collecting data: Fear, Reason, etc. and length of game

[Paul Czege]

So...I continue to get requests from folks for guidance in setting Fear and Reason, and about the allocation of starting Love, out of interest in configuring their games for a set number of sessions. And I honestly would like to help. But it's a pretty complex set of variables. And so I think I need to collect some data. Then maybe I can do up a some Excel chartjunk or something.

And, well, that's where you come in. If you've played My Life with Master to honest completion, could you reply here with the following:

Starting value for Fear
Starting value for Reason
Initial Love points allocated per minion
Number of minions
Number of Innocents
Number of sessions (figure a "session" is 3hrs of play)[/list:u]Anything I missed? If you want to include a link to a thread where you've posted about playing the game, that's cool too.

So here's the data for our http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=3119">playtest game:
6 Fear
4 Reason
0 Love
4 minions
2 Innocents
5 sessions[/list:u]Thanks,

Paul

[jrs]

5 Fear
3 Reason
0 Love
3 Minions
0 Innocents
1 prep & 4 play sessions

I wasn't sure if you wanted prep, creating the master & minions, included in the total number of sessions.  Our prep session was substantially shorter than 3 hours; we ran through it after wrapping up an existing game.

Here are links to actual play:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=8032">[My Life with Master] Black ooze and babies
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=8257">[My Life with Master] Black ooze oozes forth

Julie

[Paul Czege]

Hi Julie,

I wasn't sure if you wanted prep, creating the master & minions, included in the total number of sessions.

Right, good point. Let's not include Master and minion creation time in the total number of sessions.

Thanks,

Paul

[Michael S. Miller]

3 Fear
3 Reason
1 Love
3 minions
1 Innocents
1 session[/list:u]

Actual play at

Dr. Sweet's Clinic

[Paul Czege]

Y'know, now that I think about it. Another potentially significant item of data is how many Innocents died. In our game, one of the two Innocents died.

Julie's game had no Innocents. And the Innocent survived in your game, right Michael?

Paul

[GB Steve]

killing puppies for santa
2 Fear
2 Reason
0 Love
4 minions
2 Innocents (both survived)
1 session (10 rounds + endgame - 3 hours)

I designed the master and the background, prep took about 30 minutes to make the characters.

My Life with Headmaster - SteveCon VII
2 Fear
3 Reason
1 Love
4 minions
2 Innocents (survived - just about)
1 session (6 rounds + endgame - 2 hours)

I designed the master and the background, prep took about 20 minutes to make the characters.

I also ran a game at Dragonmeet in December but I can't find the record I made of that. As far as I can recall it was something like this:
2 or 3 Fear
2 or 3 Reason
1 Love
6 minions
1 Innocent (survived)
1 session (3 1/2 hours)

Simon Rogers also ran a game which had these stats:
4 Fear
3 Reason
0 Love
6 minions (4 in first session, 3 in second, 5 in third)
2 Innocents ( 1survived)
3 sessions

[cthulahoops]

First attempt:

Fear:          4
Reason:      3
Love:          0
Innocents:  0
Minions:      4
Sessions:    3

Second attempt:

Fear:        2
Reason:    2
Love:        1
Innocents: 0
Minions:     4
Sessions:   1

Adam.

[Michael S. Miller]

And the Innocent survived in your game, right Michael?

That's right. She slinked off into the woods, alone and friendless now that the minions had integrated into the society of the villagers. Would nobody ever love her?

[kwill]

hope it's okay to add to this old thread since it's about data capture...

Starting value for Fear: 5 (adjusted to 4) (*)
Starting value for Reason: 3 (adjusted to 2) (*)
Initial Love points allocated per minion: 0
Number of minions: 3
Number of Innocents: 1 (**)
Number of sessions (figure a "session" is 3hrs of play): 2 (***)

(*) after the first session I adjusted the values down, 'cause I thought Fear was too high (too long until Endgame)

(**) didn't affect any rolls in the end, though

(***) in fact 3 2hr sesssions; I quite possibly hold the world record for real:play time ratio, we had a gap of several months between second and final session!

anyway, I think it would be more useful to note how many Scenes we played out...

Session 1: 18 Scenes
Session 2: 17 Scenes
Session 3: 15 Scenes

I've detailed the Scenes in what I think is a nifty MLWM-oriented table format: My Life With Monday Log

[Ron Edwards]

Hi,

David, that is an amazing actual-play record. I think you have brought RPG "reporting" to a new height.

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

David, that is an amazing actual-play record. I think you have brought RPG "reporting" to a new height.

Dang...I've tried repeatedly to access it, from work and from home, and I either get nothing, or I get a page error.

Any recommendations David?

Paul

[kwill]

hi,

well, it's the structure of the game that allowed for the ease of reporting - I've also got a better idea on how to notate more accurately in my next game; I'll post more comments (and questions!) in a new thread when I don't have exams looming

paul, our server is somewhat temperamental since our upgrade to new wiki software, it should be up again sometime on monday, or PM me and I'll email you the files (which still depends on the server being up)

[Eric J. Boyd]

We played a one session game of My Life With Master in honor of Halloween last night. We had a tormented medical student who could only express emotions when music was playing, a corrupt constable who was compelled to add to any suffering he detected in others unless they were children or handicapped, and a hulking brute who was incredibly strong unless someone showed him compassion. The Master was Adam, a near-immortal husk of a man floating in a nutrient tank with wicked mechanical arms jutting out from it in the basement of his estate. Adam was obsessed with escaping his ennui and creating a new body for himself, and developed the plan of being reborn in a new female body as Eve to achieve both.

After much violence and villainy, that claimed the lives of the schoolmistress, a visiting special inspector, and the local solicitor, the brute was able to resist the Master's command to fetch his beloved barmaid for experimentation. The constable aided the brute in rupturing the Master's nutrient tank, and was killed in the process by the flailing mechanical arms. The brute became the new constable and married the barmaid, while the medical student went back to his studies with the town doctor and continued to woo the doctor's daughter.

In short, ghoulish fun was had by all.

Fear: 3
Reason: 3
Love: 1
Innocents: 0
Minions: 3
Sessions: 1 (About 3 and a half hours)

[Paul Czege]

The Master was Adam, a near-immortal husk of a man floating in a nutrient tank with wicked mechanical arms jutting out from it in the basement of his estate. Adam was obsessed with escaping his ennui and creating a new body for himself, and developed the plan of being reborn in a new female body as Eve to achieve both.

Very cool. The giant mechanical arms are great!

And regarding David's earlier "hope it's okay to add to this," lets consider this thread exempted from the old thread rule that applies elsewhere on the Forge. I'm excited we're getting close to having enough data to satisfy the thread's mission of producing a helpful chart.

So, thanks for not letting this one die.

Paul

[hix]

This is from the My Life with Goldfinger thread.

3 Fear
3 Reason
0 Love
5 Minions
0 Innocents
3 play sessions

Some Actual Play debrief is going on here.