Yesterday I ran a one-shot of the role-playing game "My Life With Master", a game of villainy, self-loathing and unrequited love. I ran it in a five hour session with three players at Gigabites Cafe, Marietta GA...my regular RPG haunt.
The game is heavy on collaboration and narrative, so the first part of the session is spent creating "Master". There are a few concepts given, all based in gothic horror. There are "breeders", such as Victor Frankenstein, "Feeders" like Count Dracula, "Collectors" like PT Barnum, and "Teachers" like the Marquis De Sade. This was a really fun exercise, lots of ideas thrown back and forth, and we settled on a "feeder" master. In this case, he was an aristocrat who had contracted a disfiguring disease in the village brothel. He needs to consume the flesh of prostitutes in the hopes of curing the disease, so he will be welcomed back into the aristocracy that has shunned him.
The players are Masters "minions"...the monsters who provide his needs. We had Franz, the killer who kidnaps and dispatches the prostitutes. Otto, the scientist and cook, who desperately tries to find a cure for Master. Finally there was Lurch, a giant who plays music to accompany Masters dining.
In actual gameplay, I put the heat on the players by making them take more risks and get more bodies. The villagers were consequently more alert. Also, a crucial part of the game is for the minions to make loving connections with the villagers...this is the only hope they have of building up enough self-esteem to resist Master. What worked really well with this group was that they targeted the same people for their affections, so rivalries emerged.
After a several rounds of gameplay, Master sent them on a mission to kidnap a virgin. The target was a barmaid, the object of Franz and Otto's love. They manage to kidnap her but are pursued by the village mob. This set up the end game scenario, in which Franz stood up to Master. They fight each other, with Master beating Franz to a pulp....only to be interrupted by the angry mob, who slay Master with their pitchforks. This game system has built in "conditions" for what happens to the players at the end of the game, based on the scores they have. In this case, they all escaped the blame and became part of the townsfolk.
We loved this game. It was very easy to run and they really took to the concept. A healthy dose of dark humor is absolutely required for this one though...we had that to spare! I would run it again but perhaps over three sessions. I can see how you could easily spend an entire session just creating Master and the minions. Very different and highly recommended, even as a one-shot.
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