Some pics from Story Game Sunday. We played Dread. We had a great time but, if I’m being honest, this game is starting to age a little. It was developed in the late 90’s, and it shows. The players have zero narrative authority, it allows secrets at the table (which is almost always awful), and there is an unnecessary amount of planning that goes into each session.
That said, we had a fun time, and using a Jenga tower for conflict resolution is awesome. It leads to some great tension, which is appropriate for a horror game. I would love to see this game get a re-design that takes into account all the mechanical developments in story games from the last 15 years.
Thanks to Steve Mains for running the game and to everyone else who came out: Aaron Scott Jessica Scott Jeff Burke Russell Benner and Daniel Lewis.
Here’s the quick character generation method I was talking about: You lay out three rows of cards. The first is personality, the second is occupation, and the third is relationship to the character on your left. Combine with some Apocalypse World-style leading/loaded questions, and you’re good to go.
Cuts down start time and reduces GM prep (to a ridiculous degree compared to creating one’s own questionnaires).
Coming from PbtA games, which are basically designed for me, this was a labor-intensive walk on the surprisingly traditional side of things.
I am absolutely running Dread again someday, and I will absolutely be eschewing questionnaires and using quicker chargen. I’d love to try something gm-less like we were discussing, too.
Here’s the quick character generation method I was talking about: You lay out three rows of cards. The first is personality, the second is occupation, and the third is relationship to the character on your left. Combine with some Apocalypse World-style leading/loaded questions, and you’re good to go.
Cuts down start time and reduces GM prep (to a ridiculous degree compared to creating one’s own questionnaires).
Coming from PbtA games, which are basically designed for me, this was a labor-intensive walk on the surprisingly traditional side of things.
I am absolutely running Dread again someday, and I will absolutely be eschewing questionnaires and using quicker chargen. I’d love to try something gm-less like we were discussing, too.
Steve Mains Agreed. The core mechanic of using the Jenga tower is solid (and brilliant). It just needs a post-Fiasco rules tweak.
Steve Mains Agreed. The core mechanic of using the Jenga tower is solid (and brilliant). It just needs a post-Fiasco rules tweak.
I’ll have to devote some brain power to this. It’s gonna bug me. Unfortunately, I have to learn Polaris well enough to teach somewhere in the next week and half, so it’ll have to wait.
I’ll have to devote some brain power to this. It’s gonna bug me. Unfortunately, I have to learn Polaris well enough to teach somewhere in the next week and half, so it’ll have to wait.