What do you think about Powered by the Apocalypse games?

[Aldarc]

There's also Starscape, which looks interesting, designed by the new head of the Happy Jack's RPG podcast network.

Starscape

Catch your imagination! We are a tabletop games company dedicated to creating dynamic roleplaying experiences.

goldenlassogames.com

EDIT: Big-time personal opinion here, but I think PbtA, like FitD, works best when the premise is as specific and contained as possible. So not "space opera" but "the final mission of the last living Lensmen" or the bounty hunter focus of Bounty of the Week. FitD sort of requires more mechanical constraints than PbtA, but even PbtA's playbooks and overall play loops seem to be more fun and manageable with greater specificity.

Farscape as a PbtA RPG?! I think I love you for finding this.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

@Hex08 One more suggestion/observation, that others might not agree with.

I didn't find Apocalypse World to be a great introduction to PbtA, at least for my trad brain. The tone bugged me, and I wasn't interested enough in the specific version of that setting/genre that it's interested in to really follow along. I get its towering impact in the hobby, and I respect it more and more, but it's not my thing.

On the other hand, the PDF of the Avatar RPG that Magpie sent to Kickstarter backers pretty recently is much clearer to me. It's exponentially wordier than AW, and tuned to Avatar's lighter setting and tone, but I think it might be the best intro-to-PbtA I've seen so far, at least if you're trying to imagine using PbtA for a kind of default adventuring play style. Masks is also great, but, imo, a little more streamlined and specific (not just supers, but teen supers, to put the emphasis on emotional stakes). And then something like The Between is even more streamlined and specific, which is great, but I think the trad-to-PbtA transition requires a little (or a lot) more handholding.

So I'm not sure if this is a hot take or not, but I'm basically recommending not starting with AW, but at some point circling back to it to really nail down what the approach is really about (and to appreciate just how brutal PbtA can and sometimes should be).

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Isn’t there a “totally not Star Wars” pbta game?

I'm really spamming this thread now, but I wanted to add that some of the optional rules in Scum and Villainy are intended to let you lean into a less-gritty, more pulpy space opera feel. For example, I'm still doing long-term prep for using SaV for a Star Wars game, and I definitely plan on using one of the suggested changes, which is to significantly reduce or totally avoid consequences when you resist them.

Specifically, when a PC gets hit with a blaster bolt, giving them a serious injury, but they resist it (taking some Stress in the process) the default system guidance is that they might take a lighter wound, but they're still hit. But since characters in Star Wars are rarely getting winged or kinda-sorta hit by blasters, I'm planning on making that kind of resist roll more of an all-or-nothing situation--the PC takes the hit, or they resist and duck behind cover. There's still flexibility there--if there's no cover to speak of, and the PC has no trick up their sleeve, and just tries to Matrix-dodge a blaster at close range, resting the consequence might still just reduce it.

My point is, that's not a house-rule or hack, but a specific optional rule they provide. The system gives you a lot of neat dials and levers to manipulate, especially if everyone has a decent sense of the tech level, tone, lore, etc. (which is why I also think SaV is maybe easier to run when you play in a setting like Star Wars rather than, say, Firefly, but YMMV)

 

[Hex08]

I just wanted to say, this has been the most helpful discussion I've been a part of on theses boards. I'm intrigued by both PbtA and FitD games and while I hope to eventually run both types of games I think I am leaning more towards Blades in the Dark as my next campaign (That's still a ways off, I'm currently running a Savage Worlds/East Texas University game and they are just into their junior year then the other GM in the group will probably run a short series of Pathfinder 1E adventures when I am done).

 

[Ovinomancer]

I'm really spamming this thread now, but I wanted to add that some of the optional rules in Scum and Villainy are intended to let you lean into a less-gritty, more pulpy space opera feel. For example, I'm still doing long-term prep for using SaV for a Star Wars game, and I definitely plan on using one of the suggested changes, which is to significantly reduce or totally avoid consequences when you resist them.

Specifically, when a PC gets hit with a blaster bolt, giving them a serious injury, but they resist it (taking some Stress in the process) the default system guidance is that they might take a lighter wound, but they're still hit. But since characters in Star Wars are rarely getting winged or kinda-sorta hit by blasters, I'm planning on making that kind of resist roll more of an all-or-nothing situation--the PC takes the hit, or they resist and duck behind cover. There's still flexibility there--if there's no cover to speak of, and the PC has no trick up their sleeve, and just tries to Matrix-dodge a blaster at close range, resting the consequence might still just reduce it.

My point is, that's not a house-rule or hack, but a specific optional rule they provide. The system gives you a lot of neat dials and levers to manipulate, especially if everyone has a decent sense of the tech level, tone, lore, etc. (which is why I also think SaV is maybe easier to run when you play in a setting like Star Wars rather than, say, Firefly, but YMMV)

Ok, so, on the game design end of things, I get that you're trying to emulate the PCs not getting hit like the characters in the movies. But, you need to consider what happens when they don't resist. If they're low on stress, they may choose to eat the hit (I've done this in Blades) so you've building a situation where they don't get hit until low on stress and then take serious wounds from hits. It kicks the can down the road a bit and creates a situation where you don't have many light wounds, but toggle between no and serious wounds. Not trying to dissuade you, just pointing out from experience how this works out in play.

On a different note, I can't square "long term planning" with "using SaV." That seems entirely counterproductive or signaling the intent to push the system into Trad play, which it will fight and lead to more work rather than less.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I just wanted to say, this has been the most helpful discussion I've been a part of on theses boards. I'm intrigued by both PbtA and FitD games and while I hope to eventually run both types of games I think I am leaning more towards Blades in the Dark as my next campaign (That's still a ways off, I'm currently running a Savage Worlds/East Texas University game and they are just into their junior year then the other GM in the group will probably run a short series of Pathfinder 1E adventures when I am done).

FitD is in some ways more demanding a system than PbtA. It's also going to be more focused. The integrated designs of FitD games mean that it can be hard to drift them into even adjacent genres because of that laser focus that the entire package (play+faction game+crew game) creates. Don't get me wrong, though, Blades in the Dark is my favorite game because of this tight integration and how easily the game creates it's own dynamic stresses on the PCs. I recommend it, but I do so also recommending eyes wide open.

 

[Mezuka]

What the heck is FitD?

 

[darkbard]

Forged in the Dark, an umbrella term for games derived from Blades in the Dark by John Harper.

 

[Fenris-77]

I find that you need to fiddle about with Heat and downtime quite a bit to successfully drift FitD more than just a little.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I've seen some discussion on these boards about PbtA games but I am not at all familiar with them. The discussions got me curious so I got my hands on the pdfs of Apocalypse World, Dungeon World and Ironsworn but haven't sat down to read them yet. It will be a while before I will have the chance to sit down with them but I am curious to see what other's think about them. For those of you that are familiar with the games and the PbtA system, what do you think? What's good about the games and system and what's not so good?

I imagine you have already got a lot more input than you needed, lol. I just want to say that there are some really interesting and fun PbtAs. I've mostly played Dungeon World, but Ironsworn looked interesting, though I have only read through it. I suspect that if you want to really get the best feel for this type of game, start with Apocalypse World itself.

These games are really designed to be PRESSURE COOKERS, the GM needs to really step up and push, but do so with careful consideration of the game's agenda. Read carefully, try it like its written. You may, coming from D&D and such, think that some parts of PbtA games don't make sense or are contrary to 'common sense' or 'what is true' about RPGs, but they work! I mean, AW itself works, some people have some quibbles with DW, and I don't know what the consensus is on other PbtAs, though some are obviously better than others. Still, this why starting with AW is good, and running it stock! You can always tinker later.