I’m a teacher. Two to three times a week three coworkers and I get together (during our 45 minute lunch time) and play a board game (Settlers of Catan has been our poison for quite a bit).
Do you think we could pull off a PtA game with this sort of schedule?
If so, what game would you play and how would you go about it?
Since we’re all teachers (and three of us are gamers–the other teaches film making) so we all have “stage/table-presence”… should we go for rotating MCs?
Any ideas would be helpful. I haven’t made the pitch to the other three yet.
I think the time available could support a very satisfying multi-generational campaign of The Warren.
As a GM, I would want to use the first 45-minute meeting to build the setting and characters with the players. Next session maybe start with individual vignettes to teach some moves, then leap into the regular course of play.
Beyond that, having a sense of what counts as a session for advancement purposes would be useful. Do surviving rabbits get another move after every 45-minute meeting, or three, or a week’s worth? Or after the conclusion of a narrative arc? That sort of thing.
45 minutes isn’t much time to get in character, so how about doomed pilgrim. You might be able to die in that amount of time.
I think so, yes, if you’re disciplined about it. If you’re playing every day/regularly, the continuity might not actually be a problem. 45 minutes 3-4 times a week might actually feel more continuous than playing a 3-hour session every other week.
Urban Shadows and Monsterhearts can be up close and personal. (Not sure I’d want to play Monsterhearts in a teacher’s lounge, tho!) You’ll probably need to skip start/end-of-session procedures, or agree to do them only once a week or something like that. With that in mind, I’m not sure what wouldn’t work.
Games like The Regiment and Breakers/World of Dungeons have much less personal content, and it might be easier to reflect the group’s progress on a visual diagram like a map, as it’s a bit less dramatically sophisticated. (“Oh yeah, we were in the plaza trying to get the Germans out from behind that fountain… go!”)
I realise this is the PbtA group but I think you’d do better with Fiasco in the setup you describe.
I have a gaming group at work — we play once a week (Friday lunches). We don’t play a PbtA game. We don’t play every week because there are inevitably quorum issues. But sessions are still constrained to 45-50 minutes and things work just fine. The current campaign has been running for over a year and the players are still interested. (This comment is meant to just affirm that the time-slot does in fact work for some RPG things, not to try to persuade you not to play some kind of game or other.)
My best suggestions for a PBTA game played in 45 min sessions:
The Warren
Nanoworld: Game of Clones
Perseverant
Sundered Lands
I would suggest listening to the Gauntlet Comic Strip AP session podcasts. I think they’ve done Dungeon World and Monster of the Week as well as some non PbtA games. They’re 15 minute sessions. Might give you some framework.
https://player.fm/series/comic-strip-ap/dungeon-world-domenico-castafiel-01
Steffan DelPiano Please let me know what you do! I’m a teacher and avid player of Apocalypse World as well and have been thinking of doing something like this with some teachers. Also you should join my group. It’s a group for teachers and game designers about how to implement RPGs in the classroom. I’d love to hear your input or thoughts.
Immersive Imaginative Education (IIE)
What an inundation of fantastic suggestions! This community rocks! I thank you all for the thoughtful ideas.
I’d also recommend The King Is Dead from Vincent’s Patreon. (Very similar to Firebrands, but a little easier to grok in my opinion.)