Jason Cordova and anyone else who has done this: I’m going to run Cheat Your Own Adventure for some friends soon. Reading over the rules I can see all the prep work you did for the Dia de los Muertos session. The scripted first passages and custom loss conditions were really fucking smart and drove our stories in interesting directions. For me, the scenario “You are a student at an Italian boarding school and if you lose you become the bride of Satan” has a lot more dramatic juice than the default “get treasure from [random location]+[random descriptor], if you lose you die.”
But I’m kinda drawing a blank for how to come up with a new one. Tips? At the moment I’m thinking of starting with something Lynch (Blue Velvet maybe?) and seeing what happens. Has anybody collected a bunch of scenarios like this for CYOA?
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah, scripted first scenes and custom loss scenarios were my great insight to CYOA a few years back. It really opens up the game in a huge way.
I think you are on the right track. Think about genre emulation (that’s what I do). We also have some nice CYOA setups that do a similar thing in Codex. Just PM me and I’ll send them to you.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah, scripted first scenes and custom loss scenarios were my great insight to CYOA a few years back. It really opens up the game in a huge way.
I think you are on the right track. Think about genre emulation (that’s what I do). We also have some nice CYOA setups that do a similar thing in Codex. Just PM me and I’ll send them to you.
Michael X. Heiligenstein might have some good insight here, too. He ran a choice set of games in the Pulp Fiction universe awhile back.
Michael X. Heiligenstein might have some good insight here, too. He ran a choice set of games in the Pulp Fiction universe awhile back.
Oh dang. I didn’t even think to look through Codex. Lol. I’ve got them and will dig around. And will do some genre thinking. Thanks!
Oh dang. I didn’t even think to look through Codex. Lol. I’ve got them and will dig around. And will do some genre thinking. Thanks!
I think the issues you want are Yellow and Madness (iirc)
I think the issues you want are Yellow and Madness (iirc)
And Michael, I’m curious to hear more about your Pulp Fiction games. Sounds awesome!
And Michael, I’m curious to hear more about your Pulp Fiction games. Sounds awesome!
So what’s the ‘lose condition’ in the work you’re riffing on? With Lynch that might be trickier. In Pulp Fiction, I highlighted “Marcellus’ Wrath” as what the characters risk incurring throughout the movie, but in the film –– and our game –– that often transfers over to another objective (obtain and deliver the briefcase)
So what’s the ‘lose condition’ in the work you’re riffing on? With Lynch that might be trickier. In Pulp Fiction, I highlighted “Marcellus’ Wrath” as what the characters risk incurring throughout the movie, but in the film –– and our game –– that often transfers over to another objective (obtain and deliver the briefcase)
I would have one starting scenario in mind to start off –– mind was two women in Marcellus’ employ showing up at a Hollywood producers’ fancy party to kidnap him and deliver him alive to Marcellus. You don’t need a whole lot more than that to begin with, but be prepared to describe the scene a bit, and if you’d like, it could be helpful to sketch out a few more details about that starting location.
I would have one or two more loose starting scenarios in mind as well, but I would not flesh these out. Instead, encourage your players before the session to come up with story ideas of their own. After you wrap up the first adventure, you can ask the group their ideas and settle on one to explore for your second adventure.
I would have one starting scenario in mind to start off –– mind was two women in Marcellus’ employ showing up at a Hollywood producers’ fancy party to kidnap him and deliver him alive to Marcellus. You don’t need a whole lot more than that to begin with, but be prepared to describe the scene a bit, and if you’d like, it could be helpful to sketch out a few more details about that starting location.
I would have one or two more loose starting scenarios in mind as well, but I would not flesh these out. Instead, encourage your players before the session to come up with story ideas of their own. After you wrap up the first adventure, you can ask the group their ideas and settle on one to explore for your second adventure.
James Ryan, you make me want to pull the play report from Gauntlet Con’s ad-hoc retro-noir CYOA game
James Ryan, you make me want to pull the play report from Gauntlet Con’s ad-hoc retro-noir CYOA game
Michael X. Heiligenstein A) That sounds super dope. B) Thanks for the guidance. It makes a lot of sense. Yeah the thing I’m running into with Blue Velvet is that the lose condition is pretty abstract (but might still work?). Lynch has said BV is about “the mysteries of darkness and love” and that the film is a trip beneath the beautiful surface to the unsettling interior of a small town. So I think the lose condition would have to be something like “you completely give yourself over to the dark underbelly of this town” or something like that. I wonder if that might be hard for players to narrate.
Michael X. Heiligenstein A) That sounds super dope. B) Thanks for the guidance. It makes a lot of sense. Yeah the thing I’m running into with Blue Velvet is that the lose condition is pretty abstract (but might still work?). Lynch has said BV is about “the mysteries of darkness and love” and that the film is a trip beneath the beautiful surface to the unsettling interior of a small town. So I think the lose condition would have to be something like “you completely give yourself over to the dark underbelly of this town” or something like that. I wonder if that might be hard for players to narrate.
I’m thinking now of running something more along the lines of ET. As in: You find a creature in the woods and hide it from your parents. It is weird and curious. You have to keep it a secret. Loose condition is government scientists take the creature away. That’s one I can run with my kids, too. And could go in a Stranger Things direction even.
I’m thinking now of running something more along the lines of ET. As in: You find a creature in the woods and hide it from your parents. It is weird and curious. You have to keep it a secret. Loose condition is government scientists take the creature away. That’s one I can run with my kids, too. And could go in a Stranger Things direction even.
River Williamson Yeah! Is that posted somewhere? I missed out on it. Sounds cool.
River Williamson Yeah! Is that posted somewhere? I missed out on it. Sounds cool.