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.
- Violet: Cool, Hard
- November: Hot, Sharp
- Jarhead: Hot, Weird
- Gator: Hard, Cool
Head out on the Highway, Part II
Gator adjusts his sights as the yellow SUV slowly drives to toward the cannibal’s fire. He picks out one of the savages as he leers at the captives. Gator squeezes the trigger.”So you’re sniping. I think we’ll call that Go aggro where your demand is ‘die’.”
Gator rolls a 12. He also earns experience.
The man’s head bursts in a spray of blood and brains. One of his companions runs over to him shocked. That one’s head also bursts. The rest flee from the firelight.
Basically they decide, “oh my god there is a sniper or an evil spirit around.”
Boo steps on the gas and the SUV tears down the highway, skidding to a halt in front of the bonfire.
November and Violet Read a sitch. November gets an 8 and experience. Violet gets a 10.
Violet asks: What should I be on the lookout for? Who is control here? What’s my enemy’s true position?
Violet pops the door open and scans the area. All around them, she sees the savages, crouching and hiding beneath wrecked vehicles. They form a loose ring around the fire, waiting to spring out and attack. Violet pulls her rifle out to cover November as the dancer races to the captives hugging the fire.
What is my best way past? November asks.
Hugging the fire. The captives are close to it, it covers one side, and allows Gator to pick anyone who comes after you.
Metal scrapes against asphalt as the cannibals pull themselves from their hiding places. Masks made of hub caps and street signs hide their faces as they wave clawed gauntlets made from jagged metal in their direction. A dozen of them move in from all directions.
Violet rolls Go aggro (at +1 from Read a sitch). She gets a 10.
“Stop!” Violet says as they rush the SUV. Her gun thunders and the fastest one drops with her brains spilling onto the pavement.
November rolls Acting under fire to reach the captives. She fails.
The flames cover November’s flank as she reaches the captives, a young woman and a child. As she slices them free, two of the cannibals land in a crouch just beyond them. She hears the sound of the third’s metal gauntlets behind her.
As Gator plans to support her, November draws her knives and Seizes with force (using hot since she is A devil with a blade). She gains experience and rolls a 7. She also gets an advancement. After raising her cool, she chooses little harm and definite hold.
Gator trains his rifle on the attackers but before he can react, November draws a second blade. She spins low and brings her blades down on the cannibal’s hands. A single gauntlet slashes her before she pins it and the hand inside it to the asphalt.
The cannibal takes 1-harm (2-harm base -1-harm for armor) and inflicts 1-harm (2-harm base -1-harm for little harm).
”What does Boo do?” Violet asks.
”Boo is behind the wheel. It’s an important job!”
November grabs her side and shouts at the captives to follow her. The cannibals on their tail, they run for the SUV. Gator lines up the shots. There isn't enough time, he thinks.
Gator shoots at ones chasing November and the captives. He rolls Acting under fire to take them out before someone is hurt. He gets +1 since he is fighting the people in control but only gets a 7. He does earn an experience.
I give him an ugly choice. He has to choose who doesn't get hurt the child or the woman.
“No pressure,” Jarhead says.
”Looking at it from his eyes, the child doesn't have much of a chance in life anyway,” Gator says.
”That’s horrible,” Violet comments.
“And the woman could be more useful.”
His first round takes out the one closest to the woman. The other digs into the child, his weight bearing him to the ground. A moment later a bullet finds him as well.
November and the fair-haired woman reach the van while Violet scatters the remaining cannibals.
”They've realized: oh wait over half of us are dead!”
November comments, ”well they only have to grab one of their friends and they've got dinner.”
The survivalist runs out into the street to the kid while the sole remaining savage tries to wrench the daggers thrust through his hands free. Looking at the damage, she sees that boy’s backpack absorbed most of the blow. She stows her rifle and draws her 9mm, training it on the cannibal as she picks up the child with her other arm. His blood soaks into her clothes in the few seconds it takes to reach the SUV. The child slumps insensate in her arms, crying weakly.
I probably should have had a roll there...
Boo guns the engine and they drive off. With the nervous young woman looking on, Violet applies pressure to the boy’s wounds.
”You didn't kill all the cannibals?” Jarhead asks.
”They were running away. It wasn't worth the effort to chase them down,” Violet explains.
”Not worth the bullets,” Gator says.
”That means we have to leave the area,” the tinkerer comments.
An hour later, the bleeding hasn't stopped. Jarhead’s van follows closely behind. Darkness envelops everything their headlights don’t touch. The van flashes its lights and Boo pulls over to the side of the road. Jarhead stops next to them and rolls down the window.
I comment that he is still bleeding blood.
"Well the important thing is that he isn't bleeding anything besides blood," Violet says.
"That’s true. Motor oil that would be weird."
"You can’t take things for granted in Apocalypse World," November adds.
"He could be bleeding light."
"That would be really strange," Violet replies.
Boo fills Jarhead and the others on what happened. In the back of the SUV, the young woman watches as Violet binds the boy's wounds as best she can. The child's whimpering is fainter than before.
Violet is not an Angel.
"Thank you for saving me," the woman stammers. “I’m Allison. That’s my brother Waters.”
Violet wipes her blood streaked forehead.
Boo says, ”it doesn't look good. I don’t know that it was really worth it to pull him in here.”
“Did you want him to be left to the cannibals?” she asks.
"No but I don’t think he’ll last much longer. Not without some real aid."
Allison looks pleadingly at Violet.
“Well let’s see,” The survivalist says. “What’s in this area?”
Boo thinks. "There’s a community, I guess you could call it, not too far from here. It’s called Willowtree. It’s a little bit of a strange place but they might be able to help the boy there. Maybe. They have folk medicine.”
"Not like I’d be willing to leave him by the side of the road," she sighs.
“Alright we'll make a little detour.”
Jarhead interjects, “you do know that you are bringing this kid into a warzone?”
“He’s a child of the apocalypse, he grew up in a warzone,” I say.
”It’s not any different from what happens everyday,” Violet says.
Gator interrupts him, “what do you know about the people there?”
“They are kind of backward folk,” Boo says, “but they know the ways of herbs and stuff. They might be able to help the boy. It’s the only place I can think of nearby. Epcot is too far plus the roads are bad. Steelside is in the opposite direction.”
“So are we in agreement,” Violet says. “It’s the best we can do right now.”
“He needs an angel looking over him,” Gator says.
“Damned if I know where one is,” Boo says.
“We’ve got to try something,” Violet says.
Gator relents, “well it’s your mission.”
The two vehicles continue on into the night. A couple of hours before dawn, they pull off the highway, winding through the clogged off ramp and onto the muddy side road.
As the sky slowly lightens, they spot flickering streetlights in the distance.
“These are not the backward people I was led to believe,” Jarhead mutters.
Passing between these lights, they come to a ring of tall wooden poles with a ladder of posts sticking out of each side. A hundred yards beyond them, a small camp sits surrounding a ring of willow trees. Lights glimmer among the branches. As they get close they see cables winding their way through the trunks.
Two warriors dressed in leather clothing approach bearing strange spears. Copper wires wrapped around the long shafts of the twin pronged weapons.
“What is your business here?” the lead figure asks.
November steps out of the SUV. “We have someone in need of aid. We mean you and yours no harm.”
“What sort of aid?” he asks, gripping his spear.
“A boy is going to die,” she says frowning. “He’s cut up pretty bad.”
The man steps forward to the truck, looking in on the wounded child. He turns to his comrade. “Fetch the wise woman.”
As the younger man rushes off, the dark-haired figure lowers his spear and says, “I am Shadow.”
“It’s an honor to meet you Shadow,” she says to the muscular man. “I am November Orleans. These are my compatriots.” She gestures to the others as they emerge, scanning to see their reactions.
Basically getting the okay to introduce them.
Violet nods.
“I hardly wait for you,” November says.
She introduces them and Shadow nods to each in turn.
“You guys have a pretty nice setup,” Jarhead comments. “You have a steady power source here?”
“The gods favor us with light,” Shadow says.
“I see,” Jarhead says slowly.
“Perhaps you wish to worship at their shrine?” November suggests.
Jarhead’s smile returns. “Yes, where is it?”
“Would it be permissible Shadow?” November asks “He’s a bit of a mystic.”
Shadow examines the man's tool stuffed pockets. “You may accompany the boy to the wise one.”
“Okay thanks.”
The younger warrior returns. “She says bring him.”
The two men carefully carry the boy to the willows, accompanied by Jarhead. Violet moves to follow them.
“The boy’s bounded with her,” November explains.
Shadow nods quickly. “Your leader can accompany the boy.”
Violet follows them into the willows from which a strange whirring noise emanates. Thick cords snake out from the circle and through the trees. Protruding from the trees are a multitude of electric lights: bright LEDS, flickering fluorescents, and ancient dimmed incandescents.
Within the ring, the cables form a web of sorts, illuminated by the glow of more lights. The thickest cables join and cover the ground leading to a central device. This altar consists of a metallic base atop of which a cylinder turns, endlessly whirring. Jarhead wonders where it gets its power.
And he can’t do Things speak without touching it.
Beside the device stands an ancient woman with long gray hair cascading down to her knees. With a stick-like arm she gestures to a bed of thatch.
We have momentary technical problem with Hangouts and Violet gets frozen.
“There are two of you but one of you is frozen, trapped in the past,” I tell her.
“What’s it like back there?” Jarhead asks.
”I don’t know,” she says “It’s my past self. Ask her?”
”She’s not answering.”
Violet then asks a pertinent question. “Is what I’m doing here, could it be construed as acting with hope?”
Sure.
“Place the boy there,” she says. She examines the child, stroking his forehead with aged brown fingers. “His wounds are deep. He will not survive the night without help.”
“Is there something we need to do?” Violet asks.
The wise woman closes her eyes. “I can ask the gods to spare his life but they will need a sacrifice.”
“What kind of sacrifice?” Violet and Jarhead ask.
“The gods must be placated with an offering: of value, of life, of blood.”
Violet Reads a person to make sense of this. She gets a 12.
”What is she feeling?” she asks.
”She’s reverential, a religious devotee, a believer. She is not pumping for you for money, she actually believe the gods need a sacrifice to work miracles.”
Violet feels the sincerity in the woman’s voice. ”If we provide this sacrifice what will you do?”
“I will intercede with the gods and if they deem a sacrifice worthy, they will spare his life. Only the gods can save him. I can ease his suffering but nothing more.”
”What does she wish I do?” Violet asks.
”When she says of value, of life, of blood, she’s talking about three different categories. It could be something valuable, something alive,or well...the blood one is a little less clear.
Violet comments she does not have enough time to hunt up a goat.
“What do you mean by a sacrifice of blood?”
The old woman waves a bony hand to the spinning cylinder. “You must spill your blood upon the god’s wheel and pledge to serve the gods when they call upon you.”
Jarhead steps forward. “Alright I got that.”
The old woman nods calmly. She reaches into her grimy robes and pulls forth a curved blade a foot long. Jarhead puts out his hand and she quickly slices it.
For a moment Jarhead feels no pain. Then his blood wells up from the wound. “Ow!”
”I would have gladly done it,” Violet comments.
Jarhead then uses his proximity to the device to use Things speak. He gets a 14 and marks experience. He asks who made this? How is it broken and how might I fix it? What words have been said most recently near this?
Jarhead places his blood hand against the altar, smearing his blood upon the device. As he does a vision of its makers unfolds in his mind. He sees a team of technicians from the Golden Age, dressed in white lab jackets, working feverishly under the direction of other men in green suits decorated with shiny medals. He senses that this is one bit of a larger whole, something tied into the device he took from Dustwich.
His vision flashes to the present. He hears the old woman praying, pleading with the gods to send the Messenger, a messiah to deliver them from the flickering darkness of their current existence.
Jarhead laughs evilly.
The tinkerer tumbles backwards. As he lands on the cable covered earth, he contemplates how to fake a message from the gods.
“The gods must be pleased,” the old woman says, “they have gifted him with wisdom.”
”You are going to impersonate the Messenger aren't you?” Violet asks.
”Well if I can, I don’t see why I shouldn't try,” he says.
I tell Jarhead to roll weird as I improvise a custom move. He gets an 9 and gets an experience.
Suddenly he is assaulted by images. He sees a ruined city by the sea. Flash. A crowd of people push through metallic streets. Flash. A merchant in bustling market sells caged chickens. Flash. A parade of people in ornate clothing march down a street led by a man whose face is painted like a skull. He tips his top hat. “The message is coming and it will be found here in this city.”
Jarhead comes back to the real world. He props himself up and looks at the old woman. “The message. I know the message and it will be coming. I will bring it.” He grabs his head as the pain subsides. ”Does that make me the Messenger?”
“No,” she says. “That means the gods have chosen your task.”
I asks Jarhead if he has ever been to Miami.
”It’s pretty far south. Probably not actually.”
Outside, the others watch as Willowtree slowly wakes up. Soon the cook fires start as the inhabitants warm up a thin stew of roots and herbs. Most resemble Shadow, long haired, muscular and dressed in animal skins.
“Nice stick you've got,” Gator comments to Shadow.
The warrior plants his spear in the ground. ”It is mine by right as First Hunter. It has been blessed by the gods.”
“Gods?”
“Yes. they watch over us, protect us, guide us on our way,” he explains.
”Have you had any trouble with cannibals around here?” November asks.
“We have driven the flesh eaters away,” he says sharply. “They know better than to come here.”
“So,” Gator says, “the trees light up?”
“Yes it is a blessing from the gods to protect us with light.”
“How long have you been so blessed?” the dancer asks.
“Since the days when the world ended,” Shadow says. “The wise woman intercedes with the gods to protect us.”
“That’s your healer?” the assassin asks.
“Yes.”
“Does she take disciples?” November asks. “What happens when she passes from this world?”
“She did take a disciple once,” the warrior says, “but she was unworthy.”
November rolls Read a person and gets an 8. She marks experience. What do they wish we would do? she asks.
“What do you think is going on in there?” November asks looking to the trees.
“The wise woman will require a sacrifice for the gods. I hope your companions can deliver one. Perhaps the gods will care to share their bounty with us. We have little enough as is.” Shadow sips a small bowl of something more water than soup.
“I don’t think they have anything we need besides the healing,” November comments.
“Tell me about these gods,” she asks.
Shadow describes their beliefs, explaining the world is filled with deities. They watch over every tree, stream, and beast. “They dwell in the realm of the spirit, where those touched by the gods gain visions and portents.”
November decides to Open her brain. She gets a 9.
November lets her senses expand outward. The sounds of the morning: the fires, the people talking softly, the wind in the willows, blend with the soft yellow light and scents of mud, trees, and smoke. The strange whirring stands out. She feels a sense of connection, a place where the barrier between worlds is thin. It feels like how a mountain is where the sky meets the earth. Here the psychic maelstrom connects to real world, somewhere beyond the willows.
The old woman applies herbs and ointments to the wounded child. Waters moans as she pulls out a strange device resembling a bristle comb. A slender cord runs from it to the altar. It hums as she passes it ritually over the child’s body.
Eventually the ceremony concludes and she turns to them. “Now we must wait and see if the gods will spare him.”
“Can I take a close look at that?” Jarhead asks, indicating the comb device.
He rolls Manipulate a person and gets an 8 plus experience.
“You may look at my tools if I may see yours, fellow mystic.”
“Whoa lady,” he says, “which tools are you talking about?”
“The guardians of this place tell me you have arrived in a conveyance and that you are a fellow servant of the gods,” she says. “I wish to see the tools you brought with you.”
He relaxes and says, “yeah sure, you can see the van.”
He rolls Things speak and gets a 9 and an experience. He asks what’s wrong with this and how might I fix it?
The elderly woman holds out the device. Gingerly he picks it up, turning it over in his hands. He marvels at its pristine condition. This is no medical device, he thinks. It generates an electromagnetic field for polarizing materials.
”It might be work as a medical implement,” I say, “but you don’t have the medical expertise to be sure.”
“I wonder what I can use a EM field for?” he ponders.
”I”m sure you can come with a lot of things.”
The old woman leads Jarhead and Violet out of the grove, leaving one of the women of the village to watch over Waters as he rests.
Allison runs up to Violet. “Is he going to be okay? Is my brother going to be okay?”
“Right now all we can do is wait,” she says.
“Okay,” she says slowly. “Thank you for rescuing me at least.”
“We did the best we could.”
“The gods will see if he survives,” the old woman says on her way to Jarhead’s van. The tinkerer lets her inside it and she spends the next half hour carefully picking up objects and examining them.
As the sun slowly rises higher into the sky, November asks Violet, “How long are we staying?”
Boo yawns. “We should rest. We didn't get a full night’s sleep. We can see if the boy lives or dies after we get some rest. Then we should get on our way.”
Violet nods and they set up camp.
November however slips away as Shadow completes his watch. She surprises him with a fresh cooked meal and entices him to talk to her more in private.
November rolls Seduce a person and gets a soft success as well as experience.
There they talk more about his world before moving on to more intimate things.
And then she uses the Skinner special gain a gift from Shadow.
Elsewhere Violet wakes from a short nap to repay the village. She heads out into the woods to find some game.
Gator wakes up towards noon. He spots Allison nearby anxiously looking to the willows.
“So how did you get here?” he asks getting up.
She starts for a moment before settling down. “My brother and I were travelling together. We were trying to make our way north to Steelside.”
“Why?” he says holstering his varied weapons.
“There’s not much food down where we were,” she explains. “We were coming from south of the Wrecks. We used to live in a little community called the Bus. We’d drive around and trade stuff for food. But the Bus broke down. There wasn't any food there and we figured we’d be better off on our own. So we were hiked north.”
“Just you and your brother?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Not so smart.”
“It is just, we were so hungry, you know,” she says gripping her stomach. “Everyone else was down to eating their shoes. Eating bark, moss.”
“You got any skills?” he says.
“Well my brother, he’s really good with his hands. He’s good at carving wood. I do a little bit of patching of clothes. My mom was teaching me to knit until the climbers got her,” she trails off.
“Knitting’s not too useful,” Gator comments. “It’s warm down here.”
Allison searches his hard face. “I can make you...it’s not just knitting...I’m good with string and stuff. I can make you a net.”
Gator looks back to the road. “We’re heading down south. I am not sure but you might be able to stay here. They might take you in. We are going to Miami.”
“That’s a ways down,” she says. “You should keep an eye out when you get to the Wrecks. It’s a tough place.”
“You know your way around?” he asks with new interest.
“Yes. It’s tight if you've got a vehicle through.”
“That’s what we are going to be doing. You ever drive that bus?”
“A little,” she says. “Once.”
“Not helping your cause much,” he says.
“Well,” she stammers, “well they were also teaching me to work on the bus. To fix it. Of course we didn't have a tire so we couldn't get it going again.”
“Alright, I could talk to Jarhead see if he is interested in an extra set of hands. You said your brother was good with his hands.”
“Yeah,” she says quickly, “he’s really good, he can make really good wood carvings, he could make you a chair. And he’s young! He can learn stuff real quick.”
“Well it’s up to you,” he offers, “I guess we could use a hand getting through the Wrecks.”
“I can definitely tell you how to get through there on foot. I know the ways to go through with a vehicle but it’s tight and if somebody decided to set up base there could be an ambush.”
“Is there a way around?”
“Well when we went there with the bus, there was another way around.” Allison looks up. “It might still work, we haven’t been through there in a while. There’s a guy who runs a ferry. I could take you to him.“
“You can put a vehicle on the ferry?” the mercenary asks.
“Yeah that’s how we got the bus across. He’s got a big barge.”
“You want to come to Miami or parts south?”
“If there’s food sure.”
“Probably. But if you can get us on the barge, we can talk about food.”
“Okay, okay,” she says excitedly. “Sounds good.”
”So Gator’s managed to get you past the wreck.” I explain that when I made the map, I put a three car pile on the highway for fun. Then I decided that should be some massive car wreck that I can leverage on the group. Oh well it’s a cooler story this way.
I have Violet Act under fire for her hunting. She gets a 10 and an experience.
In the wilds, Violet finally spies some game. The swamp is still, eerily devoid of anything larger than a mouse. But ahead in a clump of tall grasses she spies something like a feral cat. She brings up her rifle and fires.
Rushing to the fallen animal, she pulls out a strange rodent the size of a house cat. It’s teeth are a strange orange color.
She returns to Willowtree with her symbol of gratitude. The inhabitants take the gift of meat graciously and whisper about the traveler and her symbol of hope.
November returns accompanied by Shadow. The bronze warrior presents her with six cubical batteries.
“Here, he says, “these items have been blessed by the gods”
“I will use them in their honor, she says.
It is 1-barter’s worth of batteries. She could use them to charge her tablet
”How many are there?” Jarhead asks. “You only need five right? I have an idea for the other one.”
End of Session
And that is it for a month (for my game, you'll see another post in 2 weeks) until travel, weddings and honeymoons pass.We raise Hx.
- Violet give +1 Hx to Jarhead. She showed him how she was a goodie two shoes as well as revealing her vision.
- Gator gives +1 Hx to November since they spent so much time together.
- Jarhead gives +1 Hx to Gator.
- November gives +1 Hx Gator as she showed how competent she can be in a fight.
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