Lost Horizons: Apocalypse World

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Jul 29, 2017 11:39 pm
Hello all! Per request from Reddit, I'm going to be running an Apocalypse world campaign for those interested; this is my first game here on Gamer's Plane, and I'm very excited to get to play with all of you awesome people. I'm still working out details of game proper, so I have very little set in stone other than the system, honestly... I'd love to make this a game that everyone will enjoy, and I hope that I can help everyone feel included in the worldbuilding process.

So, that's about it for now, but I'll be adding more in as we hammer things out. Folks from Reddit will get preference once the game opens, but I'll certainly be taking people from here to fill in any vacancies. Cheers, and thanks for reading!
Last edited July 29, 2017 11:43 pm
Jul 30, 2017 4:49 am
Hi Rindel, as commented on Reddit, I'm very interested! Let me know what/when/how etc.
Last edited July 30, 2017 4:50 am
Jul 30, 2017 1:05 pm
Looking forward to this. I'm down for playing as pretty much any Basic Playbook and throwing a billion ideas out for worldbuilding and worldwrecking.
Jul 30, 2017 1:08 pm
Sounds like fun! Welcome to anyone new to the site! Cheers!
Jul 30, 2017 8:10 pm
I'm in for sure. Thanks for starting this and for MCing.
Jul 31, 2017 12:17 am
All right then! Let's get down to some planetcracking, eh? I've got a handful of ideas, but my two bigguns are as follows...

The Golden Sea: Inspired by Grant Howitt. An ocean of sand covers the world, with the ruins of skyscrapers poking up out of the interminable wastes. However, this isn't Road Warrior, because that would require roads! An innovation just prior to the End of the World led to hovercrafts acting as a highly sustainable and easy to maintain form of transportation the world over, with plentiful parts and easy to refine fuel. Water is a precious commodity, obviously, but the clever or bold can find springs rising from the centers of large urban areas... if one is willing to brave the horrors that lurk there. Strange crystals form from the sand, giving strange powers to a lucky few, and wretched death to most, and over it all whirls the psychic maelstrom, jealously guarding the truth of the great sea's origin from the eyes of the curious.

Castles in the Sky: Based on an idea from the AW subreddit, posted by an author who then deleted their account. The world is covered in toxic mist, but the death fog is heavier than air: it pools, running like a poisonous river into valleys and city streets. A new form of civilization arose atop the structures of old, first in the form of huddled masses crowded onto the roofs and upper floors of larger buildings. Time went on, trade and communication arising between buildings as brave, agile transporters found ways to navigate the ruins. Now, intricate spiderwebs of rickety bridges, abandoned cranes, steel girders, and occasionally crude dirigibles allow access to much of the city once more, facilitating both the sharing of culture... and war. Scavengers clad in salvaged scuba gear descend into the toxic mist to gather what they can and flee back into the light before the twisted things lurking within catch the sound of the heartbeats.
Jul 31, 2017 12:49 am
Rindel says:

Castles in the Sky: Based on an idea from the AW subreddit, posted by an author who then deleted their account. The world is covered in toxic mist, but the death fog is heavier than air...
Oh I'm very much down for this. I picture wasp-nest style extensions clinging to the side of buildings that are barely holding themselves together after decades of lack of maintenance, people having to descend to the depths to repair and attach scaffolding (or sabotage it), buckets and containers suspended everywhere to catch precious rainwater before it falls to the contaminated sewers below, rooftop farms and greenhouses sprouting all along the tenement blocks, and the one or two looming skyscrapers being the real holds of powers for the local warlords that they launch sorties out from to gain precious vertical terrain...

And I really want to play someone with some of that precious vertical real estate I think.
Last edited July 31, 2017 12:49 am
Jul 31, 2017 2:57 am
Rindel says:
Castles in the Sky.
Oh hell yes. That sounds amazing.
Sign me up! I'm keen for a gunlugger or battlebabe type, as long as I'm not stepping on anyone else's toes?
Jul 31, 2017 11:01 am
Quote:
Castles in the Sky
I adore the idea of those big open spaces, the webs of steel and skating along wires between buildings and leaping across gaps. Im thinking either battlebabe, gunlugger or driver, looking to tear up the skyways one way or the other. :)
Jul 31, 2017 11:16 am
Glad some other folks are looking at Violence

I'm torn between running the dedicated neutral ground between the Warlords and being Maestro D', or being one of the more successful of the scavengers who actually knows what they're looking for and being a Savvyhead. Either sound like my jam.

If people want a "home base" to return to and to focus on the politics of the hold, I'll pick Maestro'D. If we all want to instead band together as a group that's trying to carve a way out of that mess I could take the Savvy.

Or... oh if we want both at the same time I wouldn't mind being a Hardholder who's trying to scrape their way up from the bottom of the barrel, Scarface style.
Jul 31, 2017 10:20 pm
Hell yes. This is far beyond anything I thought we'd be doing. Kayn, if you don't mind I've had my eye on Maestro'D, but you did call it first. If you're all in I'll pick something else. I'd like to at least start in a holding high in the sky so we can get to know our friends/enemies. Super pumped to explore this landscape.
Jul 31, 2017 11:24 pm
Naa, if you're really feeling the Maestro'D then go ahead and pick it up. I personally think the Maestro should be trying to run the local No Mans Land bar where people come to settle scores or relax on neutral turf.

I love all the playbooks so I will not mind too much about taking a Savvyhead and being one of the suckers who goes down to basement and metro levels to scavenge for lost technology, fix it up, and sell it to the local warlords doing my best to play them off against each other. I'll be staying well away from combat since I'll likely be taking the Hard 0 statline, but with Spooky Intense to offset the terrible Cool. Figure I'm also one of the few freelance mechanics who haven't been hoovered up or impressed into someone's group yet.

I've said a few times about the ideas of there being a load of warlords all trying to seize control of the area. Just picturing there being warlords dominating some tower blocks, ruling from penthouses, trying to build bridges across interstates or major boulevards to expand territory, putting faith into dirigible riding gangs for raids with limited ability to retrieve cargo. That sound like something we'll be dealing with in this setting?

I'm also imagining that choppers and drivers are going to have a real hard deal with this setting given the floor is toxic lava, but I imagine if someone wants driver they've got THE sweetest ride in the area (like, possibly one of the sole surviving personal helicopter sweetest) and the choppers are instead up in big blimps with rappelling gear rather than bikes?
Aug 1, 2017 12:05 am
Thanks a ton. I'm picturing the car/tech-centric characters using hovercraft like cars(possible CO-2 engines?) I'm looking forward to car combat and so glad to see that it's not modern day cars because I have a big problem with the "road warrior" theme because gas doesn't last very long at all. This abstracts it into the future which is awesome. Also "The floor is lava" is one of my favorites, now with 50% percent more unknown shit.
Aug 1, 2017 7:28 am
Haha, yessss, this is already giving me ideas... I'd say that hovercars would be awesome, and we will DEFINITELY be having dirigible pirates. CO2 engines are also perfect for the setting, and will certainly be included. If a driver or chopper wants a helicopter, I'll probably allow for either one or the other; the driver would get a personal helicopter, whereas the chopper would get something a bit fatter, like a Chinook.
Aug 1, 2017 9:06 am
Damn all this heli talk has me dreaming of the moment we see a strafing run through a skyscraper but im really jamming on the idea of a Battlebabe drifter, skating and riding along wires between buildings nothing but some board shorts , a backpack full of shotgun and a strange board that glows at night lighting the sky ways. So im pretty set on that right now, That said BlueEyedPaladin you said you were keen on a shooty type,yeah? if thats still the case would people want a bit more variety? id be fine thinking up some flashy driver ideas
Last edited August 1, 2017 9:18 am
Aug 1, 2017 10:51 am
Barglbroth says:
That said BlueEyedPaladin you said you were keen on a shooty type,yeah? if thats still the case would people want a bit more variety? id be fine thinking up some flashy driver ideas
Oh, that kind of character sounds like great fun! I'm thinking of a hard-bitten pilot kind of Gunlugger, something close to Booker deWitt from Bioshock Infinite or Rick from The Mummy, leaping between girders and buildings and hurling people down into the mists, so I have zero problem with you being a Battlebabe.
Aug 1, 2017 1:23 pm
Barglbroth says:
Damn all this heli talk has me dreaming of the moment we see a strafing run through a skyscraper
Yessssss~~~~
Barglbroth says:
but im really jamming on the idea of a Battlebabe drifter, skating and riding along wires between buildings nothing but some board shorts , a backpack full of shotgun and a strange board that glows at night lighting the sky ways...
Damn Battlebabes. No matter what setting they're in they are they sound like characters straight out of an early 2000's video game. In this case, Jet Set Radio Future. Awesome. :D
Aug 1, 2017 5:02 pm
Heyo! Headed here from Reddit too.
Rindel says:
Castles in the Sky: Based on an idea from the AW subreddit, posted by an author who then deleted their account. The world is covered in toxic mist, but the death fog is heavier than air: it pools, running like a poisonous river into valleys and city streets. A new form of civilization arose atop the structures of old, first in the form of huddled masses crowded onto the roofs and upper floors of larger buildings. Time went on, trade and communication arising between buildings as brave, agile transporters found ways to navigate the ruins. Now, intricate spiderwebs of rickety bridges, abandoned cranes, steel girders, and occasionally crude dirigibles allow access to much of the city once more, facilitating both the sharing of culture... and war. Scavengers clad in salvaged scuba gear descend into the toxic mist to gather what they can and flee back into the light before the twisted things lurking within catch the sound of the heartbeats.
Man, that sounds good. At first glance, I'd like to play a character that comes with a bunch of people, so probably Hardholder, Hocus or Chopper. Especially the chopper sounds interesting with the ideas you've all mentioned – helicopters, balloons, rappelling gear, and gliders all sound really cool – but I'd be picking the playbook based on what everyone else is bringing. An Angel might be interesting too, with the pirates and expeditions into toxic mist and whatnot. (Oh boy, or the News!)
Last edited August 1, 2017 5:10 pm
Aug 1, 2017 6:00 pm
So I've thrown a character up for Savvyhead. I'm assuming Zoomzilla's done one for Maestro'D (can't see the details on Pops). Was really tempted to do the up and coming Hardholder but figured I'd like the narrative freedom of being mobile. So I think those are our current lock ins (Rindel vetoing our ideas notwithstanding)

Oh Boy The News indeed. But jeez that playbook is a tough play.

Google Docs version of my Savvyhead here...
Last edited August 1, 2017 11:32 pm
Aug 2, 2017 2:51 am
I'm amenable to anything you all feel like working out. I'm here to observe, facilitate, and savor the madness that will blossom when creative minds have space to play... needless to say, I can't wait! I'll be putting up the IC thread before the weekend, life weirdness notwithstanding. Any suggestions for other subforums I ought to add in?
Aug 2, 2017 9:27 am
Alright ive got my character made, here they are for those interested : Twilight. Also Rindel, when you get the chance could you accept my request to join the game?
Last edited August 2, 2017 9:28 am
Aug 2, 2017 11:48 am
Barglbroth says:
Alright ive got my character made, here they are for those interested...
Twilight is carrying the custom weapon I have affectionately in the past termed the DANGERGUN. Terrifying thing.
So lone wanderer archetype then for Twilight? Seems normal for the Babe
Aug 2, 2017 1:29 pm
After thinking about it some more, I I'd like to check out the News. The station always needs something from the ground levels (I'm thinking music from the golden age), and it gives me a bunch of interesting options to make connections to PCs and NPCs.

So for example, the station asks me to fill in characters for the following:
• 3 informants
• the show's biggest fan
• and 2 people I've pissed off

There's also a small security force. Any PCs up for any of those? Maestro d' as an informant or someone I've pissed off perhaps?
Aug 2, 2017 1:45 pm
I am going for a Brainer so I could fill one of the informants.
Aug 2, 2017 2:55 pm
jkl123 says:
I am going for a Brainer
Thank god I don't have skin contact exposed for the inevitable violation glove... ;)
nonstopgibbon says:
After thinking about it some more, I I'd like to check out the News.
Yes~~~~
nonstopgibbon says:
The station always needs something from the ground levels (I'm thinking music from the golden age), and it gives me a bunch of interesting options to make connections to PCs and NPCs.
I figure I'll have been looting radio shacks for parts you keep burning out. Problem with that kind of gig is that CDs and vinyl are pretty fragile, haven't survived well in the corrosive smog unless they're in bubble wrap, and the five years before the Apocalypse had some pretty terrible tastes in music so pickings are getting slim down there unless you're going to pay me some serious scrip to try raiding some territories other warlords control.
nonstopgibbon says:
Any PCs up for any of those? Maestro d' as an informant or someone I've pissed off perhaps?
I think generally the slots in the News and Maestro have to be NPCs. Gotta own those Grotesque and Brute Threats you'll be generating, amigo. Don't worry: we'll probably all be filling in as those kinds of roles as well after you ask us Hx questions.

As for people you've p----- the hell off, well, choose a part of the city and declare what warlord's out for your blood for whatever gossip you broadcast to all their enemies.
Last edited August 2, 2017 7:30 pm
Aug 2, 2017 5:07 pm
jkl123 says:
I am going for a Brainer so I could fill one of the informants.
Couldn't ask for a better informant!
KaynSD says:
I figure I'll have been looting radio shacks for parts you keep burning out. Problem with that kind of gig is that CDs and vinyl are pretty fragile, haven't survived well in the corrosive smog unless they're in bubble wrap, and the five years before the Apocalypse had some pretty terrible tastes in music so pickings are getting slim down there unless you're going to pay me some serious scrip to try raiding some territories other warlords control.
Sounds about right!
KaynSD says:
I think generally the slots in the News and Maestro have to be NPCs.
They can be PCs, NPCs or a mix of both. The Maestro specifies it for their crew, so I just guess it goes for the News as well. I like how it defines relationships, since the News' Hx question is just "Can I count on you to tell me the truth?"

I'll just see which PCs want in, and then fill the rest with NPCs.
Last edited August 2, 2017 5:29 pm
Aug 2, 2017 7:26 pm
nonstopgibbon says:
They can be PCs, NPCs or a mix of both. The Maestro specifies it for their crew...
Maestro is NPCs only, in nice fancy parentheses, so figured News is the same where you're making six or so named threats. You're not thinking about playing The News without making enemies that aren't going to make ALL of our live's more interesting are you? :D
Aug 2, 2017 8:20 pm
Just a quick intro to Pops. Once we get to worldbuilding we can do Hx.

Pops is an older gentleman(by apocalypse world standards) whose been getting people what they need for a couple decades now. Dressed in an old world three-piece suit, Pops has been living and doing business out of an old penthouse in this hold for a while now. He has plenty of contacts and plenty of enemies who would take what he's built in a blood-soaked heartbeat. That's why he's got a few trusted friends nearby looking out for him in exchange for whatever goods come his way. Coffee from the far distant jungle arcologies is a rare and precious item that he deals in, but many other items of value pass through his hands daily- making him a well connected individual as well as sometimes putting a target on his back.
He gets his name not from his age, but due to his intolerance for drugs and debauchery. Everyone is free to do what they want with their lives, but once you step foot in Pops' joint you play by his rules. This is a coffee house, not a whore house or a drug den. Those activities produce unwanted drama and Pops will do whatever it takes to keep his place clean-even if it means getting a little dirty.
Aug 2, 2017 10:55 pm
Coffee! Awesome! I know what's keeping Lattice going then!
Love the concept of just the guy who wants to bring a bit of civility to the world, and a coffee shop would really be the way to do it. Sure, Hx can get done later once the roster's finalised and we know what way the city's blowing up. Also please say that Pop's establishment has got an old green mermaid sign outside it; would be pretty much fitting for my cynicism if even the Apocalypse couldn't stop THAT brand.

So worldbuilding questions I personally want to know. Just letting my brain open and barf forth, and everyone can feel free to tell me to shut up about this kind of thing :) ...

We've got a ruined city beneath us, and obviously it was big enough to have a load of skyscrapers for us all to live in the ruins of, probably supported a mass transit network at some point (I'm thinking it included an elevated train that's partially in disrepair as well as a subway that NO ONE really tries to get into personally). What else do we have. What don't we have? How many rooftop farms, solar and wind generators, and water towers do we have going? What kind of crop do we grow: Mushrooms in the lower levels, rice and vegetables in the upper levels? Is anything from the old world still going, and what landmarks can we see poking up above the mist? Is there a communal power plant, or is everyone using what generators they can hack together on their own little grids?

I've thrown one or two little setting details in my bio about there being at least one gang that runs (ran?) a small slice of the city but what are some of the others? Is it like The Warriors where districts have been carved up, or is it more like city blocks for terrain? Is there one big bad warlord holding the entire city together under any kind of authority (real or imagined, historically granted or otherwise) or is it practically anarchy out there? Is Pop technically in the turf of or paying some protection to someone and what is their rank on the totem pole? How about our Newsie? How peaceful is the situation at the moment and when is THAT going to get worse? Who has what allegiances? Lattice and Twilight definitely look like they aren't sticking their flag in anyone's turf despite their skillsets, so who's looking to change that and what kind of example will they make out of us for freelancing on their turf?

Currency! Old World Currency? Scrip? Just IOUs and Tabs? Or are we really on literal barter economy only here?

How long ago was the Apocalypse? How picked clean is the city below and how bizarre is the architecture of the city above? What numbers of population are we running; are we out of space, or is it kinda haunting up here in the rooftops? How many (other) professional disaster scavengers do we have going? What kinda jobs do the normal people just trying to live their lives do? How common are firearms? How bloodthirsty are our lifestyles, and what kinda justice is meted out?

Is the city all we realistically have, or do we have easy escape options to other places? What outside survived, or do the people bringing coffee into Pops keep disturbingly quiet about that? Why haven't we fled; or why CAN'T we flee? Does the smog literally only go so high, or does it wave and flow to just ruin every part of the world regardless of altitude? Are places like Santa Fe and Denver like the promised land, or are we IN one of those cities and the altitude of the smog is a truly incredible and terrifying thing?

What's the actual nature of the mist? I'm figuring carcinogenic and poisonous, as well as acidic but oddly not corrosive to plastics or synthetics so that the scuba idea gear works. Is it highly visible and green or insidiously translucent and hard to detect until it's too late? What lives down there and how hasn't it killed us all yet? How high up does it go? Two or three stories? Ten? Varies on the day and requires us to always have gas masks handy just in case?
Aug 3, 2017 12:53 am
Re: Square footage of claimed land. There is mention that there is war/conflict for it so unless it's purely turf wars or for control on who can scavenge where, I'd say we don't a lot of room and there's a ton of people. We could also double down on the "castle" thing and invent some sort of caste or something. Maybe make homelessness rampant or limit access on some floors?

Re: Resources. I can't contribute much on this but I think we could have a high diversity/variety of food but little volume. It is quite novel to think of a swath of people dedicated to cranking for hours on end for electricity.

Re: Warlord situation. I prefer going with a single head honcho for now and maybe introduce civil war or anarchy later on. Maybe open up with some sort of syndicate or oligarchy hierarchy? Start with everything on the up-and-up before whacking the beehive.

Re: Currency. I would like to suggest the use of some sundry like cards, used shells, plastic or metal chips, or actual chips/foodstuff. Wouldn't paper go rare in the event of an apocalypse?

Re: Is the city all we have? Maybe there could be mansions, bunkers, and/or some sort of settlement on a mountain or across a valley/pit nearby?
Aug 3, 2017 3:03 am
Quote:
a subway that NO ONE really tries to get into personally
Yeah but the gasmen have been pushing a plan for ages to clear some out and seal it off, build themselves a fortress beneath the city, where noone is going to interrupt their work...
or see them approach.
Quote:
Currency! Old World Currency? Scrip? Just IOUs and Tabs? Or are we really on literal barter economy only here?
Whatever it is its going to need to be something small and lightweight, wouldn't want to get stuck luggin round extra weight when a broken floor leads down to the toxic abyss.
The way Pops place is described with trade and business I'd imagine there must be some formal currency even if it is only tracked in books, rather than a straight barter system
Quote:
Is the city all we realistically have, or do we have easy escape options to other places? Why haven't we fled; or why CAN'T we flee?
With the world covered in poison and only a few places with reliable footing above the death line it makes sense the city with more real estate would be the place people want to get to, getting out would be hard because who would want to make the trip, has the resources to take you and knows where they're going? The traders keep locations of other safe zones need to know so they can keep their services premium.
Quote:
What's the actual nature of the mist? I'm figuring carcinogenic and poisonous, as well as acidic but oddly not corrosive to plastics or synthetics so that the scuba idea gear works. Is it highly visible and green or insidiously translucent and hard to detect until it's too late? How high up does it go? Two or three stories? Ten? Varies on the day and requires us to always have gas masks handy just in case?
I image it as a mix of different toxic compounds, some dense ones to form a lower layer then a few that flow around the place and form like waves pushing people up and around the city, like a slow moving ocean. Some days it gets low and the thrill seekers and scavengers go deeper into the old world hoping they find something flash and don't get caught by a toxic wave.
As for how visible it is the deep layer is probably pretty easy to see with the higher stuff being barely visible or only detectable by smell, with people needing to read the wind and stay out of the way or keep a gas mask handy.
The deeper you get the more you see the really lethal shit, the light stuffs not an instant death sentence unless you get stuck and run out of air but you don't want to hang around in it for long
Aug 3, 2017 6:02 am
Hey all, I'm gonna leave most of these up to you all, but I can certainly answer some questions about the world at large. The Apocalypse was slightly more recent than the rulebook states; I'm going to go with twenty years instead of fifty. So, since we've got a lotta questions, I'm just gonna go down the line and answer what I can for ya.

First off, I'm patterning the mass transit a bit off of Chicago: There will be a large elevated train network spanning the heart of the metropolitan area, as well as subways that, as you correctly guessed, no one in their right mind wants anything to do with. Certain sections of the rail are still functional, powered by some unknown source that no one seems to be able (or willing) to trace. What's more, the elevated rail cars run high enough in certain areas to avoid the cloud entirely. The problem is that the two rail systems are tied in and function as a unit: at certain times, a train travels safely above the more lethal fog, while at other times it dives into the nightmare tunnels below. The timing mechanism, which has also gone undiscovered, is likely malfunctioning: the time tables it keeps are schizophrenic at best, and have a tendency to switch at... inopportune times.

I'd say for now that there's no communal power supply; everyone's on generators, or lacking power entirely. Luckily, the elevators are easy enough to splice with a gennie, and can be powered up and functional if there's a generator in the building. Whether they're safe to use or not, however, is another matter entirely. There is not a singular overlord ruling over the city, even nominally; people with that kind of idealism tend to get shot in the back in short order. The water towers are starting to run dangerously low, and have been depleted entirely in certain cases, but due to being higher than normal, getting water is fairly manageable. Getting CLEAN water, on the other hand, is a bit more of a task.

For spelunkers, I'd say that it's a profession favored by the crazy and the suicidally ambitious, with a considerable overlap between the two camps. There will always be some brave souls daring to risk it all every now and then, but for the most part I'd guess that they're viewed more as folk heroes than career choices. If great hauls start coming in though, it might just trigger a gold rush though... which could destabilize the city, or attract something up from below. The levels just below the fogline will be fairly devoid of truly interesting finds, but once you start to get a little deeper and a little darker, there's wonders just waiting for someone to pick them up.

Barglbroth, I really like the idea of the cloud being layered; I will definitely be playing it up that way. I love the idea of it having waves and currents too; rogue waves are something that terrify me deeply, so rest assured that I can play that up evocatively. I'm also planning on structuring the fog in a way reminiscent of pelagic tiers (The Sunlight Zone, The Twilight Zone, The Midnight Zone, etc) so that divers will be able to have a little subculture of "who's been deepest?" for funsies.
Aug 3, 2017 7:15 am
I'm loving all these ideas about the world! The concept of waves of toxic gas rolling around, so that somewhere "above" the cloud isn't always safe, is great. I think the current warlord (shall we go with Dremmer? It seems to be the done thing) has only come to power a couple of years ago, and his hold is tenuous but brutal, though effective.

Aaaand speaking of "tenuous but brutal", let's introduce the big guy known locally as 'Killer'. He's a bear of a man, with a reputation of being dangerous, but he treads quietly. He has muscles that make most mercs give him a wide berth, arms full of jagged tattoos, and a shaven head with a neat goatee. He generally wears a torn old t-short that displays his tattoos, but when he's expecting trouble, has been known to rock up wearing a battered old set of military-style body armour.
He's a polite regular at Pops', respects the rules and reads his flimsy onion-skin newspaper while enjoying his coffee, and tips well. He usually takes gigs bouncing or being scary muscle, but doesn't carry weapons. One bozo, upset about getting kicked out of Pops' place, threatened Killer's little girl as he left. The rest of the town saw him catch up and beat the bozo to death with his fists. No-one has deigned to threaten Killer's kid again.
There's some in the merc community who say that 'Killer' resembles one of Dremmer's old buddies, but not in his earshot. Apparently things went sour a year or two back.
Aug 3, 2017 10:07 am
This is my favourite bit about Apocalypse World. :D
Everything about the mist is perfect. Some terrible rolling wave of miasma which is inherently unknowable and complicated, but people have worked out some defences and somewhat hard and fast rules for handling.

Also really like these highlights from the above
jkl123 says:
...Maybe make homelessness rampant or limit access on some floors? ...It is quite novel to think of a swath of people dedicated to cranking for hours on end for electricity... I would like to suggest the use of some sundry like cards, used shells, plastic or metal chips, or actual chips/foodstuff (for currency). Wouldn't paper go rare in the event of an apocalypse?
Barglbroth says:
(A subway that NO ONE really tries to get into) but the gasmen have been pushing a plan for ages to clear some out and seal it off, build themselves a fortress beneath the city, where noone is going to interrupt their work... or see them approach... With the world covered in poison and only a few places with reliable footing above the death line it makes sense the city with more real estate would be the place people want to get to, getting out would be hard because who would want to make the trip, has the resources to take you and knows where they're going? The traders keep locations of other safe zones need to know so they can keep their services premium...
Rindel says:
There is not a singular overlord ruling over the city, even nominally; people with that kind of idealism tend to get shot in the back in short order... Getting CLEAN water, on the other hand, is a bit more of a task... For spelunkers, I'd say that it's a profession favored by the crazy and the suicidally ambitious, with a considerable overlap between the two camps... I'm also planning on structuring the fog in a way reminiscent of pelagic tiers (The Sunlight Zone, The Twilight Zone, The Midnight Zone, etc) so that divers will be able to have a little subculture of "who's been deepest?" for funsies.
BlueEyedPaladin says:
The concept of waves of toxic gas rolling around, so that somewhere "above" the cloud isn't always safe, is great. I think the current warlord (shall we go with Dremmer? It seems to be the done thing) has only come to power a couple of years ago, and his hold is tenuous but brutal, though effective.
Very keen on things like cards being traded for barter, marked with signatures about what they're valid for in what part of the city. Maybe Dremmer's meteoric rise to notoriety in their part of the city is thanks to all the treadmill generators they've set up and the cheap food they're handing out to the serfs to keep the lights on and the tower blocks warm.
Aug 3, 2017 1:03 pm
BlueEyedPaladin says:
I'm loving all these ideas about the world! The concept of waves of toxic gas rolling around, so that somewhere "above" the cloud isn't always safe, is great. I think the current warlord (shall we go with Dremmer? It seems to be the done thing) has only come to power a couple of years ago, and his hold is tenuous but brutal, though effective.
Looks like I've someone I've pissed off! Putting Dremmer on the list.
BlueEyedPaladin says:
One bozo, upset about getting kicked out of Pops' place, threatened Killer's little girl as he left. The rest of the town saw him catch up and beat the bozo to death with his fists. No-one has deigned to threaten Killer's kid again.
I'll also go ahead and make Killer's girl (Toni perhaps?) the biggest fan of the News' show. She probably doesn't care for all the interviews and doomsaying, but she loves the music from the world she never got to see.

here's Armstrong, the News. He's not all that likeable, has zero chill, but he's honest at least, and loud enough to make himself heard.

Another informant is Frog, the weather guy. He's a weirdo (like, real weird) in a hot air balloon, working as a look-out for storms, toxic waves, pirates, etc.

Anybody got an idea for another person I could've pissed off with the show? A prophet-type guy maybe?
Last edited August 3, 2017 1:04 pm
Aug 3, 2017 4:27 pm
I'm loving this world. Lots of room to play in. I'd like to offer up an idea. Anyone feel free to veto. I'd like to keep our city/region as a kind of undetermined place. Not like Chicago or Denver or any other real world place that we have been or know intimately but a kind of almost fantasy landscape where we are free to make up anything we want and not be limited by what was in that real world place. I imagine we've renamed all of our places to better fit the current situation. From what I remember of the reddit conversation we may have players unfamiliar with the US. Maybe our place is in another undisclosed but vaguely familiar part of the world. That way we can make up city features, surrounding environment etc without forcing us to pin it on a real world map. Again, just a thought. If everyone is keen to put us in a well known city that's perfectly fine too.
Aug 3, 2017 9:04 pm
I like Armstrong a lot. But no putting the studio in my workspace; it's constantly dipping in and out of some quite dangerous mist levels. Plus you're likely to be bringing trouble to my yard, and I'm already bringing plenty myself.

Also Sky Pirates. Hell yes.
nonstopgibbon says:
Anybody got an idea for another person I could've pissed off with the show? A prophet-type guy maybe?
Sorrow runs the mist cult. Of course some folk worship the mist. Surprised more people don't to be honest. Anyway, Sorrow's a real old guy, older than Pops, is missing all his teeth, and has quite a throng following him down near the Old Dockland District. Every full moon they go to an upper level of the mist and suck in some of the fumes, get high and dance and party, then (for the most part) pull themselves back upstairs apparently richer for the experience. I think he's up to about forty people now, all ages and sorts.

Even though that part of the city should normally be at risk of being swallowed up by the mists, Sorrow and his group of faithful always know when to barricade themselves in, as though he's got a real deep connection to the mist. Even Frog's impressed by that level of accuracy, and that may just be how you've annoyed him; that information that Frog's putting out is for the faithful who wish to coexist with the mist, not for the masses who don't accept the mist into their lives.

It's a shame you don't get on with him cause he's one of the few people trying to stand up to the Razors and form some sense of community out of that side of the city, and anyone who stands up to those psychos is good in Lattice's book.
zoomzilla says:
I'd like to keep our city/region as a kind of undetermined place.
Personally I'm good with that. Means we can at least pull out other metropolitan features as and when we need them without worrying too much about the exact location of their real life analogues.
Aug 3, 2017 11:05 pm
kaynSD says:
Of course some folk worship the mist. Surprised more people don't to be honest.
I'd like some way to tie in the psychic maelstrom. Could this be part of it?
Aug 3, 2017 11:39 pm
Ah, there, I think I have a character sheet now: 'Killer', the Gunlugger
Aug 4, 2017 12:16 am
zoomzilla says:
I'd like some way to tie in the psychic maelstrom. Could this be part of it?
The mist is the weirdest thing we have. I figure it's gonna have to be part of the maelstrom somehow. But that's all up to Rindel really since the Maelstrom really is one of the few things the MC gets a huge amount of control over. All my stuff is just really enthusiastic suggestion. :)

Oh jeez. I need projects to work on aside from work out what's going wrong with the elevated railway system. Who has what going wrong with their stuff?
Aug 4, 2017 3:50 am
KaynSD says:
I need projects to work on aside from work out what's going wrong with the elevated railway system. Who has what going wrong with their stuff?
I'm pretty sure Bozo's family who run one of the small protection gangs have got it in for me, and have put out word that they've barter ajangle for someone who brings me in.

Little Toni's been asking for some more stories on the news about Mister Twilight. Apparently all the kidlets like to look out for him rolling down the sides of buildings.

Plus, I think everyone's always hanging out for news of Before, and Why, and there are stories that there are people in sealed-up vaults under the Mist, which have never seen daylight. They're all pale and clammy like ledgefish, and people say they can operate all the machines to clear the Mist.
Aug 4, 2017 11:20 am
BlueEyedPaladin says:
Little Toni's been asking for some more stories on the news about Mister Twilight. Apparently all the kidlets like to look out for him rolling down the sides of buildings.
The hard part is tracking him when half the time hes out its the middle of the night, damned if anyone knows how he avoids the mist in that pitch black. One time Old Saul thought it would be a hoot to try and chase his light out into the city one time, "how hard could it be if that kid can make it?", he was lucky the mist hit his hair before his lungs, still hasn't grown back fully.
KaynSD says:
Oh jeez. I need projects to work on aside from work out what's going wrong with the elevated railway system. Who has what going wrong with their stuff?
Twilight doesn't have much, but he does swing by when the tide gets low and picks up some a scrap for his board or gun and he always asks what Lattice found on her trips, like hes expecting something but whatever it is she hasn't seen it yet.

There's a betting pool going on recently about who's leaving all the tags and painted symbols around the city, strong moneys on Sorrows Gang pulling some wackjob ritual or one of the Scavengers marking out their finds in a hidden code, some have put long odds on Twilight or Lattice, two of the only people mad enough to go it alone in through the city. No one expects to find out any time soon but people put a few cards in every so often, its almost up to a full deck.
Aug 4, 2017 8:08 pm
Since neutral turf is getting scarce in the city, Lattice's workshop is going to be at least physically close to Pop's place. Hi neighbour! Lattice is the person you call when you want something sealed against the Mist, and is slowly reclaiming a department store as her workspace, dipping in places well below what any sane person should consider safe. Facilities include a full hacker space of machine tools, sewing machines and reams of fabric, partially working white goods, shattered children's toys, and about eight years worth of plastic bags. While there's an elevated train stop really close to it, it also has it's own subway stop and some storm tunnels that link it to the city, which she's gearing up to go brave as part of her major long term project; getting the transit system unified and repaired. Her project today however (as part of character creation I've got to define one) is to work out how to make the mycoprotein vat she's been tinkering with to go full scale so that it can hypothetically feed a chunk of the city; a project she's been keeping quiet to anyone aside from, well the other player characters who've found out about it in some way or another.

Think I've done enough for Worldbuilding; as a player I've probably given Rindel way more than they bargained with for this game. But I'll leave just this one in-character reaction to something else in this thread...
Barglbroth says:
There's a betting pool going on recently about who's leaving all the tags and painted symbols around the city... some have put long odds on Twilight or Lattice
"What symbols? I've seen no symbols. Every week someone asks me about these tags and when they've tried to show me one of them there's been nothing there. One time there wasn't even a WALL there. Getting real sick of this joke you all seem to be in on..."
Last edited August 4, 2017 8:12 pm
Aug 4, 2017 10:08 pm
I have no words to express my joy sufficiently at all the toys you lot have given me to play with. I am loving this already, and we haven't even started yet! I'm pulling together my resources, and we're gonna have the main gamespace set up by tonight. Thank you all for your contributions, and I hope I can make this absolutely awesome for you all.
Aug 5, 2017 3:34 pm
I just found the thread on reddit, is it still posibble to get in on this? I love PBTA systems. If so, what playbooks haven't been claimed?
Aug 5, 2017 4:04 pm
Yup, there's still room. The playbooks taken are the Battlebabe, Brainer, The News, Savvyhead, Maestro D', and Gunlugger. Feel free to use any other playbook you like other than the landfall marine.
Aug 5, 2017 7:46 pm
I'd like to throw in a weird outcast type, either the quarantine or child-thing. Leaning a little more towards child-thing right now. Open to suggestions if anyone feels one or the other would work better with everything already set up.
Aug 5, 2017 8:23 pm
nawberries says:
I'd like to throw in a weird outcast type, either the quarantine or child-thing. Leaning a little more towards child-thing right now. Open to suggestions if anyone feels one or the other would work better with everything already set up.
Both of those shatter the world by their presence. Personally not gigantic objections over them, but we're going to very quickly work out where your Q's vault is and why it's only opened twenty years later rather than fifty, or whether anything we've made is directly connected to the Wolves that are after your C-Thing. Any ideas?
Aug 5, 2017 9:50 pm
True, I didn't think about the timeline being pushed up. That would change the quarantine to be less interesting I think. I'll go with CT and look more into what these wolves will become.
Aug 5, 2017 10:32 pm
nawberries says:
True, I didn't think about the timeline being pushed up. That would change the quarantine to be less interesting I think. I'll go with CT and look more into what these wolves will become.
Then again, I certainly don't mind being the one who found the quarantine in their vault and let them out of the freezer well before their expiration date...
Last edited August 5, 2017 10:33 pm
Aug 5, 2017 11:49 pm
Looks like I only get to come up with the Wolves appearance and powers, everthing else is up to Rindel... but you guys can choose to be Wolves during Hx.
In my lair, I have a hand crank radio to listen to the News; either "a way into ancient underground vaults, cavernous, echoing, and endless" or "a way into a terrifying place of death,where countless skeletons lie" either one of these could be safe passage through the mist to something below; and lastly probably the options for food or water.
Aug 6, 2017 12:19 pm
I don't think I've seen any details about a Brainer... who's playing that? And who is the character? (Just curious)

Edit: I've re-read the earlier posts, I somehow didn't pay attention to jkl123's posts! Never mind! :)
...and I'm supposed to have +1 Sharp!
Last edited August 6, 2017 12:24 pm
Aug 7, 2017 11:09 pm
It looks like we have a good idea of our world and a good cast of characters. I know we've done some pre-worldbuilding stuff that we all like which Rindel can use to set up his questions and provide ideas for fronts, etc. Are we ready to start a Hx/worldbuilding thread? Just a reminder for those unfamiliar with Gamersplane; When you create your character you can also create an avatar for that character. I highly recommend you do this because when you post in-game you can set it to post as Pops, not Zoomzilla, for example. This makes it much easier to understand who the characters are and refer to them by name.
Aug 7, 2017 11:32 pm
Yup. Rindel's building all that up in the game specific forum threads right now. :D
Aug 12, 2017 11:53 am
I'm getting antsy- it's been 4 1/2 days since our last post, don't want to lose momentum!
Anyone have any extra world building or extra ideas? Any new characters we need to know?
Aug 12, 2017 12:11 pm
BlueEyedPaladin says:
I'm getting antsy- it's been 4 1/2 days since our last post, don't want to lose momentum!
Anyone have any extra world building or extra ideas? Any new characters we need to know?
Rindel created the game, which means there's a whole separate forum now. We're already doing HX and posting character sheets! :P

http://gamersplane.com/forums/1820/

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