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[Paul Czege]

Andreas Melhorn reviews My Life with Master http://www-public.tu-bs.de:8080/~amelhorn/eibon/lifemaster.htm">here.

So, uh, does he like it?

Paul

[Lxndr]

Altavista translates it thusly, which I think is proof that translation software programs have a long way to go.  Anyway, he gave you "Four and one-half of five stars" so I'd say he liked it.  I apologize for the quite odd translation, but it's what I had available to me.

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An unusual game of roles over Schurkerei, self hate and unreturned love

Games of roles always took part in a development. If there was at the beginning would still leave and monsters, then the hobby discovered in the meantime many directions for itself and new directions are pointed out to each day and partly also committed.

My Live with masters comes of to one of the newest movements, with which the development of a history stands under a certain topic in the center. The characters are thereby the tools, together with whose assistance the players develop stories of different emotional consequence with the play leader (!), by letting their characters (supports from the rules) act and the effects of their actions to experience.

Its beginnings My Life took with to masters in a forum for play Design ( The Forge ), there it was developed further and discussed to it as 64-seitige pdf file (however with little text per side) recently finally appeared and since then for $8,95 in the InterNet to be arisen can. As such this career/development is nothing special more, many plays in the meantime was naturally developed in this way and also sold, however The Forge is a forum, which argues very exactly with game of roles theories and tests these in the real play. Many smart heads, discuss here and produce regularly unusual plays. My Life with masters is one of it.

The players embody servants of a strange Mr., that it send his strange to settle partial bad orders. They are thus the Igors, those for Dr. Frankenstein corpse parts of the cemetery to get must or the servants of the Vampirs, which it geluestet after blood. They run always the risk from the mobilization of the close village to be placed, if this arms direction home place of the master with torches/flares pulls. The time is fixed on beginning 19. Century, the time of the Gothic Novel .

The exact place and the gentleman are freely selectable by the players. The play leader sits down before beginning of the play with its players together and together creates her gentleman and servant. Guidelines in the play give, on which one should respect during the erschaffung of the scenery. The values, which are assigned to the figures, support the procedure.

Differently than in most other games of roles the values of the figures reflect less, which these can be able to do or not (although them to also do), but many more like the influence of the figure on history are not. The master has for example only the two values " fear " and " reason ", whereby first indicates, like strongly the terrible influence of the master on its servant, who is inhabitant of the close village and partly even on the environment. " The reason " indicates, how easily different persons can escape from this influence.

The servants are provided with references, which they can do particularly and which it at all not to be able (in each case with?es is? provided, it could be thus that a servant can sing particularly well, it was he observed or that he can hear only very with difficulty, it is the master speaks to it.) Additionally they have three numerical values, " the self hate " (a value, which indicates, like strongly it for a monster keep themselves the more highly, the easier - can the master it manipulate), " the tiredness " ( Weariness , gives on like very much the servant to its situation resigned itself and like strongly this its will presses, which does not prevent him to implement the instructions of the master reasonably but also still to oppose) and " the love ", the only one for the servant positive value. It indicates whether it found love and acknowledgment.

The entire play climbs around the conflict between gentleman, servant and the close village. The servants are sent on bad missions, gladly would oppose, can it however first only rarely (the value for " love " starts with zero and is unabdinglich to to oppose) and look for besides acknowledgment? with the master or with inhabitants of the village. The play values of the figures continual change and reflect so the changes of the figures and the environment.

If they collected enough acknowledgment " in the form of " love, the end of the play is introduced, with which the players describe, how history for the master (usually with its death) and the individual servants ends. The values of the characters are drawn to rate, which specify whether the character commits or from now on lucky in the village lives for example suicide.

The used cube system is simple: With a sample cubes both the player and the play leader a certain number of quadripartite cubes, four are segregated, added that remainder. Who achieves the higher number, wins. The situation is accordingly described. Additionally the numerical values on the character elbow often change depending upon cube result. The kind is interesting as an undecided is handled: It is not again gewuerfelt or otherwise nevertheless still another winner is determined, but it becomes? how did the cube result also give? as undecided rated and also accordingly into history built. The two contractors could not have come from any reason to a result and have been able accordingly both neither pre nor disadvantage from the situation to pull. A small rule, but it raises interesting situations in the play.

The play fascinatingly. The Grusel comes from the absurd and emotional strong situations, which through-live the characters. Character representation and play organization (the players can be partly contributed, arranged like a scene are) to be located in the center. Fast cuts between the individual scenes provide for a brisk play river.

In order to make itself a good impression from the play to, one visits best the forum and reads there a playing report of one the buyer of the play. It is not anything for the opportunity player, who from time to time a Ork to dead-strike or wants to save a city, but for the experienced player it is an unusual play experience with surprisingly much depth. Besides the topic with amazing precision was caught.

At the edge it is here still mentioned that Ken Hite ( Suppressed transmission, GURPS horror 3rd OD, etc..) the play as applicants for the Best new Idea OF The Show (related to GenCon 2003) designated? an opinion, which I can divide fully and completely. I do not have to experience anyhow ever a play seen that such a large Potenzial has to give to the players the possibility disturbing situations and to put other goals " of the good " game of roles (like good character representation) into practice. Four and one-half of five stars.

[Valamir]

however The Forge is a forum, which argues very exactly with game of roles theories and tests these in the real play. Many smart heads, discuss here and produce regularly unusual plays

Well, that translation is spot on anyway...a bunch of smart heads who argue very exactly...ayup.

:-)

[Ron Edwards]

That's a very nice review! Let's hope you see a bunch of German orders soon.

Which brings up the tricky issue of international shipping ...

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

That's a very nice review!

Yes, it is. I rather thought it must be from Andreas' comment in his email informing me of it:

"MLwM is an amazing game. I love it. Unfortunately, I doubt I will ever
find players for the thing."

Let's hope you see a bunch of German orders soon.

I'm not sure how much traffic Andreas gets at his personal site. But he says he has submitted it to http://ringbote.de/">ringbote.de, an online German game zine, and that the editor will certainly publish it in due time.

Which brings up the tricky issue of international shipping ...

It's strange. I've shipped nearly as many print copies of post-GenCon reprint internationally as I have domestically.

Implementation-wise, what Danielle and I have done is come up with a standard packaging method for the book, something she can duplicate consistently. So, in the absence of a postal scale, I still pretty much know exactly how much the package will weigh. When an international customer emails me for a postage estimate, I just use the postal calculator at http://www.usps.com">http://www.usps.com, rounding up the amount a bit to cover the cost of packing materials.

When payment arrives to me, I send an email to Danielle. The building where she works is a block further down her bus route from a branch of the Detroit post office. She packs up books a couple of times a week usually, and takes them to the post office on her way in to work.

She tells me that last time the clerk working the counter said, "What, no internationals today?"

But honestly, if she wasn't willing and able to do this so conveniently, I wouldn't be in the business of selling print copies of the game. The post office near where I work is so crowded at lunch time that you usually have to wait for a parking spot to open up before you can even get inside to wait in the line there.

Paul