Sorcery World: Hacking Apocalypse World for Sword & Sorcery settings

[Yora]

I've recently been toying around with adapting Apocalypse World for Star Wars and liking the system a lot I got the idea to use it for a Sword & Sorcery campaign as well.

There is a big fantasy variant for Apocalypse World already, but Dungeon World really is Dungeon & Dragons World through and through. It's all build upon the existing fiction of a D&D campaign and attempts to convert that to PbtA mechanics. There's all the abilities, races, and classes of D&D, many of the spells and monsters, and a combat system made for fighting monsters with individual stats.

But when you read any Conan, Elric, Lankhmar, or Kane stories, this is not at all how scenes play out. They are structured much more like encounters work in Apocalypse World. It seems like a perfect system, though to my knowledge there is no prominent Sword & Sorcery hack around.

I think all in all, a conversion should really be quite easy to do. The rules as they are should mostly be working out of the box. It mostly comes down to reframing things in a Sword & Sorcery context and style.

The Stats
The six stats seem to be mostly fine as they are, but they need to be renamed to something more style appropriate and in the same instance slightly redefined.

Might replaces Hard. This really is just a name change to the Sword & Sorcery vocabulary.
Cunning replaces Sharp. Again, just a stylistic change.
Daring replaces Cool. Sword & Sorcery heroes are not coldly disciplined. When they defy immedite danger and throw themselves into high risk situations, they more often do it with hot blooded anger or in a semi-panicked frenzy. Mechanically nothing changes as Daring can still be used to roll for all the moves that are normally covered by Cool.
Charm replaces Hot. While Sword & Sorcery can be sexy, the ability to manipulate very often takes quite different forms than sexual attractiveness.
Weird can be weird. I think it's actually a well established term in the vocabulary of Sword & Sorcery and the uses of this stat seem to line up just fine as well.
History should also remain unchanged, I think.

Other things that would have to be adapted are obviously character archetypes and magic, and I think also Agenda and Principles, as well as threats. But these are already pretty close to what I consider perfect matches, so they should also be mostly adjustments rather than fully new creations.

[Blymurkla]

I'm not well versed in S&S, but isn't it an important trope that magic is almost exclusively for villains? The hero Conan uses his sword against an evil necromancer. What do you intend to do with that trope (or have I gotten it wrong)?

On a related note, in my experience Apocalypse World excels on what I am used to calling 'ensemble play'. AW is more Pulp Fiction than Firefly. There's a bunch of cool characters, doing their own cool stuff. Sometimes their paths cross. There's no party, PCs are just as (or more) likely to be at odds with each other than cooperate towards common goals.

This strength of AW is why I didn't understand Dungeon World at all when I first heard about it. I don't really understand DW after reading it either. DW is traditional troupe play. It's taken AW and ripped out a core strength of it! Why, oh maelstorm, why!? I know, there's people that like DW and perhaps I could do it to, but still begs the question:

What do you intent for your S&S hack? Do the PCs form a party, battling evil together? Or are they a bunch of shade-of-gray characters doing their own stuff?

[Yora]

I am not sticking to the ultra-orthodox definition of Sword & Sorcery that limits the genre exclusively to a overly simplistic reading of Conan and his one-dimensional ripoffs.
Any definition of Sword & Sorcery that excludes Elric is indefensible to me and I consider Kane to be the third most important Sword & Sorcery series, even above Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Both of them are explicitly called sorcerers. But they are not spellcasters as they are typically understood in RPGs and RPG derived stories. Sorcerers, both as protagonists and antagonists, don't normally use magic words and gestures to shot fire from their fingers or make things appear from nowhere in a puff of smoke. They don't make wounds disappear with a touch or fly around in the air. Magic tends to be much more subtle and indirect and consists primarily of alchemy, charms, talismans and dealing with supernatural beings.

The two main forms of magic in Apocalypse World are Open Your Brain To The Psychic Maelstrom and Augury. Which I think already make for a pretty comprehensive magic system for Sword & Sorcery.

Sword & Sorcery certainly isn't about stable parties. Conan only pairs up with someone else on occasion when facing a shared threat but is ultimatly working only for himself until he becomes king and gains a few loyal lieutenants. Kane's gangs are pawns to be sacrificed when convenient, and I think Fafhrd and Gray Mouser never cooperate with anyone else. But Elric and Geralt both have various contacts they fully trust and with whom they closely cooperate. But it's a fluid thing and there are no strict fellowships or anything like that. Potential conflict between PCs and divergent stories are spot on for the genre.

[Blymurkla]

I apparently had gotten that trope wrong, thanks for clearing it up!

Opening your Brain and Augury does indeed sound as a pretty robust magic system. Perhaps some other weird moves, modified or not, could also fit in your S&S. Like the Battle babe's Visions of Death. And the Savyhead could perhaps be made into an alchemist.

So, what's next? Playbooks?

[Yora]

So far I have 8 character archetypes in mind:

Berserker is basically the Battlebabe. Ice Cold is dropped and Dangerous & Sexy changes to Intimidating Presence and uses Might instead of Charm.

Hunter is a character more talented in stealth and perception. Bonefeel and Oftener Right from the Savyhead and Weather Eye from the Driver seem like a good start to me. Good in a Clinch and **** This **** are also decent options.

Mercenary is a somewhat straightforward warrior. It gets Battle-Hardened, Battlefield Instincts, and Bloodcrazed from the Gunlugger and Daredevil from the Driver.

Rake is pretty much just a Skinner. However, An Arresting Skinner seems like a stupid ability.

Sorcerer takes a lot from the Brainer, like Deep Brain Scan, Direct Brain Wisper Projection, and In-Brain Puppet Strings, and can gain Augury like a Savvyhead.

Templar is a warrior with abilities to single-mindedly charge forward and fight on without flinching. The Faceless has a couple of great moves for this, like Pit Bull, Rasputin, and Oh Yeah! Ice Cold also fits here nicely.

Thief gets Eye On The Door and Reputation from the Driver and Oppportunistic and Easy To Trust from the first edition Operator.

Witch is a somewhat different concept than Sorcerer. Things Speak from the Savvyhead should definitly be one of the abilities, and Seeing Souls from the Hocus.

I very much like the idea of second edition to let all characters Work A Gig without having to learn a special move. "In Sword & Sorcery, every character is a thief".

In Apocalpyse World, all characters have five to seven special moves to learn as advancement, so I think each of these should also have at least five, plus the ability to increase their main stat to +3.
Based on that I would still need one more move for Mercenaries, Sorcerers, Templars, and Thieves, two moves for Rakes, and three moves for Witches. And Hunters should hve at least one move about actual hunting.

[Waffle_Iron]

A large part of what make AW run is that the human population is limited.
Hence, all people that you interact with are important.
They all have names, and there aren't really "faceless mooks"
When you're fighting to get into the old refinery to get the parts the saavyhead needs to fix the driver's tank, you know exactly who the ***** on the other side is.
It's why the maestro D, hardholder, and Chopper powers are useful, engaging and powerful.

Be careful when hacking this to swords and sorcery that you don't gut that important balance.

[Nifft]

The Stats
The six stats seem to be mostly fine as they are, but they need to be renamed to something more style appropriate and in the same instance slightly redefined.

Might replaces Hard. This really is just a name change to the Sword & Sorcery vocabulary.
Cunning replaces Sharp. Again, just a stylistic change.
Daring replaces Cool. Sword & Sorcery heroes are not coldly disciplined. When they defy immedite danger and throw themselves into high risk situations, they more often do it with hot blooded anger or in a semi-panicked frenzy. Mechanically nothing changes as Daring can still be used to roll for all the moves that are normally covered by Cool.
Charm replaces Hot. While Sword & Sorcery can be sexy, the ability to manipulate very often takes quite different forms than sexual attractiveness.
Weird can be weird. I think it's actually a well established term in the vocabulary of Sword & Sorcery and the uses of this stat seem to line up just fine as well.
History should also remain unchanged, I think.

Are Hot and Cool supposed to be opposed? (Or at least appear opposed?) If so, maybe something like...

Cool => Focus
Hot => Passion

Also, maybe...

Hard => Thews
Sharp => Wits

If I were playing Swords Against the Apocalypse, I would demand Thews.

[Yora]

Hot and Cool are Charisma and Discipline. Despite the names they don't really form any kind of pair.