Avery Alder

I've only played the first edition of this RPG, not this one yet, but I like the look of it. It seems to tighten up the game play a little, and strengthens its support of diversity, both of players and characters.

One thing I particularly like about the rule changes since first edition has to do with how characters gain experience. In first edition, after creating your character, one of the other players and the story guide would each choose a stat for you: using those two stats were how you gained experience. In this version, you mark experience any time you fail a roll. This seems like a small change, but what it does is return agency back to a character's player; they don't have to choose between what others in the game want to see, or how they want to play things themselves, in order for the character to have an opportunity to grow.… (meer)

The text is well-written, the rules are clearly presented, it doesn't waste a bunch of time on unstructured digressions (i.e. if you want to just lightly skim past part because you're with a group of experienced gamers who've dealt with all that stuff before, it's probably clearly marked), the index is useful, the interior art can be inspirational, the basic premises are interesting, the guidance for how to carry an ongoing campaign and keep it fresh is great, and it's enjoyable to play.

It adapts the Apocalypse World rules to a different setting and set of premises. Unlike many "Powered By The Apocalypse" games that do so, I don't feel like it lost anything in the translation; it changed things to fit a different context, and did it quite well. It also handles physical conflict rules for a setting where violence can happen, but is not a significant focus of the game, far better than I've seen in any other RPG.

In terms of editing, interesting setting concepts, organization, playability, technical game design, and writing, I don't have any nits to pick. Good work.… (meer)