Yet another great year of games is about to end, this one went by quicker than the last! My last post talked about the games that I was a player in, this time I'm looking back at the games I ran.
Call of Cthulhu - This was classic 1920's Cthulhu set in New York City. It featured elements of the scenario "Lurker in the Crypt", and I finished the story of the Bishop family,a legacy started way back in the scenario called "The Condemned". I also put in some weird travels through time and space to Mars, which finished off the sanity of one character in particular. A wild way to wrap up the story.
Delta Green - A five part campaign which had some of my very best sessions. The group was fantastic and really embraced the paranoia, chaos and overall downward spiral of the setting. I used one published scenario, "Convergence", to kick things off. The rest was my own material. Most of it was single room mysteries, the focus was firmly on plot twists. At the end of it most of the group casualties were inflicted by the players on each other.
My Life With Master - Still one of my favorite games, I ran this twice. The first was a one-shot, the second time I did a two-parter. I actually prefer the one-shot format for this game. Although it does rush things, the game flows and the threads all come together. This game has themes that everyone understands at a very deep level. The buzz for me is seeing what the players come up with in the darkest of situations. They never fail to surprise me.
Paranoia - Yes, the old classic. I ran this recently and it was great fun.The group composition is really important in this game and we had a good one. Some of them also played "Master", and these games certainly have things in common. It also stirred up nostalgia on the day, with people coming over to see what we were playing. I'm surprised this doesn't get run more often, it's definitely a much loved game.
Trail of Cthulhu - This was a short campaign in the "Bookhounds of London" setting. I enjoyed the system in many ways, though felt it was too easy for the players, especially compared to "Delta Green". It was also fun to have some new players at the table. Overall this one had some good moments though we burned through all of the story threads very quickly indeed. I don't think I had as good a storyline in this one compared to "Delta".
The ones that got away:
Unknown Armies - I do love this system and I had a big group. Too big. We just about finished character creation and I just wasn't "feeling it". We had no concept for the campaign and I could tell that none of us really understood it. I just knew at that point that this one was going to die quickly, so I pulled the plug.
Fiasco - I missed this because of stuff at home on the day...the game went ahead though and was a real blast.
Showing posts with label My Life With Master. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Life With Master. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
My Life With Master - "The Countess"
When an unexpected gap in my schedule appeared, I decided to offer a "one-shot" or "demo" game. I really like doing that because it's a great chance for me and prospective players to try something out without having to commit to any further sessions.
Some games are especially well suited to this format, which is why you often see them played at conventions. This time, I returned to one of my favorite games of all-time, "My Life With Master" by +Paul Czege . It's billed as "a roleplaying game of villainy,self-loathing and unrequited love", and it certainly lives up to that. The game is about the Minions (think of characters like Igor), who are servants of a terribly evil Master. They have miserable lives and are trying to find a way out.
We had a small group of four players, the ideal size for this. Three were experienced players with a taste for dark games (yes, +Tony Reyes was one of them), the other was a total newcomer to roleplaying, and she handled it brilliantly.
As a one-shot I spent the first hour on creating Master and the Minions (the player characters). Creation of Master and the setting are done collaboratively, Minion creation is done by the player.
We then jumped into the game, which is played in "scenes",each owned by a player,giving the game a cinematic feel. I also altered the game balance and math to make it feasible for someone to trigger the "Endgame" in a single session. All "Master" games lead to this, culminating in the death of Master. To do this, a character must accumulate enough "Love" points to overcome their own weariness and fear of Master and successfully stand up to him/her.
The scenario that we created was one where Master was "Countess Elizabeth", an old crone living in castle ruins who wanted to act out fairytales. The actors in the play were special "toys", human beings captured from the nearby village and surgically altered to fit their roles. The Minions were a tailor (also the surgeon), the kitchen girl, the overseer of prisoners and a pretty girl who would lure victims from the village. The Minions made their attempts to protect or woo ("Overtures") the objects of their love with mixed results, some of which,in true "Master" fashion, were disastrous, sparking a village revolt.
In the end it was the soft-spoken tailor who rose up to protect a young boy,and killed the Countess. He went on to make a new life for himself in the village, two minions were killed and another took his own life.
All in all, everyone had a great time and were genuinely surprised at how dark this game really was. Having run this before, I can honestly say that the level of darkness we reached was fairly typical and to be expected in this! It really is a game like no other and I love running it. You do need a group that can deal with very dark,mature themes with a good dose of black humor.Next time I will run this for several sessions to play it out as it's meant to be played, and I look forward to seeing what the returning players will come up with second time around.
Some games are especially well suited to this format, which is why you often see them played at conventions. This time, I returned to one of my favorite games of all-time, "My Life With Master" by +Paul Czege . It's billed as "a roleplaying game of villainy,self-loathing and unrequited love", and it certainly lives up to that. The game is about the Minions (think of characters like Igor), who are servants of a terribly evil Master. They have miserable lives and are trying to find a way out.
We had a small group of four players, the ideal size for this. Three were experienced players with a taste for dark games (yes, +Tony Reyes was one of them), the other was a total newcomer to roleplaying, and she handled it brilliantly.
As a one-shot I spent the first hour on creating Master and the Minions (the player characters). Creation of Master and the setting are done collaboratively, Minion creation is done by the player.
We then jumped into the game, which is played in "scenes",each owned by a player,giving the game a cinematic feel. I also altered the game balance and math to make it feasible for someone to trigger the "Endgame" in a single session. All "Master" games lead to this, culminating in the death of Master. To do this, a character must accumulate enough "Love" points to overcome their own weariness and fear of Master and successfully stand up to him/her.
The scenario that we created was one where Master was "Countess Elizabeth", an old crone living in castle ruins who wanted to act out fairytales. The actors in the play were special "toys", human beings captured from the nearby village and surgically altered to fit their roles. The Minions were a tailor (also the surgeon), the kitchen girl, the overseer of prisoners and a pretty girl who would lure victims from the village. The Minions made their attempts to protect or woo ("Overtures") the objects of their love with mixed results, some of which,in true "Master" fashion, were disastrous, sparking a village revolt.
In the end it was the soft-spoken tailor who rose up to protect a young boy,and killed the Countess. He went on to make a new life for himself in the village, two minions were killed and another took his own life.
All in all, everyone had a great time and were genuinely surprised at how dark this game really was. Having run this before, I can honestly say that the level of darkness we reached was fairly typical and to be expected in this! It really is a game like no other and I love running it. You do need a group that can deal with very dark,mature themes with a good dose of black humor.Next time I will run this for several sessions to play it out as it's meant to be played, and I look forward to seeing what the returning players will come up with second time around.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
"My Life With Master" - Review of gameplay
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.
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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