[Shadows in the Fog] Playtesters badly wanted!

Okay, this is a cry for help.

Shadows in the Fog is just begging to be playtested by someone other than me. There is serious question about whether it can be run as is, or what I have left out, and what will actually happen if someone else runs it.

The PDF link is here.

The problem is, it�s not very well designed for short-term play, so I realize it�s tricky to playtest in an ad hoc fashion. Still, I think it ought to work.

Here�s what I propose.

If you would be willing to give this thing a whirl, read it through and PM me if you have questions. Run the Group Creation session and see how that goes. Post up the session and we�ll discuss it. I�ll be happy to make suggestions for where to take it from there, which will also help me figure out what I�ve omitted. Then you run a couple of sessions and see where it takes you.

Shadows in the Fog is intended to produce a peculiar play-dynamic. Not unique, but a little peculiar. If and when it �works,� you get a spiraling buildup of weirdness and manic intensity that is very much like conspiracy theory. Basically the players get more and more wound up in the exciting prospect of figuring out �what really happened� at the same time as they are generating the �really� that stands behind this. References among sessions, and to history, and to occult ideas, and to Tarot cards, begin to seem infinitely pregnant with meaning. You start to wonder if the two guys with the same initials might be somehow linked, or even the same guy. You start to assume that anything you see in the newspaper might actually be a hint of some deeper conspiracy. You, the players, start digging into encyclopedias and old newspapers and history books, and you start finding ever more confirmation that there is some vast and complicated hidden shadow world behind the fog of London. All of this somehow, some way, will explain who and what Jack the Ripper is, and what he�s doing, and why. And the more you get involved in this, the more you start to forget who you are � is this the players or the characters, for instance? � and get sucked into this snowballing mad occult conspiracy lunacy.

If that sounds like a cool thing to you, a game that is intended to be almost literally addictive because it seems like if you just play one or two more sessions you�ll finally �really get it,� even though you know objectively that you won�t and that it�ll just get worse, then I�m hoping you will playtest the thing and help me refine it to produce that effect wonderfully.

I do not intend to charge for this game, probably ever, certainly not in the near future. I do intend, eventually, to complete a large sourcebook to help people get this ball rolling without having access to an academic library and a lot of time, but this is kind of a back-burner project. I will happily credit you as playtesters, and for any and all assistance you provide at any level; I can�t pay you, but apart from that you can have it. If I ever do charge for the game, you can have a free copy, but as I doubt I ever will charge that�s a pretty empty promise. Nevertheless....

Any takers?