Tag: Jason Cordova

Durance today was a rare misfire. The game flew off the rails almost immediately. We spent a fair amount time afterwards trying to figure out what happened. I have very conflicted feelings about the whole thing, and I’d like to share them.

So, right off the bat: Jason Morningstar  has written games that have been some of the most fun I’ve had in gaming. Fiasco and Shab al-Hiri Roach, for example, have created some truly dynamite experiences at the table over the last few years. And I was prepared to love Durance. 

But man oh man…this game is tough. First of all, we felt pretty bogged down by the large number of characters that have to be managed. Second, the flow of the story felt greatly impeded by the need to a) think of a good question to be the focus of every scene and b) to constantly reassess where the story was going. Overall, the whole experience felt clunky. 

I am ready to admit we were probably doing some things wrong. Our questions were probably not as drilled-down as they needed to be. I don’t think we really understood how the conflict resolution system worked (or, at least, we were trying to get it to do things it was not intended to do). There were so many moments where we were literally at an impasse at the end of a scene, with no mechanics to help get us out. With Fiasco, it’s so much more clear: you have one character in the spotlight who either will or will not succeed.

The part I’m conflicted about is this: is it worth trying to figure out? Daniel Lewis and Alexander Hay felt like the game might be  irredeemable; that even if we got things ironed out, would it be fun enough to justify the effort? Rob Ferguson  loves the game. He had played it before and had a blast with it. I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I have a lot of experience with story games, and so it frustrates me that Durance got the best of me. 

We universally agreed the setting and the set-up procedure are terrific. The book is beautiful. The whole package is very thoughtful in many ways. It’s the gameplay that is an open question at this point. 

I’m readIng the rules for Durance in anticipation of our upcoming Sunday game, and I have to say, I am pretty damn impressed so far. First of all, the book is just beautiful. Second, the setting is deeply fascinating. I wish I was half as smart as Jason Morningstar. Gameplay-wise, from what I can tell, it’s a sort of riff on Fiasco, which can only be good. Looking forward to it!

Some pics from last night’s Apoc World (our 4th session).

These pics are from the fifth session of our DW campaign, Oceans of Order & Chaos (and sixteenth session overall). 

This one saw the party meeting-up on Reaver’s Rock (after surviving a lizard folk attack). The Rock, which is nothing more than three taverns used by pirates as a stop-over, was eerily quiet when they arrived. After doing battle with several of his flesh golems (and looting some pretty terrific magical items, including the Staff of Ignis, the Vainglorious Boots, and the Horn of Nammu), the party discovered their old nemesis, Gormakir, might not be so dead after all. There was also a pretty epic battle with a hydra (pictured below). 

The session ended with the party opening a trap door beneath a bar, which led to a basement of some sort.  From this space came a woman’s bloodcurdling cry, along with a creeping sense of dread. We’ll see what they found next session…

Thanks to Kerry Harrison , Daniel Lewis , Trey Palmer Daniel Fowler , Alexander Hay  and our newcomer, Ian Hay .

Look what I found!

I would like get a mid-length campaign of InSpectres going in the Fall. Probably 6-8 sessions. For those who don’t know, InSpectres is a story game inspired by Ghostbusters. There is no individual character advancement, but rather you are trying to build-up your group’s particular InSpectres franchise. Is there any interest?