[Fastlane] In Preparation for GenCon, Questions

[Lxndr]

My first game, Fastlane, hasn't sold well so far (10 sales over 2 months).  It's a niche product, using a roulette wheel and all, and I understand that, and I probably haven't done as much as I could (though I'm not sure what else to do, besides get Kester Pelagius to review it for rpgnet, which I plan on doing).

But that's beside the point.  GenCon will be a place where I can help Fastlane get more press, so to speak.  To help with that, I need a demo.  A short demo.  And, well... I'm lost.  I've got no idea how to plan something that short.  So... any suggestions (especially from former Fastlane players) would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Mike Holmes]

Think in terms of the key mechanics that you want to display, the part of the game that's most fun. Then set up a situation where the player basically does about three minutes or so of roleplaying, doing the obvious thing, and you spring some big decison on him. If he goes left, he uses the mechanics to do that, if he goes right, he uses the mechanics to do that. So, he gets to make a choice, but either way, he ends up using the nifty mechanics. Then run that one resolution/gamble with all of the ramifications.

And that's it for the demo. Fifteen minutes tops to do the whole thing. That is, don't plan anything like a scenario, just one big decision. Work back to a character for whom that decision is really amazingly important (well Fastlane makes that almost a requirement in some ways, but..). Then figure out the situation which will require the player to have to make the decision.

Make sense? Or are you looking for a full length demo? Because I think that with the format I suggest, you can hook people fast. Let them speculate about where play would go from there, and they'll have to buy the game to find out.

Mike

[Lxndr]

I definitely am wanting something short (15, 30 minutes).  And I think I'm following you in theory, but in practice I'm sitting here skritching my head and thinking "where do I start?"  The part that's the most fun is (to me) the actual use of the wheel.  Which means setting up some sort of conflict, which is so wide-open.  

And in theory, I need something that'd work as well for 2 players (or even 1) as would 4.  Right?

That said, I wouldn't mind a longer demo that I could maybe jaunt over to the open gaming table and run, but that's not what I'm thinking of or asking for advice on in this post.

I've got to get home from work.  I will think on this.  Thanks, Mike.

[Bob McNamee]

Maybe some sort of Mission Impossible mission, in progress, at a Luxury Hotel ski Lodge / Enemy lair... maybe with some gambling involved.

Let play go to mission solving sneaking, or matching wits with an Enemy over Poker, or a rip roaring ski chase down the mountain?

It would be a style easily accessable to most gamers.

[Mike Holmes]

That sounds cool, Bob. Tell the player that he's in the following situation:

You've been engaged to eliminate a spy who's staying at a ski resort known to be owned by the people who employ him. You're standing in the lobby with your things being brought in by a bell boy. You've got a pair of skis, a lot of money, espionage equipment, and elegant evening wear. It's midday, and you note that the lifts are running on the mountain, and the casino is open. Behind the front desk there must be access to the secret parts of the base.

What do you do?

These suggest any of three courses of action. Of course, the hero has been spotted entering the establishment, and all eyes are on him so:

A. If he goes skiing, then he's pursued by assassins on the slopes, lead by the man who's he's supposedly there to eliminate. At some point, he has the choice to pursue the spy, or to protect an innocent who got involved with the fracas from going over a cliff.

B. If he goes gambling, then he finds the man in question at the Baccarat table (weird using a roulette wheel to resolve another game, perhaps he's at the roulette wheel - or is that even weirder?). If the PC wins, he has the option of egging the spy on to attack him recklessly, or he can go off with a beautiful girl who's hitting on him because of his success.

C. If he putters around til late, and invades the lair, the spy is waiting to kill him, and success is determined by how well our PC infiltrates, and gets the drop on the spy. At some point he has the choice to kill the spy, or to instead grab some secret documents pertaining to where some friends of his are held captive.

Pretty cool. Just ensure that the character has a write-up that ensures that these are all intresting choices.

Mike

[Lxndr]

http://www.twistedconfessions.com/files/abendroth.pdf

Between this thread and private conversations with several people (thanks to NikkiN and Wolfen, primarily, for those), this was, almost exactly, the final product showcased for GenCon.  I think the situation would work well to jumpstart a Fastlane session, or you could frame right to the meat of the matter.

It is set in a remote luxury resort in the Swiss Alps.  The players can choose to play any one of five characters - three spies, each working for different sides, the flunky of the villain, and this stage hypnotist caught in the middle.  I took Ron Edwards's advice and found what I thought was the best part of my game - multiple, player v player interactions - and set up these five characters to always be able to be at odds, no matter which pair was chosen.  Thus I tried to grab at least 2 players, and when there were none, I took on the role of the second player myself.

Now the demo is available for download, with all the other stuff I did in preparation that turned out to not even be needed.  :)  Nobody walked away from the demo saying "BAD GAME."  A few on the early days did say "wow, too long" but I tightened up my pitch since then.  Enjoy, and feel free to give feedback.