[Sorcerer] In Utero - GO!

[5niper9]

We played "In Utero".
We, in this context, refers to our "Indie game group" (look for other actual play texts by "5niper9" for more infos) plus another player who had played rpgs for one and a half years now and had merely a brush with indie games (one game of Dogs plus a session of Capes with three people who had never roleplayed before.)

It was a nice game that lasted around 3 hours. Almost everything went smoothly except for me forgetting completely about the snapshot rules.

When I mix up some of the presented character names, it is because Edwin decided to Gm for us in the very near future and I borrowed him my books. (Yay, play-time for me!)

Preparation:
I read the scenario some time ago. And that’s about it.
Due to problems with my computer I had not even the chance to print out the characters, so I had to dictate them.
Additional to that I gave them a little sheet of paper with all the rolls for rituals noted.

Who played whom?
Anna played Jennifer Scurlock. David, who had absolutely no experience with Sorcerer before, chose Robert. And Edwin played Lucien (and partly “Jen”, but more about that later)
How it turned out:
Stephanie was sent home (after being threaten by gun wielded by Robert).
Robert tried horribly to banish Jennifers demon but failed where Lucien succeded.
Lucien put up a fight when it came to banishing “Jen”, supported by the cover ability of his demon. In the end “Jen” was banished, too.
Finally (while the end music played and the credit rolled) the three sorcerers got into the car and drove to the hospital to check Luciens status.

David had to do a lot of Humanity checks for Robert because he first tried to put both “versions” of Jen out of his house and denyed what they went through.
Where occured problems?
1)
When all characters (Jennifer,Robert,”Jen” and Stephanie) were on screen, it was hardly possible for me to play two passionate characters (“Jen” and Stephanie) so I passed the duty of playing “Jen” over to Edwin. I think this had let him think he is the demon and when “Jen” is banish he would be “lost”.
2)
Mistake on my part. As David said he would try to banish the demon baby, I explained him the rolls and completely forgot about the snapshot attempt. Well and as I found my mind the game was merely over.
3)
And I seem to forget the humanity check after successful rituals about every time. Grrr!

Just to mention it: None of these problems ruined anyones fun.
Things I noticed:

• The system is hard on the players.

In every session we played they had lots of problems to make the rituals work. This is nice because to make it more likely to work they would have to invest more time or other important things into it and the whole process would evolve to a completely player driven bunch of scenes.

• The “InUtero”-scenario is good to go.

Although I hadn’t all of it in mind when we played, it worked really good. I think I would open my new rpg group with this scenario if they are in any mood to play something like that.

“New group” since I move to Göttingen in september to begin my studies. That means not many actual play reports out of the indie game group anymore. Hopefully I won’t shed too many tears.
Well, so far.
Greetings,
René

[Ron Edwards]

Hi René,

This looks great. The two structural mistakes (Humanity checks for rituals, snapshot) are completely normal when most of the people involved are new to the game. The snapshot one is comparatively trivial and at least you didn't forget all the Humanity checks. You will find yourself correcting them without any stress over time.

So the family was saved! Did anyone feel sorry for any of the demons?

How did you like playing the demons? Did you play them as total monsters?

Yes, in-play rituals can be pretty hard, and you are right - this leads to such actions being considered carefully, and whole scenes being framed, by the players.

I suppose I really should call the printer and schedule a re-printing of Sex & Sorcery.

Best, Ron

[5niper9]

Hi Ron,
sorry for the delay. We searched for (and found) a flat in Goettingen.

This looks great. The two structural mistakes (Humanity checks for rituals, snapshot) are completely normal when most of the people involved are new to the game. The snapshot one is comparatively trivial and at least you didn't forget all the Humanity checks. You will find yourself correcting them without any stress over time.

I think so. I just wanted to mention it.

Did anyone feel sorry for any of the demons?

Not the least.
David decided that Robert aimed for a stable relationship with Steph, which changes as the demons were banished.
Edwin played "Lucien" like wanted to remain in a stable relationship with "Jen", but more in the abusive she-has-power-and-I-don't way.
And Anna played Jennifer ignorant of the fact that it was a demon inside her.

How did you like playing the demons? Did you play them as total monsters?

Especcially "Jen" was no fun for me. In the beginning when Steph was there I had to play the demon baby, "Jen" and Steph. Even more so when Stephanie and "Jen" were on oppossed sides of a discussion. It looks stupid and it is quite exhausting to talk with your self int his way. Also it was a very strange way (compared to other rsp experiences) to have the player of Lucien ask for movement or single sentences of the demon. So I decided quickly that he should just talk and describe what his demon would do.

I think the demons were seen as antagonists because of the failure of the ritual 10 years ago. "This went wrong, so everything related to that must be wrong.", but I can only speculate.

I suppose I really should call the printer and schedule a re-printing of Sex & Sorcery.

Almost definitely.

Greetings,
René