The title is a bit of a clickbait, in as much as I am not really trying to get any conflict in preference between the two, as much as suggest that they both have quite a lot in common. This is remarkable because they both nominally are part of gaming movements that are sometimes seen as being diametrically opposed (by certain critics anyway). For the point of record, I’d also like to make it clear that I’m not here to bash either game or movement in this thread.
As it goes, Apocalypse World is sometimes pushed as a flagship game for 'narrative’ and ‘indie' games. The writer, Vincent Baker (along with Meguey Baker) is well know as a contributor and previous designer of indie games like Dogs in the Vineyard and, indeed, his company Lumpley Games still hosts the archives of The Forge - a sometimes controversial online group well known for promoting the indie/narrative movement in the 2000s. As such, Apocalypse World is something of an über-indie/narrative game in as much as it survived the end of The Forge and has itself spawned lots of spinoff games under the Powered by the Apocalypse brand.
When the question was asked a couple of weeks ago or so, Mörk Borg was suggested as a lasting RPG that would be significant from the OSR (Old School Renaissance) movement. It certainly identifies itself, openly as being OSR and takes a mindset of a looser, rules-lite roleplaying style while being in some ways compatible with D&D in some form or other.
The similarities? Well, both are packaged in smaller books and each have a very particular, graphic design. Both are obviously set in R18/slightly gonzo apocalyptic settings, although AW is more sci-fi-ish whereas MB is more a fantasy pseudo-medieval. Both games eschew skill lists in favor of a more centralized set of stats that impart simple bonuses/penalties on dice rolls. Both games rely upon other character qualities being self contained as rules-references - whether you generate particular scroll powers randomly on a table (MB) or select traits that specify what happens for each respective dice roll result. Both are open or at least encourage third party development.
There are some technical differences of course - AW uses 2D6 and MB uses polyhedral dice, for example. However, my question is if these are both held up as exemplars of the Indi/narrative and OSR movements respectively, what are the fundamental differences between the two that make them so?
As it goes, Apocalypse World is sometimes pushed as a flagship game for 'narrative’ and ‘indie' games. The writer, Vincent Baker (along with Meguey Baker) is well know as a contributor and previous designer of indie games like Dogs in the Vineyard and, indeed, his company Lumpley Games still hosts the archives of The Forge - a sometimes controversial online group well known for promoting the indie/narrative movement in the 2000s. As such, Apocalypse World is something of an über-indie/narrative game in as much as it survived the end of The Forge and has itself spawned lots of spinoff games under the Powered by the Apocalypse brand.
When the question was asked a couple of weeks ago or so, Mörk Borg was suggested as a lasting RPG that would be significant from the OSR (Old School Renaissance) movement. It certainly identifies itself, openly as being OSR and takes a mindset of a looser, rules-lite roleplaying style while being in some ways compatible with D&D in some form or other.
The similarities? Well, both are packaged in smaller books and each have a very particular, graphic design. Both are obviously set in R18/slightly gonzo apocalyptic settings, although AW is more sci-fi-ish whereas MB is more a fantasy pseudo-medieval. Both games eschew skill lists in favor of a more centralized set of stats that impart simple bonuses/penalties on dice rolls. Both games rely upon other character qualities being self contained as rules-references - whether you generate particular scroll powers randomly on a table (MB) or select traits that specify what happens for each respective dice roll result. Both are open or at least encourage third party development.
There are some technical differences of course - AW uses 2D6 and MB uses polyhedral dice, for example. However, my question is if these are both held up as exemplars of the Indi/narrative and OSR movements respectively, what are the fundamental differences between the two that make them so?
Last edited: