Games that write themselves
Granted that no scenario, no matter how well written, survives first contact with the players I have to own that I'm please with how three of the games I plan to run this summer have come together. In fact, they felt so good that I wrote them up as we went along for possible publication at a later date.
First was "Sindbad and the Sword of Kingship" which I meant to be nothing more than a Hollywood "Scimtars and Sorcery" epic with a nod to my little sister Vashti (who did Near Eastern dance under the name Alhambra.) Well, it took on a life of its own and ended up with a section talking about the historical basis of the game. I guess you just can't take the fanboy out of the history department, but you can't take the history out of the fanboy.
"Edison Force vs. the Martians" was meant to be a Edwardian super tech (don't say "steampunk" because I have a weapon and no qualms about using it.) But then things started to fall into place, and Hex Games reissued "Mars and Venus at War" and I saw where this might actually be written to mesh into the ficton. Whee!
Then came the last game, and the one I was most comfortable at winging, "Monstertown Vice." This was supposed to be a smash of "Funkadelic Frankenstein" and "Miami Vice" taking our monsters out of the monstersploitation era into their portrayal as part of the cultural mainstream. I thought it would bear a resemblance to a "Happilyeverafter" game, but then the first two sections, originally unrelated, got entangled and the whole show started to write itself. (Yes, I do look on my games as TV shows or movies.)
So, now I'm set for the next few months of conventions, and I can rest.
It feels unnatural.
First was "Sindbad and the Sword of Kingship" which I meant to be nothing more than a Hollywood "Scimtars and Sorcery" epic with a nod to my little sister Vashti (who did Near Eastern dance under the name Alhambra.) Well, it took on a life of its own and ended up with a section talking about the historical basis of the game. I guess you just can't take the fanboy out of the history department, but you can't take the history out of the fanboy.
"Edison Force vs. the Martians" was meant to be a Edwardian super tech (don't say "steampunk" because I have a weapon and no qualms about using it.) But then things started to fall into place, and Hex Games reissued "Mars and Venus at War" and I saw where this might actually be written to mesh into the ficton. Whee!
Then came the last game, and the one I was most comfortable at winging, "Monstertown Vice." This was supposed to be a smash of "Funkadelic Frankenstein" and "Miami Vice" taking our monsters out of the monstersploitation era into their portrayal as part of the cultural mainstream. I thought it would bear a resemblance to a "Happilyeverafter" game, but then the first two sections, originally unrelated, got entangled and the whole show started to write itself. (Yes, I do look on my games as TV shows or movies.)
So, now I'm set for the next few months of conventions, and I can rest.
It feels unnatural.