Some Thoughts on The Final Girl
I’ve played two sessions of The Final Girl the last two days, part of our Dia De Los Muertos Halloween series. In the first session, I discovered there are some real headaches you can run into when trying to run FG over Hangouts & Roll20. Namely, using Roll20’s deck of cards feature in the middle of a tense scene. We started out pretty strong, because in the first four scenes, you don’t engage the mechanics at all. We were able to focus on our goofy characters, do some funny/gross/sexy shit (like you do) and were just generally laughing and having a good time.
But as the regular rounds started (Scene 5 onward), I found the energy of the scenes starting to drop pretty dramatically. A major part of the problem was using Roll20’s clunky card feature, but there is also something inherent about the game itself I hadn’t noticed before. Namely, when you stop the scene to go to the mechanics, it can be really disruptive, especially if the kills are taking too long or you’re RP’ing out every card play. By the end, I found the killing part of each scene to be a real drag.
Face-to-face, I never really noticed this problem, because physical playing cards are quicker to deal with, and there is a certain energy you can draw on when you are sitting at a table with someone.
David LaFreniere mentioned a change he incorporated into his online FG games, which is to completely resolve the cardplay before beginning each scene. We decided we would do that for today’s game to see how it went.
It was a fucking revelation.
Today’s game was one of the most perfect, coherent games of The Final Girl I’ve played in a long time. Dealing with the mechanics upfront before each scene was quick and effective. It completely eliminated the problem of Roll20-fiddling sapping the energy of a scene.
Furthermore, and this was my key takeaway from today, I just liked the scene outcomes better. When you begin the scene knowing who has to die, you can more effectively frame it and RP it out. We used the outcome of the cardplay to do like a short outline for the scene (“Ok, the killer goes after Susan, but Johnny helps her out. The killer then targets them all and Johnny and Rob have to die by the end”). It was really great. You would think doing it this way would defeat the tension, but I didn’t feel that way at all. In fact, the scenes were so much more satisfying, I don’t think I can go back to doing it any other way, even when playing face-to-face.
Anyway, feeling really good about FG right now.
Awesome! Glad there was a fix. It sucks trying to adapt some stuff to online play, great to hear you all had a good time!
Awesome! Glad there was a fix. It sucks trying to adapt some stuff to online play, great to hear you all had a good time!
In face to face games, I like doing a mix. The way I facilitate it, it’s the killers choice which way he runs it. What typically ends up happening is the first few scenes are the mechanics during play, because there are less cards in early rounds it’s ok. Then, in later rounds we resolve all mechanics in advance. If I’m not mistaken, the mechanics all upfront approach is a lesser used, rules-as-written, alternative approach that I didn’t remember till I re-read the rules a month or two ago.
In face to face games, I like doing a mix. The way I facilitate it, it’s the killers choice which way he runs it. What typically ends up happening is the first few scenes are the mechanics during play, because there are less cards in early rounds it’s ok. Then, in later rounds we resolve all mechanics in advance. If I’m not mistaken, the mechanics all upfront approach is a lesser used, rules-as-written, alternative approach that I didn’t remember till I re-read the rules a month or two ago.
That’s actually my preferred way of doing it (though I usually pick a point in the scene itself to do cards and then resume narrating the scene) and it’s in the book!
That’s actually my preferred way of doing it (though I usually pick a point in the scene itself to do cards and then resume narrating the scene) and it’s in the book!
Loved this story.
When we started resolving a bit more upfront, towards our later game, it was useful, but I don’t know if I was completely sold on it. I’ve still only played the once (not through lack of trying, and it’s still on my short-list in the Game Anytime bag).
I do like to hear Jason Cordova ‘s advice on being able to frame it better… but I think there will be some players who like that little competitiveness at the end of the scene. It’s kind of like getting to be the audience by being surprised by the direction the movie goes.
I think I might do as David LaFreniere does: adopt the two as options for the current director to choose from.
Loved this story.
When we started resolving a bit more upfront, towards our later game, it was useful, but I don’t know if I was completely sold on it. I’ve still only played the once (not through lack of trying, and it’s still on my short-list in the Game Anytime bag).
I do like to hear Jason Cordova ‘s advice on being able to frame it better… but I think there will be some players who like that little competitiveness at the end of the scene. It’s kind of like getting to be the audience by being surprised by the direction the movie goes.
I think I might do as David LaFreniere does: adopt the two as options for the current director to choose from.
I was serious last night in the 1st session for Dia De Los Muertos/FG session about deferring to the experienced hands of the game. So when David LaFreniere talked about the alternate mechanic/resolution for FG it really did feel as though the curtain had been pulled back. Really ready to get some more FG done!
I was serious last night in the 1st session for Dia De Los Muertos/FG session about deferring to the experienced hands of the game. So when David LaFreniere talked about the alternate mechanic/resolution for FG it really did feel as though the curtain had been pulled back. Really ready to get some more FG done!
Eddy Gonzalez The way we played last night was how we’ve done it a hundred times before face-to-face, so I honestly didn’t think there would be an issue. Something I’ve had to learn the last year or so playing online is you occasionally have to make mistakes in order to learn from them and optimize your procedures for the format. Not every game translates well online, but figuring out how to make them work always feels good.
Eddy Gonzalez The way we played last night was how we’ve done it a hundred times before face-to-face, so I honestly didn’t think there would be an issue. Something I’ve had to learn the last year or so playing online is you occasionally have to make mistakes in order to learn from them and optimize your procedures for the format. Not every game translates well online, but figuring out how to make them work always feels good.
The Final Girl was awesome! That’s…all I have to say 😀
The Final Girl was awesome! That’s…all I have to say 😀
Last night’s game, my first FG, was great until mechanics happened, like Jason says. I’d like to try it in this David-approved manner.
Last night’s game, my first FG, was great until mechanics happened, like Jason says. I’d like to try it in this David-approved manner.
Richard Rogers David-tested, Jason-approved? It’s like Kix cereal!
Richard Rogers David-tested, Jason-approved? It’s like Kix cereal!