This week we return to my continuing
Apocalypse World game, the Climbers. Having killed Dustwich, the characters are pulled, bribed, or paid to do another quest: aid Violet liberate Miami.
For this campaign my major intention is to follow the development of a single Apocalypse World setting and set of characters over the course 20+ sessions. I want to see how the world fills in with terminology, history, and peoples.
As in my earlier actual play reports, small green text indicates out of character talk, mechanics and other game aspects outside of the fiction.
Our main characters are:
- Gator (the Gunlugger) is an assassin and part-time bodyguard who wears customized scrounged armor made from Kevlar and ceramic inserts. Camouflaged for the jungle, his face was ruined in a fight with an alligator. His eyes are always sizing things up and his brutal life has left his body a hard sheet of muscle.
- Jarhead (the Savvyhead) is a thing African-American man with a short goatee, long dreads, and clothes covered in pockets and gear. Travelling around in an old news van, he repairs items for a living. Recently obtained a strange device from a man named Dustwich, it can bend time and space. He is intrigued to say the least.
- November Orleans (the Skinner) is descended from a family which left New Orleans before it sank. She is a beautiful woman of mixed heritage with dark eyes and skin, a sweet face and lush body. She dresses herself in a mix of scavenged clothing that somehow works together and wears a necklace made from rows of antique coins which jingle and shine as she moves. Her main profession is as a dancer, especially belly dancing, but she has a sideline business in cooking.
- Violet Jefferson (the Touchstone) is descended by survivalists and her clothing and gear reflects her origins. Plain looking but fit, she carries a pocket copy of the Federalist papers and founding documents of the United States of America, an idea she hopes to revive. She was in Stumpland to spend the summer with her Aunt Julia and Uncle Buck. Now her uncle is dead and her followers are demanding her help.
This is the last session for a month and the big question I wonder is how far will they get to Miami?
Highlighting
Highlighting goes quick.
- Violet gets Cool (from November) and Hard.
- November gets Hot (from Jarhead) and Sharp.
- Jarhead gets Hot (from Gator) and Weird.
“I've never seen a hot savvyhead," I comment.
- Gator gets Hard (from Violet) and Cool.
"You would want to see him be Hard," I tell Violet. "I want to see an Easy to trust Gator."
Start of Session Move
Violet rolls Fortunes.
"Let’s see if you can do better than last time."
She gets a 7 and chooses the want +judgement.
"It's the least bad thing for them!" she explains.
"It's going to be a wonderful road trip," I tell her. Jarhead has his own vehicle so his trip will be much less argumentative.
She gets 2-barter and +insight.
Now you can pay for Gator to save Miami.
Head Out on the Highway
The sea breeze blows the smoke of the funeral pyre away from the small gathering. Gator stows his new weapon on the airboat while Jarhead adjusts some items in his overburdened van. With Violet’s promise to aid in the liberation of Miami, Boo donates his recent earnings to her to help prepare for the journey.
”Gator, last session you acquired a rocket launcher.”
November interrupts. “Oh you acquired it?”
”Well you picked it up and claimed it as your own,” I amend.
I detail its stats: 6-harm, far area messy and a single shot. I also point out it will kill vehicles, people and unstable buildings.
I also point out that last time he dropped his sniper rifle. It's a bit dinged up and he might want to have it looked at.
Jarhead brings up wanting to pick up some food and the others explain their need to return the airboat to its owner.
“I’m okay with short detour.” Boo explains. “For one thing I wouldn't mind if there was someplace safe to leave Lauren and my little girl.”
Violet nods and they quickly make plans to meet up in Stumpland for supplies and other arrangements. After they break up, Jarhead returns to his van. He wipes the blood off Dustwich's device and stows it on the dashboard. Boo and his clan get in their yellow SUV and lead the way down the backroads.
As they drive off, Gator, November and Violet get the boat going and take the quick route across the swamp.
The airboat slices across the forested wetlands. Sliding past a row of trees, Violet and the others spot a plume of smoke rising from the direction of Stumpland. November kills the engine and they drift to a halt.
Gator and Violet decide to investigate, quietly wading into the holding. November follows behind, slowly pushing the airboat towards Stumpland.
Violet and Gator roll Acting under fire to sneak, Gator gets an 8 and Violet gets a 7. I probably should have made this a single roll. Oh well.
Violet leads Gator through the heavy plant growth surrounding the settlement. Brambles and rotten logs make the journey difficult. Then they spot something that isn't a log.
The alligator lounges in the water between them and Stumpland. Huge and scaly, it growls deeply as they approach, warning off any challengers.
The gators are very active since it is mating season. I give them the choice of a very long detour or dealing with it.
”I could try and kill it,” Gator whispers.
”How?” I ask.
“I have a silence sniper rifle.”
“A sniper rifle that got dropped. You can try it. Maybe it's fine.”
“It should be quiet,” he adds pulling his sniper rifle.
”Especially if it doesn't work,” November says.
“Other than that I've got my knives,” he adds, “but I don’t want to get in a knife fight with an alligator. But I will if I have to.”
Violet waves him off, pulling her nylon rope out.
”Want to try that first?” Gator says. “If it doesn't work then I’ll shoot it.”
Violet rolls Seize by force and gets a 10. She chooses suffer little harm, definite hold and dismay the animal. The rope does no harm to the gator but binds it. The gator strike her for 2-harm minus 1-armor minus 1 for little harm. I have her roll a Harm move at +0. She gets a 6 and is fine.
Violet readies a loop and remembers her training. When the alligator turns she runs up and throws the loop around its jaws. As the giant beast thrashes around she quickly pulls the loop shut. After a short wrestle she tightens the rope around the alligator, immobilizing its legs as well. Muddy but unharmed she steps back from the animal.
“We nipped this problem in the bud,” she says, wiping her brow.
“Nice work, we could use this later,” Gator says, considering the meaty beast.
They tie the reptile to a sturdy tree and continue to Stumpland. As they break through the ring of vegetation, they discover that the smoke is rising from the burning remains of Jackbird’s ship. A small crowd chatters calmly by the Theater as the flames devour the structure.
Gator relaxes his grip on his rifle. His sharp eyes pick out Hurricane and his gang watching the destruction.
An explosion send up a plump of black smoke as the fire reaches some fuel cache. The crowd oohs and aahs.
Gator walks up to Hurricane. “What the heck happened here?”
The big man turns to him. “Well you were the one who mentioned spores. That’s what we are taking care of. Making sure there is no threat left.”
“I hope you cleared his place out.”
“We cleared the front,” he explains. “I sent a couple of people further in and they found something that looked like spores.” Hurricane squints at Gator. “Didn't you leave in a boat?”
“Oh yeah, we’ll bring it in. We just wanted to make sure nothing bad happened here.”
Hurricane nods absently and Violet and Gator go back to help November bring the boat in. Charity, the owner, smiles and thanks them for bringing it back in the same condition it left in.
Then Gator and Violet head back into the swamp to get the alligator. The arrival of the huge beast distracts the crowd a bit, who cast hungry looks.
November appraises it. “If we want to eat this, we will need to do some prep work. I can do some of it but it takes time. It’s probably best that we trade it for prepared meat instead.”
The others agree and November and Gator go to talk to Hurricane.
Gator Manipulates a person with Easy to trust (thus rolling Cool). He gets help from November who rolls a 9 on her help another roll. With the +1, Gator gets an 11.
“‘Mighty fine gator you managed to capture there,” Hurricane says as they approach.
“Yup a big one,” Gator says.
“We should get at least a 100 pounds of jerky out of it,” November says.
“Not to mention leather,” Gator adds.
Hurricane nods. “So you sticking around to do all that?”
“Nah, we are looking to trade for some ready-made stuff.”
“I can start some of the prep work for you,” November throws in.
Hurricane considers it. “Yeah sure. I can get you about what it’s worth.”
They earn 1-barter of leather, 1/2 barter of food (which Gator uses to refill what he use last session). The others split the leather.
Cut to Jarhead.
The overloaded van bounces wildly as it chases the yellow SUV down the crumbling road. Jarhead blows past Cottage just as he did with its warriors running down the highway two hours ago. Slowly the road becomes more mud than broken concrete.
“I don’t stop,” he tells me.
I ask him a question. “Where did you get your van? Did you buy it or inherit it?”
”I found it at an old abandoned waystation. Then I made it run again.”
An hour and a half later, he spots a column of smoke rising up straight ahead. The SUV slows and stops. Jarhead pulls up alongside it.
“What the hell is that?” Jarhead asks, rolling down the window.
“I don’t know,” Boo says. “It looks like that fire has been going on for a while though.”
“That doesn't seem like it’s normal,” the tinkerer comments.
“No.”
“They did say we were meeting them over there, right?”
“Yes.”
”What are the chances that was somehow caused by Gator?” Jarhead asks.
“I don’t know. He did have that tube thing. We’ll just have to see.”
As Boo starts going, Jarhead calls out, ”if I see something bad, I’m going to turn around. I suggest you do the same.”
As Hurricane’s men carefully drag off the alligator, the crowd turns their attention from the burning wreckage to the sound of vehicles coming up the south road. A well cared for SUV and a van covered in solar panels pull up in front of the rough amphitheater.
”If there was excitement here it is long past,” I tell Jarhead.
Jarhead leans out his window. ”What the hell happened?”
“It needed to be done,” Gator says. “Possible spores.”
“Okay,” Jarhead says, climbing out of the news van. Gator quickly fills him in on the recent events, including whose boat this was.
Boo and his clan disembark as well. The short burly man approaches Violet. “So you've got the boat returned. We should get going soon.”
“Yes,” she says. Looking around she spots Jarhead haggling over a bit of fresh gator meat.
She interrupts him and explains she is heading to Miami. “We could use your talents. We are going to start a mini revolution.”
November wanders over and Jarhead turns to her. “What is your take on this?”
“Well I've been down there before,” she explains. “They have a pretty nice place setup but it sounds like this White guy isn't really a friend to the civilized. I wouldn't mind helping them out.”
“Okay,” he says slowly and uncertainly. “When were you thinking of going?”
Boo speaks up. “We need to go the sooner the better. Before he’s managed to cement his control.”
Jarhead asks if there is anything to draw him to Miami.
“Hey Violet have you told Jarhead about your plans?” November asks.
In other words use Visionary.
Violet rolls Visionary and gets an 8. She also earns experience. She holds 2 over him.
Violet tells him about her vision of a restored Republic. “Back before the apocalypse, this place was a country. We had freedom. Every citizen had a vote. Everyone could influence their own destiny and act in their own interests.”
“We could use someone with your skills,” Boo adds.
Jarhead considers the offer. “There a few things I’ve been meaning to try. They are a little hazardous so I need someone to try them on that I don’t care about. If you keep me supplied, I’ll make you stuff.”
Violet hesitantly agrees and they shake on it.
Violet makes a mental note never to direct anyone to Jarhead who can’t handle themselves.
”I’ve got to make sure these things work somehow,” he says.
”You could try using lab rats!” she retorts.
”Where is he going to find lab rats?” I ask.
”There are mice, there are probably plenty of them out in the bayou.”
”You mean rodents of unusual size. I don’t think they really exist. Though the Nutria, they are totally out there. Somewhere. Plotting.”
While I go get dinner ready, the others discuss if you can use Visionary on an NPC or not amongst other things.
“Well I’m your friend so I’ll come along but I figure at some point you’ll need to force me,” November tells Violet. “Something like ‘Don’t lose sight of what we've accomplished...’ It will awesome. Plus I want experience.”
I return to a digression into the boardgame Eldritch Horror. Sounds like a fun, sort of like Pandemic but with Cthulhu.
”So you've convinced the group to come to Miami,” I say. “Huzzah.”
”Huzzah,” she echoes.
As Boo wanders away to negotiate with Hurricane, Jarhead contemplates the long trip south in his cramped van.
“The generator is taking up a lot of space,” he tells Gator.
“I know someone here who could be trusted to keep it safe for you,” the mercenary says.
Violet turns to Gator. “I wanted to know if you were interested in coming with us to Miami as well?”
“What exactly is in Miami?” Gator asks.
“There’s a strong man who has moved in,” she explains as Boo quickly works out a deal with Hurricane. He and his son return while Hurricane leads his wife and daughter away. “He won’t let the townfolk have a say in how the place is run.”
“Okay,” he says scanning her eyes. ”What do you want to do?”
“We've got to drive the British out,” Boo interjects. “You tell him Violet, we have to kick White and his boys out of there. One way or the other.”
“So you want to get rid of them,” Gator says. “You live there?”
Boo nods. “I use to live there before they killed my brother and drove me out.”
“Okay so it’s for you.”
“It’s for everybody, everybody who is living there.”
“For the people of Miami,” Violet explains.
“So what are you asking?” the scarred warrior asks.
“We want to commission your services,” she says.
Gator grins horrifically. “Okay, now we are talking business.”
“We want to know is what will it cost,” Violet explains.
”How far is Miami?” Gator asks.
I share my screen and share the map. If they take the 75 it will be about 360 miles. But it will take them all the way to Miami.
“That’s kind of trip you are planning,” Gator says, straightening his back. “And what your angle? Get rid of these guys?”
“The 75 is actually in fairly good shape?” Violet asks.
”Yes.”
Violet nods grimly. “Get rid of them and put a representative government in place.”
“So replace the guys in power.”
“Kind of,” she says, avoiding the debate.
“So how many guys does White have?” Gator asks.
”He came in with a strong gang,” Boo says. “But they are all afraid of him. I guess he’s got-” He turns to Garber. “What do you think son? 40? 50 guys?”
”Wow,” Jarhead comments.
Gator doesn't flinch. ”Not too bad. And they are afraid of White?”
“Yeah he’s a scary guy.”
“So we kill him, they will break up?” the assassin asks.
”Most likely,” Violet says. “Though we might want to be careful in case one of them decides to take over.”
Gator names his price: two months worth of rations or the equivalent. “How’s this sound? Half now and half when we are done?”
Gator is getting 2-barter.
“Sounds good to me.”
Violet and Gator shake on it. The warrior says, ”Good doing business.”
”Gator has a lot of money now. The way it is going he could take the next few months off. Or blow it all on a really great week.”
”Or spend it hiring me to make some stuff,” Jarhead hints.
His business with Violet concludes, Gator takes Jarhead to his friend Jess.
Jarhead hopes to trade his fixing ability for storage for the generator.
They find the muscular woman watching the smoldering boat. She spots his approach and waves. “Good to see you Gator.”
“You too Jess.”
“Saw they burnt down Jackbird’s place.”
“Yeah, they sent in that new slave and Phoenix,” she offers as an explanation.
“Which one? That carver guy?” he asks.
“Vock. The sculptor, I think his name is,” she says. “They only had two gas masks so they were the lucky ones.”
“Makes sense. It’s good that they got those spores taken care of.”
Jess nods. “They said they found dust or something in the ship. Hurricane decided not to take any chances.”
“You've heard about Gunge?” he asks.
“Yeah I heard he got the climbers.” Gator nods and she adds, ”there seems to be a lot of that going around. Hurricane plans to hold up, keep it at bay and hope it burns out.”
Gator gestures to Jarhead. “I've got a person I want to introduce to you. He needs to store something for a piece of time. Jess, this is Jarhead.”
”Hello,” the thing tinkerer says offering a hand. Jess shakes it firmly despite a few missing digits. “I was wondering if I could store my generator here. In exchange I could fix something for you. I’m pretty good at fixing things.”
Jarhead rolls Manipulate a person and gets a 10. He also marks experience.
“I suppose there’s always something that needs fixing. I don’t have anything at the moment but I’ll see what I have when you get back. How long were you thinking of keeping it here?”
Jarhead glances at Gator. “‘Uh, a few weeks.”
“Alright. You can put in the shack out back.”
“Thanks a lot,” he says smiling.
She points out the wooden structure at the edge of the swamp. “I shouldn’t have to store anything there for a bit. We just finished our last harvest for the season.”
”You are now free to transport everyone in comfort,” I say.”Who goes with Boo? And who goes with Jarhead?”
“Does anyone else know how to drive?” Jarhead asks.
Gator says he knows how as does Violet.
“I could see that,” I comment. “she has that-”
”Range of competency,” November finishes for me.
Jarhead takes Gator as a secondary driver so he can work in the back from time to time.
As they head to the van to unload the machine, Gator asks the tinkerer to take a look at his rifle.
“Sure. why not.”
Meanwhile Rover approaches Violet as she readies for her trip.
“Violet,” the old man stammers, “I’m a little worried. I think my son was listening to you too much and he got patriotic fever. While you were out, we had a visitor from the Militia. Hammer signed up. I thought you should know.”
She thanks him and gets back to her work frowning.
Thereby taking care of the unresolved +desertion from last session.
Then we move to the long drive south. We establish Violet and November ride with Boo and his son Garber in the yellow SUV while Gator and Jarhead take turns driving Jarhead’s van.
“I may occasionally ride with Jarhead and Gator,” November says. “It depends on how much Boo is complaining.”
”So after that first day?” I say.
“Sure.”
”Do you take the 75 or do you try to make your way down the backroads?”
Jarhead comments, ”if we want to take a fast trip, we’d take the 75 but it is a well known road so it might be dangerous. Plus White might have lookouts on it.”
”How much influence does White have?” Violet asks.
I establish White’s region of control is pretty small. He might only control one of the 3 or 4 major holdings in Miami. He could however have people stationed watching the highway.
”It wouldn't be practical to watch all 360 miles,” Violet says.
”No,” I say. “If he’s watching it, the lookouts are an hour out at best. About 30 miles or so.”
”So we could go the first the first 300 miles on it and be safe.”
”At least from White.”
”Except for checkpoints and bandits and things,” Gator adds.
”There are bandits along the backroads too,” November points out.
”And there the roads are bad,” I add.
”So I think our odds are better to drive the 75 until we get close,” Violet decides.
Boo’s SUV leads the way down the decaying mud and cement chip road. By evening they reach a clogged on-ramp. Carefully they thread their way past the decaying vehicles and onto the 75.
From there they pick up speed, following a rough path worn by previous travelers. The multitude of cars and trucks on the highway lie smashed to one side or another, leaving an easy road to follow.
“If you cared what I say,” Boo says for the hundredth time, “you would do this a little bit differently. Of course you know best. Always thinking you know what to do. Never mind that I've been up and down this road a hundred times. I’ve survived more bandits than you’d imagine. Never mind the plan is to just ride down here and then take the backroads through the Everglades. God knows if they even exist anymore. The lake just gets bigger and bigger, what with the rising oceans. I imagine the southern tip of Florida doesn't even exist anymore. But alright, alright.”
November focuses on the landscape and tries to ignore him.
”I’ll be nice about it,” Violet says. “I’ll ask his advice about things once we get closer.”
”And that’s why I leave after the first day,” November says. “I ride in the van.”
Violet just smiles and keeps an eye out for trouble.
In the van, Jarhead tinkers in the back while Gator drives. As they bounce along, he tries to see what he can do to repair Gator’s sniper rifle.
“If he doesn't hit too many potholes,” he comments.
Do you want to use your workshop or Things speak? (in other words, do you leave me an opening for a hard move)
”Nothing seems to be broken so I’ll just use my workshop.”
Looking along the barrel, he sees that the sight is way off. A shooter would be hard pressed to hit the broad side of barn with it. He also finds some gunk lodged in the silencer. He removes that part for now until he can properly clear the barrel.
He gives it a good polish and sets it aside for later. Then he picks up the sphere.
The gun is not too bad. Jarhead could get it fixed up that tonight.
Violet says, “give it some TLC.”
“What do I need to fix the Tesla device?” Jarhead asks.
”That’s good question. You’re not sure. If you want to use Things speak that is going to get your answer much faster.”
Jarhead rolls a 7. What is wrong with this and how can I fix it?
Feeling inside the bullet hole, he feels where the depleted uranium round settled into the core. It doesn’t seem too tightly lodged. Fixing the damage however is going to take some time and energy. He tosses the sphere from one hand to another. He could probably melt the damaged section down and recast it from the intact portion.
I hesitate to tell him the rest but “No. Your move does let you know...”
He notices a display near his head goes fuzzy when he brings the sphere near it. Somehow he knows this metallic sphere is specially polarized.
Creating the right sort of electromagnetic field is going to take some work, he thinks.
”I have to build it from the ground up,” Jarhead says.
”At least you have half the device to replicate the other half. You have an idea of how to build a foundry, That’s just a matter of time and money. Mostly time.
As night falls, Violet directs Boo to pull to the side of the road. Grumbling the whole way, he does. They set up a camp with Gator taking the first watch. Boo nervously sets up his tent well away from the road and most of the others join him. Jarhead and November stay in his van as the tinkerer makes repairs to Gator’s rifle.
”You may want your sniper rifle for your watch though,” Jarhead says.
”He has his smg,” I point out.
”And I have a rocket launcher,” the assassin says.
”That might be overkill.”
The evening passes quickly and Jarhead completes the repairs. Gator ends his watch by waking Violet. He sets his own sleeping bag down well away from the others.
An hour into her watch, Violet spots a fire burning a half mile down the road. Straining her ears, she makes out shouts, perhaps a scream, over the crickets and other wildlife.
”That sounds bad,” she says.
Gator starts awake as a pebble lands near him, a knife at the ready. “What’s going on?” he says as he recognizes Violet.
”I want you to take a look at something,” she says pointing at the distant light to the south. “I was thinking either you or I should take a look.”
“Okay let me look,” he says fishing out the scope to his rifle.
Gator Reads a sitch and gets a 9.
Who is in control here?
Against the large fire, he sees a pair of people silhouetted. By the way they are standing, they must be tied up. Then he spots three more men setting up a large spit over the fire.
“Looks like we've got some cannibals over there,” he says. “They have a couple people trussed up over there.”
“How many? Can you tell?” she asks.
Gator watches for a couple long minutes. “Seven or eight that I can see.”
“We might be able to take them,” she says.
“They are in our way,” he agrees. “But they may move on.”
“They may. But those people are alive aren't they?”
“I think so.”
“We shouldn't just leave them to die,” she argues.
Gator curses. “Bullets aren't the easiest things to come by either.”
“I’m aware of that,” she says standing firm.
“If we scare them off, we should probably continue moving,” he warns.
“Probably. Let’s wake everyone up.”
A few moments later the travelers blearily assemble.
“What’s going on?” Boo asks.
Violet describes the problem.
“Cannibals!” Jarhead exclaims.
“Yup, yup,” Boo says tiredly. “You’ll see that. That and raiders. Cannibals are not so bad. They are not nice people but most of them don’t have any real transport. As long as you have a working vehicle you can get out of their way real quick. Raiders now, raiders are the problem. They usually have bikes, trucks, that sort of thing.”
“Let’s try to rescue those people,” Violet says.
“Let’s try rescue those people?” Jarhead echoes in disbelief as Gator sighs.
”I’m a good person that seems like what I’d do,” Violet comments.
Boo chews his lip. “Well they outnumber us but not by much.”
“I figure we get him by surprise,” Violet says.
“I guess we can hit him hard and fast,” Jarhead says considering the situation.
“I could just about hit them from here,” Gator comments, screwing his scope back on his rifle.
”I think that’s the next thing I should put on your scope: night vision,” Jarhead says.
”You can do that?” Gator asks.
”It can’t be that hard.”
Violet nods. “That would put them in disarray.”
“I pick off a few before they smart up and disperse from the fire. Violet and the rest of us can race in there and pick up the captives.” He nods his head and lays out the plan. “This is what we are going to do. I can take the shots. We’ll empty out the SUV. Violet and Boo get in there. I’ll stay here. You drive up there and grab the people. I can cover you from here and then we can follow behind you.”
“I’ll go in the SUV to help encourage the captives to come with us,” November says.
“So let me get this straight,” Boo says. “So me and the two ladies will drive over after you've knocked them down a bit. Grab the captives and scatter them. We’ll then drive on.”
“Once we see you are free we’ll follow behind,” Gator concludes.
“Alright, sounds good.”
That's it for now. Tune in two weeks from now to see how their plan works out.
