complicit in Juck's death, but so are the gang members that saw the sabotage and did nothing.

This move, to turn her move back on her, was happily well recieved by the players.  I was afraid to do this particular fuckery, but once JC and Goldie failed their moves, I felt that the situation demanded some hard moves in return. 

A failed roll is a powerful thing.  It gives me the permission necessary to make a move like this, and not make a player think that they have been cheated in some way.  I gave Lemieux what he wanted, and yet twisted it a bit to reflect Goldie's failure.

All in all, it was a fantastic session.  I was constantly amazed at how much happened over the course of the evening, and we only played about 4-5 hours total. As I get better at the necessary MC moves and principles, I find the game just keeps getting better. 

And it keeps getting better.  The biggest problem with our games is that we keep playing a little longer, a little longer, and then suddenly it's a quarter to 2 in the morning, and we realize that we've been playing almost 6 hours.  The game is so much fun that we're having difficulties stopping play, and having to wait another week to get back into it. 

It's a great problem to have.

I think that the last few sessions have allowed us to talk about the value of opening your brain, and the psychic maelstrom in general.  In the Apocalypse World, I keep the world real, unrelenting, and visceral.  What the Opening Your Brain move does for us is dwell, for a bit, in unreality.  To play around with metaphor a bit, and examine the characters from the inside.  We've used a lot of dreamlike imagery for this, and kept it in the air as to whether this is psychic messages from the dead, or simple introspection from the mind's own conjured images.  It's great, and allows us to do some neat stuff involving the character connections.

Two notable moments involving Opening the Brain occurred between Goldie and Lemieux, and JC and Penny.  Goldie had been badly injured in a fight against Hugo's forces, which included an ancient tank.  She had been knocked unconscious early in the fight, (a 10 on my harm move) and was sitting at 9:00 harm.  Goldie was also suffering from the terrible injuries suffered by her girls, Diamond and Lars walked stiffly from bullet wounds, Fleece and Wires lay dead on the ground. 

Goldie was unresponsive from the shock of injuries and losing more of her Girls (the pain from Juck, and a lesser extent Blues was pretty fresh), and this was partially a result of some discussion between me and Daniel, the player. 

Daniel had decided to take a second character, and wanted to play the girl Penny.  Penny after training from the Girls, and after the massive battle against Hugo, where she came into her own.  Penny, the 13 year old Gunlugger.  He wanted to play Penny for a bit to find his own voice for her, changed as she was in the midst of that massive battle, and wanted Goldie to be kind of out of commission for a bit while he focused on playing Penny. 

When Lemieux opened his brain, he was able to gain some important information about Goldie.  Her mental state, some of her deep seated longings and fears.  It also allowed Lemieux to show some context of Lemieux and Goldie's relationship, and a moment of something untainted by the shit of the Apocalypse World, the purity of love between the two characters.  It was something that they could only admit in the Brain Opening, not something they can talk about in the grim reality around them. 

JC and Penny were another example of opening their brains.  Penny had unresolved issues regarding JC's murder of her mother.  There was several altercations between the two, as they circled each other warily.  Penny's read of JC led to her realizing that JC's "Dream" was a lie, but one that JC desperately wants to believe (A result "Is your character telling the truth and What is your character really feeling), and this led to the Brain Opening, to find out if the dream can exist, if the places on JC's postcards are real.

It was a powerful moment. After a bit of discussion, the dream and these places can only exist to those who have come to some sort of peace with the ugliness inside of them, who have some sort of fundamental spark of humanity. That the problem with the dream is that there are people who have surrendered to that ugliness, and the notion of a family, a unit of people who support each other physically and emotionally, are what is needed to transport the dream from a lie to the truth. 

Again, it wasn't something they could articulate in the awful reality, but the Maelstrom can give them the words and images they needed to communicate the fundamental importance of the Dream being about the people, not the location.

They were a pair of powerful scenes, and they really focused the tenor of the game.  The characters are fighting against the ugliness in themselves and others, and with some Advanced Moves getting purchased with advances, they finally had the weapons to fight.

And man, the Manipulate/Seduce move with advanced Moves have done some incredible things to the game. More on that in a bit.

Great and powerful stuff. I really wish you still had an audio recorder so I could listen in to the entire session.

Don't worry about that!  We have almost every session recorded, and they're being edited for release. Last session got cut off towards the end, but I got most of the session.  I'll have them up as soon as I clean up the audio a bit, and remove some of our digresssions and washroom breaks.

That's great news, fantastic! I am very much looking forward to hearing more of "Gamma Road Radio."  :)

Seconded on the eagerness to hear more Gamma Road. As someone who has done most of his gaming via message boards and similar media, I get a huge kick out of the different voices (and Lemieux's hammy French-Canadian accent) and the banter that makes it so clear that all are having a great time.