The bestselling post-apocalyptic tabletop roleplaying game Apocalypse World has inspired a host of spin-off RPGs that utilize its open-source “Fiction-first” ruleset to tell fun stories in different genres. Among the vast library of games “Powered By the Apocalypse,” the following titles stand out not just for their excellent design, but their clever use of Apocalypse World mechanics to help players generate spontaneous, novel narratives.
The 1st edition of Apocalypse World, published in 2010, took the tabletop roleplaying scene by storm thanks to gameplay mechanics which focused on narrative storytelling over complexity, along with colloquial rulebook language that matched the grimy, desperate, surreal aesthetic of post-apocalyptic stories like Fallout or Mad Max. In a world ravaged by a vague yet terrifying apocalypse, players of Apocalypse World take on the roles of bandits, warlords, medics, psychics, and grifters trying to survive, thrive, and form bonds despite it all.
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Vincent Baker, the designer of Apocalypse World, gave his blessing for people to ’hack’ his tabletop roleplaying system, i.e. use its rules as the basis for their own RPGs. All people have to do, legally, is add a logo to their game stating it’s “Powered By the Apocalypse.” Generally, “PBTA” games have the following variables: First, players resolves in-game challenges using special rules called “Moves”, where they roll two six-sided dice and add a bonus to see if their characters succeed, fail, or succeed at a cost. Secondly, most “PBTA” games have “Playbooks,” character sheets with a list of attributes and custom Moves that revolve around certain archetypes. Apocalypse World, for instance, has Playbooks such as “The Angel,” “The Battlebabe,” “The Brainer,” or “The Driver.” Lastly, PBTA games generally don’t have a turn order: players simply describe what their characters do, and the Game Master asks them to “make a Move” whenever a character’s choices would get them into trouble. Even though these gameplay principles was designed for storytelling in a post-apocalyptic landscape, creative developers have been able to adapt these rules to make games in a wide variety of genres.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Dungeon World
A gritty fantasy game in the style of Dungeons & Dragons and other early fantasy roleplaying games, the world of Dungeon World is a violent, dangerous place where gold and glory come to those willing to risk it all. The Playbooks have familiar archetypes like “The Fighter,” “The Cleric,” and ‘The Wizard.” As player characters in the adventuring party delve into Dungeons and face fearsome monsters, they resolve conflicts using moves such as “Hack & Slash,” “Parley,” “Spout Lore,” or “Make Camp.”
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Monsterhearts
In the Monsterhearts RPG, players take on the role of spooky supernatural critters such as “The Fae,” “The Ghost,” “The Vampire,” or “The Werewolf”… who also happens to be angsty, awkward teenagers attending high school in the style of The Breakfast Club. With Moves such as “Turn Someone On,” “Gaze Into the Abyss,” or “Lash Out Physically,” players create stories of adolescent drama, cliques, and love triangles, as well as tales of trying to reconcile their inhumanity with the human world they live in.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Monster Of The Week
If Monsterhearts is the RPG gamers can use to tell stories like The Vampire Diaries, then Monster Of The Week is how gamers recreates episodes from Supernatural and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. A ragtag team of monster-hunters and paranormal investigators, represented using Playbooks such as “The Chosen”, “The Spooky”, or “The Flake”, have to take down various creatures that go bump in the night.
The game master who runs Monster of the Week has access to special rules for designing monsters – not just their special abilities/weaknesses, but their inhuman hungers and what they’ll do if they’re not stopped.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Night Witches
A streamlined, stark PBTA game about the real-life “Night Witches,” women aviators from the Soviet Union who flew outdated biplanes on night bombing runs against the Nazis during World War 2. Each playbook in Night Witches includes a list of special abilities plus a a list of period medals player characters can earn for their “valiant defense of the motherland.” Through Moves such as “Attack Run,” “Tempt Fate,” “Scrounge,” and “An Informal Interview,” players tries to keep their pilots alive during night missions, scavenge supplies during the day, and avoid attracting the attention of the dreaded NKVD secret police.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Flying Circus
A more lighthearted take on the aviation genre, Flying Circus is a love letter to both the open-cockpit flying machines of World War I and Studio Ghibli films such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In an Arcadian countryside ravaged by war and haunted by spirits, the brave mercenary pilots of the Flying Circus fight to protect their homes and fight off dragons with their whirring biplanes.
The combat mechanics for Flying Circus are more complex than the average “Powered By the Apocalypse” game, with Playbooks modeled after the instruments of a biplane cockpit and keen attention paid to the altitude adjustments and maneuvers real-life ace pilots employed during World War I.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: The Warren
The Warren is the second tabletop roleplaying game to be inspired by Watership Down, a famous novel, animated movies, and CGI TV series about a troop of rabbits embarking on a quest for a new home in the English countryside. Unlike other “Powered By the Apocalypse” games with human protagonists, players take on the role and struggles of rabbits using Moves such as “Dig,” “Bolt,” “Birth A Litter,” and “Resist Panic.” Instead of slimes, zombies, dragons, or robots, these Rabbit protagonists must face and flee from horrors such as dogs, eagles, foxes, and humans.
Tabletop Apocalypse RPG: Armor Astir Advent
Armor Astir Advent is a science-fantasy game about the Pilots of giant magical robots and the Support Team that assist them, members of ragtag Cause united to resist the imperial ambitions of a tyrannical Authority. The rules, Moves, and Playbooks of this game are designed not just to recreate giant mecha fights in the style of Gundam or Titanfall 2, but also tell the stories of political resistance against oppression and the poignant bonds between friends and rivals on different sides of the battlefield.
When it comes to games “Powered by the Apocalypse” players have a lot of choices, but the ones mentioned above are some of the best.
Source: Forbes
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