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Old 08-02-2012, 10:42 PM   #5
Jason
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Boston, MA
Default Re: Conversion to Apocalypse World rules

Ahh, thanks for clarifying. The tricky thing here is that Apocalypse World doesn't really have traits, skills, advantages, and whatnot, so it's not a matter of figuring out how to add stuff from that system, but how much of In Nomine gets left on the cutting room floor before it stops looking like In Nomine.

The one thing I do actually need to make up (or carefully select from elsewhere) is what the "basic moves" are. That's better understood less as skills/powers, and more as what kinds of actions you want to encourage all PCs to be doing. In Apocalypse World, for instance, the "Hard" stat gets added to your roll when you want to "Go Aggro" (threaten with violence) or "Seize by Force" (just what it sounds like). Those are things everybody is expected to try to do sooner or later in a scarcity-based, post-apocalyptic setting. On the other hand, in Monsterhearts (an AW-derived game designed to let you tell Buffy/Twilight style supernatural teen dramas), the "Hard" stat is called "Volatile," going aggro is replaced by "Lash Out Physically" (less about threatening, more about unpredictable anger), and "Seize by Force" is gone entirely, making way for "Run Away" (during which you may cry and cause a scene). Similar approaches, but tweaked to invoke their respective genres.

So, aside from the obvious supernatural stuff (rolling resonance, detecting disturbance, etc.), what kinds of things do you think are likely to come up in just about every In Nomine game, sooner or later? It's a tough question, seeing as how In Nomine covers a really broad range of themes and styles by design. An angels-as-superheroes campaign probably just needs a straight-up swords-and-punches moves for fight scenes, while a dark, low-contrast game focused on drama might benefit from something more like the tension-and-intimidation-focused "Go Aggro." But what else do we do? Search for clues? Try to trick police into letting us into crime scenes? Creepily spy on people in crowds? I could use some suggestions for stuff like this to abstract into broader moves for all characters...
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