thoughts on Apocalypse World?

[Bird Of Play]

This dude I know has the manual for that rpg, and looks like I may join his campaign.
The manual seems very intriguing and absolutely up my alley, but I'm confused about how the DM explained me that he doesn't prepare anything in advance. How do you make a good story like this?

Has anybody tried that rpg?

 

[aramis erak]

I have not tried it, but have read it. That sexual activity is one of the primary mechanical subunits is, for me, off-putting; it thrusts an element I avoid in general in RPGs into a point where I would have to say, "Hey, I don't want this move used"...

The wording "To do it, do it" was, for me, the singularly most obtuse advice given in a game. (It was finally explained to me successfully by Luke Crane. "To get to roll, have the character do the triggering action in the fiction" is what it means.

It's one of the most influential games written.

 

[Bird Of Play]

I have not tried it, but have read it. That sexual activity is one of the primary mechanical subunits is, for me, off-putting; it thrusts an element I avoid in general in RPGs into a point where I would have to say, "Hey, I don't want this move used"...

The wording "To do it, do it" was, for me, the singularly most obtuse advice given in a game. (It was finally explained to me successfully by Luke Crane. "To get to roll, have the character do the triggering action in the fiction" is what it means.

It's one of the most influential games written.

Yeah the whole sexual activity part, I still haven't understood since I didn't play it yet.

Looks like is actually something that..... gives a bonus or an effect to your character? Did I get it right?

If so, I like it: it allows to roleplay sexual elements as part of the story (and shock value I guess) and AVOID using them for an erotic rpg, which I don't enjoy.
If I got it right, you don't get to actually roleplay a sex scene (which would be all kind of disturbing to me....). But you get to say "ok, my character just did it with this X character, now I get this and that, and the event may influence the story".
I got it right, isn't it? ....isn't it??

 

[aramis erak]

Yeah the whole sexual activity part, I still haven't understood since I didn't play it yet.

Looks like is actually something that..... gives a bonus or an effect to your character? Did I get it right?

If so, I like it: it allows to roleplay sexual elements as part of the story (and shock value I guess) and AVOID using them for an erotic rpg, which I don't enjoy.
If I got it right, you don't get to actually roleplay a sex scene (which would be all kind of disturbing to me....). But you get to say "ok, my character just did it with this X character, now I get this and that, and the event may influence the story".
I got it right, isn't it? ....isn't it??

No, it doesn't require playing the sex scene.
But it does make sexual activity a significant part of the mechanical interest, and that's where It puts me off.

 

[Numidius]

There is an implied setting, also present on players' playbooks/class sheets, and tons of gm advice, so Not Preparing Anything isn't really true.

First session (or session zero) is when you make characters and explore the setting around them. Then gm builds on that.

Trust your gm and go with the flow is my advice

Re Sex moves: just don't overthink about it. Take them as moments of intimacy that have a mechanical bit afterwords.

 

[Aldarc]

This dude I know has the manual for that rpg, and looks like I may join his campaign.
The manual seems very intriguing and absolutely up my alley, but I'm confused about how the DM explained me that he doesn't prepare anything in advance. How do you make a good story like this?

Has anybody tried that rpg?

There are a LOT of RPGs built on the Apocalypse World game engine: i.e., Powered by the Apocalypse. I have not played Apocalypse World, but I have played several of these other games and their kin.

It's more accurate to say that the Master of Ceremonies (MC) does not prep storylines in advance. They may prep a scenario or scene framing, but not a plot or a story. It's a game engine that, on the whole, resists railroading. However, MCs do have what are called "Fronts," which are like linked background threats (e.g., factions, events, etc.) that the MC uses for the opposition for the PCs that may come into play. Like if this were D&D, then one front may be "a hobgoblin warlord assembling an army on the border of the kingdom," while another may be "hidden cultists of Orcus among the nobility," or "festering evil lurks in the Dark Forest."

From there it will be the MC's job to put opposition and challenges in front of your characters that make their lives interesting and exciting. Your characters will have plenty of hooks built in that the MC can play off of. The story will propel forward as a result of your character choices in the fiction and rolls triggered from them: i.e., moves. Your complicated successes and failures will likewise trigger GM moves, which will further propel the action forward.

The story is emergent rather than pre-prepped and plotted out. Apocalypse World (and, by extension, PbtA games) is less interested in your character's power progression and more interested in the drama, conflict, and snowballing action that results from the choices your character makes and the subsequent consequences of your successes and failures.

 

[DemoMonkey]

The "sex moves" don't have to be sexual. The moment just has to be intimate and emotional.

To answer the broader topic:

(Disclaimer: Different people have different takes on Apocalypse world. Here's mine, and only mine, but I do think it bears thinking about.)

Interparty conflict is assumed. The rules do not assume you are a unified team working together for a common goal. In fact, quite the opposite, they make the assumption that the Player Characters have competing, and sometimes directly conflicting, goals and that is OK. Interparty interaction and conflict is one of the main drivers of the action.

That is not an easy intuitive leap for many D&D players.

It's also part of why there is less prep involved. You don't need a lot of prep when everything is reactive to what the players do, to each other and the world around them. Even the Worldbuilding is co-operative in session zero.

 

[Umbran]

The "sex moves" don't have to be sexual. The moment just has to be intimate and emotional.

It doesn't have to be, but it is generally phrased that way, as I recall it. And just because it isn't graphic sex does not mean it is a thing one wants to play with just any GM.

 

[BookTenTiger]

It doesn't have to be, but it is generally phrased that way, as I recall it. And just because it isn't graphic sex does not mean it is a thing one wants to play with just any GM.

They should release an app that helps you find GMs you want to roleplay sex moves with.

PbtAr or something.

 

[cmad1977]

I’ve played it some and I played some games based on it. I had fun with all of them.