Visions of Grandeur

While struggling with the finishing touches for my Apocalypse World hack I have noticed my mind wondering towards new paths and hacks. I am now even more intrigued by the possibilities of hacking AW than when I started. There is still much to be learned (as I have not yet even played anything besides tremulus) but that really does not stop me from thinking about what could be done.

First idea I have toyed with would put the players in a confined space after a catastrophe. Playbooks would start out with quite regular people but advances would reveal something more from their past. Major inspiration for this kind of a hack include the TV shows Lost and Under the Dome.

This kind of hack would require its own playbooks. The afflictions would be the main threat type as each player would face the problems of a closed community spiralling towards chaos. It would end up in a game of Lord of the Flies pretty quick, I suspect.

Second idea is a bit more easier. The re-skinning of original AW playbooks for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay hack. At first I thought it with a lot of open options but as I have noticed with the hack I’m currently writing, open options can be a bit problematic. So now I’m thinking it should be about playing a group of bounty hunters.

Bounty hunters are loveable scoundrels for a reason and the Old World would be an ideal place for a group like this. It would force them to act for a common goal but would still allow them to play their own hand against each other when necessary.

In this hack Psychic Maelstrom would be replaced with “Using the Enemy Within”-kind of move. The character would open himself to chaos that would eventually mutate him into the very beast he hunts. Playbooks could/would be quite easy:

angel>barber-surgeon; battlebabe>witch hunter; brainer>hedge wizard (burned at the beginning of the session…); chopper>outlaw chief; driver>road warden; gunlugger>veteran; hard-holder>inn-keeper; hocus>battle priest; operator>fence; savvyhead>engineer; skinner>courtesan.

This might work. Or not. There are at least two WFRP hacks in various state of process. So I would not jump to this one quite that easily.

Third idea I had would mix cyberpunk with AW. I made a rpg called Eldritch Sigils before I started with the AW hack. Though I am not overly pleased with that outcome, it had some very good point. The Cocoon was one of them.

The Cocoon is what comes of internet over time. A global network that engulfs the whole world. Everyone is connected to it (quite likely from the birth at certain stage) and it s required to operate even on the most basic of daily levels. As the word connotes “the cocoon” is not the end of the metamorphose. It hints of possibilities that might evolve from it.

Now with AW hack the Cocoon would be as simple as the psychic maelstrom. It would be technical but to a point (for the people of our age) that it seems almost like magic. Using the Cocoon in this way would make it crucial for each gaming session. And so it would make it more notable when someone takes actions to bring it down.

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So there they are. My three simple and little ideas of what I would like to do and how I would like to play. I’m not saying I’ll get to these at some point. I am only suggesting that I am thinking of these at the moment. I might even steal some ideas from myself and use them in some way with what I’m working on right now.

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