When the Dark is Gone

[undyingking]

I spent last week mostly playing and running games, in the company of some excellent people, and it was great! Most of them were of the prepless and/or GMless style that I've been increasingly interested in in recent years. I'll probably spew out some more thoughts here about the others shortly, but I wanted to pick up on When the Dark is Gone

Comments

[queenortart]

Looks like my kind of thing - I've downloaded it and will give it a go and report

[undyingking]

Mm, I was thinking you might like it!

[bibliogirl]

I am not surprised that QoT reckons this is her kind of thing. It very definitely isn't mine, though; while I have no objection to playing characters who are, to some degree, broken (aren't we all, aren't we all...), I have no desire to play them in a setting where their brokenness is the main focus of the character, or to play characters whose brokenness is their main raison d'etre.

That said, this has allowed me to crystallise what I don't like about such characters, and I suspect future freeform casters may appreciate my being able to be clearer about that ;)

So, interesting write-up but not an experience I'll be seeking out any time soon...

[huggyrei]

Interesting; I've often struggled to explain that, while I enjoy having lots of angsty situations happen to me, I don't want to play an angsty *character*, meaning someone who basically wallows and broods over how terrible things are - I'd rather have the ability to respond and react to the situations and thus change them. I think the brokeness aspect would be better from my point of view if the point of the game was to overcome it, rather than uncover more of it, which is what it seems to be...?

[undyingking]

Yes, the point of the game (if there can be said to be one) is to mutually overcome the characters' brokenness - that's made explicit to the players. It is emphatically not intended to be a wallow-fest.

[undyingking]

Mm, I wouldn't want to play such a character for a lengthy game, but this only lasts a couple of hours (which I should have said somewhere in the above), so to me that makes it more do-able. I would approach it as an extended character workshop exploration experiment rather than as a game per se, I think.

[huggyrei]

My own issue here is that I am hesitant about the GM-less style

[huggyrei]

Having said that, I'd be willing to give it a go, especially the 'When The Doctor Has Gone' variant, although I'd probably feel the need to spend prep time writing down scenes and plot ideas beforehand (thus shifting work from GM to me, grumble). Actually, how far does the player-led thing go? Would it be possible to run a slightly more GM-involved game - e.g. the therapist having already written down a series of scene starters to prompt the players with, and suggested responses if they get stuck? I'd personally actually rather have the GM get involved and offer suggestions if I'm starting to get bogged down or unsure what to do next.

[huggyrei]

(I feel at this point I should re-read through the game stuff as I'm now feeling a bit unsure about my interpretation)

[huggyrei]

Ah yes - I think I'd basically prefer it if the "Create the event(s) which occurred in the magical world that you have repressed" bit was actually already written by the GM, along with the seed memory, and actually a bit more with the GM 'what does the room look like' questions, probably phrased more as suggestions (e.g. "I think you said last session that you remembered that the room was full of golden harps, laid out in neat rows? Is that what you still remember? Can you remember any further details?").

[killalla]

I have both played and run WtDiG and enjoyed it immensely both times - it was a compelling, engaging and emotionally intense experience, and yet was done without the need for lengthy prep, which I appreciated, especially when I was the Therapist/GM. That said, I am a big fan of improvisation, and I love the dynamic where someone just takes your idea and runs with it - or you take theirs and do the same. I also found it was more interesting *not* to have an established or approved background because it meant that the reality of the other world was more fluid, and the characters could and did disagree as to what the situation or story was, without there being any sense as players as to "but this was what actually happened

[undyingking]

Thanks, I was hoping you would see this!

Mm, I agree about known players - I can imagine it would be easy for the vibe to be damaged.

[ar_gemlad]

I think it was me that said 'you just watched us get on with it', and it was meant as praise - you poked our characters in just the right places to nudge things, rather than directed things as a 'normal' GM would. I'm not sure I'd be able to run it without sticking my oar in much more, but I intend to try at some point!

[undyingking]

It wasn't you I was thinking of, but perhaps everyone felt the same way :-) thanks!

I felt it was really good for me to bite my tongue a few times, mm. And I hope I will remember to try and do so in more 'normal' games as well.