[A Flower for Mara] Playing with the n00bs…and loving it!

[GreatWolf]

i]Impro<A Flower for Mara<Dramatis Personae<this thread<Overview of Play<What Happened in Play<A Flower for Mara<American V<<What Was Awesome<Roleplaying is easy!<A Flower for Mara<A Flower for Mara<Griefs are good<wanted<Relationship types are really handy<On being detached<everyone were detached, that could potentially be a problem.  But, even having two of the six characters be detached worked out pretty well.  If nothing else, it makes you an excellent source of conflict for others.

Pizza<What Needs Tweaking<On Laughter in a Serious Game<ConclusionA Flower for Mara<Dramatis Personae<this thread<Overview of Play<What Happened in Play<A Flower for Mara<American V<<What Was Awesome<Roleplaying is easy!<A Flower for Mara<A Flower for Mara<Griefs are good<wanted<Relationship types are really handy<On being detached<everyone were detached, that could potentially be a problem.  But, even having two of the six characters be detached worked out pretty well.  If nothing else, it makes you an excellent source of conflict for others.

Pizza<What Needs Tweaking<On Laughter in a Serious Game<Conclusion

[hix]

That's a fantastic result, Seth. Congratulations to you and your players. I cannot wait to hear more about the development of this game ...

How do you think the subject matter (strong emotions, real world setting) affects the ease with which the players 'got' the game?

Oh, and players who've given up their flower ... it struck me that maybe (since they'd turned the corner on their grief) they'd be able to influence characters who are still grieving.

[hix]

Also, how did you describe the game to your church when you advertised for players?

[GreatWolf]

Also, how did you describe the game to your church when you advertised for players?

Here's what I wrote:

"She died that night.  She was the light of my days, the glory of my existence, cut down like a flower in the prime of her life.  And now I
stand at her grave as they lower her in.

It wasn't supposed to be like this."

My current game project is an improvisational play called "A Flower for Mara".  Mara, a relatively young mother, dies suddenly, and now her family has to deal with their grief.  The story follows them for the first year after Mara's death as they struggle to build a new life in the wake of this tragedy.

I know.  Light subject material.  But, in light of the sermon on Sunday, it seemed like a good time to ask this.

I'd actually like to try this out with people who are *not* part of my gaming subculture.  In fact, I think that this would be of particular interest to those in our church who are dramatically minded, given that it's really more of a play.  So I'm asking if anyone is interested in giving this a whirl.  At some point, I'll need people to play the game when I'm not there.  But, right now, I'd just like to get together with folks who are interested and run through the play. It will probably take 2-3 hours, so we will need to do some planning to get this to work.

If this sounds at all interesting, drop me a line (off-list) and let me know.  I can send you my current rough draft, and I'll answer any questions that you might have.

The sermon in question, BTW, was from Ecclesiastes 9:2-10 about living in light on the inevitability of death.

I actually have another family who is also interested, though scheduling with them could be a bit more challenging.

Anyways, they all know what I do; many of them have been very encouraging, actually.  When I finally got Dirty Secrets published, I brought it in to show off, and they were all excited for me.  That's pretty cool, actually.

That's a fantastic result, Seth. Congratulations to you and your players. I cannot wait to hear more about the development of this game ...

Well, at the rate I'm going, I'm pretty confident that it will be ready for GenCon.

How do you think the subject matter (strong emotions, real world setting) affects the ease with which the players 'got' the game?

I think that it probably made it easier, on the whole.  For example, John C. doesn't really care for fantasy all that much.  Very much a "down to earth" kind of guy.  But something like this was probably easier for him to embrace, because it was essentially the "real world".

Also, honestly, grief and sorrow are universal human emotions.  That's part of the point, actually.  We all have something to mourn.  So it's pretty easy to connect to what is going on.

Drawing on Graham Walmsley's book Play Unsafe, I encouraged all of them to "be obvious".  Don't try to be clever; just do what seems like the logical next step.  Most of the time, everyone will agree that it's the logical next step, and you will have avoided breaking the game.  And then, sometimes, what seems obvious to you is what everyone else has missed, and it will seem brilliant.  I think that they all embraced this.  It really does work.

Oh, and players who've given up their flower ... it struck me that maybe (since they'd turned the corner on their grief) they'd be able to influence characters who are still grieving.

They certainly can, because they can still be in other people's scenes.  You can enter anyone's scene whenever you want.  Just stride "on-stage" and start talking.  People used that a lot, too.

[Christoph Boeckle]

Powerful! I'll have to bounce the idea off of my friends and see what they think about it.

My experience with people totally new to role-playing matches a lot what you experienced here.

[Emily Care]

Fantastic, Seth! I can't wait to play. You are really hitting on some great concepts here. "Advanced" concepts in role playing are natural elements of storytelling that people can and will do. Maybe we're just finding new ways to make the way clear for them to do so.

Quote

This seems like a good way to approach it. I will steal this to do when I run Under my Skin next weekend.

Also, I'd really like to run Flowers sometime soon. Let's talk.

best,
Emily

[Bret Gillan]

Wow, Seth. This sounds intense and great. I think you're spot on on a lot of points.

The people I know who are afraid to roleplay always accompany that with mention of being afraid of looking stupid or not being able to come up with anything cool. I had a friend who said that sit in on a session of Baron Munchausen and afterwards she said, "Wow, you guys weren't nearly as frighteningly creative as I thought you'd be." She still hasn't played though.

And yeah, non-roleplayers can latch right onto this stuff easy.

This is great. I'm excited about this game. Just reading about it left this intense feeling in my chest.