Returning to Apocalypse World

This coming weekend I'll be returning to one of the most challenging and unusual RPG's I've had the pleasure of playing, Vincent D Baker's "Apocalypse World". This time round the game will be run by one of my regular gaming colleagues, +Tony Reyes .

Last time he played a "Battlebabe", a fighter who is also a charmer, and was instrumental in some of the trickier storylines. The "Master of Ceremonies" (the GM) last time we played was +Michael Bay , who will be a player in this game. He's assuming the role of "Hardholder", the character who runs the town in which our campaign is based. I played that role last time and it was definitely a challenge, though it did result in probably my most memorable character. The rest of the group are people I haven't played alongside before.

The big challenge for me,as always, is what character should I play? A few appeal and while I want to try something different, there are aspects of the game that I'm drawn to. The "psychic maelstrom" for instance, is a wonderful concept...that "something" lingering over us all that can be tapped into for weird and bizarre inspiration. A few characters are more tied to that the others, such as the "Brainer", the "Hocus" and the "Savvyhead".

I also like idea of taking one of the more overtly violent characters and doing something more nuanced with them. Taking the "Gunlugger" for example and giving him some sort of personal code that he must follow, like a futuristic Bushido. Or the "Faceless", a brutally violent character who has a totally different personality when unmasked.

There are also characters tailored to the social side of the game. The "Skinner" looks fantastic, totally captivates an audience and can be the glue between the other characters. The "Maestro D" runs a social establishment. I was very tempted by this one, the idea of someone running an Amsterdam-style coffee shop where anyone can go to escape the real world for a few hours. That would heavily shape the focus of the game though and doesn't always work.

It looks like I'll try my hand at the "Hocus". This character taps into the weird side of life and at a glance seems like a Manson-like cult leader. I have my own ideas for it though that I haven't seen in play before, more along the lines of Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica. I'm thinking less hippy, more an intellectual with a compelling (if strange) vision and taste for hedonism. I have a feeling this is going to be just as good as last time.