[interest/recruitment] Apocalypse World

[meikle]

I know I found the idea of using a gang as a means of causing harm or absorbing it to be daunting at first, but now I find it very intriguing. Definitely going to shoot for the Chopper slot, even though I know you said not to get our hopes up; I won't be turned away if I don't get it, that's for sure. So many ideas are shooting around my head, I've even come up with a name for the gang, a list of NPC names, and some basic personalities. Don't worry about me getting to attached, though, it's just something I'm doing for fun while we're waiting for the game to get going.

It's not bad to have ideas.  Even if they don't come to be actualized, they're still useful to draw on, and can be useful to add to the narrative.  Regardless, I wouldn't get too attached to particular NPCs, even if things work out that way; nobody under the MC's sweeping purview gets plot armor, and they all live in harm's way.

made by the same folks, I'm guessing?

Not made by the same folks, but Dungeon World is built on Apocalypse World as its base.

[yesiroleplay]

West Texas.
Dust hangs thick in the air, obscuring the sun and turning high noon into shadowy twilight.  The dust is everywhere.  In your clothes, in what passes as shelter in this oven-blackened version of hell, and in people too. Every time you chew the grit wears at your teeth, every breath you take fills your lungs, one more hacking cough away from drowning in dried shit.  You can't keep an engine running, the dust gets into the works and chews them up. 

There's times - sometimes as long as a week, when the winds die down and the sky starts to clear.  Only it's never long enough.  Even after a string of calm days the dust is there, exploding up off the ground with every footstep or turn of wheel.  And without the heavy cover of the thick dust, it gets hot.  Not that it's cool under the dust cover, but it ain't hot enough to bake the flesh off your bones.  The surface is hell.  You don't go out there unless you need something more than you need to live.

The caverns are haven.  There's not enough of anything down here.  Not enough room, not enough water, not enough food, not enough hope.  But down in the caverns you're out of the sun and mostly out of the dust. Some things grow in the dark, mushrooms and blind cave-crickets and fear mostly.  If you can protect a patch long enough you can grow mushrooms for food.  And for other things - medicine and fiber and for brief escape from this hellish place.  Keeping some damned fool from killing you and taking the crop before it reaches full potency - now, that's a problem.

[Shjade]

It was what Winterborn said, more or less. Working with NPCs can be fun, even refreshing at times, but playing a role that's mechanically bound to a group of them as being core to its operation within the game...that's less appealing, all that entanglement in the group dynamic of that character's own abilities just for itself - the Hocus, the Chopper, the Hard Holder, etc. Angel and Skinner have abilities and purposes that suit a group dynamic, but they act as individuals rather than as representatives of a faction. (Unless, of course, they also happen to be part of/leading some faction, but that's an RP nuance rather than a hard-wired game mechanic)

[Winterborn]

I'm not really worried about the NPC's themselves, or their life expectancies. Part of the reason I'd like them to be fleshed out, if I were the Chopper, is to bring the loss more into light. Instead of some random biker dude in my gang getting shot and bleeding out, you've got a mad scramble to get Smokey and Buster to someone, anyone who can pull the bullets out and stop the bleeding. On a Pack Alpha miss, it's not just one of the gang bucking command out of nowhere, it's that shithead Shithead, taking his belly-aching too far this time; have to make an example out of that whiner.

That's the kind of thing I love in stories, the personalities, their loss in the bad times, joy in the triumphs. Having a whole gang of NPC's to work it out with is an exciting possibility. Again, though, I'm not getting too attached to the idea of a Chopper character, but it is number one on my wishlist. I'd be just as happy with a Gunlugger or a Battlebabe, if that's what the game requires.

[yesiroleplay]

I love the idea of controlling ten or twelve personalities with one 'character'  - I'm around a dozen because that seems the most you'd want to shine through at any time.  And I love the idea that the battlebabe can use a Move to kill off your favorite biker-bitch or trusted lieutenant without really affecting your character.  You just replace them after the conflict.

Speaking of rolls - I didn't see it spelled out in the playbooks - but a roll is 2d6+mods, right?  It's probably in there, but if so I missed it.

[Tydorei]

Seems interesting... I do hate learning new systems though. hmm.... Doesn't look to hard...

[meikle]

Speaking of rolls - I didn't see it spelled out in the playbooks - but a roll is 2d6+mods, right?  It's probably in there, but if so I missed it.

I should probably qualify that the playbooks pdf has everything you need to get along as long as you've got an MC who has the book.  It's not quite the complete game on its own!  Yeah, when something says to roll +whatever, it means roll two six-sided dice and add whatever to it.  That's going to be your trait and any +forward or -forward you've got, or maybe someone helps or interferes, whatever.

I love the idea of controlling ten or twelve personalities with one 'character'  - I'm around a dozen because that seems the most you'd want to shine through at any time.

It's important to keep in mind that even if you're using one of the playbooks that's in charge of a group, that group is still a bunch of NPCs.  This is important because all of those playbooks deal with the fact that keeping a bunch of people happy in Apocalypse World isn't easy, and they always want something from you.  The hardholder maybe doesn't want to think about it too much, but that day when their pack of savage enforcers starts shoving civilians into boxes and setting 'em on fire because they're anxious about spread of disease, those people gotta be NPCs.

Seems interesting... I do hate learning new systems though. hmm.... Doesn't look to hard...

It's not!  It's pretty straightforward, especially on the player's end -- the game's attitude is probably tougher to get used to than the mechanics, which mostly come down to 'roll 2d6+stat and then do what the move says to do'.

I'll make final selections and move onto an OOC thread tonight when I wake up.  I am leaning toward Light-Human-Small Group, if only because I don't expect a lot of sexual content in the main ic/ooc thread; if people branch out into harder stuff between themselves, the particulars can probably resolved in other threads in the appropriate boards.

[chaoslord29]

Wanted to reiterate my interest in this game and hope I'm still in the running of potential players. Good luck in the selections Meikle and all you other hopefuls here.

[meikle]

Well, I am awake, and I thought maybe that little warning would bring interested-but-quiet parties to the forefront, but there are no termites in these walls to flush.

Anyway, I had maybe six, but realistically five interested parties, since CurvyKitten never followed up; I've learned not to budge past my recruitment limits, though.  It never ends well.

Here's who will be setting their feet into the dusty heat of Apocalypse World, and my reasoning:

Winterborn: I don't know you, but you seem enthusiastic, and I like that.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
Chaoslord29: You've only been on the forums for a couple of months, so you're like a wild card.  Who knows what to expect?  Also, the 'm' in my username is lowercase.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
yesiroleplay: I've played with you in the past and I like your style.  I like your enthusiasm too, and bonus points for waxing apocalyptic (or barfing apocalyptica, your choice.)  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
Shjade: You and I, I think, don't get along great, and we have exchanged harsh words, but maybe we'll get past it.  You're a regular and I don't think you'll flake on us.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.

Sorry, Cold Heritage. I think that your enthusiasm is great, but my experience from the times we've crossed paths here in the past tell me that your interests and mine tend to be in striking conflict, and I'd rather not give those issues an opportunity to become problems for the game.

[CurvyKitten]

Sorry had something come up in RL, in the end I suppose it is for the best anyway as I am reading and simply confused about the mechanics of it all. Maybe next time though.

[chaoslord29]

Well, I am awake, and I thought maybe that little warning would bring interested-but-quiet parties to the forefront, but there are no termites in these walls to flush.

Anyway, I had maybe six, but realistically five interested parties, since CurvyKitten never followed up; I've learned not to budge past my recruitment limits, though.  It never ends well.

Here's who will be setting their feet into the dusty heat of Apocalypse World, and my reasoning:

Winterborn: I don't know you, but you seem enthusiastic, and I like that.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
Chaoslord29: You've only been on the forums for a couple of months, so you're like a wild card.  Who knows what to expect?  Also, the 'm' in my username is lowercase.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
yesiroleplay: I've played with you in the past and I like your style.  I like your enthusiasm too, and bonus points for waxing apocalyptic (or barfing apocalyptica, your choice.)  Welcome to Apocalypse World.
Shjade: You and I, I think, don't get along great, and we have exchanged harsh words, but maybe we'll get past it.  You're a regular and I don't think you'll flake on us.  Welcome to Apocalypse World.

Sorry, Cold Heritage. I think that your enthusiasm is great, but my experience from the times we've crossed paths here in the past tell me that your interests and mine tend to be in striking conflict, and I'd rather not give those issues an opportunity to become problems for the game.

Hey thanks meikle! I'll keep your name straight in the future to. So, what's the protocol from here?

[Shjade]

Shjade: You and I, I think, don't get along great, and we have exchanged harsh words, but maybe we'll get past it.

To be honest I'd already forgotten about it until I looked up your post history (as I always do with prospective RP partners). I'm not really the grudge type: we disagree on something, doesn't mean we can't like each other. =D

Well, hopefully at least. n.n;

So what happens next?

[meikle]

I'm going to put up an OOC thread in a little bit, and I'll link to it here.  Then the four of you will follow me there, and talk about your playbooks, and things will go from there.  Maybe you'll all just get your first pick, or you'll talk about what makes for an interesting group, whatever works; like I think I said earlier, the biggest reason I didn't ask for character concepts at this point was because I wanted to recruit players rather than recruit their characters.

Anyway, that's what'll happen next.

[chaoslord29]

I'm going to put up an OOC thread in a little bit, and I'll link to it here.  Then the four of you will follow me there, and talk about your playbooks, and things will go from there.  Maybe you'll all just get your first pick, or you'll talk about what makes for an interesting group, whatever works; like I think I said earlier, the biggest reason I didn't ask for character concepts at this point was because I wanted to recruit players rather than recruit their characters.

Anyway, that's what'll happen next.

Looking forward to it, take your time though.

[meikle]

The time-taking comes later; right now, we're building from scratch, and all we need's a skeleton.

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=169987