I fricking love Lovecraftesque – another great game with Isa Wills​​ and Robert Ruthven​​.

I fricking love Lovecraftesque – another great game with Isa Wills​​ and Robert Ruthven​​.

I fricking love Lovecraftesque – another great game with Isa Wills​​ and Robert Ruthven​​. I gather there may be a video of it so I won’t spoil the surprise. Needless to say it was the first “classic story” I’ve played. #Lovecraftesque

#Lovecraftesque #PlayReport from my in-person group.

#Lovecraftesque #PlayReport from my in-person group.

#Lovecraftesque #PlayReport from my in-person group. We had six people for the game and we played the House Sitter scenario by Jason Cordova. Our environment was perfect for the scenario. We sat on the floor of a converted porch in a cavernous 1920s brownstone. All we could see outside was the faint movement of trees in the nearly still autumn night.

We had some trouble with the shifting roles, much of the group was either not familiar with Lovecraft or story games. As the facilitator, I had to interrupt a few times to remind the Narrator of their limits, and the Witness of their autonomy, but we sorted through most of that in part one. By the time we came to the Final Horror, we were hitting the notes perfectly.

The Watchers and Narrators did excellent jobs making callbacks to established weirdness or clues. We had an old player piano that would only play “Strange Fruit,” and would start and stop at arbitrary moments, the dog whose eyes reflected red in the dark–the way humans’ eyes do–an arcane symbol which seemed to lie behind in every secret place on the property, and an dark ritual blade which at first seemed to be a military surplus knife.

I won’t pollute your play by revealing our Final Horror. You’ll have to find the truth of The Gardenia House on your own.

The digital version of #Lovecraftesque showed up in my mailbox yesterday.

The digital version of #Lovecraftesque showed up in my mailbox yesterday.

The digital version of #Lovecraftesque showed up in my mailbox yesterday. I just might get to run it tonight, and I’m so excited.

After playing #Lovecraftesque once, I want to play it over and over.

After playing #Lovecraftesque once, I want to play it over and over.

After playing #Lovecraftesque once, I want to play it over and over. I had such a great time with Jason Cordova Isa, Yoshi and Chris. It provided the tightest narrative of any GMless–or rotating GM–game I’ve ever played. I attribute this to the responsibilities of the roles and the narrative limitations baked into the game.

I also really liked the rituals around speaking. The Narrator, rotating GM, can lift a finger specifically to solicit details from the Watchers. A Watcher can lift a finger to offer details. The Witness, who controls the PC, can lift a finger to do internal monologue which pauses the other action.

I can’t wait until it’s released.