Category: Session Report - THE GAUNTLET

1/21/2019

Session Report: My Life With Mastermind (Gauntlet Comics)

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Session Title
Gauntlet Comics: My Life With Mastermind #1/4

Date
1/10/2019

System
My Life With Master

GM
Jim Crocker

Players
Alejandro Duarte, Richard Rogers (orklord), Tom Fowler, Peter Mazzeo

Session Recap
This was a Session Zero episode, with character- and world-building. We started by piecing together our Mastermind, who turned out to be an ex-superhero who has become convinced that more extreme and societal solutions to crime are required. We tied his origin into the existing Gauntlet Comics Universe, and our characters will become part of the shared universe.

Highlight
When a player suggested that the Master be a former masked vigilante, it unlocked a floodgate of ideas for the world and characters.

Moment of Insight
MLwM is an early Forge-era game, and it's fiddly and arithmetic-intensive. I regret spending time going through the rules and formulas, and should have just rolled into play and explained the systems as we went along.

Actual Play (Content Advisory - Discussion of existence of sexual assault in Lines/Veils creation)

12/17/2018

Session Report: Fire Ships at Midnight

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by Fraser Simons, Keeper of the Neon Veil

Date Played
12/13/2018

System
Fire Ships At Midnight

Facilitator
Haley G

Players
Fraser S, Sarah J

Session Recap
Fire Ships At Midnight is a storygame that has 3 players take on the roles of The Duke of Medina Sidonia, Cardinal Ribera, and Captain Salazar. It captures a moment of history I was not even remotely aware of: the legendary disaster of the Spanish Armada as they attempted to invade the English in 1588.

We don't play to affect the outcome of the disaster, though. We play to find out which of the three characters can save their reputations, each vying for their own course of action using the mechanics of the game. You wager dice in an attempt to outbid the others. But your failures and successes are linked, ultimately. And when you play to drive the fiction toward your ideal outcome, you also find yourself slipping into your character; "fighting" with the people you realize you're in bed with, as you are the only people who will be judged...and rewarded.

In the first scene, I found myself advocating for a course of action that was actually the second scene's most positive outcome for my character, the Captain. The plan I quickly thought up when attempting to embody my character was my character's primary goal—how perfect is that?!

As we continued, I found that this was similar for everyone. The desired outcomes also goalpost what your character would do and want, making it so easy to roleplay their possible mode of thinking, maneuvering to the end game.

Even when you start out advocating for the lives of your men and the safest, sanest, course of action, you think. You end up on the precipice, deciding if you want to be crowned in glory (all the while knowing you're all responsible for a horrendous outcome for the lives of those you are, perhaps, most responsible for as the Captain) or be disgraced.

That's when you are really playing to find out; when you're realizing your immense, titanic privilege in a situation with lives in the balance; when you're choosing the best outcome for yourself.

And remember: that is what the game says it's about. It warned you the whole time.

Highlight
To foreshadow my character's own decision, midway through play the Duke offered to help me when we returned. Promises writhed in ostentatious firelight splaying across his gilded quarters. On a player level, I lost and missed my favored outcome, as did the Cardinal, who lost so direly they were out of the game. But while the Cardinal held fast despite this loss, I gave one of my losing dice to the Duke, bending to his will.

In the end, we were crowned as heroes and the Cardinal fell to dysentery in the hull of the ship. He prayed and prayed and cursed us as he died. His grandson, the bishop, looked so much like the Cardinal as we held our final conference. Talking of executing deserters or disbanding the fleet, trusting the captains to sail for Spain and king and country. All the while the words of the bishop, like the shadows on the wall when we spoke last to the Cardinal, fell on deaf ears. In the end, even if you're god fearing, you want the king on your side; not god.

Moment of Insight
No matter what outcome you vie for it is all false valor and bluster. If it happens to align for the best outcome for the army and best sailors belonging to Spain, well, that is particularly lucky for them.

Fireships at Midnight is available in Codex - Flame, which you can pick up for FREE right here.

12/3/2018

Session Report: Star Wars Saturday - Impulse Drive

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Campaign/Session Title
Star Wars Saturday: Impulse Drive (1 of 3)

Content Advisory
Discussion of slavery, violence

Date Played
12/1/2018

System
Impulse Drive

GM
Rich Rogers

Players
Bethany, David, and Sabine

Session Recap
The crew of the Nerf Herder, a small tramp freighter, fly into the spaceport on Rutan in hopes of picking up a contract, but they become embroiled in a decades-old conflict between the Rutani and their neighbors on the planet's moon, Senali.

Quake, the old Clone Trooper, runs into a Twi'Lek he once freed during a mission on this planet, and the two have a brief but pleasant reunion. Val the Scoundrel has a reunion of her own, it's less pleasant. Buza the secret Jedi warns a Bounty Hunter off Val's trail and steals her idents, but that only leads to trouble back on the ship later when the Trandoshan Bounty Hunter comes looking for her poodoo.

Highlight
After a failed roll to scope out a gambling den, Val the Scoundrel is pulled into a gun smuggling job by her old boss.

Moment of Insight
As the Space Master (the GM in Impulse Drive), I'd prepped the job they would start off with and read about Rutan on Wookieepedia. The players took over the story with their amazing ideas and I rolled with them. I also borrowed ideas liberally from the comic book series Saga, because I steal from the best. The dice gave us lots of little surprises along the way.

Signup for Future Sessions
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Actual Play

11/26/2018

Session Report: Girl Underground

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by Fraser Simons, Keeper of the Neon Veil

Date Played
11/14/2018

System
Girl Underground

GM
Lauren McManamon

Players
Fraser Simons, Ary Ramsey, Michael X. Heiligenstein

Session Recap
Falling into a tub smelling of cigarettes and gin only to be transported to a magical land would teach anyone something, right? Girl Underground puts you in the shoes of the companions of a young girl who enters just such a place. But it also has the players embody companions that act as different lenses to interrogate various themes in line with the genre. Fiction like Alice In Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Labyrinth, and Spirited Away.

Knowing little of the genre, I wasn't sure what to quite expect other than the knowledge that it attempts a lens often not seen in RPGs; especially because it aims to empower the main character as the players all take time playing with agency. As an alternate lens to the girl the companions help reinforce these goals. Pyrion, the last of his regal kind as a phoenix, was my own character and companion to Penny, the girl. My moves enabled me to contribute to the fiction with tales of the past, to help Penny be courageous, and try to circumvent obstacles despite my inability to fly—all things which enabled me to flesh out Pyrion over two sessions of the playtest. Why was he the last of his kind? Why couldn't he fly anymore?

The girl is the only one able to deal with obstacles and address challenges. She has manners she is beholden to but can be subverted, which yield new beliefs forged from these experiences and are the direct result of her agency. When a witch in a shack tells you what to do, "Young ladies must never complain about their duties." is subverted and becomes "Adults always say one thing but mean another." When you're held captive in a fantastic hall, and prince charming and a man in a peacock costume give you tea that tastes like your wildest dreams or try to regale you with never-ending tales (literally) of their own bravery, "Young ladies never make demands" changes to "I matter as much as anyone" when you tell them to stuff it and take off. There is just no time for tea. Even if it tastes like everything good in your life and you think about that tea every second of every day...Anyway~~

Throughout play, the girl and her companions encounter embodiments of the things young girls and women face in their daily lives. Societal strictures and gender performance, and a lot of things I often don't think about as a white male with a lot of privilege. All people and creatures and jerk tooth fairies speak to you, well, like a 12 year old girl. They tell you what to do and what to think. Sometimes subtly, sometimes not. And conflicts, at least in our playtest, never resulted in physical altercations. This is something I love in RPG design in general, but in this game it is particularly satisfying because subverting expectations is what the game is about.

Penny helped her companions as much as they helped her. The sheer act of discovering Pyrion was help. He was chained to the ground by villagers who feared his kin, though they were all long dead. The Ogre, Gungun, though physically powerful, was a gentle soul that was being bullied when discovered and later had to face body shame in order to get us out of multiple disastrous situations—all while being the most perceptive one of us all. Skipper, the Runaway, only free so long as she was lost, led the way in compassion despite a lot of exuberant bravado. Skipper found the sea that led to the Crystal Palace and the Queen of Nothing—as Gungun pointed out to her while we tried to evade a magical pact at the bottom of an ocean that could surely drown us at any moment, since it only parted because the Queen willed it.

I was sure that this final boss, this unjust ruler, would be maybe the only physical conflict we would have. But as we talked to the would-be-ruler it was clear that she was as much a girl as us. She, too, had wandered in the halls with the prince and the peacock and was rejected. I'm sure we would have made some slight and be similarly ejected. But Skipper took Penny's hand and ran, even taking with us the prince whose helmet revealed not a Prince Charming, but a young boy of 15, no more mature than any of us. His clothes fit for a man but the only thing the boy could think to do was tell other people stories so that he would feel good about himself. And still we saved him from a then-unknown fate but would have been the same as the queen of the ocean—who walked right into the water to be alone forever.

Highlight
When Gungun told the queen that she didn't rule anything, and that the sea didn't care about her. He invited her to his home. Then it dawned on Pyrion that his kin surely died at her hand; their obsidian bones lying in this oceans floor for doing battle with a young, lonely queen. He saw his kin attacking something they didn't understand. Their bodies unable to burst into flame because they were wet with the salty sea that killed them and unable to be reborn like phoenixes do. He decided he wouldn't find any real sense of justice for the loss he suffered. He wasn't going to try and hurt and kill something sad and possibly dead, and who was a young girl who maybe didn't understand much of what she was doing. So he forgave her. Penny went home and he and his companions carried his kin's bones to be buried. And when the queen or the witch of the sea walked out from the ocean she crumbled into sand anyway.

Moment of Insight
Girl Underground can't help but express its themes in poignant ways, a byproduct of the design. I love that most moves assume some degree of success, underpinning agency. The fiction, because of the subject matter it's exploring, can then be "as hard as the MC likes." I think it is a clever subversion of the structure of Powered by the Apocalypse games. The companions all have unique and interesting lenses through which to interact with the Girl herself. I like how fast and evocative character creation is for the Girl, as well as the companions (we were the first gangster bootlegger impoverished family). The companions roll with one of the Girl's stats, keeping cognitive load light. The story was fantastic, all as a result from the move outcomes. Especially when posing questions that need answering in service to your companions, and the game's themes, in order to also succeed. Can't wait to follow the progress of the design, it was a great experience!

You can learn more about Girl Underground at https://girlunderground.org.

11/19/2018

Session Report: For the Queen

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Date Played
11/8/2018

System
For the Queen

GM
Tomes

Players
Agatha, Leandro, Vee, Hayley

Session Recap
A perilous journey to a broker a marriage for the young queen. A journey with a farm boy with an oracle's bowl, two siblings—assassins in their ways, the queen's mother who still wields power through words, and a captive ambassador of the land to which we travel.

Highlight
Once by Agatha, once by Vee, where they needed to stop and meta-discuss the situation because there was just so much intrigue.

Moment of Insight
The game rules estimated a run time of 30 minutes. I expected 2 hours. We played for over 3 hours. This was the closest I've seen the base game behave as a "standard" RPG in terms of length, role playing, and scene progression.

Actual Play

11/12/2018

Session Report: Tumbling

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This is the first in our new series of Gauntlet session reports, short and standardized reports of some of the hundreds of games that we are playing through Gauntlet Hangouts.

Campaign/Session Title
Tumbling / This Is the Story of Evan and Illina

Date
11/5/2018

System
Tumbling (third playtest)

GM
Sid Icarus

Players
Sid Icarus, Barry Cook

Session Recap
After a bunch of friendly interactions with them on Twitter, Sid invited me to playtest Tumbling - a laundry-based game of meet-cutes. Through character creation we learned that my character, Evan, was still hanging onto his time in college, and tailors his own clothes to fit him perfectly. We learned that whether Sid's character Illina is working in cafes, or possibly getting fired from working in the hospitality business, she uses up every moment in a day without wasting a one (except maybe on laundry). The two had a few awkwardly sweet encounters after a pretty rough start before sharing a kiss that surprised them both.

Highlight
At about 56 minutes into the recording, we enter Tumbling's epilogue scene where our cards let us use specific prompts like "I've moved too fast. Show me if you slow me down." before hitting our ending, which was very fortunately, "I have shown you I want you. Show me if you accept me."

Moment of Insight
The tightly-focused lens through which we saw our characters in this game really helped me see each of them as real people.

Actual Play

8/27/2018

We Were W.A.S.P.

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by Mikael Tysver, Keeper of the Hymnal of St. Evelyn the White

So I finally got around to play something from the Warbirds Anthology on Gauntlet Hangouts. The game of choice (or not that much choice as it seems like the only game from the book that would easily translate to online play) was We Were W.A.S.P., a game about four pilots from the Women Airforce Service Pilots that served in the Air Force during WW2. It's a game that originally was made for the danish con Fastaval and is written by Ann Eriksen. Fastaval is known for its mix of design cultures between Nordic larp and tabletop. As a result a lot of the games that get made for the con (yes, all of the games run at the con are designed just to get played there!) have a very unique style. Specifically, they often involve experimental design that borrows from Nordic larps; very feel-heavy content and very elaborate characters from the Danish scenario tradition. In the last years, a lot of people have discovered that there are a lot of great games that get made here, including others by Mo Turkington, who put together the Warbirds Anthology that We Were W.A.S.P. is a part of.

I have been thinking about running this and similar high impact scenarios from Fastaval for a while, but I've been a little nervous about putting it on the calendar. The main reasons being it's a very feel-heavy game and I had a preconception that these kind of games play better in a physical space than online. In addition to that, I must admit that my own inexperience with facilitating games where I as a narrator act as the vehicle for delivering the experience of discrimination and bigotry also factored in a little. But I finally got around to do it and after some aggressive marketing I got all the players I needed to run it.

So first of all, it totally works online! I had two new players that I haven't played with before and I suspect that the design was quite different from what they were used to, but I got the sense that they all had a very positive experience. I think doing workshops to get the players rolling is a really nice steal from larps, that I'd like to see used more in tabletop games. What I would add for online play is that this game requires an extended talk about safety. Especially outside of the "culture" where these kind of games come from where playing feel-heavy games are the norm. I also added a debrief at the end to give the players the opportunity to decompress a little after the game and tried to check in regularly during the game as well. I am sure that all of those things are important playing it in person, too, but I definitely feel like it is of extra importance online as it can be more challenging to read how people are doing.

So about the game! It is a very good and tightly designed experience. The story and the characters are the big draw of the game. The characters are beautifully written and really draw you into the mindset you need to play the game. I sat with watery eyes while reading the stories of the four W.A.S.P.s, and from that moment on it was clear to me that this game lives and breathes by these brave women who sacrificed so much to be able to fly. That also showed in the play of my players, who really managed to do these wonderful characters justice. It was moving to see them show their character's vulnerability, toughness and willingness to endure sexism and bigotry from pretty much every encounter from the male soldiers they risked their lives to support. My favorite scene was the one where the women say goodbye to the plane after their last flight. It had so much unresolved tension in the air as I could feel the awkwardness as the W.A.S.P.’s tried to avoid saying goodbye at all. When the game ended, I think we all felt a little empty after having been the W.A.S.P. for the last four hours. After a small break we had a little debrief to decompress and the feeling around the table was of thankfulness to have participated in the story of Helen, Betty-Jane, Patricia and Violet. There are some small things that we struggled with (mainly related to the flying part of the game), but I think we all got an experience to remember. If you are interested you can see the recording of the session here:

I'd really like to get both We Were W.A.S.P. and other games from the Fastaval design tradition out to more people. I have some strong feelings about trying to make more space for games that are about marginalized folks. Especially if it is about tough subject matter, and hopefully you will see more of those games on the calendar this fall. If you’d like to get your hands on this game you can get the Warbirds Anthology over at Indie Press Revolution. I definitely think you should!

WASP pilot Elizabeth Remba Gardner

8/14/2018

Session Report - Lovecraftesque: Mr. Giggles Comes to Dinner

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by Larry S

This game of Lovecraftesque (by +Becky Annison and +Joshua Fox) ran on August 7th. We used the pre-made scenario, Mr. Giggles Comes to Dinner, by +Misha B. It was the first game that I facilitated on Gauntlet Hangouts. Fortunately, I had the support of a super imaginative and all-around cool group of players: +Robbie Boerth, +Vincent Eaton, and +Keith Stetson. Due technical problems, I was unable to record, which is partly why I wanted to do this write-up. I also wanted to reflect on how the game ran, what worked, and what could have gone better. Hopefully others find this extended meditation useful and/or entertaining!

Synopsis

The basic premise of the game was that Alex, a single parent, must uncover the horrible truth behind their child's (Sam) imaginary friend, Mr. Giggles. We began by fleshing out the scenario. Misha left some story elements undefined, including the Witness’s social identity. Misha used gender neutral names and pronouns and was silent on race or ethnicity. We consciously designed Alex against our understanding of prevalent cultural expectations. We figured that, if this scenario were a mainstream movie, then Alex would probably be a single mom (see, e.g., The Babadook, 2014), so we made Alex a man. As a chemist, Alex might be expected to be white or Asian, so we made him black.

Part 1, scene 1: Our game opened in a parent-teacher conference. Alex appears harried after a long day at the chemical plant. A teacher (played by the Narrator) and the school principal (played by a Watcher) express concern about Sam's strange writings. Alex tries to minimize but is stopped short when the teacher holds a mirror next to the papers, revealing that the apparently illegible scrawling is actually backwards writing about “unsealing portals.” Coincidentally, a fluorescent ceiling light begins to flicker and strobe as the teacher flips through the pages of strange writing. Alex attempts to rationalize it away by pointing out that Sam could have learned these terms from him talking about work at the chemical plant. (One of Alex’s pre-determined traits is his penchant for rationalization.)

Part 1, scene 2: Our next scene was set at Alex’s home immediately following the parent-teacher conference. Alex is trying to prepare dinner for Sam (Narrator) while her rambunctious friend Robin (Watcher) jumps on the sofa. As Alex takes some chips from the kitchen cabinet, he discovers that it and other items have been tampered with -- a thin incision in the packaging of several items. His discovery is interrupted by Robin, who pulls at the bottom of a stack of old pizza boxes, causing a cascade that sends forth several cockroaches. The cockroaches strangely scurry into the sink and down the drain.

Part 1, scene 3: The next scene occurs in the same evening after Robin's mother has picked her up. Alex is brewing his own bug spray with household products. He hears voices coming from Sam's room. At first, Alex assumes Sam is just watching TV, but as he continues to listen, he realizes that Sam is conversing with someone else. Alex rationalizes that Sam must be talking on FaceTime. He swears as Sam ignores his protestations to stop dilly-dallying and finish her homework. Sam suddenly appears in the kitchen and tells Alex that she was talking to Mr. Giggles who is helping her do her homework.

Part 1, scene 4: Later that night, Alex is awakened by a scratching sound coming from the wall separating his and Sam’s bedrooms. Alex finds Sam frantically drawing on the shared wall with crayons, many of which lay broken scattered at her feet. Sam has drawn a perfect circle. Strangely the top of the circle is too high for Sam to reach. When Alex attempts to snap Sam out of her stupor, she convulses and collapses in his arms.

Part 1, scene 5: Alex rushes Sam to the ER. After testing, he learns that Sam has a strange heart condition: her heart is beating double-time, as if there are two heart beats, and yet her blood pressure is fine. As he exists, Alex catches a glimpse of the doctor whispering conspiratorially to a nurse.

Part 2, scene 1: Alex takes Sam to a cardiologist and learns that Sam’s condition appears to be the result of the long-term ingestion of some substance. Alex responds defensively when the doctor inquires whether Sam could have gotten into Alex's chemicals at home. While conversing, Alex notices a single cockroach scurry across the floor. Other imperfections, like fingerprints on the computer screen, begin to pop into his view. Revolted by the poor hygienic conditions, Alex declines to have Sam submit to further testing at this office and asks for a referral.

Part 2, scene 2: Alex begins to remove the wallpaper from the wall that Sam had drawn on earlier. He discovers that the circle has penetrated past the wallpaper and appears to be burned into the underlying wall itself. He becomes agitated as he struggles to rationalize away his discovery. As his mind reels, the wall within the circle crumbles, revealing a tunnel -- despite the fact that his bedroom should lie on the other side!

Journey into darkness: Alex stumbles into the tunnel, following a rhythmic drumming which begins to sync with his own heartbeat. There is a sickly sweet and fetid odor in the air. He runs his hands against the wall of the tunnel and feels strange inscriptions with his fingertips. He eventually trips and passes out after hitting his head against a stone altar.

The Final Horror: When he awakens, Alex finds himself in a massive cavern. Sam is there, too. When Alex tries to carry Sam away, he finds her rooted to the ground by masses of cockroaches swarming over her feet. Sam opens her mouth as if to speak but only a cockroach emerges. A shadow looms up from behind Alex. He turns and is confronted by a massive cockroach-like being. Sam begins to speak in the same voice as Mr. Giggles from her bedroom. (See Part 1, Scene 3.) The last words Alex hears is that “The portal has been opened. He has risen.”

Epilogue: We learn that the small town was destroyed by a massive explosion. The distaster is attributed to the chemical plant, even though the investigation shows that the epicenter of the explosion was Alex’s home. Alex is found alive but unable to speak. The chemical plant scapegoats Alex for the explosion. Corroborating the plant’s narrative, a local news show interviews the cardiologist who recalls that Alex was seeing things (the cockroach in the examination room) and acting irrationally (refused treatment for Sam).

Reflections

Special cards - No one ended up using their special card. (The general rule of creeping horror prohibits the Narrator from introducing overtly supernatural elements or directly threatening the Witness. Special cards allow the narrator to break this rule under specified conditions.) This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it did feel like a pity not to engage this mechanic. There are two reasons for this lack of use: one, the trigger conditions (e.g., “you may play this card after a scene that includes dreams or visions”) needed to activate the cards were not satisfied; two, some of the cards could only be used in Part 2, which is only 1 to 3 scenes long. These restrictions are essentially a pacing mechanism to keep the “creep” in “creeping horror” -- i.e., to prevent the abrupt introduction of supernatural elements too early in the game. However, the trigger and timing conditions may be overly restrictive in practice, making the cards difficult or impossible to enter play at all. I may experiment with loosening or entirely removing these conditions in future games to see what effect this has on the narrative.

The Final Horror -- Our Final Horror scene, while very cool and creepy, did not account for all the clues. I suspect this may be true for many Lovecraftesque games. It is a very tall order for the Narrator to weave the clues from the prior six to eight scenes into a single scene. I think some this pressure can be relieved by explicitly making it the job of the Narrators in the two subsequent epilogue scenes to continue incorporating any clues left unaccounted for in the Final Horror scene.

Watchers -- Overall I was pleased to see that players were very active in the role of the Watcher. Watchers played a couple of secondary roles: the school principal and Robin (Sam's best friend). Watchers also took the initiative to offer creepy atmospheric details, some of which reoccurred across scenes (e.g., flickering lights, fetid odors). Indeed, one such atmospheric detail -- the cockroach -- became a central aspect of the Final Horror. I do feel, however, that as Narrators we could have invited our Watchers to elaborate more on the fiction. I will make an effort to remind myself and others to pose more questions to draw in the Watchers.

Witness Traits -- Going into this game, I was skeptical that the procedure of noting new Witness traits after every scene was necessary or useful. I was wrong. This procedure does exactly what it was intended, namely, maintain continuity of the Witness's personality across scenes despite being played by multiple players. After each scene, we asked, “What if anything did we learn about Alex?” Sometimes the answer was nothing. Sometimes the answer was nothing really new but rather an elaboration of a pre-existing trait, e.g., Alex’s “background as scientist” became “an obsessive need to make sense of things.” In any case, the procedure forced us to think deeply about our characterization of Alex and probably helped prevent wild swings in our individual portrayals of Alex.

In sum, I had a great time playing and hope to have an even more rewarding experience next time.

If anyone has thoughts on the game or these reflections, you can provide feedback on Larry's original Google+ post here.