Note: this article was originally posted on the Calenmir's RPGs blog on February 21, 2025. Rebuilding the in-article navigation links, plus links to the shop and to the other articles in the series, is a work in progress. Thank you for your patience.

This is the fifth entry in a seven-part series about character creation in Apocalypse Keys, the horror-superhero game by Rae Nedjadi that was published by Evil Hat Games. In Apocalypse Keys, you play as Omen-class monsters who have the necessary power to save the world from Harbingers of the Apocalypse—as long as they don’t succumb to their inner darkness and evolve into a Harbinger themselves.

Given the larger than life nature of the game, when you make a character, you can choose from an abundance of overpowered and customizable abilities. While this is one of the game’s biggest strengths, it often intimidates new players, who default to the premade characters rather than bringing their own concepts to life.

Therefore, to demystify the whole process, I’m creating characters based on the most unlikely pop culture icon I can think of that nevertheless fit the themes and abilities of each of the game’s seven playbooks. Previous examples included Batman, Anya Forger of Spy X Family, Avatar Aang of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Doctor of Doctor Who. Next up is the little pink puffball known as Kirby.

Want to try Apocalypse Keys yourself? My one-shot module “Sweet Dreams” is now available on Itch, DriveThruRPG, and in the site shop!

A Note On Safety

This build will explore The Hungry, an Apocalypse Keys playbook that deals with themes of disordered eating and body horror.

In addition, Kirby is canonically depicted as a child. If you want to play Kirby in your own Apocalypse Keys games, be sure to determine everyone’s boundaries on child endangerment. If you are met with anything other than unanimous consent, consider playing a grown-up version of Kirby or choosing a different character altogether.

Table of Contents

• How to Build Kirby in Apocalypse Keys

• Table of Contents

• Why Kirby Qualifies As an Omen-Class Monster

• 1) You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys

• 2) Kirby Is a Baby Eldritch Abomination

• How to Build Kirby

• Playbook: The Hungry

• Character Prompts

• Selecting Moves

• Advances

• Ruin Advances

• Playbook Advances

• Congratulations, You’ve Built Kirby!

• Glossary

Part 1: Batman | Part 2: Anya Forger | Part 3: Avatar Aang | Part 4: The Doctor | Part 6: Optimus Prime | Part 7: All Might

Why Kirby Qualifies As an Omen-Class Monster

Before we dive into How to Build Kirby, I’ll delve into the two reasons I consider him an Omen-class monster:

1. You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys
2. Kirby Is a Baby Eldritch Abomination

1) You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys

To facilitate player freedom, Apocalypse Keys specifically lets players alter non-mechanical aspects of gameplay to better suit their needs. For example, the section on playbooks explains:

Playbooks focus on specific monstrous themes and unique emotional arcs rather than specific archetypes. You are encouraged to interpret your powers and origin, while exploring the themes of the playbook.

Players can also “…tweak the prompts as you like—each prompt is a starting point.” Notably, Omen-class monster’s superpowers, known as powers of darkness, are considered prompts:

How you choose to interpret your supernatural powers, and their possible limitations, is completely up to you. The Shade’s machines powered by soul magic may be automatons or small steampunk devices. The Last’s time distortion may be used in a purely defensive fashion or may be in the form of a mysterious voice from the future.

Prepackaged abilities known as moves can also be tailored to fit the character. Though we’ll discuss this more in the section on Advances, you may get the opportunity to take moves from other playbooks when you level up. If you do:

…you may rewrite the premise or reword triggers to better suit your own character. If your character does not communicate telepathically, you may take the Found’s You Are Not Alone and change it to only work if you can speak out loud to the character you are helping. Or you may connect to a power of darkness you have instead of telepathy, such as the dimensional phasing of the Last or the cosmic energy of the Surge.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to extend the same courtesy to moves from your own playbook that don’t fit with your character concept as-written.

2) Kirby Is a Baby Eldritch Abomination

Most Kirby games have have a cute cartoon style, which causes people unfamiliar with the games to underestimate the stakes of the franchise. In particular, all the creepy, deadly, nigh-incomprehensible cosmic entities that have menaced Planet Popstar over the years. One such threat included Nightmare, a personification of nightmares who, upon being defeated by Kirby, destroyed all but a crescent of one of the planet’s moons.

In case anyone missed it: defeated by Kirby.

While vanquishing eldritch abominations on a regular basis is impressive, it’s not, strictly speaking, proof of being an eldritch abomination. So let’s consider some other fun facts about Kirby:

• He can eat almost anything.

  • This includes consuming his enemies to gain their powers.

  • It also includes swallowing large objects, such as cars, to transform into them.

• He has infinite power.

• He’s nearly impossible to seriously harm, to the point he’s survived getting sucked into a black hole.

• His heart is a star.

• He sometimes destroys his enemies’ souls.

Furthermore, certain games have implied that Kirby will only grow stronger as he matures. Considering his current level of power easily puts him on par with more conventional Omen-class monsters, the only logical explanation is that this cute, good-natured, heroic pink puffball is, in fact, a baby eldritch abomination.

How to Build Kirby

Building any character in Apocalypse Keys requires you to:

1. Choose a playbook
2. Fill out the prompts
3. Select moves
4. Introduce your Omen to the other players
5. Create starting Bonds with the other characters

Since the last two steps require the input of other players, this guide will focus on steps 1 through 3. In addition, character Advancement, which is akin to leveling up, will be covered in its own section.

For the full text of playbook, Ruin, and DIVISION moves, please refer to the official rules.

Playbook: The Hungry

It’s an understatement to say that Kirby has an appetite. Considering the lengths he went to the time his cake got stolen—which included beating up a villainous eldritch abomination—it’s also fair to say he’s food-motivated. This makes him a good fit for The Hungry, an Apocalypse Keys playbook for Omens who are driven by endless hunger, only experiencing fleeting respite when they indulge their darker cravings.

The starting move for The Hungry is The Gnawing Edge of Hunger, in which their body transforms as they feed. Notably, players must roll to determine whether they keep themselves in check. On a success, or even a disastrous success, they do, and get to choose a mechanical benefit accordingly. On a failure, they lose control. Typically this would involve transforming into something monstrous and going on a rampage, but for Kirby, it could be interpreted as him eating something that ends up being detrimental rather than a power-up.

In addition to the starting move, one mechanic that gives each playbook a distinct personality is the different way they get Darkness Tokens. Darkness Tokens increase the odds of rolls succeeding, but are typically acquired by roleplaying the Omen’s worst instincts. The Hungry gets Darkness Tokens when they:

• Feel a yearning for what [they] cannot have

• React with pettiness

• Ask someone to feed [The Hungry] a part of themselves

• Ask someone to give in to their hunger

• Embody a Condition that affects [them]

Conditions, in case you were wondering, are an alternative to a hit point system, since Omens such as Kirby are rarely at risk of serious injury from even the toughest fights. They can, however, become emotionally compromised due to the stress they’re under, which is expressed by Conditions. Most playbooks have four Conditions they can mark, but The Hungry only starts with three:

• Raging

• Lonely

• Lustful

Side note, since this is Kirby we’re talking about, feel free to switch out “Lustful” for something related but more in line with his characterization, such as “Infatuated” or “Clingy.” Or you could interpret “Lustful” metaphorically, as in “bloodlust” or “lust for power.”

In any case, the number of Conditions affects how easily the Omen hits their Breaking Point. Marking all Conditions means the Omen has a dramatic breakdown with thematically appropriate consequences specific to each playbook. Therefore, starting with fewer Condition makes it more likely for The Hungry to hit their Breaking Point. However, The Hungry has the unique ability to gain additional Conditions known as Hunger Conditions. Through moves such as The Gnawing Edge of Hunger, The Hungry can gain up to three such Hunger Conditions for a total of six Conditions, making them significantly less prone to hitting their Breaking Point. This fits well with Kirby’s cheerful, good-natured personality, as well as his ability to keep his cool in a crisis.

Character Prompts

Prompts are questions used to flesh out an Omen’s background, appearances, and abilities. Since Kirby is Kirby, we can skip over “Your Name,” “Your Look,” “Your Origin,” and “What Do You Feed On and What Remnants Do You Leave Behind?” For “What Does the Darkness Demand of You?”, which reflects his darkest instincts, we’ll choose “to consume what lies beyond doom’s door”—AKA what Harbingers are empowered by—and “to love what can never be mine.” If you prefer, you could also invent options that fit both Kirby’s personality and the themes of The Hungry.

Powers of Darkness are basically superpowers that Kirby can always use. Of the ones available to The Hungry, “Mystical Power I Stole From My Victims” is a must. Meanwhile, we can reflavor “Weapons of Blood and Bone” to “My Body Becomes a Weapon” to reflect Kirby’s various physical attacks.

Selecting Moves

When you first create an Omen in Apocalypse Keys, you get to choose two moves. The first must come from your playbook’s list of moves. The second can either be a Ruin move, which represents power at a corrupting price, or a DIVISION move, which ordinarily reflects the capabilities of the shadowy organization that all Omens work for.

Kirby’s playbook move should be Do Harbingers Dream of Monsters Like Me?, and for the second move, pick the DIVISION move Hero’s Weapon.

Playbook Move: Do Harbingers Dream of Monsters Like Me?

As written, this move lets The Hungry call on the powers of Harbingers they have consumed. To make it work for Kirby, replace “Harbingers” with “villains” and adjust any description of body horror to reflect the respective anatomies of Kirby and whichever villain he’s copying. This move does require you to roll. On a success, you choose which villain to copy and receive mechanical benefits in line with their nature. On a disastrous success, the villain attempts to break free, forcing you to choose whether to pay a price to contain them. On a failure, however, the villain Kirby meant to copy ends up breaking free to run rampant, though this could also be interpreted as Kirby becoming a victim of possession.

DIVISION Move: Hero’s Weapon

In this series, I often recommend reflavoring DIVISION moves so that they match a character’s existing capabilities. This one could go either way. At its most basic, this move represents Kirby being entrusted with a weapon by a hero, whether that’s Meta Knight bestowing a sword on him or a more senior agent of DIVISION entrusting him with an ancient relic. Kirby gets to choose a mechanical benefit whenever he wields the weapon to protect someone.

Advances

With that, you’re ready to start playing Kirby in Apocalypse Keys. But as you continue to play Kirby, your choices and roleplaying can unlock level-ups known as Advances. If you gain enough Ruin, you might gain Ruin Advances representing Kirby’s development into a Harbinger of the Apocalypse. On the other hand, getting experience points (XP) lets you gain Advances representing Kirby’s growth into a more capable hero.

Ruin Advances

All Omens have the potential to become Harbingers of the Apocalypse, so when you gain 5 Ruin, you narrate a cutscene of your Omen as a future Harbinger and choose one of nine Ruin Advances:

• Take a new Ruin move (2X): Select one of the Ruin moves included in your playbook
• Take a Ruin move from another playbook (2X): Gain one of the Ruin moves listed in a different playbook
• Permanently mark a Condition (2X): Irreversibly mark a Condition
• Gain a new Ruin Condition (2X): Gain a new Condition that is always marked
• Retire Your Character and Become a Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Lose control of Kirby as he transforms into a Harbinger

I’ll go over each of these options in more detail, including my picks for Kirby and the order to take them in..

Take a New Ruin Move

This Ruin Advance can be taken twice, letting Kirby gain two Ruin Moves from The Hungry. The two that are easiest to adapt to Kirby are The Story of You Carved Into My Flesh and Your Ruin on My Lips.

Ruin Move 1: The Story of You Carved Into My Flesh

This move lets you ask to feed on one of your allies. If they agree, you can choose to gain one Ruin and do so. Both players benefit in their own ways. Alternately, you can spend two Ruin to… Hm, that flavor of body horror doesn’t apply here. Let’s just say Kirby can reveal more of his eldritch nature to the other Omen, gaining or modifying a Hunger Condition based on how they react. The other character clears all their Conditions.

Ruin Move 2: Your Ruin on My Lips

Kirby can feed on just about anything, and that includes Ruin. With this move, he can choose whether to absorb another Omen’s Ruin into himself, or whether to share why he’s tempted by What the Darkness Demands of Him so the other Omen can feed on his Ruin instead.

Ruin Moves from Other Playbooks

The utility of Kirby’s copy abilities can be expanded by reflavoring the move The Corridor of Doors from The Shade. Meanwhile, Kirby’s unfortunate track record of being manipulated by scheming villains can be expressed through the Surge move My Dark Patron.

Ruin Move from The Shade: The Corridor of Doors

This move as written involves calling upon Harbingers contained by DIVISION, and either bargaining with them or forcing them to submit. We’ll reflavor this move to reflect Kirby dredging up the power of a powerful villain or Harbinger he has previously consumed. This both pushes his control to the limit and exposes him to their corruptive influence.

Ruin Move from The Surge: My Dark Patron

When you take this move, a Harbinger offers Kirby their assistance, assuring him that they want to help him defeat other Harbingers. Whenever Kirby asks them for help, he gets to choose whether he does it on their terms or on his, and how this advances their agenda regardless.

Mark Permanent Conditions

Permanently marking a Condition has two effects: it makes it easier to gain Darkness Tokens and to hit your Breaking Point. While Darkness Tokens are a much-needed resource, spending too many results in disastrous successes, while spending too few could trigger the emotionally charged move Torn Between.

Of the three Conditions Kirby starts with, the two that make the most sense to permanently mark are Raging and Lonely. Alternately, you could choose to permanently mark an existing Hunger Condition, though what those Conditions are will vary from game to game since they’re created and modified by the player.

Gain Ruin Conditions

All Omens may choose to gain a permanently marked Ruin Condition from the following list:

• Cruel
• Fragile
• Guilty
• Haunted
• Paranoid
• Possessive
• Ruthless
• Reckless

Ruthless is a good choice to represent how unforgiving Kirby can be to villains who have drawn his ire, while Possessive reflects his relationship with his food, especially cake.

Becoming a Harbinger

When you transform into a Harbinger of the Apocalypse, you lose control of your character. You will have to fight a corrupted Kirby once this happens. Therefore, I strongly recommend retiring Kirby before it comes to that.

Sequence of Ruin Advances

To craft a narrative arc for Kirby’s development into a Harbinger, this is a good order to take Ruin Advances in:

1. Ruin Move: Your Ruin on My Lips
2. Ruin Move: The Story of You Carved Into My Flesh
3. Ruin Move from The Shade: The Corridor of Doors
4. Ruin Move from The Surge: My Dark Patron
5. Ruin Condition: Ruthless
6. Permanent Condition: Raging
7. Ruin Condition: Possessive
8. Permanent Condition: Lonely
9. Retire Your Character and Become a Harbinger of the Apocalypse*

Kirby, in an attempt to help, begins his downward spiral by consuming the Ruin of his fellow Omens via Your Ruin on My Lips. Though this is not the greatest for his wellbeing, it does help him develop a deeper relationship with his new allies. This lets them be vulnerable with each other about the monstrosities they could someday become, via The Story of You Carved Into My Flesh. Furthermore, as Kirby learns more about his eldritch nature and about the nature of Harbingers, he mimics and unleashes the ability of the most dangerous threats he’s faced via The Corridor of Doors.

This, unfortunately, attracts the attention of a Harbinger who wants to use Kirby for their own ends, in the form of My Dark Patron. Kirby, despite everything he’s been through, is a trusting soul, and the influence of the Harbinger brings out the worst in him. He becomes increasingly Ruthless and prone to Raging, even as his increasing hunger drives him to be more and more Possessive of what he feeds on. As the Harbinger intended, this alienates him from his friends and allies, leaving a Lonely Kirby to increasingly depend on the Harbinger.

Eventually, not even Kirby can withstand the combined forces of hunger and corruption, causing him to transform into a Harbinger of the Apocalypse*.

*If you work with your Keeper, you can retire Kirby before things get this far.

Playbook Advances

In Apocalypse Keys, it’s possible to gain experience points (XP) via certain moves, by roleplaying, and by reflecting on your decisions at the end of each session. Once you have 8 XP, you unlock one of nine Advances:

• Take a new move from your playbook (2X): select an additional move from your playbook.
• Take a new DIVISION move (2X): select one of the available DIVISION moves.
• Take a move from another playbook (2X): select one of the moves listed on a different playbook.
• Describe a new way to gain Darkness Tokens: add another set of circumstances in which your Omen gets Darkness Tokens.
• Take a new power of darkness from your playbook: Gain one of the available powers of darkness from your playbook.
• Change your playbook: Discard your current playbook and switch to another one.

In other words, Advances represent Kirby’s development from a baby eldritch abomination into a slightly more mature eldritch abomination. Let’s go over my picks for which Advances make the most sense for that growth.

Take a New Move from Your Playbook

Of the remaining moves for The Hungry, the two that can most easily be tailored to Kirby are The Better to Eat You With, My Dear and Gaze Into My Heart’s Abyss.

Playbook move 1: The Better to Eat You With, My Dear

In Apocalypse Keys, gameplay is structured around investigating mysteries orchestrated by nefarious Harbingers. Clues come in the form of Keys, which may be tangible or esoteric. This move lets Kirby feed on aspects of Keys, marking a Condition in exchange for the Keeper honestly answering two questions the player chooses from a list. Note that these questions rely on body horror that may not align with Kirby’s anatomy, and should be tweaked or interpreted metaphorically as needed.

Playbook move 2: Gaze Into My Heart’s Abyss

When players attempt to bond with another character in Apocalypse Keys, they activate the basic move Reveal Your Heart. However, Reveal Your Heart includes the possibility of interruption, failure, and rejection. Gaze Into My Heart’s Abyss allows Kirby to open up about the toll his hunger takes on him when he Reveals His Heart. If he does, he gains mechanical benefits even on a failure.

Take a new DIVISION move

DIVISION is a shadowy organization with ancient roots that fields teams of Omens against Harbingers of the Apocalypse. Therefore, DIVISION moves are written to reflect how Omens are able to access the resources of this organization. To better reflect Kirby’s abilities and resources, however, we’ll be making some alterations to the moves Partly Cursed Weapon and Dream Future Review Protocol.

DIVISION move 1: Partly Cursed Weapon

Normally, this move represents bonding with a sentient semi-cursed weapon, with mechanical effects resulting from your relationship with the weapon. We’re going to rename it Animal Friend to reflect Kirby joining forces with one of his Animal Friends. This also requires rewriting allusions to “weapon” to the appropriate Animal Friend. In addition, rather than the weapon’s curse getting stronger in the third option, Kirby may gain Darkness Tokens if he and the Animal Friend come into conflict or betray each other’s trust.

DIVISION move 2: Dream Future Review Protocol

Ordinarily, this move reflects an Omen having prophetic dreams. In the Kirby franchise, however, dreams and nightmares can be tangible entities. So rather than this move involving prophetic dreams and nightmares, actual dream-related entities approach Kirby. Depending on the results of the move, a dream may arrive with a warning, a nightmare may reveal more than it means to about its schemes, or Kirby may stumble on the aftermath of a nightmare who is still on the loose.

Take a Move from Another Playbook

The Hungry isn’t the only one who can transform. Kirby’s copying skills can be fleshed out by The Found’s A Man of a Thousand Faces, which adds opportunities for disguise and infiltration. Meanwhile, Come On, Tough Guy gives Kirby a reason to taunt boss monsters despite his otherwise good-natured personality.

From The Found: A Man of a Thousand Faces

This move is written with telepathy in mind, and while it’s reasonable he has access to his target’s memories, it should be revised to indicate Kirby physically transforming to imitate the forms of people he’s consumed. For example, the option for disastrous success that involves marking Ruin should be changed to “Something about this transformation stokes your craving for the power beyond doom’s door.”

Overall, this move opens up opportunities for disguise and infiltration, as well as for interesting roleplaying scenarios when he impersonates other characters.

From The Summoned: Come On, Tough Guy

With this move, when Kirby faces “a colossal and otherworldly opponent,” he may taunt them to keep their focus on him. On a success, even a disastrous one, he gains benefits for doing so. Note that on a failure, The Summoned would normally face consequences from their prophecy, but for Kirby, the consequences should come from his overwhelming hunger.

Describe a New Way to Get Darkness Tokens

Since Omens gain Darkness Tokens when they indulge in unhealthy behaviors or wallow in negative emotions, the new way Kirby will get them is when he acts rashly, refusing to take the time to listen.

Take a New Power of Darkness

The Hungry may choose the power of darkness “Transfiguration Through Pain,” which we’ll be renaming “Mouthful Mode.” This will give Kirby his ability to inhale large objects and stretch himself over them, allowing him to use their abilities.

Change Your Playbook

Changing your playbook is a big deal in Apocalypse Keys, since you lose access to your playbook’s unique abilities in exchange for gaining the features and powers of a different playbook. In other words, Kirby’s powers and abilities would no longer be so heavily tied to his hunger.

That said, the next best playbook for Kirby is probably either The Last or The Fallen. If he took The Last, he would discover that he is effectively the last of his kind, and have to bear the weight of that legacy. In the case of The Fallen, he would find out that he was once a god, and could rise to be one again. A case could also be made for The Summoned, if one is willing to invent a dark prophecy for Kirby to be bound by. Given that I argued that Kirby is a baby eldritch abomination, I’ll be choosing The Fallen for this build.

Sequence of Playbook Advances

Based on how Kirby has developed and could grow, here’s the order I’d take the Advances in:

1. Move from The Summoned: Come On, Tough Guy
2. Move from The Found: A Man of a Thousand Faces
3. Playbook Move: The Better to Eat You With, My Dear
4. New Way to Get Darkness Tokens: Acting rashly
5. DIVISION Move: Dream Future Review Protocol
6. DIVISION Move: Partly Cursed Weapon
7. New Power of Darkness: Transfiguration Through Pain
8. Playbook Move: Gaze Into My Heart’s Abyss
9. Change Your Playbook: The Fallen

Even before he gained the ability to consume and copy opponents, Kirby kicked butt. Come On, Tough Guy helps him face down bosses, and also tallies with his tendency for taunts and sarcasm in the earlier games. Once he gains his copy abilities, A Man of a Thousand Faces represents his ability to resemble the people he copies, while The Better to Eat You With, My Dear reflects him using his copy abilities to solve puzzles and circumnavigate obstacles.

As for why Kirby gains Darkness Tokens when he acts rashly, it’s because of a certain incident in which Kirby’s decisive action actually ends up releasing Nightmare into Dream Land. This event also paves the way for Dream Future Review Protocol, which we’ve reinterpreted as Kirby interacting with actual dreams and nightmares who may help or hinder him.

Partly Cursed Weapon—which we renamed to Animal Friends—and “Transfiguration Through Pain”—which we reworked into Mouthful Mode—both represent applications of Kirby’s abilities that appear relatively late in the franchise. As Kirby becomes more aware of the extent of both his abilities and his hunger, Gaze Into My Heart’s Abyss gives him the opportunity to work through his feelings with friends and allies. Finally, this self-awareness paves the way for the realization that he is, in fact, an eldritch abomination, at which point he switches from being The Hungry to being The Fallen.

Congratulations, You've Built Kirby!

Thanks for reading this far! If you’re hungry for more, check out the previous entries about Batman of DC Comics fame, Anya Forger of Spy X Family, Avatar Aang of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Doctor of Doctor Who. Also, please let me know if you have thoughts about the build, how it goes if you play as Kirby, or there are any desktop-compatible Kirby games I should try since I’ve never actually gotten to play a Kirby game. Also, shout-out to the Kirby TV Tropes page, without which this blog entry wouldn’t have been nearly as accurate.

Entry #6 comes out next Friday. Stay tuned for that, as well as for the release of my original Apocalypse Keys mystery “Sweet Dreams” on March 14!

Return to the beginning of the article

Glossary

Advance: level-ups unlocked by gaining Ruin or experience points (XP). Ruin brings Omens closer to transforming into Harbingers of the Apocalypse, while XP fosters their growth.

 

Bonds: An in-game resource that represents relationships among characters, providing mechanical benefits such as the ability to modify the result of dice rolls.

 

Breaking Point: The moment in which a character buckles under strain, usually with dramatic consequences. The Breaking Point occurs once an Omen has marked all available Conditions.

 

Condition: an emotional state that represents how Omens respond to the strain they’re under in lieu of hit points (HP). Marking all Conditions causes an Omen to hit their Breaking Point.

 

Darkness Tokens: a resource gained by leaning into the Omens’ worst instincts. Darkness Tokens allow players to manipulate the dice, increasing the odds of both success and disastrous success.

 

Disastrous Success: If players roll too high, the resulting disastrous success means they face negative consequences as a result of leaning too far into the darkness. This may involve collateral damage or other complications.

 

DIVISION: the mysterious organization that employs Omens, providing them with the intel and resources needed to face Harbingers of the Apocalypse.

 

Experience Points (XP): a mechanical tracker of Omens’ character growth. XP can be gained through moves, through roleplay, and by reflecting on their choices at the end of each session. Gaining 8 XP unlocks an Advance.

 

Harbinger of the Apocalypse: powerful entities that seek destruction or rewriting of reality on a planetary or even universal scale.

 

Keeper: the term used for gamemasters of Apocalypse Keys, in line with other Powered by the Apocalypse systems.

 

Key: a type of clue in Apocalypse Keys that serves as the mechanical basis for solving the mystery. Keys can be tangible objects, or they may be more esoteric.

Move: a move is an ability with clearly defined activation conditions and results. It may either happen automatically or require the players to roll two six-sided dice to determine success or failure.

 

Mystery: The unit of plot for Apocalypse Keys. Story arcs revolve around investigating a Harbinger’s machinations, with a mystery consisting of the session(s) it takes to unravel and respond to the scheme.

 

Omen-Class Monster: this is the term for player characters, and is typically abbreviated to Omen. In-universe, it refers to entities not seeking the end of the world who have power on par with a Harbinger’s.

 

Playbook: Playbooks include thematically consistent prompts and abilities that serve as the basis of character creation. There are seven total playbooks in Apocalypse Keys.

 

Power of Darkness: Omens have superpowers tied to their inner darkness, that are therefore referred to as powers of darkness.

 

Ruin: a mechanical tracker of Omens’ downward spiral into becoming Harbingers. Accruing 5 Ruin unlocks an irreversible Ruin Advance.

 

Ruin Advance: One of nine abilities Omens gain when they accrue 5 Ruin. These abilities tend to accelerate them down the path toward becoming a Harbinger, and unlocking a Ruin Advance is accompanied by the player narrating a cutscene of their character as a future Harbinger.