Some pics from our Wednesday Meetup. Scott Owen ran a table of John Harper’s Lady Blackbird, and I ran the new edition of Monster of the Week.
I’ll let Scott chime-in about Lady Blackbird, but MotW was great fun. This new edition is only slightly changed from the first edition, but the changes are pretty good. They mostly make it feel more like Dungeon World, which is not a bad move considering how popular that game is. XP is now awarded on a 6-, which is a good change, as the AW-style highlighted stat method never made any sense in this context. There is also the addition of a DW-style End-of-Session move, as well as some nice tweaks/clarifications to existing moves.
As far as the story goes, we did a mystery inspired by the movie Phantasm, and by “inspired” I mean “lifted directly from.” It was a blast. I’m hoping to stick with the 1980’s action/horror movie theme for the whole series. This is something of a specialty of mine; my MotW mystery inspired by Big Trouble in Little China is a favorite around these parts.
Thanks to Scott for running the other table, and to everyone else who came out: Derek Grimm Jorge Salazar Kristen D Ferrell Riley Daniel Lewis Russell Benner Marcus Centurian and parrish warren!
I really liked our game of MotW, and I LOVED the moment for epilogue at the end. The first five minutes of my ride home were filled with a mix of satisfaction at how things were wrapped up and bittersweet sympathy for the characters themselves. So great when a story lingers with you and makes you want to tell other people about it!
I really liked our game of MotW, and I LOVED the moment for epilogue at the end. The first five minutes of my ride home were filled with a mix of satisfaction at how things were wrapped up and bittersweet sympathy for the characters themselves. So great when a story lingers with you and makes you want to tell other people about it!
Kristen D I hoped you had noticed I was trying to do that thing we discussed on the podcast, the session aftermath.
Kristen D I hoped you had noticed I was trying to do that thing we discussed on the podcast, the session aftermath.
Jason Cordova I did! So glad it worked out nicely 🙂
Jason Cordova I did! So glad it worked out nicely 🙂
So I’ve been going through MotW and contemplating running game for friends, shedules allowing. One concern, though: How prep-heavy would you say the game is? How much work do you have to sit down and do pre-game to make it function compared to, say, Apocalypse World or Monsterhearts?
So I’ve been going through MotW and contemplating running game for friends, shedules allowing. One concern, though: How prep-heavy would you say the game is? How much work do you have to sit down and do pre-game to make it function compared to, say, Apocalypse World or Monsterhearts?
It takes me about an hour to prep a mystery. That’s from the point I have an idea to getting it all down. But your mileage may vary; I’m very efficient at session prep.
It takes me about an hour to prep a mystery. That’s from the point I have an idea to getting it all down. But your mileage may vary; I’m very efficient at session prep.
Give it about 3, to include brainstorming and “oh what about”
Give it about 3, to include brainstorming and “oh what about”
Ferrell Riley The game has a very specific prep procedure. I would be shocked if it took someone longer than an hour and a half to get through it.
Ferrell Riley The game has a very specific prep procedure. I would be shocked if it took someone longer than an hour and a half to get through it.
Hm. Disappointing.
Hm. Disappointing.
Steve Mains None of the AW games are prep-free (at least not when I run them). The first sessions, sure, but after that, you’re doing at least 30 minutes of prep before each one. Ferrell’s recommendation of three hours is insane, but I spend at least an hour prepping MH or DW.
Steve Mains None of the AW games are prep-free (at least not when I run them). The first sessions, sure, but after that, you’re doing at least 30 minutes of prep before each one. Ferrell’s recommendation of three hours is insane, but I spend at least an hour prepping MH or DW.
Honestly the three hours recommendation is way too long, but I prefer to give myself plenty of time to think plan dream and be distracted. As well as time to look up references.
Honestly the three hours recommendation is way too long, but I prefer to give myself plenty of time to think plan dream and be distracted. As well as time to look up references.
Ferrell Riley Yeah, I mean, my “prep time” is probably higher accounting for the times when I’m just thinking about things. For example, I spend a lot of time “workshopping” NPCs in the shower. But, after I’ve done my initial thinking, a session usually only takes me 30 minutes – 1 hour to get down on paper.
Ferrell Riley Yeah, I mean, my “prep time” is probably higher accounting for the times when I’m just thinking about things. For example, I spend a lot of time “workshopping” NPCs in the shower. But, after I’ve done my initial thinking, a session usually only takes me 30 minutes – 1 hour to get down on paper.
My experience with AW was that it wasn’t quite prep-free, but that it was probably like 30-45 minutes of prep every few sessions, and half of that tended to go unused. So an hour and a half plus every week is definitely higher than I’d hoped.
Still, I hope to give it a test run, see how it goes.
My experience with AW was that it wasn’t quite prep-free, but that it was probably like 30-45 minutes of prep every few sessions, and half of that tended to go unused. So an hour and a half plus every week is definitely higher than I’d hoped.
Still, I hope to give it a test run, see how it goes.
I could see running AW or MH in a more improvisational style, but prep is unavoidable in games like DW or MotW, where the players are principally reacting to the things you throw at them. Weekly prep is particularly unavoidable in MotW, which is episodic; you are doing self-contained stories from session to session.
I think there is this ideal in story games that we should be able to run games extemporaneously, and that the fun of a game shouldn’t hinge on the skill of a GM. My view is you should be able to have a minimum amount of fun with a game, regardless of how skilled/prepared the GM is. BUT, I think the game is greatly improved when the GM has taken the time to do some prep, or they have considered their vision for the game. It doesn’t mean they are going to shove a story down the players’ throats, but it does mean they have taken the time to consider different elements of their world, and can react to the players’ actions in a way that seems coherent and believable.
I’m not sure why I got on that tangent. Eh, anyway . . . if you’re trying to avoid prep, MotW isn’t the way to go.
I could see running AW or MH in a more improvisational style, but prep is unavoidable in games like DW or MotW, where the players are principally reacting to the things you throw at them. Weekly prep is particularly unavoidable in MotW, which is episodic; you are doing self-contained stories from session to session.
I think there is this ideal in story games that we should be able to run games extemporaneously, and that the fun of a game shouldn’t hinge on the skill of a GM. My view is you should be able to have a minimum amount of fun with a game, regardless of how skilled/prepared the GM is. BUT, I think the game is greatly improved when the GM has taken the time to do some prep, or they have considered their vision for the game. It doesn’t mean they are going to shove a story down the players’ throats, but it does mean they have taken the time to consider different elements of their world, and can react to the players’ actions in a way that seems coherent and believable.
I’m not sure why I got on that tangent. Eh, anyway . . . if you’re trying to avoid prep, MotW isn’t the way to go.
Totally. I can see that. And, reading through the procedure MotW wants out of its GMs today, I was getting excited because it does sound fun. I’m just out for the least railroady investigative game I can get. MotW doesn’t look bad on that front; you just have the elements in play prepared, but how it all goes down is up for grabs. I hope scheduling issues don’t futz things up for me with my friends: I really want to give running this a shot soon.
On a related note, I am sort of curious how the poke around move in tremulus would work in play. It’s a player-initiated roll, right? And on a 10+, the player could choose to find a clue, no matter where they happen to be. Furthermore, a 7-9 result could let a player choose to find a “hidden area/threshold”–again, wherever they happen to be. It doesn’t quite construct the mystery as they go along, but it certainly makes the GM add to and elaborate on it. Of course, if this is anything like the rest of tremulus, it’s probably pretty disappointing.
Totally. I can see that. And, reading through the procedure MotW wants out of its GMs today, I was getting excited because it does sound fun. I’m just out for the least railroady investigative game I can get. MotW doesn’t look bad on that front; you just have the elements in play prepared, but how it all goes down is up for grabs. I hope scheduling issues don’t futz things up for me with my friends: I really want to give running this a shot soon.
On a related note, I am sort of curious how the poke around move in tremulus would work in play. It’s a player-initiated roll, right? And on a 10+, the player could choose to find a clue, no matter where they happen to be. Furthermore, a 7-9 result could let a player choose to find a “hidden area/threshold”–again, wherever they happen to be. It doesn’t quite construct the mystery as they go along, but it certainly makes the GM add to and elaborate on it. Of course, if this is anything like the rest of tremulus, it’s probably pretty disappointing.