I recently started an Apocalypse World game with my online gaming group. My major intention is to follow the development of a single Apocalypse World setting and set of characters over the course 20+ sessions. Some unscientific internet research suggests this will make my campaign among the longer ones in existence. As part of this experiment I will be posting an Actual Play of the game including moves and their resolutions, my design and decision-making process, and some fun stuff that comes up in and out of character.
As in my earlier actual play reports, indented green text indicates digressions from the main subject. For the character creation section this is mostly out of character digressions.
So let's get started!
Character Creation Session
The first session of Apocalypse World is always character creation. We figure out who the characters are, how they know each other, and what their world is like. It involves a lot of improvisation on the part of the Master of Ceremonies (MC) or game master.Improvisation without preparation is not my strongest skill so this session was also a tool for training myself to be a better (or at least more versatile) game master. Prior to the game, I made things easier for myself by soliciting some details about the world and the characters so that I could develop some interesting questions as starting points. Here is what they provided:
- Alec wanted to play the Gunlugger, or in his words a non-squishy character.
- My wife, Grace, decided on the Skinner playbook, since Hot was the one stat her earlier characters had not emphasized.
- Mike after some thought decided on the Ruin Runner. This was an interesting choice as I had not offered that playbook and had some concerns about one of the moves (I feel Canny is too strong). We came to an agreement on the issue (limiting the move to Manipulating people).
- Finally Sarah, who had never played the game before, chose the Touchstone for roleplaying reasons (i.e. the best ones).
- The group also decided on some major issues in the world we were creating: slavery, dangerous food, factories, and some sort of killer fungus.
I started play by given a brief rules rundown for Sarah's benefit and then focused on pinning down the big aspects of the game world.
I told her Apocalypse World is like World of Darkness but with less dice rolling. At least that's how I tend to run most of my games.
I started by asking why food was dangerous. Was it because it was well guarded and hard to get? Possibly poisonous? Could it only be found in decaying food factories filled with deadly haywire robots?
After some discussion the group decided not to have a single reason but rather that "dangerous food" should be a theme of the game as a whole. In some places the food has to be carefully prepared since it is naturally poisonous, in others it might be hard to get and lots of people fight over it, in others it might be physically dangerous to obtain like bullet resistant mutant boars.
We then talked about the factories. Everyone liked the idea that some of the machines were still working. Sarah suggested that some may be tended to by cults like the atom bomb in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Alec liked the idea of technology having gone haywire. Sarah added they might be running out of control like the defense systems from Logan's Run.
After getting those ideas down we discussed one possible cause of the apocalypse, a killer fungus that depopulated the world. There were a lot of good ideas here. The basic concept was that it was like the zombie fungus that infects some ants. Basically it causes people to act weirdly and eventually makes them climb up to a high point before dying and releasing new spores. So the ruins are full of skeletal remains hanging from high rises and telephone pools with desiccated fungal stalks sticking out of their skulls.
Alec asked how dangerous this stuff was and if they (as survivors) were immune? Mike brought up the idea that they might have some sort of semi-immunity. We decided there was not much of the fungus left around, limiting exposure to a few unplundered zones (rich with canned goods of course). I also put forward the idea that the fungus was once much more virulent (and airborne). Nowadays it was still deadly to survivors but was treatable.
I also pointed out it was too bad they lacked an Angel.
Then Grace reminded me about the issue of slavery. She remarked her interest was from watching lots of Spartacus and from hearing about Mike's original plan to play a Spectacle. I promoted the idea of using slave labor for getting food. In other words that what food wasn't dangerous was labor intensive and required back-breaking work. Probably mutant turnips or something.
Sarah asked what sort of slavery was in use? I pointed out that a Viking-style or raid based slavery was probably what could be supported by the population density of the setting. Grace said another option was that people who wander into the wrong person's territory could get caught and enslaved. She also noted that larger hardholds might have a more diverse selection of uses for slaves. We briefly digressed into a discussion of serfs but I felt the need to point out that the game world is not very settled.
All this talk about slaves led to some chatter about Rome. The group was of the opinion that someone out there probably calls themselves Caesar. There were then more Planet of the Apes jokes.
I then asked the group what the starting location's landscape was like? I proposed endless desert, urban ruins, and a few others. When no one jumped forward with an answer, I directed the question at the Ruin Runner. After dealing with a bad internet connection, Mike finally received the question and told us it was a swamp, somewhere near a large open body of water with nearby forests.
I plan to make the Ruin Runner the default answerer of landscape questions.
By this point the overall opinion was that the setting was a Post Apocalyptic Florida with alligator filled Everglades and sunken ruins. Alec proposed a ruined Miami while several people joined in on some jokes about Disney World. Mike pointed out they have advanced food production facilities, fitting the factory and potentially dangerous food vibe. Grace proposed the hardholder wears a ritualized crown with Mickey Mouse ears.
I quipped it is a small world after all.
Shelving talk about the exact starting point for the moment we turn to the characters. Mike had confided in me that he already had a backstory. Alec pointed out we were not supposed to do that for Apocalypse World but Mike clarified it was not very detailed, consisting of 4 bullet points. I think that is a reasonable level for a collaborative game like this.
Character creation was a bit muddled with stats generally getting determined before names were locked down. One idea that popped up in the process was the psychic maelstrom might be tied into the spore infections somehow. Added to our problems were more connection issues and making dinner for myself and my wife.
We started with the Ruin Runner who focused on Cool and Hard and took the moves Good enough! and They'd be crazy to follow us in here. For gear he grabbed a 9mm pistol, a big knife, a multitool, a bolthole, and some makeshift armor.
The Gunlugger of course took NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH as well as Battlefield instincts and Fuck this shit. He also went with +2 sharp so had some serious deficits in Hot and Weird. With the idea that he works as an assassin and part-time bodyguard for hire, he had a silenced sniper rifle, ap ammo, a smg, and many knives for weapons. His armor was scrounged and patched together military gear.
My wife's Skinner took Lost and Artful & gracious. Her character had no negative stats and a slight advantage in weird. She was also armed with hidden knives and carried antique coins and a skin and hair kit. She remarked based on her lack of Hard and being the only one with a positive Weird stat that her character was the inverse of the others.
Sarah's Touchstone emphasized Sharp and Cool and took Towering presence and Indomitable (which the Gunlugger had his eye on as well). She decided her character might have come from a family of survivalists. We discussed her taking a sawed off shotgun, though I pointed out the downsides of messy, like being making it harder to hide the bodies.
The Touchstone asked me if her token of hope could be anything. This then led to another question: have the survivors forgotten to read? The group weighed in. A world of illiterates would be interesting from my point of view but only if the rest of the group signed on with it. I pointed out that illiteracy would definitely be very prevalent in any case. The Ruin Runner added that he'd like to be able to read or at least be fluent in all forms of warning signs. We settled on most people being illiterate.
The Touchstone decided her token is a pocket anthology edition of the Federalist papers including a copy of the Constitution and other founding documents. I asked if this is a symbol of "the past that could be reborn" which she agreed with.
We then digressed into a discussion about the Postman and Kevin Costner movies in general. I compared her Touchstone to the movie as a whole "except hopefully a whole lot less boring." Mike pointed out his movies are cool in theory while Grace said they suffer from being really long. Alec said he has trouble editing.
Mechanics down, we began character introductions:
- November Orleans (the Skinner) goes by November. Her family is originally from New Orleans (before it sank). It has been 3 generations since they lived there but they kept the name. A beautiful woman of mixed heritage with dark eyes and skin, she possesses a sweet face and lush body. She dresses herself in a mix of scavenged clothing that somehow works together. Around her neck she wears rows of antique coins strung together like a necklace which jingles and shines as she moves. Her main profession is as a dancer, especially belly dancing, but she has a sideline business in cooking.
- Gator (the Gunlugger) is a dude dressed in customized scrounged armor made from Kevlar and ceramic inserts that is covered in jungle camouflage. A local, his face was fucked up in a fight with an alligator. He likes to say "he fought a gator hand to hand and the gator bit his face but he bit back." His eyes are always sizing things up and his brutal life has left his body a hard sheet of muscle.
- Violet Jefferson (the Touchstone) dresses in survival wear and is quite plain-looking. But her clear eyes and general fitness distinguishes her from the rabble. She is used to living off the land and is quite practical, carrying a hunting rifle and 9mm wherever she goes. This is the first time she's been away from the main branch of her family, a clan descended from pre-apocalypse survivalists.
Mike returned and introduced his character:
- Billie Ray Tallahassee "BRT" (the Ruin Runner) is a bastard. Of mixed Asian-American heritage, this young man has a narrow frame and nimble fingers. He keeps his beard and hair short, and he wears armor/clothing derived from protective motorcycle gear and hunting clothing. He generally travels on foot for local scavenging, booking passage on vehicles for long distances.
They also make a comment of needing a hovercraft chase in the Everglades. I'll have to think on it.
Finally I return, get caught up on most of the details.
Next we move on to Hx. After a short rules discussion we go around and each character explains how they know the other characters:
- BRT once traveled with Orleans in the marshy wastes.
- BRT used be Gator's lover.
- Finally BRT was sent on a wild goose chase, a hunt for the Declaration of Independence in the swamp that was D.C., by Violet.
- For his part, Gator fought shoulder to shoulder with Violet. The circumstances are still unclear. Gator suggests he might have been guarding her while she suggests that they were looking for something.
- Gator says that after their fling, BRT came across him bleeding and did nothing for him.
- Gator thinks November is the prettiest.
- November decides Violet and she share some interests (like culture) and are friends.
- November also decides, based on Gator's assessment that she is the prettiest, that Gator is in love with her.
- November has nothing special going on with BRT. Though they traveled together, she learned more about him than he did about her.
- Violet tells everyone she is an open book. She also decides that everyone in the group has a place in her vision of a restored America.
- November highlights Violet's cool. I add hard.
- Violet highlights BRT's hard and I add sharp.
- Gator gets his cool highlighted by BRT. I consider highlighting hard but go with sharp instead.
- BRT highlights November's weird and I cover hot.
Building a World
Well not quite. First we need some Q&A to determine the initial location, its inhabitants, and how the player characters relate to them. From here on out I'll refer to the player characters by the character names.I start by asking, "What's the local hardhold like?" Obviously they are in a swamp but are the characters localized or do they wander between several holdings?
Gator says they are wanderers and the others agree. They travel between a series of small hardholds. There are rumors of a larger holding around a huge silver ball as well as cult living within a massive building with the letters N A S A across it.
Gator is a traveler or as I like to call him "a wandering death machine."
November says their initial location is a small holding of about 50 people.
How does this local place get by? Do they have one of those rare factories? Are they a crazy cult? Or do they have a market?
November and BRT tell me it is a gator farm. Gator points out that gator is definitely dangerous food.
As one of the rare food sources, I ask November if she has any good recipes for gator?
She tells me of course and we worked out the local big man, Hurricane is her current patron.
Hurricane is the hardholder of Stumpland, our gator farm. He employs November to make spiced alligator jerky that can be stored and traded over long distances. Hurricane is bigger and healthier than most people in the area due to his protein rich diet.
The holding name came from looking at a map of Florida and seeing a town of Lakeland. I combined it with a random bit of trivia in my head involving a real world town called Stumptown.
Also at this point I stopped typing my notes in play as I realized it is taking too much time.
I turn to Gator. "How do you get your armor piercing bullets? Do you have a guy who makes them?"
Gator tells me he makes them himself with a bullet press. He does have a guy he buys Teflon and heavy metals from however.
We had a short digression into Gator and BRT's connections, when I ask if BRT does any of his supplying. Gator points out being left bleeding puts a damper on any professional relationship.
BRT asks, "how did I become the bad guy?"
His supplier is Gunge, a tall thin man who lives somewhere in the swamp. He is very cagey about where he lives. He is also missing his right eye. Violet adds the detail that he never tells the same story twice about how he lost his eye.
I ask Violet where her family lives? North, South, East?
She establishes it as Northly. We speculate it might be near D.C. but decide against it.
Does Violet have any family in the area?
She tells me the main branch still lives up there but her Aunt and Uncle moved down to Stumpland. She calls them Aunt Julia and Uncle Buck. She visits them each summer to learn the fine art of alligator trapping. Her Aunt and Uncle work for Hurricane raising the gators for harvest. I add the detail that Buck is down a few fingers. Gator says Buck likes to say that "the Buck stops here."
Making my way to the last player character, I ask BRT about the vendetta he mentioned to me. "Remind me which parent was it that got killed? How did they die?"
He says his mother died in a hail of bullets when he was a kid, murdered by an older man with an American flag and sword tattoo on his shoulder.
We establish that BRT has been trying to track the killer down, moving from place to place to widen his search. Now he's in Stumpland and his quarry is nearby.
"Oh this is going to be horrible," I say. "I think Uncle Buck has a tattoo." Violet worries about her Uncle as I tell BRT that he has a line on a man with an American flag tattoo on his arm in this town. Violet sighs and says "I guess he had it coming."
Gator tells BRT, "if you are looking for someone to take care of that...I'm just saying."
Returning to Violet, I ask how she spreads her vision of a restored United States of America? She says she talks to people, spreading the word of the founding fathers. Her methods are peaceful.
Gator comments that violence is an answer.
I tell her that there is a woman in the holding named Bowdy. She's really taken with Violet's vision. "But...what would a person who didn't fit your vision of the future be like?"
Violet says, "that's really hard...someone who craves power for the sake of being powerful."
So I tell them that Bowdy, a heavy-set woman, is the local slave trader. Despite her enthusiasm for democracy, she is a cruel taskmaster, using the weakest of her stock to flush out alligators on the road. She wants more and willing to destroy people to get it.
Having saddled Violet with some troubles, I ask November about her deal with Hurricane. She explains, "I figure they turn the gator meat into jerky and I have this special blend of spices that I can whip up." This serves to preserve the meat given the tropical climate and lack of refrigeration technology.
"So Hurricane buys a lot of your stuff?" I ask. November replies that she has a contract with him to prepare a set amount of meat. She lets him know when she is in town so they can arrange the harvesting.
"So you also dance", I say. "Where do you do your dancing?"
"What is Stumpland like?" November asks.
"At the moment all I have are some gator pits and a bunch of huts," I explain and prod her to fill in the details.
"I envision a communal meeting area, an old gator pit converted in a makeshift amphitheater," she tell us. "They have a Sabbath, not necessarily on Sunday, where they take off and get together and discuss current events and tell stories about the world that was."
BRT adds, "that is probably one of the two days I'm in town."
After a slight digression about whether BRT is visiting then to see November dance (and if he is a fan of hers), I add a new NPC.
"So you have a fan," I tell her. "A tall thin guy called Gunge. He's really more of a stalker, creepy, with one eye." I warn her that she might need to deal with him at some point.
Gator says, "he's harmless."
I go back to Gator. "So Gator, you kill people?"
"I do assassinations."
"So you killed Zuzu a while back. Why is Hurricane upset about that?" I ask. "You were paid good money for it."
Gator replies that it was because Zuzu was his nephew. However Zuzu crossed another hardholder.
"So you don't really care about it?"
Gator explains he is more confused about why Hurricane is so upset about it.
Violet asks if Zuzu had a reputation as kind of a jerk?
"Yeah in another holding," Gator explains.
With our setup complete (for now), we finally get to the action. But this recap is getting too long so you will need to wait another couple of weeks for the second part. Sorry.
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