Applause for ZoZ
It seems like ages since I've gamed (RPGs) with any regularity. I'd love to get back to a more regular monthly sort of gaming schedule. I've also been hoping to build confidence and experience GMing. Knowing this, niwandajones gave me The Zantabulous Zorcerer of Zo as a solstice gift.
I just ran my first ZoZ game and am happy to report that we all had a blast. I am utterly delighted with ZoZ. From a GMing perspective, I've been searching for a game system that doesn't require much prep time and wouldn't overwhelm me with too many rules.
The ZoZ rules are simple and elegant. Even in my first game, there was very little consulting of the rulebook, so play ran smoothly without interruption. The system works very well for a pick-up improvisational style game, requiring as little prep as I want to put in. I didn't prep at all, other than reading through the book and making some notes on the rules for myself and the players.
Character generation was fast and fun. The storyline easily created itself from the players' character ideas. It was extremely easy to create NPC's on the fly - Each time a new NPC entered a scene, I just assigned a few qualities and a weakness, then was ready to roll.
The fairytale setting intrigued and inspired all of us. We enjoyed the one-shot session so much, that we want to play a few more sessions and decided to expand it into a mini-campaign. I'm also convinced that the system would adapt well to other settings. If you're interested in reading more, the write up for the actual play session is below. My thanks to niwandajones, mrbigsteve, and aladdinsane for playing. They rocked! And made my first attempt at no-prep improvisational GMing successful, easy, and totally fun.
Play Write Up
Tone and setting: A self-aware, self-mocking black comedy meets fairytale tone. (I'm not sure how much black we ended up with, but we definitely hit on comedy and there was lots of laughter) We chose a setting that is composed of all the known fairytales and stories. The attitude of the those in the world is much like that found in Order of the Stick... they know they are fairytales and operate under certain rules, but the real world doesn't really intrude into their fairytale world.
PCs:
The Clockwork Cleric - a windup toy soldier from candyland. He carries in his hands the book of rules.
Qualities: Book of all the Rules, Tin Man
Special Move: Can't Argue with the Rules
Weakness: Limited Manipulation
Hellboy
Qualities: Right Hand of Doom, Likeable Guy, Folklore*
Special Move: BOOM!
Weakness: Photo Op
Red Rose - Snow White's sister, quite disturbed that she has been removed from the modern versions of the fairytale.
Qualities: Woodsy (Grew up in the Woods), A Red Rose Wand*, Sarcasm
Special Move: Tracking
Weakness: Forgetful and Forgettable
The opening scene came together easily from the PC's backgrounds. Red Rose had consulted the Clockwork Cleric (CC) about the fact that she was removed from the Snow White story. He informed her that this was Walt Disney's doing and that her best chance to find Walt Disney was to talk with all of the other major fairytale heroines and princesses. They found and approached Sleeping Beauty with this purpose in mind. The opening scene began with Red Rose using her magic red rose wand to wake Sleeping Beauty. Of course, it wasn't the proper way to wake her and had unexpected consequences. Poof! Hellboy appeared before them, Sleeping Beauty aged and shriveled before their eyes, and an alarm sounded in the castle.
The PC's debated amongst themselves with much confusion "Who are you? What are you doing here?" until the Captain of the Guards and his host of guards burst into the room, informing them that they were under arrest for the heinous crime of trying to wake Sleeping Beauty.
Hellboy, of course, was ready to fight them all, but Red Rose thought it might be better to just slip away. She waved her rose around and asked it to make them vanish from the room (note: she doesn't understand how her wand works, so when she uses it, she just hopes it will do something close to what she wants). It did, in fact, make them all vanish from the room... and promptly made them appear in a dungeon. CC consulted his book and noted that there aught to be a sign informing them which dungeon they were in... and yes, to their dismay, they were informed they were in the very same sleeping beauty castle. The cost of the magic - Red Rose fades a bit more. The catch - if any NPC's notice her, or talk directly to her, the vanishing will be undone.
The Dungeons were full of seemingly comatose bodies, which CC's rulebook informed them were unimportant except as a Clue! They also heard voices outside the door of the dungeon room they were in and shouted to get attention. The Hangman approached the other side of the door, at which point, Hellboy went "BOOM!" and slammed the door open, off it's hinges, into the opposite wall, knocking The Hangman off balance.
The PC's got into a futher discussion about whether to go left or right down the hallway outside of the room. To the right was Darkness. To the left was a stairwell Up. This gave The Hangman time to step back, collect himself and call for guards. Hellboy and RedRose got into fisticuffs with the Hangman. CC consulted his book of rules about the sound of boots running toward them, noting that this would often be seen (in the picture books or movies) from floor level as a bunch of boots running down a hallway. Indeed, the boots appeared in the stairwell. To the PC's delight, they had no bodies, but to their dismay, they also had spears.
Red Rose and Hellboy had by this time beaten The Hangman, but Hellboy decided it might be wiser not to fight bodiless spears (What would he hit?). Through some clever conversation, he got The Hangman to notice Red Rose, wonder who she was and what she was doing there, and "Poof!" , the 3 PC's were returned to Sleeping Beauty's tower.
Unfortunately, in addition to the Captain of the Guard, The Evil King was also now there and mightily displeased. However, the PC's distracted the Evil King with some clever conversation. Red Rose informed him that Walt Disney had turned him into a bumbling joke who fell asleep when the danger of Maleficent appeared. He was greatly displeased. As a power hungry King, he was also attracted to the Photo Op that Hellboy presented. He decided he could use the PC's to find this Walt Disney and put an end to the threat of the the bumbling king. Following CC's rulebook, The Evil King made his villain's monologue, informing the PC's of his evil plans and how he twisted the story and Maleficent's sleeping curse to create greater power for himself.
Red Rose tricked the Evil King into calling for Maleficent, at which point Hellboy decided he'd had enough talking and and wanted more "BOOM!" Another fight ensued, Hellboy tried to throw the King out the window, and the PC's came out on the losing end. The King froze Hellboy and Red Rose's magical attempt to wake the sleepers in the castle (and thus weaken the King) backfired and put all the PC's to sleep. Just as they all fell unconscious, they saw the evil Maleficent appear in the room. The player's groaned at their certain doom!
Luckily for them, Maleficent was an enemy of the Evil King, as they learned upon waking. She had scooped them up, foiling the Evil King's plans to put them under a sleeping curse and add more power for himself. She and the PC's decided to join forces to defeat the Evil King and correct the story so that she was, once again, the main villain in Sleeping Beauty's story.
The PC's and Maleficent returned to Sleeping Beauty's Tower. The Evil King was waiting for them, aware that this was the Final Scene and Battle, with many guards surrounding Sleeping Beauty. Red Rose convinced the Captain of the Guards and his guards that he should be protecting Sleeping Beauty, not supporting the Evil King. Meanwhile, Maleficent and CC weakened the King. Hellboy made a fantastic roll, and used many hero points to throw the Evil King through a wall (leaving a king-shaped hole). Upon losing the Final Battle, the Evil King promptly returned to the Walt Disney form of the bumbling, sleepy king.
As a wrap-up, Hellboy, according to CC's rule book, was a prince (the rule book just says "Prince", so it doesn't seem to be a problem that he is a Prince of Hell) and could properly wake Sleeping Beauty. He did so, and Red Rose asked her how to find Walt Disney. Being from the 1950's, Sleeping Beauty informed her that Walt Disney lived with his family in Cinderella's castle. Having completed their deal with Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty fell directly back asleep and Maleficent was gleefully the rightful villain of the story again.
The PC's knew their next adventure would take the form of seeking out Cinderella's castle.
I just ran my first ZoZ game and am happy to report that we all had a blast. I am utterly delighted with ZoZ. From a GMing perspective, I've been searching for a game system that doesn't require much prep time and wouldn't overwhelm me with too many rules.
The ZoZ rules are simple and elegant. Even in my first game, there was very little consulting of the rulebook, so play ran smoothly without interruption. The system works very well for a pick-up improvisational style game, requiring as little prep as I want to put in. I didn't prep at all, other than reading through the book and making some notes on the rules for myself and the players.
Character generation was fast and fun. The storyline easily created itself from the players' character ideas. It was extremely easy to create NPC's on the fly - Each time a new NPC entered a scene, I just assigned a few qualities and a weakness, then was ready to roll.
The fairytale setting intrigued and inspired all of us. We enjoyed the one-shot session so much, that we want to play a few more sessions and decided to expand it into a mini-campaign. I'm also convinced that the system would adapt well to other settings. If you're interested in reading more, the write up for the actual play session is below. My thanks to niwandajones, mrbigsteve, and aladdinsane for playing. They rocked! And made my first attempt at no-prep improvisational GMing successful, easy, and totally fun.
Play Write Up
Tone and setting: A self-aware, self-mocking black comedy meets fairytale tone. (I'm not sure how much black we ended up with, but we definitely hit on comedy and there was lots of laughter) We chose a setting that is composed of all the known fairytales and stories. The attitude of the those in the world is much like that found in Order of the Stick... they know they are fairytales and operate under certain rules, but the real world doesn't really intrude into their fairytale world.
PCs:
The Clockwork Cleric - a windup toy soldier from candyland. He carries in his hands the book of rules.
Qualities: Book of all the Rules, Tin Man
Special Move: Can't Argue with the Rules
Weakness: Limited Manipulation
Hellboy
Qualities: Right Hand of Doom, Likeable Guy, Folklore*
Special Move: BOOM!
Weakness: Photo Op
Red Rose - Snow White's sister, quite disturbed that she has been removed from the modern versions of the fairytale.
Qualities: Woodsy (Grew up in the Woods), A Red Rose Wand*, Sarcasm
Special Move: Tracking
Weakness: Forgetful and Forgettable
The opening scene came together easily from the PC's backgrounds. Red Rose had consulted the Clockwork Cleric (CC) about the fact that she was removed from the Snow White story. He informed her that this was Walt Disney's doing and that her best chance to find Walt Disney was to talk with all of the other major fairytale heroines and princesses. They found and approached Sleeping Beauty with this purpose in mind. The opening scene began with Red Rose using her magic red rose wand to wake Sleeping Beauty. Of course, it wasn't the proper way to wake her and had unexpected consequences. Poof! Hellboy appeared before them, Sleeping Beauty aged and shriveled before their eyes, and an alarm sounded in the castle.
The PC's debated amongst themselves with much confusion "Who are you? What are you doing here?" until the Captain of the Guards and his host of guards burst into the room, informing them that they were under arrest for the heinous crime of trying to wake Sleeping Beauty.
Hellboy, of course, was ready to fight them all, but Red Rose thought it might be better to just slip away. She waved her rose around and asked it to make them vanish from the room (note: she doesn't understand how her wand works, so when she uses it, she just hopes it will do something close to what she wants). It did, in fact, make them all vanish from the room... and promptly made them appear in a dungeon. CC consulted his book and noted that there aught to be a sign informing them which dungeon they were in... and yes, to their dismay, they were informed they were in the very same sleeping beauty castle. The cost of the magic - Red Rose fades a bit more. The catch - if any NPC's notice her, or talk directly to her, the vanishing will be undone.
The Dungeons were full of seemingly comatose bodies, which CC's rulebook informed them were unimportant except as a Clue! They also heard voices outside the door of the dungeon room they were in and shouted to get attention. The Hangman approached the other side of the door, at which point, Hellboy went "BOOM!" and slammed the door open, off it's hinges, into the opposite wall, knocking The Hangman off balance.
The PC's got into a futher discussion about whether to go left or right down the hallway outside of the room. To the right was Darkness. To the left was a stairwell Up. This gave The Hangman time to step back, collect himself and call for guards. Hellboy and RedRose got into fisticuffs with the Hangman. CC consulted his book of rules about the sound of boots running toward them, noting that this would often be seen (in the picture books or movies) from floor level as a bunch of boots running down a hallway. Indeed, the boots appeared in the stairwell. To the PC's delight, they had no bodies, but to their dismay, they also had spears.
Red Rose and Hellboy had by this time beaten The Hangman, but Hellboy decided it might be wiser not to fight bodiless spears (What would he hit?). Through some clever conversation, he got The Hangman to notice Red Rose, wonder who she was and what she was doing there, and "Poof!" , the 3 PC's were returned to Sleeping Beauty's tower.
Unfortunately, in addition to the Captain of the Guard, The Evil King was also now there and mightily displeased. However, the PC's distracted the Evil King with some clever conversation. Red Rose informed him that Walt Disney had turned him into a bumbling joke who fell asleep when the danger of Maleficent appeared. He was greatly displeased. As a power hungry King, he was also attracted to the Photo Op that Hellboy presented. He decided he could use the PC's to find this Walt Disney and put an end to the threat of the the bumbling king. Following CC's rulebook, The Evil King made his villain's monologue, informing the PC's of his evil plans and how he twisted the story and Maleficent's sleeping curse to create greater power for himself.
Red Rose tricked the Evil King into calling for Maleficent, at which point Hellboy decided he'd had enough talking and and wanted more "BOOM!" Another fight ensued, Hellboy tried to throw the King out the window, and the PC's came out on the losing end. The King froze Hellboy and Red Rose's magical attempt to wake the sleepers in the castle (and thus weaken the King) backfired and put all the PC's to sleep. Just as they all fell unconscious, they saw the evil Maleficent appear in the room. The player's groaned at their certain doom!
Luckily for them, Maleficent was an enemy of the Evil King, as they learned upon waking. She had scooped them up, foiling the Evil King's plans to put them under a sleeping curse and add more power for himself. She and the PC's decided to join forces to defeat the Evil King and correct the story so that she was, once again, the main villain in Sleeping Beauty's story.
The PC's and Maleficent returned to Sleeping Beauty's Tower. The Evil King was waiting for them, aware that this was the Final Scene and Battle, with many guards surrounding Sleeping Beauty. Red Rose convinced the Captain of the Guards and his guards that he should be protecting Sleeping Beauty, not supporting the Evil King. Meanwhile, Maleficent and CC weakened the King. Hellboy made a fantastic roll, and used many hero points to throw the Evil King through a wall (leaving a king-shaped hole). Upon losing the Final Battle, the Evil King promptly returned to the Walt Disney form of the bumbling, sleepy king.
As a wrap-up, Hellboy, according to CC's rule book, was a prince (the rule book just says "Prince", so it doesn't seem to be a problem that he is a Prince of Hell) and could properly wake Sleeping Beauty. He did so, and Red Rose asked her how to find Walt Disney. Being from the 1950's, Sleeping Beauty informed her that Walt Disney lived with his family in Cinderella's castle. Having completed their deal with Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty fell directly back asleep and Maleficent was gleefully the rightful villain of the story again.
The PC's knew their next adventure would take the form of seeking out Cinderella's castle.