end of the world apocworldhack 123112
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End of the
WorldPoWeReD bY tHe ApOcAlYpSeGrEmLiN LeGiOnSDeCeMbEr 31 2 0 1 2
Players Guide
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Who are you?You are a disparate group, people from
all walks of life. Maybe you know theothers, maybe they are strangers...butright now you need all the allies you canget.
What is happening?There is something wrong with theworld, but were not sure what. Tensionsare boiling over, markets are crashing,buildings are on fire. Whether it was
caused by rebellion, terrorists, globalwar, a zombie plague, or aliens, youdont know. Will you find out?
Where are You?
Youve taken refuge, huddled togetherfor safety against the chaos outside.Hopefully you can all hold out until...until things get better. But supplies arelimited, and you dont know how long
theyll last...
What do you do?Based onApocalypse Worldby Vincent Baker, World of Dungeonshack by
John Harper, and inspiration from Chronica Feudalisby Jeremy Keller
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Your CitizensPick three backgroundsfrom those provided later,
and use them to define your past and personality.
They list certain Skills add +1to a Skill if listed,
and subtract -1if it is instead marked with an ,
giving you totals between -2 and +3. You can
select the same background more than once, but
you cannot have a combination that would lower
any Skill below -2.
SkillsAware Staying alert to your surroundings.
Bypass Sabotaging or disarming security and devices.
Charm Sociability, style, and attractiveness.Combat Martial training and marksmanship.
Deceit Lies, cheating, and manipulating people.
Expert Scientific understanding and analysis.
Fitness Physical prowess, mobility, and agility.
Menace Threats of force, violence, or defamation.
Renown Reputation and social influence.
Repair Designing, fixing, and modifying devices.
Search Uncovering clues and scavenging materials.
Sneak Concealing your activities and position.Survive Enduring the elements and foraging for food.
Treat Diagnosis of ailments and providing aid.
Wisdom Common sense and general knowledge.
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What You HaveYour start with ten pointsworth of Trade things
you had before all hell broke loose or that you
picked up on the run, things which people still value
and would exchange for useful items. During setup,
you can freely spend Tradefor Goods, Tools, and
Arms. Afterwards, getting what you need will be a
matter of bartering, hard work, and luck.
One Tradewill buy one point of Goods. These
are spent as one-time bonusesto particular Skills,
such as Repair (machine parts, duct tape), Treat
(antibiotics, bandages), or Survive (rations, all-
weather matches). You dont need to define what
the Goods are, just which Skill they benefit.
Two Tradewill buy one point worth of Tools.
Tools make certain Skill actions possible. If you
had Repair, you could figure out what was wrong
with an engine, but not actually fix itwithout the
right Tools. Tools can also be spent, but insteadof adding a bonus, they improve the resultof the
Skill.
Two Tradecan also buy one point worth of
Arms, either weapons or armor. Weapons cause
Harm, while armor Soaksthe damage inflicted.Remember that guns are going to be loud,
explosives will be dangerous, and armor will make
you a target.
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Example Tools
Binoculars Aware Credentials Renown
Lockpicks Bypass Tool Kit Repair+Heavy
Gun Scope Combat Geiger Counter Search
Forged Papers Deceit Ghillie Suit Sneak
Climbing Gear Fitness First Aid Kit Treat
Example Armor Example Handguns
Vest 1 Soak Derringer 1 Harm
Jacket 2 Soak Pistol 2 Harm
Bomb Suit 3 Soak +Heavy SMG 2 Harm+Auto
Example Melee Heavy Pistol 3 Harm
Knife 1 Harm Stun Gun 1 Stun
Big Knife 2 Harm Example Rifles
Crowbar 2 Harm Hunting Rifle 2 Harm
Sword/Axe 3 Harm Sawed-Off 3 Harm+Blast
Chainsaw 4 Harm Shotgun 3 Harm
Example Explosives Assault Rifle 3 Harm+Auto
Grenade4 Harm +Blast
+Stock
Sniper Rifle 3 Harm+Silenced
Machinegun 4 Harm+Auto
C-44 Harm+Blast+Stock +Charge
Heavy
Machinegun
5 Harm+Auto+Heavy
+Auto: Can Harm up to three targets, but must reload afterward+Blast: Does Harm to all within close proximity of the primary target,
but must reload afterward
+Charge: Each additional charge adds +1 Harm+Heavy: While carried, suffer -1 to all rolls+Silenced: Cannot be heard when fired from concealment+Stun: Treat as Harm instead of Wounds, target is -3 to all rolls,
reduce by 1 each minute
+Stock: Half base cost for one item, +1 Trade per extra (e.g. agrenade would cost 4 Trade, +1 per additional grenade)
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Doing ThingsWhen you attempt something difficultor
dangerous, roll 2D6and add a Skillappropriate to
your action. The result is based on your total. The
Overseer will tell you some of the possible risks
before you roll, and you must decide if you want to
take the chance.
6 or lessis a Failure; things dont gowell, and the Overseer will describe aconsequence or Fallout.
7 to 9is Passable; you do it, but thereis some cost, compromise, or otherTrouble.
10 to 11is a Success; you do it withoutany undueTrouble.
12+is an Opportunity; you not onlydo it, but you get some extra benefit oradvantage.
Before you roll, you can spendavailable Goodstoadd up to +3to your total. After you roll, you can
spend your Toolsto increase the results by one
rank.
!OppositionOften you will be facing other people, whetherbartering, fighting, or evading. The Overseer will
describe what you perceivetheir strengths and
motives are, instead of explicit risks...because
people sometimes defy expectations.
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Harm and RecoveryWhen you take Harm, reduce it by your armors
Soakand check the resulting Woundbelow.
Unarmed attacks to 0 Harm, and unarmored targets
have 0 Soak. Wounds are cumulative a second
Graze would become a Light Wound, for example.
Lesser Wounds heal first, and you can roll +Treatto
reduce a Wounds healing time by one rank.
0 GrazeYou arent really hurt, just a bit winded or
off balance: rest a turn to recover
1 LightMere scratches: they wont matter after
an hour of rest.
2 MinorBruises and lacerations: youll feel better
after a day of rest.
3 MajorBleeding, possibly some minor
fractures: heals after a week of rest.
4 Severe
Broken bones, blood dripping everywhere,and you need to roll+Fitnessto not slip
into unconsciousness: takes a month of
rest to recover.
5 Dying
You are slipping away, and need
someone to roll+Treatjust to keep youalive: takes a month of rest to recover.
6+ Dead Theres no saving you now.
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The OthersSometimes youll be at cross-purposes with other
players. You should negotiate and come to a
compromise. If neither side budges, you can offer
up Trade or items, or give them one Favorwith you
if they give in.
!Helping and HinderingIf you try to assist or interfere with someones action,tell everyone what you are doing to get involved, and
then you can choose to either give them +1to their
next roll (Helping) or -2(Hindering), but you cant
do anything else until they are done with that action.
You can, instead, spend one Favorwith someone to
Help or Hinder and still be able to do other things.
!Hurting OthersIf it comes to blows, the aggressor will roll as with
any other combat. The defender can try to Hinder
their attack, or counter with their own attack.
AdvancementYou can find more Tradethrough your explorations,
or perhaps as reward for your deeds. You can give
your Trade to others for Favors, one per total Favor
you will havewith them (e.g. raising 2 Favor to 3 willcost 3 Trade).
You can advance your Skills by trading in five Favors
per Skill bonusyou will have, to a maximum of +4
(e.g. raising +2 to +3 will cost 15 Favors).
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ActivistAware
BypassCharm or
MenaceRenown
Survive
Bystander3 of choice
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AuthorityCharm
Combat orWisdom
DeceitExpertRenown
OperativeCharm
CombatBypass or
MenaceDeceitSneak
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ArtistAware
CharmMenace
Renown or
WisdomSearch
CelebrityAware or
Fitness
CharmDeceitRenownSneak
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DrifterAware
Deceit orRepair
Renown
SneakSurvive
FugitiveBypass or
FitnessCombat
MenaceRenown
Survive
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EnforcerBypass or
ExpertCombatDeceit
MenaceSearch
ResponderFitnessor
Search
Menace RepairSurviveTreat
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CriminalAware
BypassorMenace
CombatDeceitFitness
MiscreantBypassCombator
SneakDeceitSearchWisdom
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ResearcherCombat
DeceitExpertRepairor
TreatWisdom
TechnicianAwareor
Search
BypassExpertRenown
Repair
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SpecialistBypass
CharmCombatDeceit
Repairor
Treat
VeteranAwareCharm
CombatFitnessSneakor
Survive
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End of the
WorldPoWeReD bY tHe ApOcAlYpSeGrEmLiN LeGiOnSDeCeMbEr 31 2 0 1 2
Overseers Guide
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Playing with the ApocalypseThe Overseer manages the flow of play in End of
the World. You control the non-player characters,
describe scenes and environments, introduce events,
and otherwise present challenges for the players
to confront or circumvent. You arent necessarily
opposing the players and their actions instead, you
are using their actions and the conflicts that arise to
build an interesting story.
It can be very tempting when you first start playing
End of the Worldto immediately plot out ideas for
what happened and why things are the way they
are. You may want to steer the story in a particular
direction, or introduce complex plot twists, or emulateyour favorite disaster or horror movie.
Dont do that.
End of the Worldis about surviving the downfall
of society, and seeing what comes afterward. If the
players or you, the Overseer, want to discover how
the world ended, then it will be important to introduce
people or motivations that make that important to the
story. If the reasons why arent driving at least one of
the players forward towards action, then dont worry
about it. Otherwise, play to find out what happened.
There are very few rules to this game, but here are
some suggestions that you, as the Overseer, should
follow.
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DonT Bother RollingThe Overseer, will very rarely ever have to pick up
the dice. The action of End of the World is all player-
driven, so everything should be decided in termsof player rolls. Are the players trying to accomplish
something that is difficult or dangerous? Have them
roll. Are the players reacting to something difficult or
dangerous? Have them roll.
If you need the players to react to something, frameyour NPC actions as either as Trouble or Fallout,
depending on the situation. Have the players been
snooping around somewhere they shouldnt? Have
a thug come up to them to push them around,
threatening to hurt them, and ask them what they doabout it. Keep them on their toes.
Anything beyond a players control will either be
decided by the Overseers whim, or by a single
D6 roll. Oddnumbers will be bad, evennumbers
are good. Exactly what good and bad means willdepend on the situation. This kind of roll can also be
used when someone take an action for which sheer
chance is the only deciding factor.
Its all gone to shitNothing the players do will be able to stop the end ofthe world, whatever form it takes. It HAS happened,
and right now theyre dealing with the results. They
need to make the best of it that they can.
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Together at the EndThe players should all start somewhere that
is, at the moment, secure...but not completely
defensible. Wherever they are holed up, it willlikely be cramped, overcrowded, vulnerable,
uncomfortable, or otherwise lack sufficient supplies
for the long-term. Eventually they will need to
venture forth.
Keep Things DangerousThe players are normal people; while they are
central to the story, they are not action-movie
heroes. If they make bad choices, bad things
should happen. Feel free to throw obstacles and
opponents in their way, and see how they react.
This doesnt mean you should murder or torture
them without some good reason...thats what
NPCs are for, after all. NPCs should be dying in
terrible, painful, tragic ways, usually as a result of
the players choices...particularlybecause of theplayers choices.
Keep Asking QuestionsThe End has happened, but what exactly was it?
Ask the players leading questions about what they
saw or experienced, why they chose to hide where
they did, who or what they may have left behind.
You need to take notes of the answers, and use
those to build the story.
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Keep things RealDont overload the players with lots of extraneous
details and flowery speech. Dont describe things like
they were scenes from a movie describe them as ifyou experienced them yourself. Lots of noise, pain,
and stench, but dulled colors, blurred details, and
somewhat uncertain facts.
Everyone they speak to is an individual give them
a name if you can, or some spark of personality thatmakes them feel like people. A bum on the street would
be easily forgotten or sacrificed, but Stocking-Cap Hank
who drags his pit bull puppy everywhere is someone the
players may come to rely on or care about.
Keep things Weird?Try to maintain some internal logic to the story, and
dont allow yourself or the players to stray too far from
reality without first establishing that something weird
is happening. Yes, the world is ending, but whether
that was caused by global warming, sunspots, socialunrest, or alien invasion needs to be established by
questions asked of the players.
If you are trying to push things in a weird direction
(like I usually do), ask things like What is it that
seems odd about the guy in the green coat? or Howdid that sound make your pets react? or Why were
those people jumping off the bridge? If youre getting
mundane answers, thats a sign you shouldnt move
in a weird direction.
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Making NPCsUnlike players, who only need to keep track of
their own character and their important details, the
Overseer not only has to take notes and sketch
out ideas and sometimes rough maps, but must
handle all the various other characters the players
will interact with.
Most NPCs will be extras, and can be described
in fairly broad strokes. However, once the players
interact with them, you need to start giving them
some life of their own. Here are some ideas to
add depth or personality to your NPCs, whether
other citizens, conspirators, enemy combatants,
prisoners, or monsters.
What is their name? Do they even have one?
What are they like? Use two or three senses to
describe them.
What motivatesthem? Are they hungry,
savage, scared, controlling, greedy? Who do they knowor work with?
Who have they run afoulwith?
Do they have an obvious strength?
Do they have a secret strength?
Do they have a perceived weakness?
What is something the players dont know
about them that they should know?
What is something that even you dont know
about the NPC?
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Scavenging and BarteringEventually the players are going to run out of Trade,
and theyll need to find more in order to replenish
their supplies. But when society has collapsed, this
isnt such an easy task.
Finding fresh Trade usually requires either a
roll+Searchin urban areas, roll+Survivein rural
areas. This involves activities such as scavenging
parts and trinkets, collecting recyclable materials,
hunting for game, gathering berries or herbs, etc. A
Passable result means they find their lowest rolled
dieworth in Trade, the highest dieif a Success, and
the sum of the diceif an Opportunity. For example,
if you rolled a 2 and 6, a Passable result would netyou 2 Trade, a Success would get you 6, and an
Opportunity would provide 8.
The Overseer should mark how many times the
players have gathered supplies from a particular
area in a month. After three marks, any Failurewillmean that it has been picked clean for the near
future.
Exchanging Trade for Goods, Tools, and Arms is
also not so easy. After character creation, Trade
costs are doubled, though players can try to barterto drop the prices down a quarter, maybe more with
an Opportunity. Bartering is typically a roll +Charm,
+Deceit, +Menace, or +Renown, though
alternatives can be suggested by crafty players.
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Trouble and FalloutTroubleis typically the result of a Passable
result, but can also be caused by inactionor
recklessness. Trouble can also be used to describe
the intent of enemies. What do the players do in
response?
Falloutis the result of a Failure, but can also be
caused by terrible choices andrash decisions.
What follows are some possible examples.
TroubleDelaythem Offera compromise
Distractthem Provokea response
Escalatea danger Reactto their action
Exaggerateperceptions ReturnHarm for Harm
Impairperceptions Revealnew dangers
Impedemovement Takesomething away
FalloutCapturethem Preventtheir action
Destroysomething Reinforcea danger
Forcea choice Screwwith them
InflictHarm Separatethem
Killan ally Surprisethem