Post-Apocalyptic
Lumpley Games
2016
Complexity: 2 for players, 4 for GM
Now you may be thinking “Apocalypse World, that’s not very obscure,” and you’re right, but I have my reasons. I’ve been encountering a lot of games that are “powered by the apocalypse” and for the most part I’ve been avoiding reviewing due to a complete lack of familiarity with Apocalypse World. So to be a well-informed game reviewer I decided that I had to read it, and let’s be honest here, I’m not going to read a 300-page RPG that I have no intention to play and not even get any content out of it.
Also, this gon’ be a long one.
Setting: 1/3 [−]
Apocalypse World takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting—I know, shocking. The only real unique feature being a “psychic maelstrom,” which is left fairly nebulous and poorly-defined. The rest of the book does fill in some of the blanks, like the kinds of people and activities that go on there, but the setting itself is somewhat poorly defined to say the least.
Character Creation: 3/5
Characters in Apocalypse World are handled somewhat uniquely, and is one of the game’s more distinctive elements. Each class is given a ‘playbook. which contains the basic rules for playing and creating that class—well, more like play-two-pages. Each playbook gives the player an option of four attribute arrays and their choice of two out of usually six moves, as well as a selection of equipment, and a ‘special’ which activates when they have sex with another character—my thoughts on that later. The playbooks are a bit odd because while in the abstract it allows for a lot of distinction between the classes—with each getting a unique set of moves and specialized equipment which can range from custom weapons to a gang or stronghold—in practice it can be a bit restrictive, as you’re given a four options for your attributes, a limited selection of moves—no choice in some cases—and limited equipment options.
So basically what it comes down to is the options are a little restrictive, but that’s a side effect of making the classes themselves distinct, allowing for specific classes to have higher attributes, more move options, or more useful gear—just for example, the Chopper gets two moves with no choices, but also gets a gang, and can improve their gang instead of gaining new moves. There’s also the issue of ease of creation. You can essentially toss some playbooks at the players and they can make their characters fairly quickly with little-to-no guidance.
Mechanics: 3/5
The primary idea around which Apocalypse World is built is ‘Moves.’ A move is basically just a thing that a character—or the GM—does, often requiring a roll of 2d6 and adding an attribute with success on a roll of 7 or higher—although sometimes they’re something like an attribute bonus or other passive benefit. The interesting part however is in the application, rather than just being a pass or fail you are usually presented with a list of options, often with more or better options being made available on a roll of 10 or higher. Just for example, the standard combat move “seize by force” give you the option of dealing extra damage, taking less damage, taking “definite and undeniable control,” or more-or-less intimidating the target. You get to select three of these on a roll of 10+, two on a roll of 7–9, and one on a miss. Now you probably noticed something interesting there, “you miss the attack” was not an option. The rules just kinda assume that attacks hit in combat, and rolls just affect what effect they have. This is kinda the overall style of the mechanics, you do a thing, roll some dice, and determine how it turns out. But rather than moving, making an attack roll, rolling damage, and then waiting for the opponent to do the same, it’s just a single roll to determine the outcome of that whole situation. Like the playbooks, this is another thing that has its upsides and downsides, because everything is kinda abstracted players aren’t restricted to needing to perform specific, mechanically-defined actions, but are rather restricted to fitting whatever they do into the confines of a specific move and its outcomes. Also the somewhat generalized but specific nature of moves seems like it could be a difficult thing for new players to get into their mindset. One specific thing I really like is that each character has what is basically a relationship modifier with every other character that changes throughout the game and act as a modifier when using moves to help or hinder that character. It’s a little thing, but one I like as it puts a little more emphasis on something that should really already be emphasized.
My biggest issue comes from the GMing side, like it’s very clear that they have a specific way they think the game should be run, and designed things to make sure you run it that way. They even literally state “There are a million ways to GM games; Apocalypse World calls for one way
in particular.” To this end the GM also has moves that they can perform things like “separate them,” “Inflict harm,” or “announce future badness.” My issue here is that these things are generally without mechanical effect, and serves much more as “here are the general things you’re allowed to do as the GM.” Also It's insisted that the game not have a pre-planned story, which isn’t something I disagree with in theory, but don’t like the application. Basically, the GM is expected to just kinda keep track of all potential threats to the players, like literally on an abstract map which exists for that purpose, and this includes keeping track of anywhere they’re moving and just overall what’s going on outside the players’ realm of perception. So basically you’re supposed to have a directionless game, but also keep track all potential threats, where they are, and what they’re doing, just in case the players happen to run into them while they’re out just kinda meandering around.
Overall, there are things I like and things I don’t, but nothing that’s really bad, just different. On the surface it seems like a more free-form streamlined system, but it’s more so just shifting the restrictions and rules load compared to what you’d see in a game more complex on the surface.
Writing: 2/3 [•]
Overall things are written well, if not ideally. Things could be explained better but are fully understandable. I’m not particularly fond of the writing style, there are some odd word choices—when’s the last time you used the word “untenable”?—and there is something of an informal writing style, which comes across to me a bit like trying to be cool, right down to sections with titles like “Gear and Crap” and “Advanced Fuckery.” Like I said, it feel like they’re trying to make a cool game with swearing and special sex-activated abilities, and I’m just not a fan of trying to be cool. The players will provide their own swearing and sex-having if they really want to.
Presentation: 4/5
Now I’m normally pretty strict about reviewing a thing as a single thing without any supplementary or additional materials; however, in this case I must make an exception. The core book is laid out in an easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing manner with appropriate, if a bit sparse, illustrations throughout. But that’s not really what’s worth discussing here. You may recall me stating you could “toss some playbooks at the players,” and the reason you can do this is because the playbooks are provided in a separate, printable format, along with reference sheets of the rules. This is very much something they did not have to do, but something that does a lot towards addressing the practical issues inherent to tabletop role-playing games, i.e. having resources available for the GM and players.
Final Remarks
Apocalypse World is very much a game of ups and downs, and I think it evens out to a pretty good game. It seems clear that it was a game made with specific intentions, which were more-or-less achieved. My biggest complaint—and one that I have with many games—is that it lessens the load on the layers, but does so by shifting that load onto the GM, and tying their hands a bit.
Base Points: 10
Character Creation: 3/5, Mechanics: 3/5, Presentation: 4/5
Adjustments: −1
Setting: −1, Writing: +0, Content: N/A
Overall Score: 60% (9/15 Points)
No comments:
Post a Comment