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[MGibster]

My D&D campaign has come to a satisfying end and now I'm in the market for a new game to run. Tell me about your favorite game using the Apocalypse Engine. I'm thinking about giving it a whirl.

 

[angille]

oh no, lol. PbtA games are so laser-focused this is like asking a carpenter their favorite tool — are you cutting, or planing, or drilling, or driving, or or or...

case(s) in point: Masks is my favorite teen-soap-opera-with-superpowers game. Rhapsody of Blood is my favorite metroidvania-as-ttrpg. Dream Askew is my favorite GM-less-queer-enclave-simulator. Bluebeard's Bride is my favorite feminist-horror-that's-somehow-also-about-a-plural-system game.

there are... a lot of PbtA games that take the AW formula and follow it closely, just changing enough to wrap a new setting around it. and that's fine. but I listed the four that I did because they all do wild and wacky things with the engine, and are imo important to explore.

 

[Nytmare]

My D&D campaign has come to a satisfying end and now I'm in the market for a new game to run. Tell me about your favorite game using the Apocalypse Engine. I'm thinking about giving it a whirl.

Band of Blades is a Blades in the Dark descendant. It's a grimdark military campaign about the tattered remnants of The Legion, retreating from a final, last ditch effort to destroy the Cinder King and his army of the undead.

Players play 3+ characters over the course of the game. They each choose an officer, who has a subset of co-GM duties. The Commander is presented with three important missions, and they choose which two the group will try to accomplish and which one they'll abandon. The Marshall will decide which specialists will go on which missions and make sure that players collect XP at the end of the adventure. The Quartermaster is in charge of the Legion's long term projects and allotment of the army's resources.

Specialists are the players "main" characters and will be split up to lead a group of rookie soldiers to try to accomplish missions.

If your specialist wasn't assigned to the mission at hand, you play as a rookie, a low level soldier who, if they survive and gain enough XP, can be promoted and become a specialist.

In addition to characters, the group chooses both which Chosen (the human avatar of the gods) they march with, and which Broken (the undead heralds the Cinder King killed) that they're fleeing from. The Chosen that they pick denotes what benefits your section of the army has, the Broken denote the tone and themes of horror they will face.

I think one of the things I like so much about the campaign is the idea that you can replay it. Choosing different aspects of both The Legion and the Cinder King's army for entirely different experiences.

 

[TurinTurambar]

Ironsworn

(and it´s free)

 

[Fenris-77]

Monster of the Week is my current fav. It does Supernatural/Buffy/X-Files stuff really well. I have a soft spot for the genre, and I can run it in my sleep. Lots of fun.

 

[MGibster]

oh no, lol. PbtA games are so laser-focused this is like asking a carpenter their favorite tool — are you cutting, or planing, or drilling, or driving, or or or...

There's tons of PbtA games out there and you're right that they're laser focused. I might want to cut, plane, drill, or drive so I'm happy to hear about just about anything.

case(s) in point: Masks is my favorite teen-soap-opera-with-superpowers game. Rhapsody of Blood is my favorite metroidvania-as-ttrpg. Dream Askew is my favorite GM-less-queer-enclave-simulator. Bluebeard's Bride is my favorite feminist-horror-that's-somehow-also-about-a-plural-system game.

Bluebeard's Bride is one of those games I admire for having a specific goal and creating a game to meet those goals. It's not right for my group but it's certainly interesting. I've seen Masks and am giving it some thought. What do you do in Dream Askew?

Right now I'm leaning towards Monster of the Week or The Sprawl.

 

[Fenris-77]

City of Mist is also awesome, although I haven't had a chance to run it.

 

[Gradine]

My experiences with PbtA games:

APOCALYPSE WORLD: I feel like this has been surpassed by its descendents, but it's still a fun time. Pacing and structure can be a little hard to manage. Important note: sex is mechanically significant in the game, so make sure everyone is on the same page about what they are comfortable with.

MONSTER OF THE WEEK: One of my favorite PbtA games. Very well designed, especially from the GM perspective. Very Buffy/Supernatural/X-Files. Definitely worth playing.

DUNGEON WORLD: I know this one is popular, but like... for some reason they decided to focus on all the aspects of old school D&D that PbtA just is not that well equipped to support. A huge disappointment for me.

MASKS: I say without hyperbole that this is the best designed PbtA system I've ever seen or played(disclaimer: there are probably several hundred I've never seen at this point). Young adult superheroes coming of age and trying to figure out their identities. Stats center around self image, and adult NPCs can force adjustments through successful moves. A few missteps in the playbooks but otherwise this is incredibly successful at everything it's trying to accomplish as a system.

THE SPRAWL/THE VEIL: These are your top level cyberpunk systems. The Sprawl is Cyberpunk as bodyhacking kickass gadgets and action; The Veil is Cyberpunk in the deeply philosophical "what is real humanity/consciousness?" vein. Both games do attempt to model both styles to varying degrees of success, but they're at their most fun when focused on what they do best.

MONSTERHEARTS 2: I doubt this is up the alley of anyone here, but just in case, this is queer dark supernatural teenage romance. Like if vintage Anne Rice wrote Twilight.

BLADES IN THE DARK: Blades and its offspring (labeled Forged in the Dark) are heavily modified offshoots of PbtA but definitely share some DNA. Tend to be darker in tone (shocking, I know) and definitely a bit more... gamey, for lack of a better term. FWIW, Blades models heists incredibly well, with mechanics for narrating Oceans 11-style flashbacks taking the place of onerous and time-consuming casing and prep work. Scum and Villainy gives you a similar experience, just replace the Dark Fantasy setting of Blades with basically Star Wars

 

[Nytmare]

Scum and Villainy gives you a similar experience, just replace the Dark Fantasy setting of Blades with basically Star Wars

Star Wars / Firefly / Cowboy Bebop

 

[angille]

What do you do in Dream Askew?

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.

the GM role is picked up by the players — if you're not in the spotlight during a scene, you can grab one of the setting element playbooks, influence the setting a bit while you're holding it, and flesh out its related minor characters.

the 6-/7-9/10+ dynamic is replaced by tokens. you can do regular moves whenever. making a weak move (which tends to put your character at a narrative disadvantage) gains you a token, which you can spend on strong moves. you can also gain tokens by following someone's lure — basically interact with them in a specific way that reinforces their playbook.