I said I’d give a play report so here it is!

I said I’d give a play report so here it is!

I said I’d give a play report so here it is!

Our Bride:

Fatale, Virgin, and Witch.

Insecure about her short hair, smile, and eyes. Afraid that she wouldn’t get any time alone anymore, that she would be stuck at home and no longer be able to have adventure, and that she would lose her simple lifestyle in the face of Bluebeard’s riches.

Bluebeard’s favorite present was a balm, to rub on his aching muscles (the player keyed into the fact that the cover art makes Bluebeard look like a romance novel and is probably pretty sore from working out) presented to him by The Witch.

We had some great moments while we were playing. The players felt sympathetic towards the other brides in most cases. Every time they Shivered in Fear was a personal triumph for me since it felt like I was hitting the right notes of “Oh man… that is fucked up.”

We visited a Dressing Room (Body: Beauty Standards), a Solarium (Sexuality: Nymphomania), and a Chapel (Religion: Underworld). The accumulated 3 Disloyalty Tokens at that point and decided to run away so we did not enter the Final Room (Motherhood: Grief). I opted for a mansion that didn’t make sense, hallways that go on forever, time that doesn’t make sense or is impossible to track, doors that you entered in one hallway but upon exiting are in a different part of the house… I like dream imagery and I wanted to do that in this mansion. One of my players (The Fatale) kept giving me these weird looks as I described that there was no internal consistency to the mansion, as if the longer they stayed there, it would somehow make sense. It amuses me when they’re like that. lol

The keys they described were pretty cool too. The Fatale described a “Gold plated, rhinestone encrusted, pristine key with a curling vine motif” and the Virgin described a “black and grey key that appears to somehow be made of marble with a ring made of gold. It feels glossy and carries the slight smell of sandalwood.” The player had a moment where they were like “can a key have a smell?” and I had to remind them that they’re in a mansion that has an unknowable floor plan and is full of the ghosts of his husbands murdered ex-wives. It was kindof funny. Overall, I was super impressed and humbled by their willingness to jump in and give me all their creativity and buy-in on this one since horror games are always a little bit of a long shot.

Some notes on my own Groundskeeping that I would like to improve:

– I would like to get better about building a rooms tension by just describing it and a couple objects inside. I found myself showing the horror/servant a little to early instead of letting the tension build through investigation. I will definitely write up some notes to help me stay organized with room generation next time since that seems to take a little longer than I want it to at the table (given my inexperience) and I spent a lot of time shuffling through papers.

– I would also like to play the game in person next time. We played online and the environment was not as curated as I wanted it to be.

– Next time, before we start and as I’m giving our safety talks, I’m going to do Lines and Veils that way I have a clearer idea of where I can push and not.

Notes that I got back from the players:

– They want to play again.

– They liked that Shiver from Fear triggers when the player at the table has a physical reaction.

– They liked the Shattered Bride mechanic and were disappointed that The Fatale shattered just as we filled our last token.

– They also really liked the epilogue questionnaire. I liked the epilogue questionnaire so much that I’ll probably start using it for the games I’m planning one shots for.

– I really liked the directive to describe with all 5 senses. Doing so really allows you to draw out the tension and wrongness of a room either by accentuating it by one sense that can detect something off or by peppering in little things to multiple senses. It’s a great practice and I’m going to start using it more in the other games I run.

– I found myself repeating motifs not normally included in the book (doors, keys, and the color gold). Specifically I ended up using a lot of flower imagery based on the fact that the players decided that they gave Bluebeard a crown of wildflowers as a wedding gift and that he had given her a bouquet of exotic flowers for the same reason. I found that the repetition of the different elements in the game heightens the state of dreaminess the narrative has and that’s an amazing quality I want to start taking into my other games.

What a great game! I can probably push the envelope more next time. People got to an uncomfortable place but not one they couldn’t handle, which felt good, and I got to stretch the limits of what I as a GM (and a man) have explored before. Thank you to Whitney Beltrán Sarah Doombringer and Marissa Kelly for making this amazing game!

Here’s the session of Bluebeard’s Bride I just ran for Gauntlet Hangouts.

Here’s the session of Bluebeard’s Bride I just ran for Gauntlet Hangouts.

Here’s the session of Bluebeard’s Bride I just ran for Gauntlet Hangouts. Dark, and surprisingly touching at the end. But mostly just dark. https://youtu.be/5vAEvt-yxpA

https://youtu.be/5vAEvt-yxpA

Had another delightful game of Bluebeard’s Bride last night with The Gauntlet.

Had another delightful game of Bluebeard’s Bride last night with The Gauntlet.

Had another delightful game of Bluebeard’s Bride last night with The Gauntlet… A question for those of you have run it:

How do you enforce pacing? In the two games I have run we have gotten through a maximum of three rooms (plus the final room). They have been 4 hour slots. Do you just remind them early and often that they can propose a truth at any time? Do you point out that it is really in their hands to decide what happened in the room – ie their interpretation could be entirely different from what the Groundskeeper had been thinking?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntW9WObM1c

I have imposter syndrome – both at work and when gaming.

I have imposter syndrome – both at work and when gaming.

I have imposter syndrome – both at work and when gaming. When gaming I generally feel like I am the least talented person at the table and I am just hoping no one notices. This is the case when I am running a game as well. I always feel like I didn’t prepare as well as I should (but I hate prepping – I don’t really get the “lonely fun” feeling) and beat myself up about it. Then I tend to feel like I am fumbling around when I am actually running the game. Finally when the game is over I am kind of relieved but just keep thinking about what I should have done better. Afterwards people say lots of nice things but usually I am thinking in my head “yeah, but you didn’t notice how I fucked up this or that.” I generally am in a not great headspace after running a game…

Last night though I ran Bluebeard’s Bride for the first time… I was running it for The Gauntlet (https://plus.google.com/communities/116329047011220562548) for a bunch of folks who had never played, some of whom had listened to / watched APs, but all of whom were super excited to play and had very high expectations. (One person was explicitly spending part of their birthday day-off playing and one had a cold but still wasn’t going to give up the chance to play.) So you know… No pressure…

It was fucking awesome. Hands down the best session of a game I have ever run and I had zero nerves before/during/after the game. Everyone absolutely raved about it – and somehow I really actually accepted and felt I earned the praise. (This is something I basically can’t do: accept and feel I earned praise.) Everyone had high expectations and they were all met, and then some. I felt like a million bucks afterwards (and especially after the raves in the debrief). Hell, I still feel amazing.

Sarah Richardson Whitney Beltrán +Marissa Kelly thank you so so much for designing this game. It is magical and it has helped me feel confident about myself – something I have rarely ever felt. The text is succinct and perfectly voiced. I felt absolutely supported by it. (Extra thanks to Sarah for all the APs and for running it at Dreamation – all of which just reinforced what the text so clearly teaches.)

I look forward to regularly performing the duties of Groundskeeper for a long time to come…

Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-gApvvVjCY

Buried in my Big Bad Con 2017 Friday writeup is the Bluebeard’s Bride writeup from the 2-hour session April Padilla…

Buried in my Big Bad Con 2017 Friday writeup is the Bluebeard’s Bride writeup from the 2-hour session April Padilla…

Buried in my Big Bad Con 2017 Friday writeup is the Bluebeard’s Bride writeup from the 2-hour session April Padilla ran. Thoroughly enjoyed this session! (and was very lucky I squeezed in last minute due to a drop-out).

http://www.supernovembergames.com/tomes-of-tomes/2017/10/24/big-bad-con-2017-friday-feels

http://www.supernovembergames.com/tomes-of-tomes/2017/10/24/big-bad-con-2017-friday-feels

Hello everyone.

Hello everyone.

Hello everyone.

So, two games here.

The first one with Tiburce Guyard ファブリスFabrissou and Eric Massera and myself as the GK.

The second with Tiburce Guyard, Tom Z and Luke Wayland and I as GK.  

I have to admit, if I had concerns before, they flew right out the window.

Both game were awesome ! We just finished a second game with the Witch, the Animus and the Virgin. The game ended with the Witch standing alone, her sisters shattered (reading the text together is really neat). The Bride was on the very edge of madness at the end.

A lot of bleed out and some dark dark stuff… It helps to play with people you trust 🙂

I have a few questions though :

• When the Animus takes a Trauma because of her face “The Shield”, can she decide that every sister takes Trauma as well (we ruled that yes, because the sisters were realising that their protector was failing) ?

• About the Witch : why is the face “The Viper” restricted to Servants and can’t apply to horrors as well ?

• Can you voluntarily pass the ring at anytime ?

• Obviously, when you shiver with fear and take one trauma because of it, you don’t have to pass the ring, right ?

Remarks :

• The questions about the keys which were swapped with Agenda/principles/moves are awesome sauce.

• I really hope the GM section of the game brings some real advice on how to run this game.

In the end, we were all impressed by how elegant the game is and how far it led us.

Actual play of Bluebeard’s Bride on my Twich show for Hyper RPG!

Actual play of Bluebeard’s Bride on my Twich show for Hyper RPG!

Actual play of Bluebeard’s Bride on my Twich show for Hyper RPG!

The good stuff starts at 30:40, which I’ve already set up for this link : )

https://youtu.be/3tcclJWAgxo?t=30m40s

https://youtu.be/3tcclJWAgxo