Broken World

>expirebox.com/download/a6ea692b7324f45ce677ae1faefa014e.html
Thanks. That over thread has transformed into a Star Wars discussion of all things.

Seems to be the day for off-topic threads. Another thread at the moment on how hard it is to find a good roll20 game is now entirely about He-man for some reason.

>You could always run your own homebrew with a generic ruleset like Savage Worlds

Then why the fuck even buy this?

>bland and forgettable
I'm reading the rules as I write this, and it seems like there's too much simplicity. Roleplaying is great, but it looks like the rules don't represent characters that well because they're so basic, with little room for differentiation. On top of that, there's some weird stuff like armour being a SPENDABLE resource that you negate attacks with. Is that a normal Powered by the Apocalypse thing? It seems weird as fuck to me. I've never played any Powered by the Apocalypse game before. From what I can see, is right.

I'm all for taking existing generic systems and customising them to create an official RPG system so the wheel doesn't have to be reinvented again. But using PbtA seems almost, if not completely lazy. It looks like the easy way out, it's no wonder it's so bland.

>but it looks like the rules don't represent characters that well because they're so basic, with little room for differentiation

Your archetype is your differentiation, and they should be really different, if not, it's a bad attempt at a PbtA (at least in this sense).

>On top of that, there's some weird stuff like armour being a SPENDABLE resource that you negate attacks with. Is that a normal Powered by the Apocalypse thing?

That's a thing in a lot of the more indie games actually, especially ones that use simple rules (many OSRs use similar things for shields and helmets for example).

>there's some weird stuff like armour being a SPENDABLE resource that you negate attacks with. Is that a normal Powered by the Apocalypse thing?
I don't know a fuckin' thing about PbtA, but I like the idea just because it seems appropriate to the way combat looks in K6BD. People's armor is always being cracked like an eggshell and crumbling off them from some crazy hyper-Vedic blow infused with Backwards Tao energy.

I guess, but that seems more like due to Allison tangling with really fucking high power shit in the first place.

I skimmed it once and it didnt really look playing. Honestly, as cool as the setting is I wouldnt want to run a game in it. As a GM getting everybody on the same page lore-wise is important, as it ensures everybody knows what the hell is going on. Half the fun of KSBD is filling in new bits about the world that you couldnt have predicted from older elements, hence its not a great system to run an RPG in.

As for what you could use instead, you could probably actually run some street-level shit in Throne using hacked Dark Heresy. Everything's there: Guns, Magic, Lasers, Demons, Backflips, etc.

All you'd need to do is come up with templates for all the Inheritors and you're good to go.

I somewhat agree with you. Street level stuff looks quite interesting, and the players could work up to being formidable, like that Gun witch in one of the earlier chapters.

Honestly, street level stuff in Throne is the only way Id play in the KSBD universe. Thats why it came to mind. Its grounded, but still really weird, and its full of stuff that people have actual context for, like buildings, public transport, markets, etc.

Thank you. Have a Cio.

>You could always run your own homebrew with a generic ruleset like Savage Worlds
Not that user but the lore is fine. The rules just look like bland garbage.

Yeah exactly. The lore in the book looks just fine. It's just the rules.

>Half the fun of KSBD is filling in new bits about the world that you couldnt have predicted from older elements, hence its not a great system to run an RPG in.

PbtA games have this communal world building going on, which is good exactly for this kind of stuff.

Why are you saying that as if it isn't true of all RPGs? D&D and Pathfinder are a fucking droll when you've got shitty players, too, you know.

To be fair, I think this is Abadon's first crack at RPGs in general. Like, he came here for advice early on saying that he wanted to base it of DW instead of PbtA proper. After pointing out that DW is a shitshow that betrays its own goals, BW went though a LOT of revisions.

Now the man is apparently balls-deep in RPGs. I'm curious how his other two are going to shape up; I bet he learned a lot from this little project, and we'll probably see a much better Broken World 2e somewhere down the road.

Pretty much what said.

PbtA games are lightweight. They have really simple resolutions that are intuitive and easy to conform to any system. It appeals to casual players who want to sit down and play without spending much time making a character or learning the rules.

I have friends who have never played rpgs. They have jobs and children but are good players in that they are engaged and creative. PbtA works great for them because they are engaged by narrative elements supported by light mechanics.

If I had other players who liked tactical combat and simulationist rules, I’d obviously pick a different system, but PbtA works really well for casual players who are imaginative and invested.

If you’re new to the system though, play a one shot of Apocalypse World. The mechanics feel good and every resolution makes for different stories. Have also played Dungeon World and Masks which work fine, but AW continues to be my favorite.

He didn't talk about shitty players. I think the keyword here is "creative." Not that many people are creative, though they might be interested and engaged.

I don't know about you, but it's not exactly fun role-playing with people without an ounce of wit or creativity. Being unimaginative definitely makes you a shitty player in my books.

So PbtA is fine if you've got creative players who don't care that much about mechanics? Sounds like a great fit for my group, I'll have to check it.