Apocalypse World: Madworms of New York

WARNING: MUCH PROFANITY HERE!

Playing Apocalypse World involves deciding, either at the start or in play, why the world is broken. Here, the GM made the decisions in advance, and explained that there would be a few requirements, and some differences from the rulebook. Fair warning: I don't think any of this is intended to be scientifically viable.

About fifty years before the start of the game, the seas had turned to "red silt mud crap". It's just not possible to move through them. They'll suck you down and drown you. All of the fish are dead.

There was a new stat, Hunger. It could be staved off by eating. Food exists, but it doesn't work. It no longer sustains people. There are three exceptions:

1. . Rats
2. . Plants growing in the mud. These are rare and vile, but edible.
3. . Madworms. These spontaneously generate from dead bodies. They eat each other and anything else, getting bigger and bigger. If one eats them, they are sustaining and remove all one's hunger. However, they also drive people who eat them batshit, but one does what one must to survive.

The action began at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It was fortified, and it was home -- but that didn't mean it was safe. There were crazies outside, strange people who could shepherd the worms. Inside, there was a cult that worshipped the giant whale in the museum, a cult known as the Blue Man Group.

And, a young child named Sawtooth had been murdered. This, as the GM noted, was A Problem. There was someone who was just fine with murdering a child and leaving him there to be found.

The GM explained that we needed the following elements:

1. . At least one PC had to be the parent of Sawtooth
2. . At least one PC had to be a member of the Blue Man Group
3. . At least one PC had to be an advocate for eating the Madworms
4. . At least one PC had to be a dissident

We selected playbooks (like character templates) and decided on names.

Brendan Conway: GM

Me: Sundown, a gender-ambiguous person with large eyes. The Brainer, and a member of the Blue Man Group. Brainers can kill people with their minds.

Sara W.: Pandora, who was thin, with a mournful face and a faraway look, utility clothing, and a kevlar vest. Weapons: a machete and a sawed off shotgun. The Touchstone, carrying a purse-sized terrarium. One of Sawtooth's parents. The Touchstone was the embodiment of hope, like Shepherd Book from Firefly, or Eli form the Book of Eli, I was told.

Daniel L.: N'beke. The Hardholder. One of Sawtooth's parents. (He and I both reached for the Brainer, but I won the dice-off.) He wore tight leather fetish garb, bright nail polish, and bright lipstick. He was tall, willowy, thin, and black, and in his mid-20s, although even he didn't know exactly how old he was. He had forgiving eyes in a cruel face. My notes say that he was a slave before he became the Hardholder. His key weakness was that he was so busy keeping things together day to day that he forgot to look to where everything was going. He'd had bigger plans before. The Hardholder is the one who runs the place. If no one had chosen the Hardholder, the GM would have created an NPC Hardholder who specialized in making life difficult for all of the PCs.

Daniel S.: Lemuel Squeaks. The Marmot, concealed gender, 4 1/2 feet, combover hair, bleary bloodshot eyes, track marks. A Dissident. My notes say, "N'beke lacks vision. Will it hurt me? Unless you get glasses soon." The Marmot playbook was done as a bit of a joke, but its creators assured the GM that it did work as a PC. The Marmot specializes in solving mysteries, and, to a degree, the entire scenario had been written so that the Marmot would work as a character. No one was required to play the Marmot, but we pretty much agreed that someone should.

???: Big Playboy. He carried a chainsaw, and my notes say something about smiting with dinosaur bones. The Faceless, and an advocate of worm eating. He talks to his mask. Tells himself. In his late 30s, 15 years ago, he hurt himself with the chainsaw, which is how he became the Faceless. The Faceless wears a mask, all the time, like Rorschach from Watchmen or Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The mask, as far as Big Playboy was concerned, was Frank Sinatra.

The new rules involved cards. Certain actions meant that one got cards, which represented insanity and indicated that one's PC might be the murderer. For, the GM explained, one of the PCs was the murderer, and we'd find out who it was over the course of the game. Eating worms gained the eater a card. Some of the cards had instructions on them. Under certain circumstances, one could give someone else a card.

One could make an accusation, in which case, one would roll 2d6 and add the number of cards the accused had. If the total was:

• 10 or higher: The accused did it.
• 7-9: The accused got another card.
• 6 or lower: The accuser got another card.

Big Playboy started with a card, I think because he was a worm eater.

The Holding was The Museum of Natural Fucking History. It was small, holding 50-60 people. The people did hunting, crude farming, and scavenging -- growing weed, hunting rats. There was some lucrative raiding of the crazies outside.

The Hardholder's "gang" was 40 people, well disciplined and armed, but "hyenas" -- they eat people and mutilate bodies if not reined in. I believe the people they would eat would be the dead bodies of their foes, but I'm not sure my notes are clear. Those people not in the gang were Lazy and Drug Stupored. They fermented some of the nasty weed and injected it, and it caused them to bliss out. The weed was called Shitweed, causing Shitbliss. I guess those who took it were Shitfaced.

The general timeline:

• T-50: Apocalypse
• T-10: Sundown joins the Blue Man Group which lives in the museum in an uneasy detente with the Crazies
• T-5: N'beke took the museum from the madworm infected crazies, with help from the Blue Man Group. The Faceless believed that the madworm enhanced his fighting. Sawtooth was born right after the takeover.

The Marmot came to the museum before the BMG, thinking that there was a female marmot there. Well, there was, but she was a stuffed exhibit. He hid from the original crazies. He got his sentience after the apocalypse, and that was one thing he didn't question. My notes say "Trying to look under god's skirt." He considered the BMG fucking crazy, but in a world gone made, sometimes the crazies are the only ones sane. He didn't really like the newcomers.

Jackaback was the head of the BMG, their priest, and a bit of a jerk.

Pandora didn't trust the BMG. The terrarium that was her symbol of hope was something concrete because she wanted something alive, before humanity was reduced to this. She disliked the cult of personality around Jackaback, and she wanted to convert them. She didn't like the leader, and thought the members needed to be talked to. This not unreasonable position lasted until Jackaback opened his mouth.

N'beke considered the BMG to be fucking weirdoes. There were too many to get rid of, but he was always weighing the option of killing them. There were about 15, which is to say a quarter of his civilian population. He was opposed to eating Madworms. They drove people fucking insane!

I have a note that, in the past, the Faceless massacred people that Pandora would otherwise have let go. Nevertheless, she was kind to Big Playboy. She had betrayed N'beke once, going behind his back when she opposed a political goal. N'beke wanted to kill a child named Cortland and other children like him who were playmates. They could call the worms. Pandora prevented the massacre, I think allowing the children to escape to the outside. But, N'beke saw this as a betrayal, and their marriage had been under a lot of strain since then, which also meant that they hadn't had sex with each other in a while.

N'beke's player got an 8 on his Hardholder roll, which meant that there was a surplus of food in the hold, but nevertheless, the hold was fraught with anxiety, and it was currently under attack by the people it had been raiding.

Lemuel Squeaks started with three clues, which I think meant he had three cards to give away. He gave two to Big Playboy (giving him a total of three cards) and one to N'beke. The GM told him:

• Sawtooth had been killed brutally, beaten to death by someone big.
• My notes seem to say "oil nearby (chainsaw?). I have no idea what this means, but it was probably something else that pointed to Big Playboy.
• N'beke and Pandora had a really bad fight. Pandora would never hurt a=the kid. N'beke _might_. After all, it was one sure way to hurt the Touchstone.

The game opened with Jackaback holding a surprisingly well-attended meeting of the Blue Man Group and sealing his own doom (and ultimately, that of the entire BMG) by sticking his feet firmly in his mouth, down his throat, and out his rear end. He said that the whale recalled those who transgressed against the Blue, and claimed that the murder of Sawtooth was righteous justice.

The meeting, as noted, was well attended. Sundown was there, of course. So was Pandora, and I think N'beke, Big Playboy, and a lot of N'beke's guards. Jackaback was dragged off, at N'beke's order. Possibly Sundown should have intervened, but the Brainer thought that Jackaback deserved whatever he was about to get. Sundown seduced one of N'beke's men into letting her stay in the room, with the whale. Lemuel Squeaks followed Big Playboy.

Big Playboy tried to look into the abyss, aka get knowledge. He did this by talking to his mask.

Big Playboy to the Mask: How can I find the killer? The Hardholder is sad. How do I make him feel better?

Mask: He was happier when he had a woman to call his own.

I have a note about Dan Acroyd in the movie The Blues Brothers trying to do something.

Lemuel Squeaks tried to read Big Playboy. The player rolled well enough to ask three question of Big Playboy's player.

What does Big Playboy intend to do? Reunite N'beke and Pandora.

What is Big Playboy really feeling? Not hungry. Glorious divine exaltation: When I commune with the mask, all is well with the world.

How can I get Big Playboy to stop eating worms? Find a worm so big I can't eat it.

N'beke's guards took Jackaback to N'beke's office. Pandora came there with him. N'beke sent one or two guards to find Big Playboy.

N'beke's player: I hit him in the head with the crowbar. I'm not real worried if it stops me asking questions. I would be disappointed if he told me what I wanted without me hitting him.

N'beke: Why the fuck did you do it?

Pandora used the Read a Person skill on Jackaback.

Jackaback: I didn't do it?

N'beke: Did you hear anything?

Jackaback: Rumors!

N'beke: Elaborate!

Jackaback heard that N'beke might have done it.

N'beke (I think it was him and not Pandora): I punch him.

Pandora: What does Jackaback intend to do? Survive if he can. After, if he thinks he can, he'd make a move. You can't let this go.

How do I get him to tell all he knows in detail about the death of my son? He doesn't know much.

N'beke: You trust this motherfucker?

Pandora: No, but I think he's an idiot.

I think N'beke wanted Jackaback to tell the hold that Jackaback had killed Sawtooth. I have a note about Jackaback's necklace with lego on it.

N'beke beat Jackaback to death, or maybe had his guards do it. The body was then supposed to be dumped outside, but Big Playboy was the one in charge of it, and Big Playboy was a worm eater. He cut off a finger.

Big Playboy: Does dismembered flesh turn into a worm?

GM: Yes.

Big Playboy: If I eat it, does it satisfy my hunger?

GM: No, it's not enough.

Someone: Oh, I'm sorry -- this is _your_ appetizer.

Big Playboy: Most delicious thing you've ever tasted. (Hm, that might have been addressed to him by the GM.)

Big Playboy decided to insert the information that N'beke and Pandora should get back together into the world's psyche. I've got a note about his finger and squirming worms.

Lemuel (watching him stealthily, asking the GM): Is that normal?

GM: Heck No!

Meanwhile, N'beke and Pandora were alone together, as Big Playboy wanted.

N'beke: So, I'm thinking of killing all of the Blue Man Group.

Pandora: Okay by me.

At this point, Big Playboy walked in and tried to Read N'beke.

What does N'beke wish Big Playboy would do? Tear the whale down. Find a reason to kill a whole bunch of BMG.

What is N'beke really feeling? Angry.

How can I get N'beke to get back with Pandora. You could leave the room. That would be sufficient.

Big Playboy happily did so. The estranged spouses found themselves quite horny and retired to the bedroom, and flopped down on top of the bed and on top of the -- marmot.

N'beke (possibly out of character): Oh, you cock-blocking marmot!

You lose your son, then you lose your shit.

Meanwhile, Sundown was trying to get one of the guards, Gam, on Sundown's side.

Gam: What do you want me to do?

Sundown: Wait before wiping out whale.

Gam challenged her to eat a worm with him, and she did. She also gazed into the abyss to commune with the great whale. He told Sundown to keep close the faithful and destroy the unfaithful, for there was great danger.

Sundown did a brainscan of Gam to learn his secret pain: Gam was in love with N'beke, never thought he had the slightest chance

At this point there was a brief discussion about whether there were doors to the room with the whale, and we all agreed that there should be, just so that Big Playboy could now smash through them. Sundown was able to handle his goons, but had a lot more trouble with the Faceless himself.

Meanwhile, I note the following bits of dialogue made their way into my notes.

Player (about N'beke and Pandora): Have you guys gotten it on now?

Either N'beke's or Pandora's player: We're working on it!

Either N'beke's or Pandora's player: I'm sorry -- we were just discussing our relationship.

Lemuel: Stupid humans!

Someone else: Jaded marmot!

At this point, Lemuel decided to make an accusation:

Lemuel to N'beke: So, you think this is going to matter to what you did to your kid?

Alas, the accusation could not be proven, although I think it did net N'beke another card.

GM (to Lemuel's player): That Eye on the Door move -- now might be a good time to use it.

Meanwhile, Sundown accused Big Playboy of killing Sawtooth, and the dice decreed that the Brainer was right. Alas, there was no one with whom Sundown could share that information as Big Playboy took his chainsaw to the Brainer's face, after already doing damage to the torso. We joked about him being the Man With Two Masks.

Then, he put the Brainer's face on the Faceless, and changed playbooks. It was as if Brainer and Faceless had switched places. This was nailed even harder when I had Sundown take Big Playboy's old, discarded mask and wear it in place of the stolen face.

Pandora's player: I gotta say, there's no other character who could've killed Sawtooth, and I'd've still liked him.

It was strange. This was a psychotic child killer who, we decided, had killed Sawtooth in an attempt to get Pandora and N'beke back together. And yet, he had a certain charm in the way only fictional psychotics of that type can have.

During all of this, the Madworm Herders attacked! There was bizarre dialogue with the marmot, who was hoping to convince N'beke to take his people and leave so that the marmot could have the place to himself.

N'beke: What The Fuck do you want?

Lemuel: Why are you following me?

Pandora: Why are we taking tactical advice from a marmot?

Lemuel: How long have _you_ been in this building?

Pandora: You're a fucking marmot!

Lemuel's player suggested that N'beke was partly to blame for Sawtooth's death on the grounds that N'beke knew what Big Playboy was and still gave the Faceless free reign.

Player: The Marmot cannot be wrong!

What made this not a problem was that a) we agreed that this felt right and b) the player's over the top tongue in cheek delivery suggested that this was not a player being a prima donna, but rather, one having fun and making an off the wall suggestion / request.

N'beke decided to Read a Situation, and the player got to ask some questions:

What is the biggest threat? The Flockherder or Big Playboy? The Flockherder.

What is the enemy's true position? Outside.

What is the best route past the flock to the flock leader? That window off to the side.

I think Big Playboy's player said, likely to either N'beke's or Pandora's player, Your concern for my insane wellbeing is heartwarming.

On Big Playboy:

Someone: He really wants to get these two together!

Someone else: He really wants to _eat_ people -- and himself

Someone: We solved the problem in the long run!

N'beke tried to reach the flock leader, who was, of course, Cortland, the child he'd tried to kill and whom Pandora had kept him from killing. Naturally, Cortland wanted to kill N'beke.

Pandora (to N'beke): If we make it out of here alive -- I miss you.

I think Big Playboy rode the biggest giant madworm ever towards Cortland, killing Cortland, and being killed by the worm in turn, but he might have survived. My notes say that the person Big Playboy found most attractive was, of course, N'beke.

Big Playboy (riding the worm toward Cortland): For you, boss. For you!

Someone: Oh, that's so sweet!

And that's all I have, except for notes saying the Lego necklace was with Pandora, and a grenade with N'beke. I think N'beke and Pandora and the survivors remained in the museum, the BMG was destroyed, as was the whale, and Sundown became a reclusive, probably homicidal, Faceless.