Gameplay thread OPEN!
*sniff sniff*
It's got that new campaign smell!
The roster thus far:
Scarlet: Battlebabe AKA Waitress at Wolf's
Chief: Maestro d' of Wolf's, the place to be for the socialites of Walker's Hold
Navarre: Gunlugger and general badass with more weapons than you should shake a stick at
Doc: Angel - if you have a hole in ya that shouldn't be there, he's the one to see.
Dust: The Hocus of Walker's Hold - a little creepy, but there's no better source of chems and...other pleasures in the Twin Cities Wasteland.
"LupineLegend": Chopper or Driver, uncertain
"Volcano": The Savvyhead. KEPT BUSY CONSTANTLY from everything breaking all the time. Justifiably grumpy at times.
Should we roll out Hx soonish?
How do you do the stat-line, Scarlet? I'm a Paizo newb.
(Also, Hard-2? Whoa, never seen a BB take that before.)
Traditionally, we just put everything into the Class/Level field. Edit your profile, there are a number of spaces at the top. I don't know how much stuff Mooshy would want at a glance, so I did stats+armor+harm.
Yeah, if I need to grab anything (Seize Hold) I'll be rather useless, but when it comes to chumps, I can use cool in place of hard for Go Aggro.
Okay, I think I created an alias and profile the right way... testing!
Is there a way to subscribe to a thread so you get an email or something when there's an update?
As part of the Maestro's establishment, I've got a bunch of NPCs (regulars and business interests), so without further ado:
Scarlet Tyler the Battlebabe works as a waitress here. A fellow named Wisher keeps the place clean. He’s got a weird misshapen body but he’s sweet as a mango and nearly as smart. If you come in at night looking for… personal... services for reasonable prices, we’ve got you covered: our lady Clarion is a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice and a beautiful body. If more you’re into men, there’s Hugo, lean and pretty and stronger than he looks. If they don’t do it for you, I’ll set you up with Ula, who’s not so much into the whole gender thing but knows ropes and whips like whoa. I couldn’t run the place without Partridge, who fills in doing a little of everything. She seems a little spacey sometimes but she always seems to know what needs to be done next.
You can find Lamprey, Ba, Camo, Toyota, and Lits there at least a couple times a week. Lits and Toyota are usually there in the morning for coffee. Toyota meets a lot of people here to talk but I don't know much about them. Lits is my best regular: a tough fighter, but she’s friendly and never starts trouble. Ba and Lamprey are night-timers. Lamprey is really tall, spooky, and likes weird semi-public sex. Ba is round and quiet, likes to get so high he’s practically a liquid. Camo drops in in the afternoons, and he's the worst regular; he’s rude, crude, and loud, messing up the vibe of the place. I wouldn’t let him in at all except he’s got coin and he’s got dope.
I owe Rolfball for the place. He and I used to be lovers; we opened the place together. Rolfball made the excursions to find coffee and other things to serve while I actually kept the place running and we split the business 60-40. After one run he came back… different. He doesn’t want anything to do with me or the place any more, and I’m trying to figure out how to buy out his share.
Gams might be a way to make that happen. She wants in on the business, but I'm wary, because she wants to sell a ton of drugs, and that could screw up the vibe and piss off the Hardholder. I actually work pretty hard to make sure the drug use at Wolf's stays reasonably moderate.
And now I’m hearing about some a@+#$$* named Been. Been wants to get rid of Wolf's, take over the space completely for some other purpose, and I don’t know why. It’s possible it has something to do with the auditorium on the next floor up? Fortunately, the Hardholder has a healthy respect for coffee, so I’m not too worried. Yet.
And it’s not like we’re defenseless if someone tries to make a move. We watch each other’s backs and Everybody’s Packing (the staff is a 2-harm gang small 0-armor), and there’s a Convenient Shotgun behind the counter (3-harm, close, reload, messy).
While I'm a pretty nice guy most of the time, everyone remembers the time I opened up a guy's forearm with a wicked serrated bread knife (2-harm hand) and between the leather pants, vest, and bracers I wear I’m protected for 1-armor.
---
Haven't been able to find the stat line in my profile yet. Possibly due to doing this on my phone, so I'll try to sort it out on PC later. Other than that I'm ready to go.
Partridge sounds like she'd be up for some drug fuelled revellry. I don't know what she's seekeing, but like the others she seems to see something in the hypnotic beats and altered states that I offer.
I've had run ins with Camo too. He sometimes shows up at our gatherings pushing downers, which pisses of my followers who insist that only stims and psychedelics are suitable for tapping into the music.
Hey, good news, they just put up the battle moves on the 2nd ed kickstarter page (not sure how to link) so we can use those too if we like.
We can try doing Hx here...
Dog rides at the head of a pack of 30 murderous bastards; the Lost Boys. Lucky for him, they're generally well-disciplined. He's tried to run his gang like an military unit - with varying levels of success - ever since reading an only somewhat f#cked-up copy of Starship Troopers that he found lying around.
Dog's always looking out for #1, but he looks after his Boys too. He's got nothing without them at his back, after all. One of these days he'll have enough firepower in his merry band to secure someplace defensible and kick back... until then though, a lot of skulls are gonna get bashed in. A guy's gotta make a living.
Which one of you used to ride with my gang?
Which one of you figures that you could take me in a fight, if it came to it?
Which one of you once stood up to me, gang and all?
Having a past with Dog would be one avenue to getting a ride of your own. It's why most of his gang members originally gravitated toward him, after all - his motorcycle is sick.
Scarlet is at least three times as cool as you, and reckons her shotgun trumps your bike. It's not malicious, she just doesn't think you're as dangerous as you think you are.
My two questions are, who can I trust, and who can't I trust?
Got the rest of the name figured out. Interested in having stood up to Dog, gang and all.
"If you want that bike fixed, boy, you'll pay up and watch yer mouth!"
Scarlet, you can trust Chief. You've seen how he does business and he's always straight with people. He's respectful to you and the rest of his staff.
Which of you do I find most attractive? (One or more can answer. Chief likes men and women both.)
Which one of you is my favorite?
I am obviously both prettiest and smartest. Anyone can feel free to contest this, but should be prepared to back this up with force.
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Chief, I'd expect you find me pretty attractive. Whatever you think of what I do you seem like a guy with an appreciation for the unusual.
Scarlet I'm not sure whether you trust me or not. If you're cool with the ceremonies that I host then go with that you trust me, however if something about it just doesn't feel right then go with that you don't trust me.
My questions are:
Are any of you my followers?
Which one of you's soul have I seen?
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From the playbook: You are indifferent to what is safe, and drawn to what is not.
Also, I'd like to think I'm Chiefs favourite. He's somewhere between my uncle and something uncomfortably Freudian.
Ah, ok. Based on that I'd probably go for that you don't trust me. I mean who really knows what's going on with us whacknuts anyway?
Dog, you can subscribe to the gameplay thread through an RSS feed link on the top right hand corner of the page.
You mentioned that your gang is in a significant debt to someone very powerful in the Twin Cities wasteland. This is your opportunity to jump in with some worldbuilding.
Tell me about this powerful individual or group that you owe a debt to.
Sounds good Navarre. I feel like maybe something bad happened to us or people we knew around the time you started rolling with Dog and I got in deep with the music and drugs.
Hx questions from Runner the Driver…
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• Who has been with me for days on the road?
• Who once got me out of some serious sh!t?
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And answers...
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O.K. Dog here goes:
I am all 3 because I was once the leader of the gang you now have?
The person you owe a debt to helped you oust me?
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Chief the Maestro D':
I am secretly your favorite because I am the one you rely on to go get you all kinds of cool sh!t now that Rolfball isn't here to get the coffee. I also deliver for Gams and keep you in the loop gossip-wise about things she is doing.
Also you dig my car.
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Scarlet Tyler
You probably cannot trust me, you might suspect Chief favors me too much?
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Dust the Hocus:
Have you seen my soul searching for my true identity?
(I am an amnesia sufferer)
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Navarre "Two-Fingers":
I either; once left you bleeding, and did nothing for you?
or have fought shoulder to shoulder with you? You choose.
(especially if you are also one who has ridden with me on the road before?)
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Runner, Scarlet got there first with the favorite call, but you're totally my second favorite, because I was with you for days on the road that time when Rolfball got stuck out in Brainertown and we had to go rescue him.
Yeah, I knew she would be but in my mind I am your favorite and Scarlet really can't trust me because of it.
Brainers suck; man that was intense, donchaknow?!
Hey Runner, you're a bit of a mystery to me. Navarre's soul is one I've known since we were kids but if you attend a gathering and take the sacrament we can dig into your past and your soul and see what's there.
Dust, I am a little freaked out about all this chem-chanting business but I am set on finding out the truth of my past so load up a needle for me. I will go spirit walking when the time is right.
Asking my Hx questions:
Which of you is the most strange?
One of you is the biggest potential problem?
As for the questions of others:
Scarlet: I'm an honest, if odd man, and my loyalty to my community's strong. I don't stab folk in the back. I don't gouge my customers. Period.
Chief: If anyone told me they thought I was attractive, I'd honestly wonder what's wrong with 'em. I'm an ugly man. While I ain't as pretty as yer bouncer, you know damn well you wouldn't be able to run a business in this dump if I didn't keep yer Pre-War espresso machine shiny'!
Dog: I remember you. The mouthy kid lookin' for a cheap mechanic, hidin' behind his posse when he saw the bill. Don't start nothin', cuz' this time I've my golden children and the whole darn town behind me. Behave yourself, boy.
Dust: Can't believe you use that precious Pre-War tech I fixed for ya to blast yer damn music at all hours of the night when I'm tryin' to sleep. As for my soul, it's a thing of wheels and gears. You won't find much you want from it...unless your damn speakers break again. I friggin' TOLD you they don't go to eleven! Stop tryin' to make 'em!
Navarre: No contest, I'm the smartest waster in the whole darn wasteland! You bring me scrap and Pre-War stuff and I can make marvels! I ain't the kind of person to leave anyone, least of all a kid, bleedin' without help. Maybe some day I'll get that ol' Auto-Doc in the back of my shop workin' again. You help protect my home, and I'll gladly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you. Hammers do more than pound nails, after all.
Runner: I don't like travellin' that much. I'm old and bent. That's why I settled in Walker's to start with. But you better be grateful I was passin' by when that transmission o' yer's died. I even buffed that huge scratch off free of charge! Take better care of her, kid! Seriously!
I'm about as strange as they come Volcano, though there hasn't been such a thing as normal since the bombs fell.
I appreciate what you did with the sound tech, it's never sounded better. I just can't shake the feeling there might be a way to make it do more.
I must say I'm impressed with the thriving, interconnected community we have here in Walker's Hold!
System recommends we start out with a day in the life of your characters - not to say that any day in Apocalypse World is "easy". Your Hardholder - the boss of Walker's Hold - calls himself Paul Atreides, and those who know him well know that that's a name he took for himself after arriving in the Twin Cities Wasteland fifteen years ago. He named himself after a fictional character from a pre-war novel he had scavenged.
It's morning. What's a day in the life look like in Walker's Hold? The primary structure is a huge, former art gallery, with wide-open spaces that formerly held massive sculptures and tall painting frames. Most of the art has either been destroyed, sold, or moved to Paul Atreides' personal hoard for safekeeping, providing a much-needed boost to the hardholder's personal wealth. Atreides and his gang are outcasts from the Chicago Wastelands, having moved here back in the day and set up shop in the Walker Art Center after driving off or recruiting the former inhabitants (Super Mutants). It took over five years to completely take down the Super Mutant decorations and make the Hold look like a human settlement, but now it's as good-looking a Stronghold as any that can be found in the Wastes.
The Walker Art Center is well-situated strategically. Close enough to the Twin Cities to be a hub of traders coming and going, and far enough away from downtown not to be noticed by the packs of roving Feral Ghouls that infest the downtown area.
There's a lot of Hx questions and answers following around, even multiple answers! I'll try to pull together a summary post of everyone's Hx because I'm having trouble following what's what.
Indeed, that's why the first "day" of gameplay isn't going to be dropping you right into the middle of the action. There's a lot of social interaction among the inhabitants of Walker's Hold, and social hierarchies to establish. Take your time and get to know each other - there's a big, deadly Wasteland out there ready to kill you as soon as you leave the Stronghold's walls.
I roll out of bed and splash a little not-too-filthy water in my face, out of a black ceramic bowl that was once called art. My room isn't big, one of a dozen or so partitioned off out of a gallery on an upper floor. I hear laughs and squeals from the hallways outside: kids playing. I'm already late.
I pull on some clothes, step out, put a padlock on my door, and head across to Wolf's. I dodge out of the way of a couple of kids playing tag -- Toyota's kids, actually; Toyota doesn't live on this floor but kids always go wandering. The walls and ways are decorated with years of grafitti -- some crude, but the spirit of Walker's lives on enough that there are some beautiful pieces among them.
When I get to Wolf's, Partridge and Wisher are already getting the place in order for the morning. Wisher actually sleeps here. I look over the stocks and try and decide whether to put ground coffee on the menu board today. People are starting to gripe about instant, but I'm running low on the good stuff, so instant it is, or tea, and what the hell, I'll see if I can unload some of this paté.
Fancy Feast. Volcano says that in the golden age, they were so rich they used to feed this stuff to the cats. I don't know why they'd even keep cats; it's not like they're good eating.
Who comes into Wolf's for a lousy cup of coffee today?
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Dog's Hx
1. Which one of you used to ride with my gang? Navarre “Two-Fingers”, Runner
2. Which one of you figures that you could take me in a fight, if it came to it? Scarlet Tyler
3. Which one of you once stood up to me, gang and all? Seth “Volcano” Hafner, Runner
Scarlet's Hx
1. Who can I trust? Chief, Seth, Dog
2. Who can’t I trust? Navarre, Dust, Runner
Chief's Hx
1. Which one of you do I find most attractive? Dust
2. Which one of you is my favorite? Scarlet
Navarre's Hx
1. Which one of you once left me bleeding, and did nothing for me? Runner
2. Which one of you has fought shoulder to shoulder with me? Dog
3. Which one of you is prettiest and/or smartest? Scarlet, Seth
Dust's Hx
1. Are any of you my followers?
2. Which one of your souls have I seen? Navarre
Runner's Hx
1. Who has been with me for days on the road? Chief, Dog
2. Who once got me out of some serious sh!t? Seth
Seth's Hx
1. Which of you is the most strange? Dust
2. One of you is the biggest potential problem? Navarre
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Scarlet, you can trust Dog - he likes a woman that can handle a weapon. He won't double-cross you unless given a reason to.
Navarre, we fought shoulder-to-shoulder loads of times. Why'd you leave the Lost Boys?
Runner, we've spent time on the road together. You're damn right I took the Lost Boys from you. What were you doing that led me to lead a mutiny?
Dust, Dog ain't a zealot but he might number among your followers. What would he hear you preaching about?
Thanks for that map of the Walker, Chief. And thanks for aggregating the Hx questions, Dog. I'm really excited for this campaign, I have a great group of players here.
I wake feeling groggy from the last night's excesses and drag myself up to the terrace on the north tower. I stop for a moment to catch some air and take in the broken skyline of what must once have been an impressive city, much of it now crumbling or completely destroyed. Hopefully some coffee will straighten my head.
I'm on my way to Wolf's to meet Felix and Kali to make sure everything's ready for tonight's ceremony. Felix, a huge man who's muscular body seems at odds with his gentle nature, has access to the powerful hallucinogen my followers refer to as 'the sacrament'. Kali is a sharp witted and fierce woman who takes on the role of security in the event that anyone gets out of hand. It's been a few days since our last open gathering and so it's time to bring in some jingle and blow a few minds.
I take a last look at the swirling maelstrom high above, a strangely comforting sight to me these days, and walk over to Wolf's hoping that today he'll be serving the good stuff. Felix and Kali are already sat in an alcove chatting and sipping at hot coffee as I sit down to join them.
Environment-wise, it's winter in Minnesota, and that means cold. The current date is January 15, 2099, though only those who are powerful or rich enough to keep a calendar actually know the date. The roads are often slick with ice that you can't see, the weather can freeze you to death in under a night's full exposure, and the resident creatures of the Wasteland have adopted some unusual traits to survive in their environment. Feral Ghouls, for example, have been observed huddling together facing inward to survive the elements at night, only to break back into roving packs hungry for blood when the sun warms them again.
Walker's Hold keeps the areas where people congregate warm by placing massive flaming braziers in the central areas, near openings that lead outside to vent the smoke. It's a job for the children of the Hold to move around the stronghold keeping the flames lit. The wide hallways between social areas are walled off and kept cold, though, so you want to bundle up even when you're just moving around the Stronghold. Winter's a b*@~*.
Partridge looks over to Chief when he walks into Wolf's, and straightens his back somewhat out of deference. "Still no word from the provisioner about the new coffee shipments," he reports by way of greeting. You'd been waiting to hear from the trading post operators in Walker's Hold for over a week now waiting to hear back from Coffeetown, a massive, burned-out shell of a Starbucks several day's ride south of here. In their alcove, Felix hears Partridge's words, and groans into his partially-broken cup. "Quit your whining, you're giving me a headache," Kali complains, slapping his wrist across the table.
Dog, my followers are folks looking for meaning or answers in this shattered world. We use our ceremonies in an attempt to commune with the Blind God Of The Thousand Suns. Some believe the Blind God to be a literal deity while others believe it is a psychic manifestation caused by the nuclear apocalypse.
If you like the sound of that then welcome to the scene.
I pull back the rough canvas curtain into the cramped area that I use as a surgery.
The young man on my table is dying. I can smell it... almost taste it. His fever has only worsened and the biotics I gave him don't seem to be doing the job.
I glance over at shelves nearby. I could treat him more, but what's the point? Why waste the chems on... what was his name again? Kyle? Kale?
With a sigh, I grab my coat and bag. I tell Pete, one of my "orderlies", to keep an eye on the young man. Pete asks where I'm going.
"Wolf's," I say quietly. "Maybe he's got something strong enough to break that fever. Otherwise..." I sigh again and head over to Wolf's.
As Dust comes in I nod her over to Felix and Kali, and follow her to the table a minute later with a cup and a pot. It's an effort to show just the right amount of friendliness and attention; I really do find her attractive but I'm also really uncomfortable around +weird people. "Morning, Miz Dust," I manage as I fill her cup. "Get you anything else, Kali? Felix?"
Volcano:
Probably me, the Brainer. If not, I’d probably tie with someone like the Hocus.
Probably not me.
Runner:
Probably not me, I’m a bit of a homebody and when I do leave, I try not to do so for several days.
Likely not me, although it is possible I brain-fried someone you were in an altercation with, as much for my own studies as for aiding you.
Dust:
I could be. Hocus stuff interests me for sure, so if I wasn’t a follower I would certainly be interested from a scholastic angle.
While I wouldn’t offer that up for viewing, you may have seen mine only if you have the ability to steal such insight.
Two-Fingers:
Well, not much I can do to stop you from bleeding. The spectacle might have interested me.
Perhaps though not very likely, unless you mostly do shooting and not melee. And if you tend to shoot from heavy cover in as much relative safety as possible.
I am definitely not the prettiest, and I might have been the smartest if it were not for the Savvyhead.
Chief:
Not me, unless your preferences run veeeerrrry strange.
Probably not me, I might unnerve customers a bit.
Dog:
Not me
If I were to wish you harm, fighting would be the last way I’d go about it.
Probably not me, if I were to do so, you’d likely laugh it off or ignore me.
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Pallor, as a Brainer, it's obvious that even among the weirdos in the Twin Cities Wasteland you stand out as extra strange. Paul Atreides keeps you nearby, both because he doesn't fully trust you and because your Brainer powers have been useful in detecting lies in the past. You're often at Paul's side when he's negotiating with local warlords or trading caravan leaders, as the presence of a Brainer makes people more honest, generally.
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Dog, you mentioned that your gang is in a significant debt to someone very powerful in the Twin Cities wasteland. This is your opportunity to jump in with some worldbuilding.
Tell me about this powerful individual or group that you owe a debt to.
People think leading a pack is all about pickin' where to drink that night or decidin' how many boys are needed to beat the snot out of someone. It is that, but you also gotta know how to run a business. When leadership of the Lost Boys "transitioned" between Runner and me, I inherited all the bastard's debts. Sneaky son of a ghoul had been makin' a lotta promises he either couldn't, or didn't wanna keep.
Nikki Needles helped me to get outta that mess. She's a wanna-be Hardholder putting together some territory in St. Paul, south of the river. It takes a lotta jingle to build an empire and she got hers cornering the drug market in this burned-out corner of the world. I don't know why she decided to give me a hand, but she must figure I owe her more than one cuz she's been calling in favors for months now.
Which one of you have I been watching carefully, in secret?
Pallor, you've been keeping a close eye on Dog, though only you know why.