Last night, we ran two tables of #threeforged playtests. My table played Children’s Radio Hour and Fear of the Dark.
Children’s Radio Hour
Wow, this game. This is another one that I love, in theory, just because it’s such a unique idea. All of the players are actors on a children’s radio show. Each player has a different agenda that they are trying to subtly push through the story while still keeping it, on its face, nothing more than a light children’s tale. The game has a strict one hour time limit and you aren’t allowed to break character, except for during a handful of commercial breaks. In general, when it’s working, it works well. Our radio play was fun. I’m led to believe that it’s got a similar vibe to Puppetland, in that you can’t just narrate what your character is doing in third person, it’s all kid-friendly first person narration, e.g. “Now, I’m casting a magic spell on you. Abracadabra!”
To help out with your improvising, you’ve got a stack of index cards with prompts for “characters”, “locations”, and “things” in the middle of the table that you can pull from when you want to incorporate something new into the play. In the beginning of the game, before you start the timer, every person creates one of each, but you should be writing more constantly since writing leading prompts is the best way to get your agenda into the play.
Here’s the problem though: there are so many things going on in real-time that it’s almost impossible to do them all and bring your A-game to the roleplaying. Here’s a short list of what you should be doing / holding in your head at all times:
* Roleplaying your character (or, more likely, multiple characters)
* Keeping track of who the other players are roleplaying (multiple characters each)
* Writing prompt cards (don’t forget to incorporate your agenda when writing them). This is super important; we kept running out.
* Pushing your agenda in the roleplay
* Listening for other actors to say things that help with your agenda and giving them a token when they do
* Every time a new character is introduced, note it on the master name list so you don’t reuse the name
* As the Station Manager, watch the clock so you can let everyone know when commercial breaks begin and end
* As the Station Manager, listen for people breaking character or causing lulls and throw dead air tokens
Holy Cognitive Load, Batman! That is just too much. It would probably get a little better on successive playthroughs, but it’s still going to be too much to keep track of to really be engaged in the roleplaying to the extent that you should be. The really onerous requirement is writing the prompt cards during play (each card has multiple parts, also, like 3 details for a character or a location name and two details about it). We decided that either writing a ton of prompts in the beginning or dividing the players into actors and writers (who had their own agendas and just wrote prompts the whole time) would probably go a long way to making this game more approachable. As it is, we threw in the towel at the halfway mark. It was fun, but everyone was just mentally exhausted, we’d already burned through all of the index cards that we had at the table, and we had sort of lost the thread of our play.
This one joins Timelines in the pile of games that are great ideas but really ask a lot of the players. After the singularity, once our brains are all uploaded to computers, I’ll play this one again and it will be great.
Fear of the Dark
I really like this one. It’s about kids, who are supposed to be in bed while the grown-ups do mysterious grown-up things in another part of the house, sneaking out of their beds to try to accomplish little mundane tasks that are preventing them from sleeping.
Accomplishing these tasks, though, will force the kids to creep through the dark house, where they imagine all sorts of things that are out to get them. It’s delightful. There’s a definite joy in describing mundane things as if they are horrible monsters. The tree-branch shaped shadows outside the window? That’s clearly a monstrous octopus. Creepy doll in the attic? OHMYGODRUN!
One really smart design choice in this game is that it’s on the kids to scare themselves. For example, the GM might describe a generic, easily-explained noise, then ask the players what they think it was. When the players describe whatever horrible thing they imagine made the noise, the GM agrees and goes from there. It creates a really fun dynamic where as players, we pretty much all know the actual, mundane explanation as to what’s going on, but simultaneously, we are holding onto the kids’ fantastic, scary interpretation of it and acting on that.
Any time the kids push themselves to confront their fears, there is a nice, simple card-based resolution mechanic to determine if they succeed or not. If they fail, they have two options. First, they can choose to react in a kid-like manner, e.g., running to the adults, screaming for help, running back to their beds. Alternatively, they can choose to be “touched by the darkness”. When kids are touched by the darkness, they actually see through their fear and realize that the thing they were so afraid of wasn’t anything scary after all, e.g. “Oh, it was just a tree branch after all.” If a kid gets touched by the darkness too many times, they outgrow their fears but in the process they lose the ability to see the world with as much wonder as they once did.
Once this happens to a player, they start working with the darkness to help scare the remaining children.
So yeah, I really like this one. There are a couple small things that seem a little unnecessary. For some reason, the game runs for exactly one hour. I’m not sure that adds anything. We ignored the timer when it ran out and finished out our story. Also, there’s a notion of a winning player, but it has literally no function other than saying “Great, you win!” at the end. We forgot to even check who won at the end of our game and no one missed it.
I think for me, this falls right below Field Work on my list, but it’s solidly in second place. I’d happily play it again.
Tagging in Ferrell Riley and Daniel Fowler for their thoughts.
Tagging in Ferrell Riley and Daniel Fowler for their thoughts.
Great write-ups! Thanks for sharing.
Great write-ups! Thanks for sharing.
Loved both games.
I wish I was better at improve for the children’s radio hour. I think separate writers would be the way to go in that. also some sort of practice round. its really hard when a game says you can’t speak out of character and you realize you don’t understand something. Just remember its a kids show and stuff doesn’t have to make sense and move in a logical way. I wonder how it would or wouldn’t work if most or all the characters were tele-tubys or Pokémon and spoke a baby language. it would be easier on me to improve but no one would have any idea what was going on. Pika Pika. Pikachu!!
I really enjoyed fear of the dark. I love the child logic and rituals to stay safe. I was constantly brought back to my childhood memories of sneaking around the property at night with my brother and cousin. we would gather sticks and investigate noises and dark places looking for intruders. I am kind of torn between wanting to “win” and stay a kid which seems to be the intent of the game, and wanting to see my kid grow up and figure out the truth. we didn’t see anyone play as a teenager but that might be fun too.
Loved both games.
I wish I was better at improve for the children’s radio hour. I think separate writers would be the way to go in that. also some sort of practice round. its really hard when a game says you can’t speak out of character and you realize you don’t understand something. Just remember its a kids show and stuff doesn’t have to make sense and move in a logical way. I wonder how it would or wouldn’t work if most or all the characters were tele-tubys or Pokémon and spoke a baby language. it would be easier on me to improve but no one would have any idea what was going on. Pika Pika. Pikachu!!
I really enjoyed fear of the dark. I love the child logic and rituals to stay safe. I was constantly brought back to my childhood memories of sneaking around the property at night with my brother and cousin. we would gather sticks and investigate noises and dark places looking for intruders. I am kind of torn between wanting to “win” and stay a kid which seems to be the intent of the game, and wanting to see my kid grow up and figure out the truth. we didn’t see anyone play as a teenager but that might be fun too.
I’m glad FotD went off so well. I was confused by it but everyone told me I was wrong.
I’m glad FotD went off so well. I was confused by it but everyone told me I was wrong.
Also, great observation about the kids, and how it’s on them to scare themselves. I am working on a 2-player Cthulhu game where both players’ orders are to scare one player.
Also, great observation about the kids, and how it’s on them to scare themselves. I am working on a 2-player Cthulhu game where both players’ orders are to scare one player.
Robert Bohl I’m actually with you on a lot of your critique of FotD. The game would benefit a lot from stating upfront that all of the creepy, supernatural things are just what the kids imagine, not what’s actually going on. I had an ah-ha moment at the end when they finally lay that out and had to go back and read it all over with that in mind before it really clicked for me.
Robert Bohl I’m actually with you on a lot of your critique of FotD. The game would benefit a lot from stating upfront that all of the creepy, supernatural things are just what the kids imagine, not what’s actually going on. I had an ah-ha moment at the end when they finally lay that out and had to go back and read it all over with that in mind before it really clicked for me.
What were the other two tables playing?
What were the other two tables playing?
Just 1 other table. Russell Benner ran Salt Crown.
Just 1 other table. Russell Benner ran Salt Crown.
I think the shadow clones of your parents might go a bit to far from the idea in fear the dark. I don’t remember having those types of fears about the grownups around me (maybe I was lucky) while everything else rang true. certainly strangers can be dangerous and scary. and older kids and grown ups can be mean. but dealing with them when you know they are actually dark clones seems a bit awkward. in game we mostly just talked to or attempted to fool the grown ups regardless of whether they were real or dark copies. if I thought my dad was not my dad, but a monster trying to look like my dad and was in the room right in front of me, the only rational response would be running. this might get awkward, though I pretty much ran from everything in that game. I still like the game but the shadow people impersonating your parents might stretch the “its all in their heads” limits that make it fun.
I think the shadow clones of your parents might go a bit to far from the idea in fear the dark. I don’t remember having those types of fears about the grownups around me (maybe I was lucky) while everything else rang true. certainly strangers can be dangerous and scary. and older kids and grown ups can be mean. but dealing with them when you know they are actually dark clones seems a bit awkward. in game we mostly just talked to or attempted to fool the grown ups regardless of whether they were real or dark copies. if I thought my dad was not my dad, but a monster trying to look like my dad and was in the room right in front of me, the only rational response would be running. this might get awkward, though I pretty much ran from everything in that game. I still like the game but the shadow people impersonating your parents might stretch the “its all in their heads” limits that make it fun.
Interesting. You’re right that the shadow clones didn’t necessarily feel like something from my own childhood fears, but I thought they worked in the game. I interpreted it as the kids being so worked up already that they started seeing sinister intent in everything, even things that would normally be comforting and familiar.
Interesting. You’re right that the shadow clones didn’t necessarily feel like something from my own childhood fears, but I thought they worked in the game. I interpreted it as the kids being so worked up already that they started seeing sinister intent in everything, even things that would normally be comforting and familiar.
Thinking about it a bit more, shadow clones are actually an elegant way of making the resolution mechanics work when dealing with grown-ups. There’s no way to mechanically defy grown-ups in game, so if you want to run away from your dad when he’s trying to put you back to bed, it’s basically up to GM fiat whether you can (I’m pretty sure it only came up once in our game and I just had the adult grab the kid and physically carry them back to bed). On the other hand, if a kid thinks that it’s actually a shadow clone instead of their parent, now running away triggers a challenge against the darkness, letting you succeed or fail as the cards dictate.
Thinking about it a bit more, shadow clones are actually an elegant way of making the resolution mechanics work when dealing with grown-ups. There’s no way to mechanically defy grown-ups in game, so if you want to run away from your dad when he’s trying to put you back to bed, it’s basically up to GM fiat whether you can (I’m pretty sure it only came up once in our game and I just had the adult grab the kid and physically carry them back to bed). On the other hand, if a kid thinks that it’s actually a shadow clone instead of their parent, now running away triggers a challenge against the darkness, letting you succeed or fail as the cards dictate.
Children’s Radio Hour:
It lives up to it’s name. It’s an hour, it’s like “Welcome to Night Vale” or “Prairie Home Companion” in that you have to do all the sound effects yourself, and it’s like a child going “AND THIS AND THIS AND THIS” with the amount of stuff you need to track.
I’ll be honest, I’m the one who threw in the towel at the 30 min mark. As much as I want to love this game, It has way too many moving parts. I still think that creating 3 of each item per player is the way to go, as it then creates a limited resource pool to draw from, which would help not only take some responsibility off the players, but also help shape the story you’re working on (shit, no more locations! ok, better use what we’ve got or stay put).
I really want to play this one again as an AP once it gets the kinks worked out. With some editing you could have a nice little radio play going.
Fear of The Dark:
Fun fun fun! The card draw resolution mechanic works well I think, and really makes you go “dammit, do I succeed, or do I get points?”. I don’t have much to add here, it was great being a kid and being cheeky that “no, that’s totally the octopus who lives outside, not a tree branch moved by the wind at all!” when making up fears. I only wish I had gone “teenager” faster, so I could of messed with the other players some more and seen how those rules work.
Daniel Fowler I think the “Shadow Clones” is less about “ooh they’re evil spirits” and more that, when you’re around kids, there are things you don’t do because they’re there. I know for the father “shadow clone” I saw it as “oh, he’s obviously a bit drunk here, so his slurred speech is prob making the kid freak out”.
Children’s Radio Hour:
It lives up to it’s name. It’s an hour, it’s like “Welcome to Night Vale” or “Prairie Home Companion” in that you have to do all the sound effects yourself, and it’s like a child going “AND THIS AND THIS AND THIS” with the amount of stuff you need to track.
I’ll be honest, I’m the one who threw in the towel at the 30 min mark. As much as I want to love this game, It has way too many moving parts. I still think that creating 3 of each item per player is the way to go, as it then creates a limited resource pool to draw from, which would help not only take some responsibility off the players, but also help shape the story you’re working on (shit, no more locations! ok, better use what we’ve got or stay put).
I really want to play this one again as an AP once it gets the kinks worked out. With some editing you could have a nice little radio play going.
Fear of The Dark:
Fun fun fun! The card draw resolution mechanic works well I think, and really makes you go “dammit, do I succeed, or do I get points?”. I don’t have much to add here, it was great being a kid and being cheeky that “no, that’s totally the octopus who lives outside, not a tree branch moved by the wind at all!” when making up fears. I only wish I had gone “teenager” faster, so I could of messed with the other players some more and seen how those rules work.
Daniel Fowler I think the “Shadow Clones” is less about “ooh they’re evil spirits” and more that, when you’re around kids, there are things you don’t do because they’re there. I know for the father “shadow clone” I saw it as “oh, he’s obviously a bit drunk here, so his slurred speech is prob making the kid freak out”.