[Prime Time Adventures] Mind Games

[etheruk]

Just completed the first session of PTA, deciding on the show. I had asked them to come up with pitches before they arrived but only half of them had managed to think of something.

Unable to think of one idea we decided to combine them all and came up with:

MIND GAMES

Set in a Psychiatric Hospital the main cast are all patients, each with their own delusion. They struggle to discover what is real and gradually find that their delusions interlace.
Many chose the doctors as their nemesis so there will be a 'people vs authority' theme. It was also decided that reality and fantasy would blur as we segue into delusions and flashbacks (or both).
The cast are:

Jade:
A young woman who believes that she is a vampire. She has a problem with her desire to feed on blood. This often leads to violence and so is her issue.
Her nemesis is her creator and also her contact as he visits her.

Wapple Thossett:
A middle aged man convinced he is a wizard. In his world magic was being drained away and now he finds himself in a world where there is none and he is powerless. He believes that one of the doctors is responsible.
His issue is his impulse control as he often acts without thinking.

Rick Chassit:
A detective with a drug habit. He believes himself to come from a film noir world of the 1920s-40s. He was framed for murder by his nemesis Jack Mort.
His issue is his guilt and addiction.

John Earpream:
An Indiana Jones style adventurer who unwittingly unleashed a demon. The demon killed Earpream's assosiates and John blacked out. He awoke in the hospital wearing a amulet with the demons symbols. He hears voices and his issue is that he fears every bad thing in the world is due to the demon and therefore his fault.

Boggles:
A clown with memories of the turn of the century. He some how killed someone during an act although he suspects the evil Ring Master had a hand in it. His issue is his fear of crowds and people.

Bob Catibre:
A black ops soldier with flashbacks to unspecific war. He thinks he killed the President but thinks he was brainwashed to do so. His nemesis is another doctor who he suspects works for the government.
His issue his anger which leads him to violence.

John Doe:
Awaking in the hospital John thinks he is from the future and trapped in a virtual reality game by his nemesis the Hacker. Convinced that none of this is real he attempts to kill himself to end the 'game'. His issue is that he is suicidal.

The problems we encountered were that the players had trouble grasping how encombasing an Edge could be. They persisted with defining single skills when they could have a 'package of skills'.

Issues were also difficult as they saw this as further plot details rather than an internal factor of their characters.

They did enjoy plotting their screen presence for the series, already working out their plot arcs.

This week should see us running through the pilot.

[ScottM]

Wow, that sounds like a cool show, with lots of interesting characters.  It looks like you have seven players, is that right?

Are you going to allow the characters some freedom to wander their ward and interact with each other?  Are you planning on using "restraint" as an issue-- say, heightening their delusions as they escape to their fantasies?  Cause I can see a lot of characters who are a harm to themselves or others... it seems like an important thing to anticipate.

I'm curious to see how the interlaced visions work out.  Oh, another odd thought-- will everyone be narrating scenes from their own POV (so, hacker guy will narrate scenes with computeresque overtones) or from the POV of the character who framed the scene?  I wonder, because that means everyone who contributes to a conflict will need to be comfortable narrating a scene in each delusion's genre.

I'm looking forward to more.
Scott

[Matt Wilson]

Hey Etheruk:

Cool stuff. I can't believe how many players you have.

When you created the show, how collaborative was the creation of the cast? Was anyone giving other players ideas for edges and connections?

Anyway, really creepy show idea. Very cool.

[etheruk]

Basically each player created a character based on the idea they had originally picked. Everyone pretty much just concentrated on their own character with me as the producer suggesting ideas and focus.

Once we had the concept we decided that each character should represent a genre. So we got action, horror, sci-fi, comedy, war, film noir and fantasy.

Two players can't make the pilot so things should be slightly easier to run and let us get to grips with the setup. I was thinking that they'd be allowed to move freely due to the violent ones being given drugs to control their rage.

From what we've discussed the genres will be strongest in the flashbacks. The ward is where their paths cross and elements of the genres bleed into each other.

For example the adventurer crosses into the horror genre due to his demon connection, the wizard will have some experience with the supernatural, the soldier has seen horrors of another kind, the detective has had cases with similar qualities and the game player has been in some pretty scary games.

As for feel I think I'm going to shot for a David Lynch feel mixed with Dark City and The 13th Floor. The quest for the truth is going to be a reoccuring element.

Everyone has set their presence for 2 for the final two episodes for the final season to have a big two part episode where events climax.

[etheruk]

We played the first session today. Most of the players weren't too sure how things were going to work and thus if they were going to enjoy it but I explained the principles of scene creation and conflict resolution. I also brought some poker chips to use as budget/fan mail points that were a nice visual for the group.

By the end of the game everyone was smiling and agreed that it had been fun and were already thinking of things for the next session. I'm really pleased as the producer that it worked out.

We started with a teaser of a camera drifting through the wards of the psychiatric hospital cutting to a close up of a nurse's feet as she walks along. In her hand is a clipboard with sheet titled 'psych report'. Throughout the episode we never see all of the nurse.

As she passed each patient (the players characters) I asked them to describe themselves and a quick jump cut of their delusion. Passing Boggle (wearing just his red nose from his days as a clown) we see a shot of a circus where the audience is gasping in horror. From Rick Chassit we see he is a total mess before glimpsing him standing over a bloody body. Passing the dark haired Jade we see her hunting a small boy in a park at night. Finally Wapple stares into his glass of water viewing the others images before he flashes to an epic battle against hordes of orcs about to overwelm him.

Cue opening titles. I did this using clips from various sources and played them on a laptop computer. Everyone appreciated this and think it helped establish the mood for the show.

The first person to create a scene was Boggles who was in his cell. He flashes back to the big top where he puts on an elaborate comedy routine but the audience stares at him stoney faced.

The lights go out and a spotlight illuminates a furious ringmaster wielding a whip. He chases Boggles around to the amusement of the crowd. Boggle runs, coming back to reality and banging on his cell door to be rescued from the ring master.

The camera drifts from Boggles cell passing a corridor light that is flashing on and off. As it turns back on we see we are now in an alley. Rick is hunched over a womans body, blood on his hands. The women is his partner Phylis.

A shadowey figure in the alley laughes and Rick gives chase. He emerges from the alley to find the police are waiting for him. They restrain him and we see that the cops are now orderlies trying to calm him down.

In the hospital kitchen an orderly cuts his finger while cooking. Smelling the blood Jade stalks him, recalling her hunt of a boy in a park which ended in his death. Before she can re-enact her feeding another orderly catches her and has her take out to the excersise yard.

The head psychiatrist has Wapple brought before him. They talk about Wapple's constant attempts to undermine authority. Wapple is unrepentent accusing the head psychiatrist of being behind the situation. He is punished by being sent to the 'Well'.

The visiting nurse enters the psychiatrists office and he briefs her on the troubling patients. She indicates her plan to evaluate them. In the background they can hear Wapple screaming in agony.

In the yard Boggle is trying to entertain the orderlies and the patients. He gets little reaction until he sees a patient who looks like the dreaded ring master.

Freaking out he kicks the Ring Master in the face spraying blood everywhere. The orderlies rush to get him back inside as the other patients freak at the sight of blood.

Rick sees the trail of blood and remembers the alley. He follows the trail to the patient/ring master who mutters "The Show must go on" over and over again. Thinking the orderlies are responsible  he attacks them trying to free Boggles.

Jade is skulking in the shadows. Her vision is in black and white but sees the blood as vivid red. Unable to control herself she leaps on an orderly and bites his neck.

Finally let out of the 'Well' Wapple is covered in cuts. He wipes away the blood and the wounds vanish as well. He marches to the head psychiatrists office but encounters an invisible field. He tries to smash it with a chair to no avail.

Two ordelies rush towards him, a stretcher between them. On it is an orderly with a deep bite on his neck. Wapple confronts them yelling that the psychaitrist is evil and must be stopped. He attempts to cast a spell at them but nothing happens. Two more orderlies tackle Wapple and throw him back in the mysterious Well.

Later everyone is assembled in one room by the Nurse who explains that based on her evaluation their treatment may improve or worsen. Behind a one way mirror the head psychiatrist watches them.

Boggle refuses to accept responsiblity for the fight only saying that bad things happen when he tries to make people laugh. Rick tries to stop the Nurse from questioning Boggle but is brow beaten into silence.

Wapple stares at the psychiatrist through the mirror and points at him as the man responsible for what happened. To everyone in the room it appears as if Wapple is pointing at his own reflection.

Later Boggles is visited by his sister. She asks him to do his act as she hasn't laughed since his incarcaration. Boggles is reluctant but eventually does. His sister laughes hysterically triggering a severe asthma attack. As Boggles is rushed out of the room his sister collapses.

Rick relives his time in jail before being taken to an interrogation cell where the head psychiatrist questions him about the murder. In the corner of the room the nurse takes notes.

Rick tries to leave but the door is locked. As he pulls on it the room shakes and the single light swings back and fore. As the psychiatrist falls into shadow Rick recognises him as the dark figure in the alley.

In her own cell Jade is visited by her creator. She berates him for making him into a vampire. She wants to be human again. Her creator points out he is kind to her and hands her a live mouse. She struggles with her humanity but eats it all. Cue squeaking and crunching sounds as a tear rolls down her cheek.

Wapple is interviewed by the nurse and he relates how he came to be in the hospital. We see his epic battle against orcs and dragons with his fellow heroes. They were trying to stop a shapeless evil from using an powerful amulet to rule the world.

They all died and their souls were thrown through time and reality. However, they were able to take fragements of the amulet with them frustrating the evil beings plan. Only Wapple remembers what occurred.

In a fit of anger Wapple throws a chair at the one way mirror. There is no one behind it but in the psychiatrists office we see his own mirror has shattered.

Boggles remembers a confrontation with the Ring Master in his trailer at the circus. The Ring Master learns that Boggles has feelings for the trapeze artist Brenda. He suggests that he now has a hold on Boggles as he knows what he holds dear.

Afterwards Brenda emerges from Boggle's cupboard and says they must be careful. She gives him part of an amulet which the audience recognises from Wapples vision. She says she wants Boggle to have it but he has a feeling it is a parting gift.

In his cell Boggle finds he is still holding the amulet and wonders if his memory is coming back. He presents it to Wapple in the Rec room and Wapple says he will explain its meaning when the time is right.

Happy Boggle prances away,  circus music playing.

Rick finds himself running through a deserted police station. In the evidence room he finds Phylis's necklace, in reality another part of the amulet. He grabs it and runs finding himself back in the hospital. He finds he still has the amulet, caked in blood.

Jade continues to tell her creator that she is done being his pawn. She reveals that her creator has been collecting the amulets, taking hers and turning her into a vampire. He has now placed her in the hospital to collect the others. Her creator warns her she still owes him.

Wapple mutters to himself that some of the patients must be the reborn souls of his friends and that the amulet is being reassembled. The final game begins and his allies are mad men and clowns.

In the head psychiatrists office he has cleared away the glass and listens to the Nurse's report. She believes that they are ready for stage two of their operation.

"Do you think they suspect?" Asks the psychiatrist.

The camera changes to a close up of the Nure's smiling"Of course not. They're insane."

At the start people were pretty hesitant and not sure what to do for conflict. Most relied on violence but graduely branched out. A good example is Jade's conflict of her humanity vs her vampire nature.

They also weren't sure about having more than one person in one scene at a time but again they became more comfortable and had more interlocking scenes (the great excersise yard fight was result of this).

By the end they had worked out a way to unite everything together with the theme of the amulets.

I'm looking forward to the next episode where Boggles the Clown will be in the spotlight.

[etheruk]

A word regarding the budget points and fan mail.

I always tried to make it very clear how many budget points I was spending on each conflict and stacked them in the centre of the table as the fan mail pool. When the pile got big I'd encourage them to give each other fan mail.

As with the other elements of the game they graduley got into. They enjoyed rewarding each other and everyone was coming up with some pretty good stuff towards the end in the hopes of getting fan mail.

I'd spent the budget points based more on the outcome I wanted rather than any level of difficulty (which was pretty abstract). For example I spent a lot to try and stop Wapple from casting a spell (which would have blown any doubt about his powers).

One of the nice things about the system is that no matter how many dice you roll the person who is rolling less dice can still win. This happened several times and so the players weren't to disheartened by how many budget points I was spending.

[Nev the Deranged]

Are you having any issues due to the large number of players? Most games can't handle that many very well, but some, like PTA, have so much incentive for players to pay attention to everyone's scenes that I can see it working pretty well.

This actually sounds almost like a potential game of Cell Gamma, heh. I'm eager to hear more, you're off to a really rip-roaring start.

[etheruk]

Well there were only four players for this game so that made things easy. Usually there is a problem of people not paying attention when they aren't involved but in this game everyone was listening to everything.

They wanted to make sure they matched the level of the others and see if any of the story elements were being woven together. Making them an audience able to give fan mail is another incentive for them to keep with what was going on.

By the end everyone was working towards a single goal (finding the connections of the amulets).

[John Harper]

Yet another PTA show that I wish was on TV.

I am impressed that the group was able to make a cool show out of the strange jumble of genres that were mashed together. What's the background of the group? Have you played together before? Are the players all old-school gamers or do you have gaming novices, too? From your comments, it seems like they're new to conflict-resolution and Nar heavy play.

[etheruk]

Well the group is generally in-experienced. Most have only started playing seriously in the last year and then it was AD&D. Most were sceptical how a system with not stats and only one dice could work.

We'd tried a session of Delta Green but that didn't work as despite being a secret organisation they refused to take risks and would pull in SWAT teams to apprehend cultists while they waited in their hotels. They then complained that the game was boring.

We've played together for a year but I was tired of each adventure taking months to complete. I wanted to get back to telling a complete story in one session and PTA seemed ideal for that.

As the Producer I nudged each persons scenes so the could mingle and introduce the elements into each. It was one of my scenes were Boggles receives a fragement of the amulet (mentioned by Wapple earlier).

You could almost see the lights turn on above their heads as they saw how the two scenes were now linked and could explain why these very different people could be drawn together.  The possibilites excited them and things really started to pick up.

The one thing I forgot to do was have a 'next week on Mind Games' but since it was the pilot I don't think it'll matter.

[Frank T]

Cool Show! A few thoughts:

As we played PtA person to person, we also used tokens to visualize Budget and Audience Pool. I mention this because normally I don't pay much attention to visualization, but with physically awarding Fan Mail by picking up a token and handing it to the player, it really enhanced the effect.

I like the show concept, you really have hit the David Lynch style. Okay, David wouldn't have revealed this much in the first Episode, but I guess it's necessary to have something substantial to build on. However, it seems already pretty clear that our protagonists are not entirely insane, which is a little bit of a pity. Moreover, this show seems pretty plot-heavy up to now. It'll be interesting how the personal issues blend in. You'll have to link past and present somehow.

I'm really excited about hearing how you handle a session with all seven players present. I can hardly believe that it will work out, but I surely hope so. In any case you are a brave man for trying. ;-)

On spending Budget: I do it the same way as you, depending solely on the outcome I believe to be more interesting.

Say, how long did you take for the Pilot Episode? Seems to have been a whole lot of scenes. Did you roll Conflict in every scene?

[etheruk]

Its funny that as we played we thought we had too many personal scenes and not enough plot.  It was only at the end that we pulled it together.

A lot of the back story was revealed in the pilot episode but we wanted a viewer to know that there was a connection. We still have some lee way to change things around.

Is the vampires sire working for the head psychiatrist? What powers does the psychiatrist possess? What is phase 2? What is the Well? All things we can develop in the following episodes.

We also talked about how we can go in any direction. They may not stay in the hospital. They could escape into the real world ala 'Dream Team' or even travel into the past or the future.

We played from 7pm to 9pm. Almost every scene had a conflict although these were usually physical struggles. Towards the end they became more abstract.

[etheruk]

We played our second game of Mind Games today. The player of Boggles couldn't make it but we did have two players join us playing Bob Catibre and John Doe.

It helped that the majority of the players were familiar with the rules and were able to help ease the other two into things. They soon got the swing of things and another interesting game resulted.

The fan mail was more free flowing this time which was good to see. They also explored different uses of conflict including inter play conflicts.

The focus of the episode was new player John Doe which worked well as another 'introduction' episode. Rich Chassit was screen prescence 2 and had the subplot that eventually tied in with the main plot.

EPISODE 1: THE AIM OF THE GAME

The episode opens with a close up of John Doe's eyes closed. In the distance he can hear a roaring crowd and then a women's voice says " A new player has entered the game".

John looks around him and finds himself in the psychiatric hospital being dragged along by orderlies. He has no memory of who he is or how he got there.

He is dragged past the other regulars and each time he has a stabbing headache and gains a glimpse of their delusions (in the similar style to the nurses walk in the pilot).

After the openning titles John is let out his cell by an orderly. He questions the orderly about whether anything strange has happened recently. The orderly points out that something strange is always happening here. John concludes that the orderly is a game character and has no useful information. He sets out to work out what game he is in. As he leaves his cell we see it momentarily pixelate before returning to normal.

Rick has been getting agitated and he has been placed in his cell while the orderlies go get the medication to calm him down. As they return Rick manages to unlock his cell door and escape.

Bob Catibre believes he is in a military prison and searches for an escape route. In the cafeteria Bob finds Rick hiding. Hearing the orderlies approach Bob hides by the side of the door.

As the orderlies enter Bob trips them, sending the medication crashing to the floor. The orderlies grab Bob and he sees them as military police who are yelling at him for killing someone. Rick sees the orderlies as police and fights them rescuing Bob. They flee to the yard.

Wapple stalks the hospital inscribing warding symbol on the walls. He reaches the imposing door leading to the 'Well'. Fearfully he starts inscribing a symbol on it but it bursts into flames as do the symbols all round the hospital. Overcome Wapple collapses, falling at John Does feet.

John Doe asks Wapple if he knows what the game is.

In her cell Jade's sire enters and says that a new player has entered the game. He has very little information about John Doe but his sources tell him he is important. He wants Jade to get close to him and find out where his fragement of the amulet is. Jade tries to oppose him but his eyes glow red and see is compelled to do his bidding.

Wapple takes John to his secret annex of the rec room. John tries to get some answers about what is going on but Wapple is evasive. John says that he hoped that Wapple was another player but he is spouting NPC gibberish. He heads off to find answers.

John finds himself in the yard where all the main characters are now assembled. Bob believes himself to be at boot camp and tells Wapple and John off for their lack of discipline.

Wapple says he out ranks Bob. From Bob point of view he sees that Wapple does indeed outrank him. He snaps to attention and salute his superior officer.

Rick finds that the amulet he recovered last episode starts to glow. They all hear a siren and Bob sees soldiers at the boot camp scrambling as they come under mortar attack.

A mortar shell starts to fall towards the yard much to everyones surprise. Wapple attempts to use his magic to dispell the mortar but is still to weak. John uses his experience at game playing to work out that the amulet is the focus.

He snatches it off Rick and throws it in the fountain. While Bob dodges the mortar shell in his boot camp flashback the others find that they are safe. Before the amulet can be recovered the orderlies arrive and take everyone inside.

John sneaks out at night dodging the guards in the style of a stealth computer game (Metal Gear for example) before reaching the fountain. As he takes the amulet he hears a musical chime and a voice saying "item obtained, mission complete".

Rick is distressed at losing his dead partners amulet. He is visited by Little Jimmy the plucky newspaper boy. He gives Rick a newspaper that contains an ad in the help section for Wapple. He wishes Rick luck before vanishing.

Going to Wapple's cell he says that he has to speak to him about the amulet. Wapple uses his powers to open his door and they go to his annex where Wapple rests. While he recovers he suggests Rick seek out John Doe as he thinks that he may have the amulet.

Jade stalks John apparently about to bite him. He turns at the last moment and Jade asks what he is going to do with the amulet. Instead he turns the topic of conversation to her. Jade at first claims she is there for insomina before admitting its because she eats people. John makes a quick exit racing off through the corridors.

Bob is having a flashback in his cell as he stares out the window. His sniper rifle scope sweeps over an Asian street, watching soldiers in his unit moving through the crowd looking for something.

A light catches his attention and Bob sees a window on the opposite side of the street openning. He can only see the hand of someone as it starts to glow with unearthly light. Bob fires shooting the hand off but not before a bolt of energy hits one of his fellow soldiers in the street.

Using a split screen we see Rick and John heads towards each other as they march through the hospital. Coming face to face Rick demands the amulet. John is hesitant and so Rick attacks. The screen is set up like a beat um up with both in fighting poses.

The fight is fast and furious as they proceed through the hospital. Rick picks up chairs to smash into John but things slow down for John to dodge out of the way.

In the cafeteria John gains an upper hand by deflecting Rick's punch with a tray and then pushing him into the wall, twisting his arm behind his back. He demands that he get some answers.

Rick takes John to see Wapple in his secret annex. They are watched by Jade who learns of the secret entrance and slinks away. Wapple has recovered from earlier and finally tells John what the aim of the game is.

"One of us is sane, the rest are crazy. The aim of the game is to discover which is which before the final battle," explains Wapple before going into details about the amulets and his belief of reincarnated souls.

In his flashback Bob is now on the street standing over the dead soldier. He sees the soldier looks like John Doe and momentarily sees a FPS style HUD (the health at 0). He takes John's dog tags and they change into a fragement of the amulet.

Jade is dragged by her hair by her Sire and thrown into the head psychiatrists office. He demands she tell him what she has learnt. She is silent and her sire's eyes glow red. However she finds the strength to lie and say all she knows is that Rick has an amulet (and not about Wapples hiding place).

The head psychiatrist takes off his glove to reveal an artificial hand! He vows that Wapple will not escape his grasp.

End credits!

Next Week on Mind Games:

- Wapple clutches his head "Its not big or clever but its in my head!"

- John Doe looking grim "The only way I can win is to die"

- A bullet whips towards Bob's head in a Matrix style.

- Jade is violently attacked.

- Rick looks tearful "Shes dead."

-The head psychiatrist laughes as he holds a fragement of the amulet in his gloved hand "Its mine".