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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apocalypse_world.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:This is TheEnd. Now [[AfterTheEnd play]].]]
3
4''Apocalypse World'' is a TabletopRPG from Vincent and Meguey Baker of [[Creator/TheForge lumpley games]], also known for ''TabletopGame/DogsInTheVineyard''. It focuses on a post-apocalyptic setting, but also supplies suggestions for hacking the game for use with other settings--see UsefulNotes/PoweredByTheApocalypse. It is available here: http://apocalypse-world.com/
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6The [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/226674021/apocalypse-world-2nd-edition second edition of the game]] has been funded on Website/{{Kickstarter}}.
7----
8!!This game contains examples of:
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10* AfterTheEnd: The default is roughly fifty years after a [[ApocalypseHow Societal Collapse]] apocalypse. What exactly happened is left up to the MC and players.
11* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey / CargoCult: Absolutely possible with the Hocus class' cult, or NPC cults.
12* AnyoneCanDie: One of the 'Principles' for [[GameMaster MCs]] is 'Look Through Crosshairs,' which essentially translates to this. And [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] die VERY easily.
13* TheApunkalypse: Befitting to its name, ''Apocalypse World'' centers around sexy, edgy, and awesome survivors braving a horrific but cool post-apocalyptic world. The principle "Barf forth apocalyptica" encapsulates the aesthetic.
14* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: As a general rule. The Chopper and Hardholder classes even have moves allowing them to use their Asskicking stat (Hard) to exercise their authority.
15* BadassCrew: The Operator class' whole shtick is that they run one of these. Although if it's made up entirely of [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], they die as easily as anyone else.
16* ClassChangeLevelReset: One of the advanced level-up options is to have your character change class, which involves giving up everything that ties them to their current class (up to and including leadership of a settlement).
17* CombatMedic: The Angel class can easily be this. One of their moves gives them extra armour when they are healing people.
18* ContinuingIsPainful: When a player character is very badly damaged (and probably unconscious), they will just keep taking damage until they die, unless they're saved by another player...or they can take a Debility, which permanently reduces one of their stats by one point (a significant amount when stats only go up to three).
19* DisasterScavengers: All over the place. A Hardholder rules over quite a few, by default.
20* DrivingQuestion: "What caused the Apocalypse, and how can we fix it?" is suggested as an overarching plot/theme.
21* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: Maybe. Each class has something different happen if they have sex, so if the party is made up of a Gunlugger, a Brainer and a Skinner, then lots of sex is pretty likely. On the other hand, if the party is made up of [[CantHaveSexEver a Driver, a Touchstone and an Operator...]]
22* EverythingTryingToKillYou: The MC is encouraged to make everything a threat of some kind – to resources, to stability, or just to your life and limb. This includes everyone and everything you meet, and [[DeathWorld everywhere you go]].
23* TheFace: The Skinner class fits perfectly into this, as they're all about social interaction. They even have an ability that can make [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] unwilling to act against them, which is pretty remarkable in [[EverythingTryingToKillYou a setting like this]].
24* TheFaceless: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Faceless]] class. If their mask is removed, it's always treated as TheReveal, stunning everyone nearby and freaking the Faceless out, with varying negative effects.
25* TheFamine: Codified as one of the basic post-apocalyptic scarcities that can serve as catalysts for in-game storylines and events.
26* HumanPopsicle: The Quarantine class. They get a base full of wonderful stuff, but they don't understand the culture and they aren't prepared for the damage The Maelstrom can do to one's psyche.
27* [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 Level Up At Intimacy +/-4]]: When your [[RelationshipValues Hx]] with another character hits either top or bottom, it resets to almost neutral and you get experience.
28* MachineEmpathy: Implied to be how The Savvyhead class fixes things - their highest stat isn't [[TheSmartGuy Sharp]], but [[PsychicPowers Weird]].
29* MadeOfIron: The Gunlugger and the Faceless tend to be this. The Gunlugger, notably, can take a move making them as tough as a small group of people.
30* MaskOfPower: The Faceless' mask can be played as this, depending on which moves they have and whether they lose them without the mask.
31* MindRape: The Brainer class (psychics, essentially) can start with an item that allows them to do things which normally require 'time and intimacy' with simple skin contact. It's called the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast ''Violation Glove'' ]].
32* NoExperiencePointsForMedic: Completely averted by the Angel, the designated medic playbook: if anything, they have the potential to gain ''more'' XP than anyone else, because for every point of harm a PC (read: Angel, because no one else really has healing abilities) heals another PC of, the former gains Hx+1 with the latter, quickly maxing out and resetting Hx for bonus XP.
33* NoSell: The Battlebabe's special sex move automatically cancels out any sex move their partner(s) may have.
34* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Cool and Sharp both have this reputation. The other three stats apply to fairly specific situations (Hard is for hurting or threatening people, Hot is for persuading people, and Weird is for going on bizarre psychic dream-quests), while Sharp gives you bonuses to any other roll as long as you follow the MC's advice, and Cool is for almost EVERYTHING else.
35** To a lesser extent, one can build one's character to make this the case for whichever stat they prefer, so that they (for example) roll against Weird whenever they would normally roll Cool.
36* PlotArmor: The "looking through the crosshairs" principle the MC is required to follow generally means that any NPC may be offed with no build-up at any time. There are two exceptions to this, however: a PC who has been retired to safety via an advanced improvement and an NPC who has been turned into an ally via a 12+ roll on the advanced Seduce or Manipulate move. They are (mostly) safe from the MC's capriciousness.
37* PreacherMan / SinisterMinister: The Hocus class is all about this – a spiritual leader with a customisable cult of followers.
38* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: The Psychic Maelstrom functions a bit like this: one of the basic moves (things any class can do) is to 'Open their Brain' to it and get psychic answers about whatever they want, often in a completely baffling way.
39* RelationshipValues: Every PC has a 'History' stat for every other PC, which indicates not their feelings towards that character, but rather how well they understand them. This stat is rolled against whenever a player wants to help (or hinder) another's roll. It's initially set by choosing options during character creation which determine certain feelings or past events (the Faceless thinks someone is pretty, and someone once helped them do something nasty, for example).
40* ReligionIsMagic: Mostly religion is people worshipping water, machinery, or Abe Lincoln, but it is possible for the Hocus class to play this somewhat straight, notably with a move that gives them armour (as long as they aren't wearing any other armour) with no real explanation other than 'from the gods.'
41* RolePlayingEndgame: Players can retire their characters to safety as a special Advanced Upgrade. A retired PC becomes an NPC, but unlike almost all others, the GameMaster is explicitly forbidden from messing with their lives (i.e. they get PlotArmor for their trouble). The game encourages players to retire long-lived characters with the debility mechanic, which imposes permanent penalties on their stats every time they're critically injured, -- accruing too many of them makes characters largely unplayable.
42* ScaryAmoralReligion: Again, very easy for the Hocus' cult to be this.
43* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: All of the Brainer's moves have long and... brainy-sounding names.
44* ShoutOut: The [[TheFaceless Faceless]] character type has a move letting them smash through scenery. It's called "Oh yeah!"
45** They have another move called [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Norman]], which lets them get advice from their [[CoolMask mask]].
46*** And another that involves revealing their true face. [[VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage Hmm]].
47** Most of the classes in the corebook are roughly analogous to characters in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': [[TheMedic The Angel]] is Simon, The Battlebabe is Zoe, [[PsychicPowers The Brainer]] is River, [[BadassDriver The Driver]] is Wash, [[GunNut The Gunlugger]] is Jayne, [[TheLeader The Operator]] is Mal, [[MrFixit The Savvyhead]] is Kaylee, and [[TheFace The Skinner]] is Inara. This reference has been confirmed by WordOfGod.
48* UniquenessRule: This game and most games UsefulNotes/PoweredByTheApocalypse have a rule that stipulates that only one copy of a playbook can be in the game at any time. This is justified by a form of enforced CastSpeciation, where a player with the Hardholder playbook is not ''a'' Hardholder but ''the'' Hardholder in the context of the story.
49* WastelandWarlord: The Hardholder class is all about being one of these, as the leader of a settlement who got there by AsskickingLeadsToLeadership.
50* YouBastard: From the Operator's playbook no less. The Operator can have a move to interfere with people's action by rolling for Cool, the playbook comments by calling the player out as an asshole for taking this literal dick move.

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