Introduction

Roughly 4 months ago I started a group of gamers called Sipping Primordial Soup (SPS).  The focus of this group is small-press role-playing games.  As part of this effort I have been running a lot of one-shot sessions.  I have learned quite a bit from running these various indie games.  I think they are really improving my game mastering skills.  This post contains some things I have learned so far.

I am not going to expand on the background mechanics that I am mentioning below.  Instead I want to jump right to the point.  If you need more exposition on my thoughts please let me know and I will try my best to elaborate.

It Is Ok Not To Like Every RPG System But Most Have Something To Offer

One of the things I learned quickly is that some systems are not for me while others are intuitive and easy for me to pickup.  Masks, which is a genre that I feel is squarely in my wheelhouse (aka teenage superheroes), was actually tricky for me to run.  It took a while to get my head around the superhero who took down my villain by using one of his abilities to convince the villain that what he is doing won’t work.  It made sense in the fiction but took a while to grasp in the mechanics.  Colonial Gothic was the complete opposite.  It has old school mechanics that were intuitive and easy for me to pickup and run.  I have run Colonial Gothic twice now to great success.

My takeaway is that even though systems vary greatly in mechanics it is important for my advancement in the hobby to understand and appreciate what these small-press RPG are trying to bring to the table.  Masks pulls back from the powers to focus on the emotional states of the characters.  That is one killer mechanic that really worked during my play.  I found it really enlightening.

In general Powered By The Apocalypse (PBTA) games with their up front GM actions that push player response and foreshadow the impact of their responses falls squarely in this category.  I have learned about hard vs soft questioning by running PBTA games.  Also simple things like asking how the characters look during a climactic moment have been fun and I think give the players more agency and narrative control.  Failing as a mechanism to advance the plot is another important thing I have learned from PBTA.

There are always more tricks to add to the GM toolkit!

I Need More Practice Running Some Genres

The same conclusions that I made with RPG systems apply to genres as well.  Some genres come super easy to me while others are tougher.  Anything gritty, deadly, and political is tougher for me where systems with grandiose heroes and clear cut villains are easier.  Masks and Colonial Gothic are both genres that are in me wheelhouses.  Masks is teenage superheroes and Colonial Gothic is monster hunting.  Both have clear protagonists and clear cut heroes.  Blades In The Dark is not as easy for me to run.  Every NPC in Blades In The Dark has their own motivations and nearly all of them are dishonest.

This is one area where I think I have the potential for a lot of growth.  Running genres that are harder for me has really opened up my play style and shown me how I can present things in different lights.  After running Blades In The Dark for the first time I realized how much I have grown in this area.  Also PBTA games really push the GM to think on their feet.  I like the challenge it brings!

I still have a lot to learn about gamemastering and I have been doing it since 1978.  :]

Systems Should Promote The Style Of Play They Are Trying To Achieve

Often the small-press games that are being played by the SPS group are hyper focused on a feeling that the author wants the gamers to experience as they play out a session.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but the key is the focus.  I have played and run some amazingly impactful games that are really enhanced by the laser like concentration in play.

System that enforce the play style of the genre and setting are important.

Character Ties Out Of The Gate Are Great

PBTA where have you been all my life!  Many of the PBTA games used Bonds or similar mechanics to tie characters to other characters and the setting up front during the character creation phase.  The result is an immersive experience that happens organically during session 0.  Immediately there is something for the players and GM to utilize drive the fiction.

The way Bonds enrich and direct play for a playbook is powerful.  Bonds act as reinforcement to the player in how that playbook should function and ties the character to the fiction.  The Watch does a good job of this with their Bond questions.

Bonds, and similar mechanics that tie starting characters to each other and enforce the setting, are a powerful technique to drive the fiction early.

The Goal Is For Everyone At The Table To Have Fun

This is sort of an obvious statement but I think playing these type of small-press games has really led me to change my play style.  As a GM this means making sure each player gets spotlight time and player agency.  Focusing on what each player and character brings to the table is critical.

As a player this means promoting the other players so that they can be “cool”.  One of my favorite things to do is start dialogs with other players to push along the fiction or compliment them on some really fun action that they just pulled off.  I think everyone wins when players and GMs foster this back-and-forth narrative trust.

Trust and kindness for the win!

Want To Join?

If you want to join Sipping Primordial Soup, my small-press RPG group in the Santa Clara area, then email or tweet using @Kingbeasst.

What Is PBTA?

PBTA stands for Powered By The Apocalypse.  Apocalypse World is an RPG by Vincent Baker that was released in 2010.  It was the first system to present these rules.  Small-press RPG that utilize these rules are classified as PBTA.  PBTA defines the base mechanics that are being used behind a lot of small-press games these days.  For the old school folks think of the Hero System and Champions.  Champions is an RPG that uses the Hero System.  Masks and Blades In The Dark are RPGs that are PBTA.  😉

(I need to make a disclaimer before I continue.  I am not an expert in PBTA games.  I am an enthusiast coming from an old school RPG upbringing who is now starting to run PBTA games more frequently.  ;)  If there are PBTA guru out there please correct me!  My goal is to get really good at running PBTA based games.)

Where Can I Learn About What Makes PBTA Different?

I would recommend these sources.

The Dungeon World Guide

Dungeon World is a classic fantasy RPG that is PBTA.  As part of that game some industrious fans created a wonderful document that explains to D&D players the major mind shifts that are needed for Dungeon World.  Brian Fernandez actually tipped me off to this document.  Highly recommended for getting your head around the changes.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8_Fz4m5hcoiTXpTbklDOF9iUHc

PBTA For The Old School

Recent blog post about PBTA for old school role-players from Trilemma.  This one I do not like as well as I think it sort of dances around some of the main points without jumping out and revealing the answer.  See what you think.  Worth a read.

https://blog.trilemma.com/2018/10/pbta-for-old-school.html

What GMs New To PBTA Don’t Know

This is a pretty good article from the creators of City Of Mist.  (City Of Mist is a noir-supers setting that is PBTA.)  I wanted to include this one because it is good for GMs.

http://cityofmist.sonofoak.com/2016/10/what-gms-new-to-pbta-apocalypse-world-engine-games-dont-know/

What Does John Think About PBTA?

PBTA games have several important qualities.  I want to cover some of the ones that I think are important and give my option on some of them as well.

Moves

Moves define the various things that players and GMs can do.  Their impact and effect are driven by how the Move is written.    The name of the Move often conveys the genre or setting as well.

Moves can be setting specific.  For example, Masks, an RPG about teenage superheroes, has a Move called, “Unleash Your Powers”.  You can guess what it does by the name.  Notice how even just the name drives home the setting and how it comes into play.

Characters are built using predefined Playbooks.  Playbooks are kind of like Classes in D&D.  (These will be discussed in more detail below.)  Each Playbook has Moves that only that character can perform.  For example, the Driver in Apocalypse World can choose, “A No Shit Driver”.

GMs, or MC (Masters Of Ceremony) as they are called in PBTA, also have their own set of Moves.  In Dungeon World MCs have moves like “Reveal An Unwelcome Truth”, “Put Someone In A Spot”, and “Use A Monster”.  Again these drive home the setting and genre.

Playbooks

Playbooks are used to define the character and describe any Moves that are specific to them.  They act as characters sheets but have Move details as well.  Often they also include rough details on how the character might look, their affiliations, etc.

Playbooks provide most, if not all, of the rules that the player will need.  This allows them to focus on the story and not their list of spells or how a particular stunt works for example.

The Playbook name, style, and look again drive the setting and genre.  In The Watch, a dark fantasy RPG, there are Playbooks called The Spider, The Bear, The Wolf, etc.  Just the name denotes detail about the focus of that Playbook.

The Playbook will also often include statements that provide Bonds to other PC.  These are an excellent mechanic for immediately tying the PC to each other.  For example, in Dungeon World the Wizard has, “X is keeping an important secret from me.”  Notice how these can drive the setting and genre.

Fail Forward

The dice rolling in PBTA games is one of the hardest things for most traditional RPG players and MCs to grok.  The import rule here is that players do all of the rolls.  The MC first present the situation that is in front of the player.  The player reacts by describing what they do.  Often this involves fiction first then activation of a Move.

The results of the roll drive the results of that piece of the encounter and push the fiction forward.  This is a really important thing to grasp.  Most PBTA RPG systems break down the rolls into a 2d6 roll with modifications.  2 to 6 is  Failure, 7 to 9 is a Success with a Complication, and 10+ is a Success with often fewer or no Complications.  Sometimes even a full Success will mean picking options from the Move.  Move often spawn questions or a response from the MC.

Here is a fast example of how this works.  While exploring a dark cave the dwarven warrior Gimli runs across a group of three goblin scouts.  The MC then describes the action, “The goblins jump out from behind a rock and charge forward with their rusty swords swinging!  What do you do?”.  Notice how the MC starts with action from the scene.  Gimli’s player responds with, “For Crom!  I drive my hammer down on the head of the first goblin!”  The MC looks at the available Moves and says to make a “Hack & Slash”.  The player rolls a 5.  This is a Failure but it does not stop the fiction!  The GM responds with, “Moving forward your hammer glances past the left ear of the goblin who nicks your arm with his blade.  Now that you have moved forward the other goblins charge in from all sides!  Take 4 damage.”  The idea is to push the fiction forward and let the character act even more cool after getting out of a jam.

Summary

PBTA games are definitely more difficult for the MC as there is a lot of response and setting up action before and after every roll.  The back and forth play is difficult to run until you get more practice.

Another thing that can be difficult when running PBTA games is driving the difficulty of a challenge.  For example, in my example of the combat with the goblins I could have still let the character smash the goblin then have the next one land a blow.  The associated complications to a failure take time to master.  It gets even harder when you have to handle this for a group of players.

This system begets a storytelling heavy session.  There are not a lot of crunchy bits that get in the way of the fiction and the actual resolution is often very quick.  I have found that throwing tons of things for the characters to respond to is the best course of action in PBTA games.  This way each element of the encounter presents a more intuitive response.  It also gives something for each character to do in the scene.

I am still in the learning how to run PBTA games.  So far I am good for the first couple of rolls but then I will start to get lax and fall into common tropes, “You failed take some harm.”  That is not how the system is geared to work.  Saying that…I really want to get good at it.  I have played in some absolutely amazing PBTA games over the last four years so I know it works well if properly executed…I just need to get it to sing for me.  🙂

[  Author’s Note: This is the episode synopsis for the 30th session of the Dark Waters Rising campaign.  This is my take as to what happened during the session.  Please let me know if there are any comments or corrections.  ]

Akili’s Song

After preparing some gas cans the hunters wait for Akili to begin his song.  While they wait they review the data they have collected so far.  When reviewing the data they realize Jevaun and Akili could be immortal satyrs!  Anne confronts Akili after getting this knowledge.  She explains that they want something different but that they can potentially both get what they want.  The crafty ex-DOOR agent explains that she does not want to see all of these innocent college kids to get hurt.  Akili agrees but also lets Anne know that he needs the party goers to be present so that he can finish his song.

As Akili starts his song Alastair and Winston find it difficult to resist its call.  When the song reaches its crescendo they feel the tune calling out over the Outer Dark through the trees which are acting as antenna.  When the group has extracted the sap a strange whirlpool appears in the air between the trees.  Emerging from the swirling mist is a strange black plant creature with roots that trail into the Outer Dark.  Winston and Alastair race to Akili who appears to be attracting the creature.  MD deals it a critical blow with an arrow while Kirk prepares a gas can to light it on fire.  Ron cuts at the roots stunning it!  As it stumbles forward Kirk lights it on fire.  When the smoke clears Winston speaks with Akili then the groups go their separate ways.

Mages And Feelings

Now that the hunters have all of the components they begin to finalize their notes on casting the spell.  Winston and Alastair determine that they will need to cast the spell at the intersection of two specific ley lines.  The correct nexus is just outside of a tiny town called Reed in Mississippi.  After stowing their gear the group heads to Reed.

Bypassing the town of Reed the group heads to the coordinates of the ley line nexus.  At the location they find an old house near a rocky hillside.  Carefully exploring the house Kirk find the ghost of an older gentleman name Jonathan Moeller.  Jonathan says that the house belongs to him and his wife, Anabelle.  Doing some quick online research Kirk finds that Jonathan penned a book called Beyond Daedalus: Labyrinths In History And Legend in 1948.

Searching the house the group finds a passage into a strange magical hallway filled with mist.  Anne carefully investigates the stone walls only to discover that every stone brick is identical.  As the group explores the labyrinth Alastair and Winston can feel the Outer Dark calling out to them.  This has the effect of guiding them to the center of the maze.  As the group nears the center of the labyrinth a massive minotaur with glowing fingernails emerges before them.  It lets loose knocking out Anne and nearly killing Winston!  Some quick paramedics from Alastair saves Winston from dying.  Ron blasts the minotaur with his shotgun filled with rock salt.  To his surprise the minotaur shimmers when hit.  Inside Alastair can see the form of a small human.  After MD and Kirk lay into the creature with their weapons the minotaur limps away disappearing into the mist.

At the center of the labyrinth the group finds a room with no contents.  Winston and Alastair feel pressure like they did when previously encountering the Outer Dark.  As Alastair and Winston prepare for the spell a strange mist fills the room.  When the mist clears each hunter sees their greatest fear manifest!  After fighting off these visions Alastair starts the ritual.  With help from Winston and consummate skill Alastair completes the spell sealing the weak points in the rift to the Outer Dark.  As the spell finishes the minotaur appears then forms into an older woman, Annabelle.  Once she appears Jonathan comes to her side.  After kissing her briefly the pair vanish into the ether.

[ This session concludes the second Dark Waters Rising campaign arc.  I want to thank all of the Dark Waters Rising players for some amazing memories. ]