Fates Worse Than the Apocalypse
Hacking FWTD to use the PbtA System
Introduction
Apocalypse World, for those who do not know, is a game set after a mysterious Apocalypse, and focuses on character relationships. There have been many hacks of this system, partly because the basic mechanics, known as the Powered By The Apocalypse (PbtA) system, are so simple.
Using the concept of to do it, do it, when players describe their actions, they trigger Moves. These will each have their own table of results, but in general follow the same format:
Roll 2d6. Add the appropriate Stat (usually ranging from -1 to +3). 10+ is a Success. 7-9 is a partial success, or success with cost. 6 or less? Oh dear ...
One major point to mention is that the GM (or Master of Ceremonies) never rolls any dice. e.g. If a PC is being attacked, the player rolls to find out the result.
I'll only be discussing the way I've hacked PbtA, so you'll need a copy of the basic rules.
Stats
Converting Stats is very easy, as AW has some similar concepts to FWTD. In fact, I chose to leave them unaltered!
COOL represents being calm, clear-headed. Acting under pressure.
HARD, while often considered to be physical toughness, also covers aggresiveness, emotional fortitude and willingness to use violence.
HOT. Beautiful. Seductive. Attractive. Sexy. Hot!
SHARP covers smarts, education, wits and alertness.
WEIRD is used for Psychic abilities.
There is also Hx, or History, showing your PC's relationship with other PCs. You have a different value for each PC, and it represents not how much you like them, but how much you know about them!
Basic Moves
While these can be used as-is, I've changed things a little, to better fit:
- Check it out: Assess the situation. Awareness. Peception
- Act under fire: Pressured situations.
- Get in their head: Read intentions. Spot Lies.
- Seize by force: Use violence, or the threat thereof, to gain something.
- Seduce/Manipulate: Gain favour, advantage or knowledge through persuasion.
- Rock 'n' Roll: Shoot to kill. Full-on violence. Intent to harm.
- Drop Science: Recall knowledge, or put it to use. Best to stand back!
The Harm roll to cope with taking damage has been renamed "Suck it up"
I also stole a concept from Sixth World (PbtA Shadow Run hack): Boosted and Glitched. A Boosted move treats any roll of 6- as though it was 7-9. A Glitched move, conversly, treats any 10+ as 7-9! (One way I used this, for example, was Heavy Armour. Being bulky and cumbersome, it makes all athletic or speed manoeuvers Glitched!) Be careful, though. They are easily over-used!
Playbooks
The way I ran FWTtA, each player took a different gang, and we worked out playbooks appropriately, choosing a stat block that suited each PC, and then making up some Moves.
It is beyond the scope of this article to produce playbooks for each of the 50+ gangs in Manhattan, so you will have to make do with a few examples:
The Hummingbird.
Cool+1, Hard+1, Hot+2, Sharp-1, Weird+0
- Cranked up on Hummingbird - The semi-permanent physiological effects of Hummingbird mean that your Athletic and Stamina Moves are Boosted
- Whirling Dervish - Used to the rough and tumble of Mosh Pits, you count as Armour (1) when un-armoured and unencumbered.
- Absolutely Fabulous - Considered a Trend-Setter amongst the Hummingbirds, you can use your time at a Club to Plant an Idea In a Crowd. Roll + Hot.
The Needle Punk
Cool+1, Hard+1, Hot-1, Sharp+2, Weird+1
- Pharmaceuticals Man was Not Meant To Know - Your pharma-synth has been programmed with your own special recipes. Medical rolls are Boosted, but your subject must make a Suck It Up check or take -1 ongoing.
- Das Gift - Availability of clean drugs is an ice-breaker anywhere! You can Manipulate/Seduce with Cool instead of Hot if they are interested in your wares.
- Narcotics Beyond Time and Space - You’re so wacked-out most of the time, nothing fazes you. Suck It Up and Shock/Fear rolls are Boosted.
For Psychic Abilities, I took the Basic categories from FWTD and built Moves from them.
e.g. A Bleeder might get Blood Scent:
After tasing a sample of blood, the Bleeder can find the source of that blood, even across the City. Roll + Weird:
- 10+ : You can pin-point them to within a metre, and keep tracking for 10 minutes.
- 7-9 : You can locate them to within 100 metres.
Take 1 Harm to choose one:
Refine to 10 meters
Keep tracking for 10 minutes - 6- : No luck! Take 1 Harm.
The Rest of The Stuff
Most of the rest of the system (Fronts, Principles, Countdown Clocks, etc) can be used with virtually no changes. there is a lot of information on how to play the game, and these can apply as much to FWTD as AW.
Gear can have tags (often including Dirty, Used or Broken). The "Gangs" rules can be used when a PC has control over some of their fellows. Crews and Gigs can be used as needed.
Summary
I know I've said a reasonable amount of "Oh, just make it up!", but really, most of it is that easy. PbtA is a simplistic system, and open to hacking (there are a LOT of hacks already available). I hope i've given some pointers, to ease the process.