unWritten Continuum

I love surrealist animations like this Link

Last night Greg and I played unWritten in a setting that Greg is developing for a comic book he’s working on… 

We started the game by talking about what we wanted to play. I said I wanted to play something inspired by Mouse Guard, a great graphic novel found here. Greg mentions his comic that was inspired by Mouse Guard, best described as, “The Secret of NIMH meets I Am Legend.” That sounded perfect. We decided on two pre-game rules: 1) There is nothing mystical, though forms of technology can be “interpreted” by the rats as being magic. 2) There is no rat to human translations. The time frame of the game is such that the rats are cognitively equal to humans, but, they haven’t yet develop literacy or any means of reading human text. So, this is the background we are started from…

Humans genetically modified rats to the point that the rats could have human-like cognitive capabilities. A “by-product” of this was their increased size to about 2½ or 3 feet tall, when standing on their hind legs, and an increased life-span, about 50 years. The humans have mysteriously disappeared, leaving the world, as we know it today, to the rats. Except, the rats don’t know who the humans were, or what happened to them. The main preoccupation of the rats is finding sustenance and resources and maintaining their shelters safe. The rats have not yet developed any form of agriculture or manufacturing at this time. They purely live by scavenging the remains of the humans. And, finally, our protagonists will be the second generation of these rats that have lived since the humans have died.

Here are the three opening cues we came up with from the previous conversation:

• Intelligent Rats in a (ours) post-human world.
• Tribes at war over sustenance & resources.
• Did the gods gift this to us or abandon us?

These are the two protagonists we created:

Greg’s protagonist

• Name: Wind
• Role: Guardian of High Places
• Physical Trait: Agile
• Drive: Aspiration; Protect the Others
• Drive: Inclination; Run After Mysteries

My protagonist

• Name: Watcher
• Role: Seeker of New Skies (scout)
• Mental Trait: Custodian of Earth and Air (shaman skills)
• Drive: Aspiration; To Find the Answers of our Past
• Drive: Inclination; Being Abandoned, retreat to the depths

Before we actually began, we agreed that our tribes rats lived in a sky scraper in downtown Los Angeles. Their tribe is called the “Storm Seekers.” And, that we would be using the cinematic rules (once known as quickplay rules).

The setting was really Greg’s baby, so I suggested that he start the game by framing the first scene. His first scene was a parallel scene (these scenes allow multiple protagonists to work towards a single goal). From there we went to primary scene development until the last scene we played, which was my protagonist’s scene, then we did a parallel scene. We didn’t finish the game, though, we’ll be doing that tonight. Hear is a scene by scene breakdown of how the game went.

Scene 1: In the first scene Greg asks “Who or what do I care about or value?” and he features the cue “ Tribes at war over sustenance & resources.” He places Wind at the top of an old building in downtown LA keeping watch. Meanwhile, Watcher is chasing after a moth across some now defunct power line. The Bloody Fangs attack our tribe of rats, Wind leads the defenses and Watcher leads the escape. In the end, the defense fail and our tribe gets decimated (Wind failed his conflict). But, do to Winds valiant efforts, Watcher is able to help a dozen or so tribes men and women escape. Though the Bloody Fangs did light the building on fire in an attempt to stop the survivors from escaping.

• From this scene Wind earned the boon “Valiant Defender” and the blight “I failed my tribe.” However, because Watcher won his conflict he gets a new trait, a new cue. The new trait is a social trait “De-facto leader” and the new cue is “Storm Seeker Survivors.” Watcher also earns the boon “I can find a way out” and the blight “I’m not cut out for this.” Additionally, the cue “Tribes at war over sustenance & resources” was blighted with “The Storm Seekers were scattered.”

Scene 2: The next scene is a primary scene, so it just focuses on my character Watcher. I focused the scene on the question “What internal struggle must you come to terms with?” and the cue “Storm Seeker Survivors.” This scene consisted of Watcher leading the survivors away from the Bloody Fangs as they chased us, the last remaining survivors. In the end, we escaped into the sewers, towards a possible new sanctuary. (Watcher failed his conflict, the conflict in this case was whether he would lead the survivors or not. You see, he was struggling with his new role as the “De-facto leader”).

• From this scene Watcher earned the a new trait “I know this land” a new cue was created “Predators” (the survivors mentioned how they were scared to go into the sewers because of the predators) and De-facto Leader was further blighted, as was “Tribes at war over sustenance & resources.”

Scene 3: Greg attempted to answer the question “Who or what do you care about or value?” and used the cue “Intelligent rats in our post-human world.” This scene consisted of Wind waking up after the battle and being left for dead by the survivors and the Bloody Fangs. Wind, waking do to the fire lit by the The Bloody Fangs is forced to escape the building by scaling the outside. But, in the end he is forced to climb ever higher where the rain and wind keeps the building cold and wet. (He failed the conflict.)

• From this scene Wind earned the mental trait “Urban Survival” and created the new cue “It’s winter and it’s raining.” He also earned the blight “fatigued” and blighted the cue “Intelligent rats in our post-human world” with the “The ruins are dangerous.

Scene 4: In this scene I asked the question “How are you incapable of dealing with this issue?” and I invoked the cue “Predators.” As we crawled through the sewers to a location that Watcher believed would be a suitable new home, we were attacked by a mutant snake-fish. Watcher partially succeeded at fending off the snake fish. In the end, he was split off from the rest of the survivors he agreed to lead. (Watcher partially succeeded at his conflict.)

• From this scene Watcher earned the physical trait “Enduring” a new cue was created “Sewer sanctuary” (though we screwed up, this should have been a rewritten cue, not a new one. Well fix it tonight when we play again). I was blighted with “I’m tired and distracted.” the cue “Storm Seeker Survivors” was booned with “The strongest survived” and the the cue “Predators” was blighted with the “we enter their den.”

Scene 5: In this scene Greg asks “What internal struggle must you come to terms with?” and featured the cue “Storm Seeker Survivors.” Wind follows the Bloody Fangs through the streets and sees a scouting party, 5 of them, sent into the sewers to follow the survivors. Wind, enters the sewers from a different area and, with bow and arrow in hand, begins to take out the scouts one at a time. He kills 3 of them when they figure out they attack him, and the snake-fish attacks all three of them… In the end, Wind gets the snake-fish to attack the remaining scouts and he escapes further down the sewers.

• From this scene Wind earned the physical trait “Crack Shot” and created the new cue “Bloody Fangs war party.” He also earned the blight “I need the stars to navigate” and booned the cue “Predator” with “It’s already eaten.”

Scene 5: This scene was mine to frame. It chose to make it a parallel scene, such that both protagonists are featured in the scene. In this scene I chose to ask the question “What have you gained by addressing this issue?” and the featured cue was “Predator.” In this scene, Watcher was making his way back to survivors and as Wind was finding his way to the survivors. The snake-fish attacks Wind, Watcher jumps on its back and stabs it in the “neck” (He succeeds at the conflict). Watcher gives Wind an opening, as the snake-fish reals its head, to shoot it in the neck and head several times. In the end, Wind slays the snake-fish and Watcher and Wind are reunited.

• From this scene Watcher earned the physical trait (ah, I didn’t actually get it…).  He earned the Blight “At my limit” and strengthened the boon “The strongest survive” from the cue “Storm Seekers Survive.”
• Meanwhile, Wind earned the (ah, didn’t give him a new trait either…) he got the boon “Valiant defender” strengthened and the boon “It’s already eaten.”

This is what the cues and protagonist’s looked like when we were done with the game.

Cues

• Intelligent Rats in a (ours) post-human world. -1; Blight: The ruins are dangerous
• Tribes at war over sustenance & resources. -2; Blight: The Storm Seekers were scattered.
• Did the gods gift this to us or abandon us?
• Storm Seeker survivors. +2; Boon: The strongest survived
• Predators. 0; Boon: It’s already eaten; Blight: We enter their den
• It’s winter and it’s raining
• Sewer sanctuary. -1; Blight:Some of us made it.
• Bloody Fang War Party.

These are how the protagonists turned out:

Greg’s protagonist

• Name: Wind
• Role: Guardian of High Places. -1; Blight: I failed my tribe
• Mental Trait: Urban Survival; Blight: I need the stars to navigate.
• Physical Trait: Agile +1; Boon: Valiant Defender; Blight: Fatigued.
• Physical Trait: Crack Shot
• Drive: Aspiration; Protect the Others
• Drive: Inclination; Run After Mysteries

My protagonist

• Name: Watcher
• Role: Seeker of New Skies (scout). +1: Boon: I can find a way
• Social Trait: De-facto Leader. -2; Blight: I’m not cut out for this.
• Mental Trait: Custodian of Earth and Air (shaman skills). -1; Blight: I’m tired & distracted
• Mental Trait: I know this land
• Physical Trait: Enduring. -1; Blight: At my limit.
• Drive: Aspiration; To Find the Answers of our Past
• Drive: Inclination; Being Abandoned, retreat to the depths

So, that was the first part of the game. We’ll be finishing it up tonight!

Last night Greg and I played unWritten in a setting that Greg is developing for a comic book he’s working on… 

We started the game by talking about what we wanted to play. I said I wanted to play something inspired by Mouse Guard, a great graphic novel found here. Greg mentions his comic that was inspired by Mouse Guard, best described as, “The Secret of NIMH meets I Am Legend.” That sounded perfect. We decided on two pre-game rules: 1) There is nothing mystical, though forms of technology can be “interpreted” by the rats as being magic. 2) There is no rat to human translations. The time frame of the game is such that the rats are cognitively equal to humans, but, they haven’t yet develop literacy or any means of reading human text. So, this is the background we are started from…

Humans genetically modified rats to the point that the rats could have human-like cognitive capabilities. A “by-product” of this was their increased size to about 2½ or 3 feet tall, when standing on their hind legs, and an increased life-span, about 50 years. The humans have mysteriously disappeared, leaving the world, as we know it today, to the rats. Except, the rats don’t know who the humans were, or what happened to them. The main preoccupation of the rats is finding sustenance and resources and maintaining their shelters safe. The rats have not yet developed any form of agriculture or manufacturing at this time. They purely live by scavenging the remains of the humans. And, finally, our protagonists will be the second generation of these rats that have lived since the humans have died.

Here are the three opening cues we came up with from the previous conversation:

Intelligent Rats in a (ours) post-human world.

Tribes at war over sustenance & resources.

Did the gods gift this to us or abandon us?

These are the two protagonists we created:

Greg’s protagonist

Name: Wind

Role: Guardian of High Places

Physical Trait: Agile

Drive: Aspiration; Protect the Others

Drive: Inclination; Run After Mysteries

My protagonist

Name: Watcher

Role: Seeker of New Skies (scout)

Mental Trait: Custodian of Earth and Air (shaman skills)

Drive: Aspiration; To Find the Answers of our Past

Drive: Inclination; Being Abandoned, retreat to the depths

Before we actually began, we agreed that our tribes rats lived in a sky scraper in downtown Los Angeles. Their tribe is called the “Storm Seekers.” And, that we would be using the cinematic rules (once known as quickplay rules).

I’ll post the actual play next…

Last night Greg and I played unWritten using the quickplay con rules. Damn, it was good. Brendon, I wish you were there. You would have loved it.

I realized that the quickplay rules really gave a cinematic feel to the game. While the standard rules give a longer, more drawn out, “literary” feel to the story. So, from now I’m going to call the two types of rules: The Cinematic rule set and the Literary rule set.

The difference in the rules is that in the cinematic rules you only answer one question per chapter, which works out to 6 questions. Whereas, in the literary rules you are answering 9 questions. This doesn’t mean you can’t have cinematic, high action scenes in a game using literary rules. By changing the amount of questions that are being asked changes the pacing of the story that is being told. 

So I was listening to my girlfriend talk last night. And it hit me. I want to play a game that is like “The Matrix” meets “THX.” Yeah, that terrible Lucas movie from the early 70’s that I never saw. 

Here’s the premise.

A group of people, that know they’re in a virtual world with their “meat bodies” plugged in some where try to see what if it would be possible to leave the matrix and live out their existence in their meat bodies. They don’t know that “before” people lived in their meat bodies all of the time. So, as they try to figure this out the system sends programs to try and stop them. However, these programs function like the robot cops from THX. They’re totally inept. In the end, some of them have to come to terms with the fact they aren’t people but programs, while others are able to escape. The ones that escape, well, they die. After who know how long of just sitting in a vat of their own excrement, they can’t live unattached from the system…

Well, maybe that doesn’t sound to good.

Well, not actually me. Paul Tevis started a play test of unWritten at Nerdly Beach Party, but they didn’t get a chance to finish it. Here is what he said… feed://afistfulofgames.blogspot.com/atom.xml

I finally got a play test report from Per and Pooka. It was awesome. They had good and bad things to say. I worked on both. My next play test copy should be out in about a week(?) I’ve been getting a lot of people contacting me about play testing it. I’m working on it, I’m working it.

Tonight I played unWritten with Josh R and Mark V. Dam it was good! I got a lot of great feedback, but the best thing I got out of it was Mark saying, “Every choice I was seemed natural. Nothing seemed contrived.” That’s not exactly what he said, but it’s close. So good. Now I need to make the little changes that, I believe, will make a big difference in the game. Like getting rid of crisis scenes. They don’t seem to play a part in the game anymore.Anyway.