Powered by Apocalypse

[hawkeyefan]

I would also suggest Blades in the Dark or some of its offshoots....kind of a branch on the Powered by the Apocalypse tree. Blades is one of my favorite games.

I can second City of Mist. That’s a cool concept that’s a bit of a spin on superheroes and mythology. It does some cool things by placing focus on the tension between the supernatural and the mundane.

Masks is definitely fun and a solid take on the rules. I think it’s important to note that the more important element of “young superheroes” is the young part.

I’m currently reading Legacy: Life Among the Ruins, and I’m pretty impressed. I want to see it in play. It’s a post apocalyptic setting (the specifics are decided by the group) and each player takes control of a “family”, a faction in the world, and their PC is a member of that faction. The game is about how these families need to work together to face the threats of the new world restore society. Ages can come and go, so there’s a generational aspect to the game that’s interesting. I’m not exactly sure how it will all play, but I’m really curious to find out.

Dungeon World and Itonsworn are safe bets, too. Both are solid takes on the PbtA core. But if you’re just wrapping a D&D game it may make more sense totty something that’s thematically a little different.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Misread the OP.

 

[Lord Shark]

A few more of my favorite :

Fellowship is a game about a little band of heroes going on a quest to defeat the evil Overlord, just like in those books with the rings. Shared world-building is expected; if you're playing the Elf, for instance, you're the one who decides what elves are like and what role they play in the game world. One interesting touch is that the GM gets a playbook and character sheet of their own for the Overlord.

Spirit of 77 is a mashup of every 70s action film you can think of: Shaft meets Bruce Lee meets Bandit meets Dirty Harry meets the Warriors, etc. Great for gonzo over-the-top action.

World Wide Wrestling is, well, pro wrestling. It's got some fun takes on different wrestling gimmicks and personality types.

 

[Fenris-77]

For fantasy using PbtA I cannot recommend highly enough a game called The Sword, The Crown, and the Unspeakable Power. If Joe Abercrombie had written Dungeon World it would look like SCUP. Sooo good.

 

[hawkeyefan]

For fantasy using PbtA I cannot recommend highly enough a game called The Sword, The Crown, and the Unspeakable Power. If Joe Abercrombie had written Dungeon World it would look like SCUP. Sooo good.

I grabbed a copy of the PDF after you recommended that and gave it a read. It seems really interesting. Haven't yet had a chance to play it.....and I always find that as interesting as a game reads, I really have to see it in action in order for everything to click.

Does it play well?

 

[MGibster]

it's about finding and building community through the commonality of queerness and a slow-breaking apocalypse. the two big departures from general PbtA are that it's got no GM and no dice. also, it's Avery Alder's writing, which is sensual and poetic in ways that never fail to utterly destroy me (in a good way) on my first readthrough.

I don't think that's a good fit for my gaming group. If I use a PbtA game it's going to be a big departure from what I'm used to as a DM already. But I think it's awesome that games like this exist. We're living in a magical age where you can find some really specific niche games that would have been unheard of 25 years ago.

 

[Fenris-77]

I grabbed a copy of the PDF after you recommended that and gave it a read. It seems really interesting. Haven't yet had a chance to play it.....and I always find that as interesting as a game reads, I really have to see it in action in order for everything to click.

Does it play well?

I've only been able to play a couple of one shots, but yeah, the pieces seem to fit well. I think you'd want the players to be very clear about what kind of game it is though, as it's not a dungeon crawler really, although you can certainly do that if you want. Which is to say it's like any PbtA game - focused. My favorite thing about it actually that it isn't a dungeon crawler but rather a very grimdark fantasy political thriller.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I've only been able to play a couple of one shots, but yeah, the pieces seem to fit well. I think you'd want the players to be very clear about what kind of game it is though, as it's not a dungeon crawler really, although you can certainly do that if you want. Which is to say it's like any PbtA game - focused. My favorite thing about it actually that it isn't a dungeon crawler but rather a very grimdark fantasy political thriller.

Yeah, that's kind of what I found appealing about it too, is that it's not focused solely on combat and delving, but has a lot more social mechanics to focus on intrigue and political maneuvering. Glad to hear it seems to play as it reads.

 

[Aldarc]

I don't think that's a good fit for my gaming group. If I use a PbtA game it's going to be a big departure from what I'm used to as a DM already. But I think it's awesome that games like this exist. We're living in a magical age where you can find some really specific niche games that would have been unheard of 25 years ago.

If you want to venture within more familiar waters or genres, then you could try the D&D-esque Dungeon World and its derivative Freebooters on the Frontier or World of Dungeons. There is also another simplified DW hack called Homebrew World (meant mainly for one-shots and short campaigns) that you can find for free online.

 

[Fenris-77]

Apropos of nothing in particular, The Sword, The Crown, and the Unspeakable Power is the PbtA product I would use to do WHFRP, if I weren't using those rules. It's got the right feel pretty much across the board. For example, if I wanted to do a campaign about politics, inquisitors, and rooting out Slaaneshi cults in Altdorf, I think SCUP would do a great job.