What do you think about Powered by the Apocalypse games?

[aramis erak]

What the heck is FitD?

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

It should be noted as well that it's one of several conceptual descendants from the AWE/PBTA ecosphere.
There are several rolling modes used in the wider ecosphere.

The FItD tree largely uses (ability)d6, keep highest. 6 is full, 4-5 is partial, 1-3 is fail. (The SRD is online at Greetings, Scoundrel | Blades in the Dark RPG)

Ironsworn/Starforged line uses 1d6+stat+modifier vs 2 separate d10's; beat both, strong; beat 1, weak, beat none, miss, Beat doubles, strong + twist in your favor; fail doubles, complication + fail. They're heavy on the "Consult an Oracle" and the oracular tables are designed for GMless or blocked-creativity GMd play an easy way to get a prompt. I think it may originate in a third game, but

Sentinel Comics is often not considered part of the AWE/PBTA space, but the preview/starter kit actually acknowledges AWE as one of its origins. It's kind of a hybrid between PBTA and Cortex Plus... Abilities are rated in dice sizes, and the result table for Overcomes, Boosts, and Hinders are as follows... (Attacks and Defenses just use the actual roll, and there is a hit point system with breakpoints for unlocking more powerful moves but also modifying one's dice pool. It's roll 1 power, 1 ability, and one's current hit point range die.... keep the middle die unless told otherwise.

Total Roll	Overcomes	Boost	Hinder
≤0 =	fail	+0	-0
1-3 =	choose: -- fail -- success with major consequence	+1	-1
4-7 =	Success with Minor Consequence	+2	-2
8-11 =	Success	+3	-3
≥ 12 =	success with bonus	+4	-4

It's a supers game, but could be rescaled easily for other action genres. It has character gen, rather than playbooks, but the starter set NPCs have a playbook-like presentation.
Like the more mainstream PBTA games, it's intended to be a pressure cooker, unlike the others, it's a more traditional GM rile, running the NPCs. (Note also that the initiative order is a whole kettle of fish that are not evident at first read, but really make or break the play experience...)

Sentinel Comics is the only member of the PBTA lineage games that I've run. For those who can't come to grips with the player-driven play of many of the others, it's a good intermediate point... training wheels to some, or a happy midpoint for others... and too freaking weird for others.

I havent been able to bring myself to solo with Ironsworn nor Starforged yet; Starforged as a setting really calls to me, tho... and my most reliable players (my wife and our eldest daughter) don't care for the storygame side much...

The one close-to-core PBTA I want to get to table is MASHed... but it, too, is more traditional than the majority of PBTA. Again, my wife and my daughter don't want to play it.

 

[Fenris-77]

Well, there is a literal divorce happening in my gaming group as of today, so it may be a while. But I do appreciate it, and will take you up on that if some subset of the group wants to do a short starswar at some point.

Even if you just want to ask some questions in a more staid setting. Up to you sir, the offer is there if you want it.

 

[Mezuka]

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

Thanks! I have a copy of Scum & Vilainy. It's in the must read this year pile of books.

 

[Fenris-77]

Thanks! I have a copy of Scum & Vilainy. It's in the must read this year pile of books.

It's very much worth reading and playing.

 

[uzirath]

A really big part of running PbtA is knowing how to design fronts. Is that something you're comfy with?

For those of us watching from the gallery, could you provide a quick explanation of fronts?

 

[innerdude]

For those of us watching from the gallery, could you provide a quick explanation of fronts?

Fronts are broad-scale, lightly-defined pieces of GM "prep material" that will inform some of the fictional setting / constraints.

They're not meant to be heavy metaplots, or rigorously defined components of the setting, but they are meant to provide a backdrop for some of the conflicts the PCs will face.

Who opposes the PCs goals? What are their motivations? How are those motivations made manifest, broadly speaking, in the game fiction?

The goal isn't to drive a plot or a specific end point. The goal is to have fresh, dynamic material ready and on hand to throw adversity and challenges at the players, and see where they end up.

They don't even have to be direct protagonists/opposition. They can be "stuff that's just happening" in the background of the world. The trick, though, is to not get too far into the weeds. General concepts, ideas, and formulations, not highly detailed world-building and set-in-stone backstory.

"A thieves guild at the docks that's been directing smuggling operations for a while, maybe they have something to do with the problems in the city" is a pretty decent, broad approach.

"The Dantonio thieves guild, headed by Danilof Dantonio the Fifth, born in Eliddera on March 14, who owns 19 specific warehouses all along Castor Street, is smuggling illegal drugs and gundpowder against the express wishes of the Marquis de Bellerisi. There are 5 shipments scheduled to arrive at the docks in the next 5 weeks, one each week on Thursdays at midnight. There are 5 guards the thieves guild has already bribed who will ignore the offloading shipments blah blah blah . . . . " <<<<< this is way, way, way too specific and not the intent of PbtA.

And even more to the point ---- If the players, as evidenced through their characters' builds and core concepts, aren't throwing out signals that they're even interested in exploring the thieves guild idea, then don't throw it at them. Fronts exist as a way to test the PCs' convictions, resolve, and mettle, and to bring out the inherent drama their characters are facing. If the "fronts" or challenges you put in front of them aren't pointing players towards those elements, that material should be tossed or revised until it is.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I've only ever GM'd Dungeon World and it went terribly. I struggled to improvise, and the players struggled to get out of the more traditional RPG mindset. But I love the idea (and am REALLY loving reading Stonetop) and wish I could play in a game with an experienced PbtA GM.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

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.

Or maybe you can go more generic in premise, but lean into the shorter campaign length? At any rate, I guess I'm saying an open-ended Lensman game might be unwieldy in PbtA, but one where you're all running from the Lensmen for some specific reason, or fighting against them once they inevitably go full fascist, could be easier to pull off.

Totally agree with your point here.

Always glad to help.


That's fair a point. If you want a game to meaningfully moden and create tension around the abilities of the characters then a more character theme/arc-centric approach like Avatar Legends or Masks may not be the best fit for you.

I would also consider looking into something like Fate or Cortex for something that leans a bit more neo-traditional, which have rules and supplements for powers. However, these systems are classless and the character abilities tend to be more abstracted. Both of these games, particularly Cortex, have a lot of dials and knobs for customizing the game to your liking.

I mean, one of the Cortex implementations was for Marvel Heroic RPG. So agree that Cortex definitely works for superheroes.

 

[aramis erak]

Totally agree with your point here.

I mean, one of the Cortex implementations was for Marvel Heroic RPG. So agree that Cortex definitely works for superheroes.

In re Cortex Plus: It's far enough from Traditional to throw many, but is also strong GM and GM-plot viable. Also, Cortex Classic is a totally different system, sharing only that its rating things in dice and has an expendable called Plot Points; the handful of games using it predate Cortex Plus... doesn't even scale the same, as it allows ratings above d12 (as d12+x).

Cortex Prime is a slighly revised version of the Cortex Plus Hacker's Guide.

The various Cortex Prime and Cortex Plus games are all tweaked.

(The Cortex Classic games include BSG, Serenity, Supernatural, and Larry Elmore's Sovereign Stone. They're trad except for rating in dice and using plot points to boost rolls)

 

[Aldarc]

I mean, one of the Cortex implementations was for Marvel Heroic RPG. So agree that Cortex definitely works for superheroes.

I also have in mind the recently released Tales of Xadia and the upcoming Legends of Grayskull. Both of these games will feature characters using SFX abilities.