RPG Addict: Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker
I am a believer in the power of the Apocalypse. Saint Vincent Baker blessed this unworthy world with his Apocalyse World System, the core mechanic of which he readily makes available for other versions of the game (there is a growing list). I'm also a backer of the Kickstarter for the 2nd edition (raised $149,681 out of the original goal of $19,750). On top of that I even supported Vincent Baker's Patreon when he'd released his pre-alpha 2nd edition PDFs. His explanation for deciding the system needed to be updated was seeing Mad Max Fury Road and wanting to be able to have that in Apocalypse World. I've poured over what has been released for the 2nd edition and all I see are improvements to the system that already existed. That being said, this review will be a 1st edition/mechanics review, because until St Vincent puts his final draft up for the general public's perusal I don't feel I should be posting stuff about it. Suffice it to say that if you're familiar with the 1st edition you will be very pleased with what the second edition has to offer. He also succeeds in making Fury Road a thing that can happen in Apocalypse World and gives you the mechanics on how to do it.
Disclaimer (short version): I love this game and everything that came out of it. I'll try to keep my review to just the facts, but it'll be hard to not ooze fanboyity. Consider yourself informed of my bias now.
The Game: The game takes place after the world ended. It does not come with a pre-existing setting as much as a set of prerequisites for your apocalypse. The only info the book says remains constant through different campaigns are:
- The apocalypse happened a few decades ago and few people if anyone is old enough to remember the how and why of it, but no one really cares much about that.
- There is plenty of ammo and fuel, because what's the fun of the apocalypse without gun fire and explosions.
- There is a psychic maelstrom that permeates the world. There is no real info given about what exactly this psychic maelstrom, but it is there.
That's it. Beyond those three things the group works together to create the apocalypse they want to explore. It could be a zombie apocalypse. Maybe a nuclear war. Maybe flooding over the majority of the land mass in the world. Maybe it's a virus that wipes out big portions of humanity and the ones that left are fighting over the pristine MegaMarts that still have food and water. Maybe it was a religious war and people are still looking for a shepherd to lead them to the promised land.The point is that how the world ends does not matter. The game takes place in the world that is moving forward in the apocalypse, not the world whose ashes are the foundation of the new one.
The game is all about the interactions between survivors, their needs, and the scarcities that exist in the world the group created. Things break in the apocalypse, people as well as things. I have not played a game, or seen a game of Apocalypse World played, that didn't end in some sort of violent stand-off situation or everyone dying in a blaze of glory. That's sort of the point though. The game isn't meant to necessarily become some epic campaign where you keep the same character for years. The mechanics of the game are specifically designed to avoid that sort of situation and encourage the interactions the make the game interesting.
The System: The Apocalypse World system that is at the core of the all games that are Powered By the Apocalypse games. It uses a very simple 2D6+Attribute mechanic with 3 possible outcomes for any given roll: 10+ You succeed and the action proceeds as you say it does; 7-9 you succeed, but there is a cost to the success; 6- you fail and the GM gets to make bad things happen to you.
Apocalypse World has two sets of moves: the basic moves and Playbook moves. Every character has access to the basic moves. The basic moves allow people to interact with the story in very broad narrative sense. Things that everybody is able to do (Go Aggro, Seize By Force, Seduce or Manipulate, Help or Interfere, Read a Sitch, Read a Person, Open your Brain). The playbooks are a collection of tailored moves to reflect the core ideas of the playbook's archetype (The Driver, The Gunlugger, The Chopper, etc). These moves are unique for each playbook that allow the player to have their own unique way of affecting the fiction (The Driver is better at everything while behind the wheel, The Gunlugger has a shitload of big ass guns, The Chopper has a gang that they lead, etc).
Moves are designed to allow the players to affect the fiction in ways that they find interesting. Moves are powerful tools to change the course of the game. Sometimes it works in the players favor (10+ on 2d6+Attribute) and the player can be a bad ass that handles the situation accordingly. Sometimes, it doesn't go as planned (6-) and things get exacerbated exponentially. Most of the rolls will land in the 7-9 range where the GM gives the player a nasty choice to deal with where they can get what they want but they have to choose a cost to your success if you want to be able to make it.
There are two key parts beyond that basic mechanic to Apocalypse World, and really any game that is Powered by the Apocalypse, moves and playbooks (which are kind of an elaborated collection of unique moves). Playbooks are the character archetypes you get to choose from to play the game. A move is an action explained with options provided for the outcome beforehand, so the player knows what they are potentially getting themselves into before the dice are thrown.
On the GM side of things, the system also encourages you to not plan on anything before you play your first session. The playbooks have things that will affect the game. The players will have their own ideas about their characters that affect the game world, but it gives you the tools you need to run with it and shows you how to ask questions of the players to bring more details of the world out of them during the first session.
After that the game gives you the framework to structure the whole apocalypse around. You organize the various details that came up during the first session to organize the people places and things into Fronts; which have their own motivations that get in the way of the player character's peaceful existence. It simplifies organizing a campaign. When somebody goes to some strange new territory the GM wasn't expecting, it takes only a few moments to whip up a new Front to keep use the new area as if it were part of the plan all along.
Apocalypse World has two sets of moves: the basic moves and Playbook moves. Every character has access to the basic moves. The basic moves allow people to interact with the story in very broad narrative sense. Things that everybody is able to do (Go Aggro, Seize By Force, Seduce or Manipulate, Help or Interfere, Read a Sitch, Read a Person, Open your Brain). The playbooks are a collection of tailored moves to reflect the core ideas of the playbook's archetype (The Driver, The Gunlugger, The Chopper, etc). These moves are unique for each playbook that allow the player to have their own unique way of affecting the fiction (The Driver is better at everything while behind the wheel, The Gunlugger has a shitload of big ass guns, The Chopper has a gang that they lead, etc).
Moves are designed to allow the players to affect the fiction in ways that they find interesting. Moves are powerful tools to change the course of the game. Sometimes it works in the players favor (10+ on 2d6+Attribute) and the player can be a bad ass that handles the situation accordingly. Sometimes, it doesn't go as planned (6-) and things get exacerbated exponentially. Most of the rolls will land in the 7-9 range where the GM gives the player a nasty choice to deal with where they can get what they want but they have to choose a cost to your success if you want to be able to make it.
There are two key parts beyond that basic mechanic to Apocalypse World, and really any game that is Powered by the Apocalypse, moves and playbooks (which are kind of an elaborated collection of unique moves). Playbooks are the character archetypes you get to choose from to play the game. A move is an action explained with options provided for the outcome beforehand, so the player knows what they are potentially getting themselves into before the dice are thrown.
On the GM side of things, the system also encourages you to not plan on anything before you play your first session. The playbooks have things that will affect the game. The players will have their own ideas about their characters that affect the game world, but it gives you the tools you need to run with it and shows you how to ask questions of the players to bring more details of the world out of them during the first session.
After that the game gives you the framework to structure the whole apocalypse around. You organize the various details that came up during the first session to organize the people places and things into Fronts; which have their own motivations that get in the way of the player character's peaceful existence. It simplifies organizing a campaign. When somebody goes to some strange new territory the GM wasn't expecting, it takes only a few moments to whip up a new Front to keep use the new area as if it were part of the plan all along.
The Good: The Apocalypse World system is used in so many other games, because it is so good at what it does. The structure of the game makes it so much easier for a GM to organize a vast game world with all kind of different mitigating factors. If you read this book as a GM, you will find yourself organizing other games using the same sort of system the Apocalypse World provides.
It is a game designed to make the story you are telling the compelling, interesting, and surprising for everyone involved. The way the game works, not preparing anything in advance becomes easy and you can simply set up the situation and let it all unfold. It's surprising even for the GM who is usually just as surprised as the players to follow the direction the game flows.
The Bad: The only fault the game has is that it can sometimes be hard for veteran players or new players to get around the concepts of the game. It encourages the players to narrate what they do and to allow the GM to say "That action sounds like you're trying to trigger a move. Why don't you roll to see what happen?" New players, and even veteran players, will sometimes have a tendency to rely too heavily on reading the name of the move instead of narrating what it is they want to do. It makes them point at the outcome they are looking for and try to work backwards instead of narrating their way too that outcome and letting the roll determine their outcome.
It is not always an easy concept when you are first faced with the system, but it's not really the systems fault as much as 30+ years of using a different style of gaming.
Final Verdict: If I could I would tattoo the entire book onto my skin to ensure I'll never forget it even if I suffer from some strange memory loss situation like Leonard from Memento. I don't think you can get the first edition anymore new, but you can still buy the PDF. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes apocalypse themed games, or any GM trying to get an idea on how to organize a large game world and the NPCs within it.
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