[The Plant] The shadow of a large jointed mechanism

[Ron Edwards]

So who knew that Jason Morningstar has been pumping out an insane number of cool game projects for months and months? (pause) Everyone but me? Damn.

I just played his solo game The Plant, which was really scary and affords me a chance to look at a new mechanic/concept on the block. Most of you know it, I'm sure - it's when a game text is interactive with play (i.e., you're consulting it), and it asks you what you feel as a basis for the next legal step to take with the rules.

I first encountered it, I think, with Murderous Ghosts, and you can see my comments in Nimer and me, which makes a good partner to this thread. It's pretty out-there in plain old procedural terms, vulnerable either to someone saying "My guy doesn't feel anything" regarding the character, or if regarding yourself, dodging up-and-out of play in order to say, "Well, I feel X," on the basis of what you think the better tactic will be. So it's not surprising that The Plant, for instance, instructs the reader that this lack of sincerity is effectively not playing the game, and the rules are written for people who aren't going to dodge their own reactions.

Did any game precede Murderous Ghosts with a similar mechanic? After 2009, I fell out of touch with the later Iron Game Chefs and other contests, and also with the later developments in the Old School Renaissance, so maybe it showed up there or somewhere similar. A few of the 2011 Ronnies had some features of this kind, at least in terms of rather hard-hitting intimacy, but I don't remember the direct inquiry to the reader/player as a mechanic. If you know, let me know.

Looking at both Murderous Ghosts and The Plant, I also see that the texts deliberately confound "you" in terms of character and player, which takes some getting used to. Making that a productive feature is an art of its own, considering how player-to-character identification has been both an unreachable ideal and a boogeyman in our hobby for so long. (Remember the old GenCon rules that your game couldn't introduce confusion about this very issue? If they said your game was over the line in this regard, you got booted.)

In case you're interested, "I" (my character in The Plant) turned out to be an abusive husband and father, although played with some sympathy and a sense of victim-horror, as the company had actually re-wired his brain at one point in a very Jacob's Ladder type of scene (turn down the lights and watch the whole clip). It all spoke very deeply to my own fears and worries. The game is so incredibly re-playable that I am probably going to do it again within 48 hours, when I get another usable block of time. I was only sad that my card draws made only minimal use of the list of elements I'd prepared, just the one I used for the thread title.

It's probably obvious but worth noting as well that ever since having kids (twins born in 2007, third in 2009), my gaming content has changed greatly. For instance, in Shahida, one player provides a family map based on his or her own actual-real family, which is then converted into an Arab family living in Beirut. Even though all the map contributes is a set of relationships (sister, uncle, et cetera), i.e., you are definitely not supposed to 'port in the real-life content like personalities or specific history into it, I found myself reluctant to use my current family map and instead back-dated it to my own childhood. Seth Ben Ezra told me he had the same reaction, and it seemed to both of us that we were not willing to subject our own children to risk, even at this disconnected and arguably abstract level.

For the record, I made six Plant cards in addition to the three "Downs," and my list of phrases was:

A frightened dog
The taste of blood
Remembering my daughter at age 10
A beloved book: The Wind in the Willows
The feel of cold wind on my skin
The shadow of a large jointed mechanism
An arrogant, smirking supervisor
A glimpse of my daughter
A pool of oil
The sound of beating wings

Yeah, the list looks pretty fucked-up to me too. I made them up in a rapid, non-reflecting stream, wanting as visceral an experience as possible even in preparation.

Let me know if you've played the game and how you used the "what do you feel" mechanic, or also in Murderous Ghosts if you've played that. I know that once I have an idea of just how to use it in a given game, it's really solid for me. A great example of something that looks unworkable on paper but flies high in play.

Best, Ron
edited to fix display - RE

[Jason Morningstar]

I'm glad you got a chance to play this, Ron. Thanks for your thoughts.

In retrospect I think the whole overt "how do you feel" thing, which was in this case a reaction to the constraints of a single player experience, is really extensible in exciting ways.

[lumpley]

My Life with Master's sincerity die is an important predecessor, minus specifically consulting the text at that moment of play.

-Vincent