cellio | game report: My Life With Master, February 7

A couple weeks ago

ralphmelton ran a game of "My Life With Master", a role-playing game where the players play minions of an evil master. The minions are trying to accumulate enough "love" (ties to the community) to eventually have enough strength to overthrow the master. None of us had played before.

It was an interesting game, which we did not finish in a single session. (We have to get back together and finish.) Here are my notes from the first session.

Setup

Characters start by allocating three points between two stats, self-loathing and weariness. We had four players, so we decided to try all combinations. Each character also has two special features, "more than human" and "less than human", each of which has an exception. An example of the former (from the rules) is "extremely eloquent, except between 11pm and 2am"; an example of the latter is "lame, except when swinging from chandeliers". The players also have to collectively design a master and game setting; this is done first so it can inform the creation of the minions.

Ralph had a suggestion for the master: a deluded fellow who believes that faeries (think "Midsummer Night's Dream") exist and that he can become one of them by manufacturing the right parts. He believes he is really Oberon, trapped in a human's body, and his goal is to rejoin his people. This will involve, in part, capturing townspeople and stealing their dreams, through a mechanism the players all granted without fully specifying. :-)

(Note that you don't really need to specify an end condition for the master's plot; that is, he will keep scheming without reaching his goal for the duration of the game. So the master's plot needs to be rich enough to keep that going, and we might be deficient here as I think Ralph might have been starting to struggle for assignments.)

Oberon lives in a run-down castle that is being invaded by plants (trees, weeds, etc), which are allowed to grow unimpeded. There are many courtyards; a lot of the game could occur outdoors. It has a moat you could walk across from all the plantlife in it. There are, naturally, dank dungeons below.

We decided early on that one of the minions would be his son (mother unspecified), whom Oberon insists on calling "Puck". We decided that one minion would need to have the ability to read dreams and another would have to have mechanical abilities.

Mechanics note: we set initial Fear at 4 and Reason at 3.

Minions and NPCs

The four minions:

Puck (Kevin): self-loathing 2, weariness 1
Has the ability to evade perception, except by children.
Can't pass iron unless invited.

Sebastian (me): self-loathing 0, weariness 3
Can see a person's dreams, but only when touching a body part.
Can't recognize people except by voice.

Mog (Will): self-loathing 3, weariness 0
Very strong, except against humans.
Disgusting appearance, except to the pure of heart.

Dominic (dvarin): self-loathing 1, weariness 2
Can fabricate anything, but the result always contains a surprise.
Clumsy, except with tools and devices.

(In case you're wondering, I asserted that minions of evil masters are male. Or rather, I couldn't get into playing a female in this millieu this time around.)

Initial NPCs (people declared as potential sources of love by the minions):

Claire, a 6-year-old girl (Mog, Puck)
Laretz, an old man who is pure of heart (Mog)
Frederick, an old drunk who sleeps on the park bench and has fascinating dreams (Sebastian)
Maria, the church cantor, who has a beautiful voice (Sebastian)
Anabel, a woman Puck thinks is his mother (Puck)
unnamed woman, who brings her geese to the lake near the castle (Dom)
Jeremiah, an old clock-maker and the only person who can appreciate Dominic's work (Dom)

Timing note: getting to this point took approximately 2 hours, including a rules review.

Turn log

Here's the log of what happened, with some inline comments about mechanics and areas we found challenging to resolve within the rules.

Turn 0 (initial commands from the master)

Oberon summons Sebastian to his chambers and commands him to locate someone who dreams of flight, which is needed to make his wings work. (Oberon is holding a flimsy pair of metallic wings.)

He commands Mog to follow Sebastian and retrieve the dreamer once identified.

He moves to the great hall, where he finds Puck after some effort, and tells him that the material in his current wings is too heavy for flight. He commadns Puck to find something lighter, such as gold foil.

Dominic wanders in, and Oberon asks him what is needed to fix his wings. Dominic says he has been working on that question and presents him with a gold bird; Oberon asks "does this fly?" and Dominic says it should. Oberon winds it up, and it flies for a moment before crashing into a window and shattering. Dominic speculates that the springs need to be stronger, and Oberon commands him to go to town and procure materials. Mechanics note: Dominic added the intimacy die to his roll for the gift.

Turn 1

Sebastian goes to the market (a place with lots of people) in search of someone who's been dreaming of flight. (This is the point where I concluded that the only way this would be plyable would be for it to not necessarily involves dreams currently in progress -- that is, midnight cat burglary. I don't know if Ralph came to the same conclusion or just decided to roll with what I was doing.) Sebastian proceeds to bump into various people, looking for that fleeting contact that will let him pry, and worries a bit about being mistaken for a pickpocket. He finds a woman who dreams of flight; he needs to get her to speak so he'll be able to recognize her, so he bumps into her until she confronts him -- "What are you doing, little man?" Sebastian mutters that he is looking for the shopkeeper and can she direct him? She points to the man behind the counter (wondering what kind of idiot can't identify the shopkeeper), and Sebastian haggles with him over the price of a melon before saying "too expensive" and leaving. (Mechanics note: Sebastian has now made one die roll in compliance with the master's command, and is now free to pursue his own agenda next turn.)

Mog, who has been following Sebastian, sees this exchange. He concludes that the woman is the dreamer, and follows her into an alley, where he succeeds in grabbing her. (I think he rolled her up in a blanket or sack or something, but I don't have notes on this. Sorry.) Mechanics: Mog's die roll results in a "horror revealed" moment, so his next turn will be spent telling a story involving no NPCs with current love for minions.

Puck goes out in search of a jeweler, but finds the clock-maker (Jeremiah) first and notices that some clocks are treated with gold foil. Puck goes inside and asks if Jeremiah has any gold foil to sell; Jeremiah says "I have a fortune in it under lock and key". Puck notices that he glances toward a locked cabinet and that he has a key dangling from his belt. Puck succeeds in lifting the key without Jeremiah noticing, and leaves. (Mechanics: Puck is free to pursue his own agenda next turn, though he has the ability to procure the gold foil.)

Dominic is searching for better springs when he finds Jeremiah's shop. On the way in he meets Puck, who says "I have the key!" to Dominic's puzzlement. Puck eventually offers Dominic the key (to barter for springs) in exchange for a lock-picking device, and Dominic pulls a gadget out of his pocket. (This is the point where we concluded that Dominic can pretty much pull out any small gadget he wants to enhance the story.) Dominic's scene ends there; he has not yet made a die roll.

Turn 2

Sebastian requests a chance to increase NPC love with Maria the cantor. He picks some flowers from the park and then goes to the church, where afternoon services are in progress and Maria is singing. After the service ends he waits at the foot of the stairs to the choir loft until she comes down, and then gushes about her singing and gives her the flowers. He asks when she will be singing next, and she says tomorrow morning. He promises to be there. (He probably sounds like a bit of a stalker.) Mechanics: successful roll to increase love.

Mog's "horror revealed" scene: A man named Francois (note: this player can't spell Frenchish words...) is alone in his attic, reading a letter over and over. In frustration, he cries that his dreams have been crushed; he has not been accepted to the academy.

Puck, now having to wait for dark to break into the clock-maker's shop, goes looking for Claire, the 6-year-old. (That is, he requests an opportunity to increase love.) He finds her in a yard, holding a tea party with her dolls. Puck sneaks in, and Claire looks up and says "what'cha doing?". "You can see me??" She offers him some tea. (Mechanics: Puck fails his die roll.) The tea is really mud, and Puck spits it out, splattering Miss Fluffy. Claire cries loudly. (Mechanics: Puck still gets the point of love, but also some self-loathing.)

Dominic visits Jeremiah and asks if he can just sit and watch him make clocks, because he wants to learn from the genius. He says he is looking for better springs, and they geek for a while. Jeremiah hands him a small spring, which Dom thinks might be inadequate. Dom then says "oh by the way, I found this clock key outside your door -- is it yours?" and hands over the cabinet key. Jeremiah becomes friendly. (Mechanics: I didn't note a die roll here. Sorry.)

Turn 3

Sebastian goes to the park and sits down on a park bench next to someone. He begins to feed the pigeons and greets the other person. When he answers, Sebastian recognizes the voice as that of Frederick. They talk about birds and flight, and Frederick says he sometimes dreams of flying away with the birds. They also talk about how bad the local wine is -- but what else can you do when you need wine and there's only the one option? (Sebastian gets a point of love from Frederick. Sebastian's player notes that while the player-optimal thing to do is to keep pursuing love, this isn't what the game seems to intend.)

Mog is on his way back to the castle with his load when he stops to rest in front of Laretz's house. Laretz looks at him and says "what are you?" and Mog replies "I is Mog". (Aside: this is almost the longest utterance we have yet heard from Mog.) Mog offers the man some wine, Laretz says he has some cheese, and they sit and snack for a while. (Love for Mog.)

It is now night. Puck is headed toward Jeremiah's shop when he runs into Dominic. Dominic offers to create a distraction by setting the house across the street on fire, so Puck can slip in undetected. Puck says this is not necessary; he's hard to detect anyway. He sneaks in and uses Dominic's device to open the cabinet, but it makes a loud noise and Puck grabs the gold foil and runs.

Dominic waits for Jeremiah to come out (after investigating the noise?), and then sets the house on fire. (I think his intent was to sneak in and steal some springs, but my notes aren't good.) However, Jeremiah spots Dominic at the fire and yells "arson!", and Dominic runs.

Turn 4

Sebastian and Mog return with the woman. Oberon says "very good!".

Oberon commands Sebastian to find someone who dreams of the faery mound, a mysterious burial? ground near the castle where weird things sometimes happen. Sebastian protests that this will be difficult; lots of people probably dream of flight but few of the mound, and please don't make him go. Oberon tells him he'll just have to make someone dream of this; Sebastian says this will require good alcohol and Oberon gives him some.

Oberon commands Mog to fetch another flight-dreamer, consulting Sebastian. Mog asks Sebastian about the man in the park, and Sebastian lies and says there are no relevant dreams to be found there. Mog is suspicious. (Mechanics: we had to do some fiddling to resolve minion-versus-minion differences of this sort. We eventually concluded that such things are villany because they're not violence, the only other option, but this was unsatisfying.)

Puck returns to the castle, presents the gold foil, and says "you're my favorite father!" in an attempt at flattery. Oberon accepts the foil and then tells Puck "there are people in the town who wish me harm; bring me at least one of these spies".

Dominic is being chased down the street by Jeremiah when he falls flat on his face. Jeremiah catches up to him and starts yelling at him; Dominic babbles that he's sorry and he was just trying to impress Jeremiah because he's a big fan. "You set the house on fire to impress me?!" Dominic mutters about getting some ingredients wrong in his contraption, and he guesses saltpeter wasn't the right thing to use.

(I think we all found that Dominic was in an awkward spot with respect to results and character development (love) and such, but we weren't sure how to extricate him and set things back on track without penalizing the player.)

Turn 5

Sebastian heads into town, sees the fire, and runs to the house. The bucket brigade is in force, and three family members are standing on the lawn in their nightshirts. Sebastian gives his cloak to one of them and consoles them. One of the adults is having fire-related nightmares, and the little girl dreams of monsters with big teeth. The third, a man, has no dreams at all. (This is Francois.) Sebastian suggests that they all go someplace warmer, and suggests the tavern.

Mog catches up to Sebastian in the tavern. "Who talk to in park?" Sebastian denies knowing the person, but Sebastian hears his voice in the background and Mog sees through his lie. Mog forces Sebastian to give up a name, which Sebastian does, but Mog then promises to go harass someone else instead. Sebastian thanks him.

Puck skulks in the tavern listening for conversation about Oberon, and hears Frederick going on at some length about how that bad man makes us all do his will and summons monsters to terrorize us. Puck lures him outside, with the goal of bringing him to the castle.

Dominic babbles desperately at Jeremiah and succeeds in scoring a point of love. He then looks for a carriage shop, figuring that they will have stronger springs. He sneaks in, knocking some things to the floor loudly -- but no one notices because everyone's at the fire. He finds some suitable springs, pockets them, and leaves. (Mechanics: we basically decided to give Dominic an extra turn to even things up, which is why he has two rolls here.)

Turn 6

Sebastian is in the bar, talking with Francois (the man he had given the cloak to). They talk about the fire and how Francois was not accepted to the academy ("can my life get any worse?), and Sebastian begins to talk about the horrors near the faery mound -- strange happenings, faeries rising up from the mound to attack the town, and so on. "I hope those are just stories, because that would be awful." Sebastian succeeds in planting a nightmare about the mound in Francois. (Mechanics: successful villany roll. Player note: no point in seeking love from this one...)

We stopped here on account of time; this was our first really creepy moment so we stopped mid-turn to leave it on that note.

Misc notes

It took a while for the horror aspect to kick in; at one point

lorimelton came into the room and asked why, if this was a horror game, there was so much laughter coming from the room. We were not trying to mock the motif or anything like that, but we did have quite a few comic moments. I imagine that they will diminish as the game goes on; maybe it just took us a while to collectively catch on.

Without having some idea of the expected number of turns of various types, it's hard to plan a master who will be able to issue an appropriate number of commands. We might have benefitted from a richer palette there, but on the other hand, "bring me a townsperson who [condition]" pretty much always works, and you never run out of townspeople. :-) However, if there is high corrolation between the victims and those who've formed connections with the minions -- which is clearly the idea -- it could make the game long. We'll see. We haven't scheduled the next session yet, but we do want to finish the game.

Ralph set the mood with spooky music and candlelight, which worked well. (The candlelight will work better for an evening game. But it was a snowy afternoon, so we had some help from the weather to offset that.)

Monica

game report: My Life With Master, February 7