Driftwood Indie Game Night: FVLMINATA and Kickers

[Jake Norwood]

Tonight we played FVLMINATA, the number one game I've been itching to play since we returned home from Gen-Con. I think it counts as "indie" as well, though I confess that that's only of secondary importance here.

The game really shines in areas of intrigue and social interaction mechanics, which are probably just about as detailed as combat. Combat in the game is pretty cool, if a little weak and overly Sim for what I think the game's purposes are, but it isn't enough of a problem to really worry about. Anyway, because it's the game's strength, we decided to focus the game on intrigue and consipiracies.

The characters are a fun bunch. My wife is playing a powerful senator's wife, Ben Moore is the Spymaster for her household, another player is her niece, sent to Rome from the province to get married to any senator that will; another is the chief of security, an old army captain; the last is a gladiatrix owned by the "bad guy" senator.

I won't get into plot much, other than to say that when we all convened the characters were done but I wasn't "ready" per se, so I handed out some paper and had them all write kickers a la Sorcerer. It was my first concrete experience with them (although TROS's SAs come close in many ways), and it was completely positive.

I took all 5 kickers and quickly began connecting them and throwing "bangs" at the players that concerned both their kickers and each others. No one knew the kickers of anyone else, which I think hightened some of the suspense. Lastly, almost never were any of the 5 characters together long enough ot do anything. Instead I hastily moved from scene to scene and player to player as bangs came, went, and got resolved. Everyone stayed into it the whole time, and even though it took a lot longer for the pace to really quicken than I would have liked, things were thoroughly intense by the end of our 3-hour session. I ended, of course, on a cliffhanger and a sudden discover.

So my first experience with Kickers was, well, excellent. I think that I'll use them from now on in every game that doesn't have a built-in mechanic to encourage proper protaganization (which is most of them), and perhaps elsehere.

Kinda has me wantin' to play Sorcerer.

Jake

[Zak Arntson]

Two short notes:

* Don't worry about having to play Indie games. ALL discussed play experience counts towards better design & play!

* So what were the Kickers?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jake,

Did you guys use the stickers for the tali dice? If so, how did that system work out in terms of character competence and the distribution of success? I've been really curious about this for a long time.

Also, if possible, let me know what you think you would have done for story prep, based on game text recommendations and your own call as an experienced GM, if you were entirely unfamiliar with Kickers as a technique? That is, you knew all about character hooks and so forth, but not about the write-your-own Sorcerer style.

Best,
Ron

[Jake Norwood]

Hi Jake,

Did you guys use the stickers for the tali dice? If so, how did that system work out in terms of character competence and the distribution of success? I've been really curious about this for a long time.

Also, if possible, let me know what you think you would have done for story prep, based on game text recommendations and your own call as an experienced GM, if you were entirely unfamiliar with Kickers as a technique? That is, you knew all about character hooks and so forth, but not about the write-your-own Sorcerer style.

Best,
Ron

I actually bought a whole bunch of actual TALI dice, so there was no need for stickers. I've got 6 sets (I thought they were really cool dice). Characters seemed pretty competent, though I gave everyone extra attribute and skill points to start, as I think as-written characters are expected to build up before they're really special, and I wanted older, more experienced personae.

The "effect" roll is a ton of fun, and definitely fits my "die-rolling should be fun and add to the game" preference. The rolls were not as varied as I would have liked, however, and I think it has to do with the game design searching for some kind of "balance," a think that detracts from games as I play them. Also, for a "rules light" system (I don't think I believe in that term anymore) a screen would be great. Basic resolution requires a chart, and I had to look it up a lot.

As for story prep, I was prett lost as a GM to start out, as this is both a Genre and a system that's new to me. This is when I really like to have "adventure seeds" or module bits to get me started. In this case, not having Kickers or Adventure seeds I would have either had everyone generate some "sorta-kinda" SA's a la TROS, or I would have sat everyone down and said "where are you and what are you doing right now?" so as to get things rolling. The Kicker was a better choice than either, and had the best elements of both.

Although, I gotta tell ya, I miss SAs regardless. They're just too smooth.

Jake

[wyrdlyng]

Combat in the game is pretty cool, if a little weak and overly Sim for what I think the game's purposes are

Just a question, but I thought the game was supposed to be a very Sim game or did I just misunderstand from other reviews? I don't have the game and am on the fence about it so I'd like to hear from someone who actually played it.

Also where can you get the Tali dice?

[Jake Norwood]

Just a question, but I thought the game was supposed to be a very Sim game or did I just misunderstand from other reviews? I don't have the game and am on the fence about it so I'd like to hear from someone who actually played it.

Also where can you get the Tali dice?

My impression from reading the game is that it's not supposed to be "about" gladiators or fighting, but rather about social interaction in the cutthroat world of ancient Rome. It does this very well. Combat *could* add to this, but doesn't. It doesn't detract, either, but I've come to really look for all the facets in a game to serve the game's purpose. Then again, maybe I'm reading it wrong.

I ordered the Tali from my FLGS, via blackhawk via wiz.attick.

Jake

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Alex,

Quick GNS clarifier: "supposed to be a Sim game" doesn't really work, as a phrase ... in other words, Fvlminata doesn't have stated GNS design goals, so the task is more a matter of figuring out what it does well through play, rather than starting from first principles.

You probably already knew this, and were probably employing short-hand for something like "Most details I've read imply that it supports Sim play best," I figure, but I decided to clarify in case anyone gets on their designer-goals hobby horse today.

Best,
Ron

[wyrdlyng]

You probably already knew this, and were probably employing short-hand for something like "Most details I've read imply that it supports Sim play best,"

Heh, yes that is what I meant. From my knowledge it seemed like it focused on the feel of Ancient Roman life with some gunpowder and magic thrown in for variation. The fact that the game used Tali dice and latin names for most characteristics seemed to support that.