[Afraid] devotion

[jenskot]

We played on Sunday (6/3/2006). For those unfamiliar with Afraid, please check out:
http://www.lumpley.com/comment.php?entry=201
http://www.lumpley.com/comment.php?entry=200

There were 5 players including myself. I GMed. The players are primarily performers who LOVE color and like a moderate amount of tactics. They mainly play (and drift) Call of Cthulhu and Shadowrun. But we've recently been on an Indy kick playtesting Burning Wheel / Burning Empires, and playing Sorcerer, Dogs in the Vineyard, My Life With Master, The Mountain Witch, The Shab-al-Hiri Roach, Capes, Prime Time Adventures, and With Great Power. We agreed not to drift Afraid.

MONSTER

First thing I did was privately create the Monster (45 minutes).

NAME: Anjali Bhakti,
HABIT: curing her inability to bear children
CURIOSITY: genetic cloning
RITUALISTIC: combining necromancy + genetics
EXTREMITY: cutting off pieces of herself and trying to re-grow them
NIGHTMARISH RESOURCES: growing back and/or giving life to the body parts she cuts off
MORE EXTREMITY: grafting her body parts onto other people
IRREVOCABLE: none of her original body is left, she's cut it all off, except her left eye, replacing it all with something else...
HORROR: rapidly "bearing children" by grafting parts of herself onto others and mass producing pharmaceutical products made out of her own body
ATTRACTION: impotence (not just bearing children, for example: retired athletes due to disabilities)
LAIR: Hope Springs (rich disabled athletes clinic)

STATS: Acuity: 5d6, Heart: 2d6, Body: 2d6, Will: 5d6
TRAITS: I will bear children... at ANY price 1d10, It is abundantly evident that I am far smarter than you 1d6, You can't hurt me... not compared to what I've already done to myself 1d6, I want you to create with me 1d10, Seduction 2d4, Let me help you... I know what it is like to be denied what you deserve 1d8
BONDS: Stripping flesh 1d10, Regeneration 2d4, Eye (5 foot tall, red, veiny, dripping mucus, tentacles swarming from its stem) 2d6+1d4, Stomach (10 feet long, wet like a tongue, dripping vomit, gaping hole at its end with rows of teeth, a sluggish, bulging bag of skinless meat) 3d8+1d4, Brock Landsfield (former soccer player, grafted leg) 2d10, Henry (grafted back) 2d10, Other victims 6d10
BELONGINGS: Hope Springs 2d8, "special" drugs 2d6+1d4
ACOLYTES: Michael Erving (famous retied football player, grafted arm, spokesman of Hope Springs)

VICTIMIZATION LEVEL 1: seeing through Anjali Bhakti's eyes. Access needed: grafting body part.
VICTIMIZATION LEVEL 2: limbs acting on their own. Access needed: intake of Hope Springs' drugs.
VICTIMIZATION LEVEL 3: need to cannibalize body parts of same type as grafts. Access needed: feeding the victim human flesh for the first time.
VICTIMIZATION LEVEL 4: becoming Anjali Bhakti's child, spreading grafts to others. Access needed: sex with Anjali Bhakti.

CHARACTERS

We created characters and explained the basic rules (90 minutes). We defined each aspect of the characters together, 1 piece at a time. 2 players changed their character concepts twice to better fit the group. Strangely, no one selected the Attached or Entangled backgrounds. I'm not sure why. Maybe I didn't make them sound as appealing as the other backgrounds?

PLAYER 1: Gregory Fairchild (John E.)
BACKGROUND: Investigator (head of The Church of Light, INC. Christian Non-Denominated)
CIRCUMSTANCE: unprepared
STATS: Acuity 4d6, Heart 3d6, Body 3d6, Will 4d6
TRAITS: I love my job... I won't let anyone fuck it up 3d6, sometimes a shepherd has to use his staff 1d8, I can make you see the light 1d8, once in a while I feel I'm missing God's plan 1d4
RELATIONSHIPS: Hillary (wife) 1d4, Angali Bhakti (wife's boss) 1d6
BELONGINGS: my church 2d8, minister collar 1d6, box of brochures 1d4, old & tattered bible 2d8, church SUV 1d6

PLAYER 2: Dana Barraducci (Terry)
BACKGROUND: Investigator (investigative reporter & heiress of World Weekly News)
CIRCUMSTANCE: alone
STATS: Acuity 4d6, Heart 3d6, Body 2d6, Will 5d6
TRAITS: running in heels is cheaper than a gym membership 2d6, you can trust this face 2d8, you know who my daddy is... right? 1d6, I've seen evidence of the paranormal (I think) 1d4
RELATIONSHIPS: Philip Barraducci (father, owner of World Weekly News) 2d6
BELONGINGS: daddy's little black book (hand copied) 1d4, tiny gun 1d6, press pass 1d8, pocket audio recorder 2d6, LCD flashlight 1d8

PLAYER 3: Hank "Sable" Crosswick (Neal)
BACKGROUND: Investigator (wannabe warlock, psychic and larper)
CIRCUMSTANCE: alone
STATS: Acuity 3d6, Heart 6d6, Body 2d6, Will 3d6
TRAITS: punching might break my rings of power 1d8, you don't understand MAGIC! 1d6, don't touch my magic talismans! 1d4, my power rises with my eyebrow 1d8, NO!!! this is what you are thinking 2d6
RELATIONSHIPS: mom (live in her basement) 1d6, Hillary (therapist, Gregory's wife) 2d6, Clarence (magic shop owner, fellow larper and warlock) 1d8
BELONGINGS: "magic" lizard totem 1d6, makeup kit 2d6, 15 rings of power 1d8, orb of the astral voyeur 1d4, runes 1d4, books of astrology 2d6

PLAYER 4: Clyde Samson (Lou)
BACKGROUND: Veteran (Special Investigator, Samson Investigation, INC)
CIRCUMSTANCE: lost
STATS: Acuity 3d6, Heart 2d6, Body 3d6, Will 4d6
TRAITS: I'd rather flash my gun than shoot it 1d4, my fist is bigger than your head 2d10, I can talk you out of your money 1d6, FUCK that guy! 1d8, I believe a lot of pop novels are true 1d4
BOND: I don't let myself care about anyone 1d6
RELATIONSHIPS: my hospitalized mom 1d4, local law enforcement 1d6, Stacey  Dalora (secretary, ex-con, tattooed, lesbian, 23)
BELONGINGS: my business 1d4, .45 semi auto with concealed carry permit 1d6, picture of dead german sheperd 1d6, haunted pocket watch (while wound, I can see vague flashes and then bad things happens to me) 2d6+1d4, broken corvette 1d4

GAME PREPARATION

I publicly sketched a relationship map, discussed the victims, and adjusted our relationships to tie everything together (30 minutes). Because everyone played Investigators and Veterans, no one was directly connected to the victims. But we made sure everyone was at least 1 relationship removed to bring everything together.

I then secretly added the non-player relationship NPCs to the relationship map (10 minutes).

The final relationship map can be viewed here (recreated later on my computer): http://nettmedia.com/tmp/john/afraid.gif

I used the relationship map and the player circumstances to write notes on how to start the game (15 minutes):

John E's wife is having an affair with Terry's father.
The wife told the father private information she learned in a therapy session with one of her patients (victim).
The patient is a famous retired soccer player who had his leg amputated but can now walk perfectly.
Terry's father works for a trashy magazine and decides to write a story about it.
The monster finds out and has Terry's father killed in a ritualistic manner.
Neal who wants a job at Terry's father's company witnesses the murder.
Lou will be hired to investigate.
John E and Terry are directly involved with the key NPCs.

ACTUAL PLAY

We then played for about 2.5 hours. We expect to play 2-3 more times. Actual play details + questions coming soon.

I may also be running Afraid again tonight with a different group.

Thanks so much,
John