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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 8118897" data-attributes="member: 57112">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</blockquote>

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