[DitV] Buttercup Overlook 2nd session

[ffilz]

See Buttercup Overlook here and the first session writeup here.

We had a second session, and at this point I'm at a loss. I think there are issues with the town, but I think I'm also not quite grasping the play quite right. In the end, I feel like we were playing gamist, or at least we were focusing on the dice, and improving characters through fallout. I sure didn't feel like we addressed any premise to create theme.

What was a promising start for the young wife took a step backward last night. From what I have seen, I'm convinced that something like Dogs (or perhaps TPK) is the best game for her. But I'm also reaching the conclusion that I'm just the wrong GM for her. It's not that I don't want to see her succed, but that I just run out of patience trying to work with her and bring her out of her shell. I think it hurts that I just don't have enough information. Perhaps the medications she is taking have been having a variable effect.

I'm also stuck with her husband. It has become more and more clear that he gets himself into his own space that doesn't necessarily connect with the space the rest of the gamers are in. I was very worried a couple weeks ago when he approached character creation with a concept already in mind and didn't participate in a group discussion. He was also drifting towards more traditional RPG play, trying to bring his traits into between conflict stuff as "skills." I guess I could have asked him each time where he saw a conflict, and I did say "yes" as much as possible when what he was doing was not something that could be tied to a conflict.

The players did lose focus this week, though not as bad as some past instances (the third player did start pulling books off the shelf, and at one point, he started to doze off, but he never completely checked out like he has in the past).

I think a big problem was the town, and the way I ran it. I was just having a terrible time getting past revealing the Demonic Attacks level. Caleb turned into the character the players focused on, but his hooks didn't provide a way forward. After a conflict though, I did get him out of the picture, and got Eliza to reveal how her son died at her hands, though it was not a very satisfying reveal. I then forced a conflict with a possessed Eliza (though I'm not certain it was absolutely appropriate for her to be possessed). I also set up a conflict with Constance, Caleb, and the drifter conducting a seance. One thing I can see is that the connections between the two sorcerous circles are not messy enough.

I would really welcome some feedback on the town. I'd also welcome some thoughts on how to recover when you discover the town just really misses.

In the end though, I think it's time for me to step back for a bit and re-evaluate my gaming. Out of a combination of wanting to be inclusive, and a bit of desperation for players, I've been trying to accomodate players who don't share enough gaming interest with me.

Frank