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

[GreatWolf]

I have this theory that people are naturally creative, that those who aren't "creative" are actually afraid of looking dumb and therefore edit themselves.  This isn't an original theory, of course.  Keith Johnstone expressed this in Impro, and we've kicked this theory around here as well.  So, last night, it was with mixed apprehension and excitement that I approached my playtest of my newest game, A Flower for Mara.  We were maxing out the player count at eight people.  Five of them were new.

It wasn't until yesterday that I started feeling nervous.  I was grappling with three fears:

--What if they just don't "get it"?  In other words, what if they failed to embrace this activity and therefore it fizzled?
--What if they mentally lock up at improvising and creating things on the fly?
--What if they don't grasp their ability to make up stuff about other characters?

To be fair, those in the group who hadn't roleplayed before did have theatrical experience of some kind before, be it formal or informal, so I was hopeful.  But still, the fear twittered around in my stomach, making me nervous.

I was totally wrong on all counts.

This was an awesome group, and I'd happily play this or another game with them again.  Yeah, it was that good.

So, let's get into the report!

Dramatis Personae

All the players were people from my church.  I put out an open call for playtesters on the church email list, and this batch is the result of this email.  I have another family who also expressed an interest, so I'll be able to do this again.  Fun!

Seth—I was the Director for the game, which generally makes me the all-powerful GM.
Gabrielle—My sister.  She played Mara, the deceased woman, who now is just a memory.
Raquel—A friend.  She played Joshua, Mara's father, with a detached relationship with Mara.
John C.—Whitney's husband.  He played Caleb, Mara's husband, with a detached relationship with Mara.
Whitney—John C.'s wife.  She played Ruth, Mara's sister, with a competitive relationship with Mara.
Jana—Married, but not to any of the other players, and John C.'s sister.  She played Zoe, Mara's daughter, with a devoted relationship with Mara.
Jennifer—John B.'s mother.  She played Naomi, Mara's mother, with a bitter relationship with Mara.
John B.—Jen's son.  He played Thomas, Mara's brother, with a bitter relationship with Mara

The major addition from the last playtest was the relationship types, which Jason Morningstar helped me hash out in this thread.  The way it works is that, before you are assigned your character, you choose a relationship type from the following list:

--devoted
--competitive
--respectful
--bitter
--subordinate
--detached

The neat thing about this is that, because you're choosing before you know your character, you're actually choosing what sort of story you'd like to play through.  Taken together with the relationship map, you very quickly produce an interesting starting situation.

Overview of Play

Here's a basic overview of play.  Mara died in the spring.  So, after the special opening scene at the funeral dinner, the game goes through the four seasons, with each player having the opportunity to have a spotlight scene.  Then, once all these scenes are done, there's a group holiday scene.  After winter, the game is over.

The meal scenes are really interesting, because you get to see all the characters interacting together, plus each character gives an internal monologue about his current emotional state.  It's lots of fun to see the contrast between someone's external appearance and their internal thoughts.

Anyways, whenever it's your scene or your monologue, Mara can come talk to you.  Mara is played by one of the cast; however, she's not a ghost.  Rather, she's a reflection of your memories of Mara.  Only you can hear her when she's talking to you.  (Although, since all the players can actually hear Mara's player talking, you can achieve some nifty effects.)

The only way that you can stop Mara from talking to you is by putting down your flower.  See, at the beginning of the game, everyone is given a flower.  Yes, including the Director.  Then you have to write down some experience that caused you grief or sorrow on a piece of paper and attach it to the flower.  To lay it down, you go to the graveside and tell the entire group about your grief.  Then you lay the flower down and walk away.

Once you do this, you give up any further spotlight scenes.  However, Mara can't bother you anymore.  The idea is that your character has turned the first corner on accepting the loss of Mara.

No one is required to give up his flower.


What Happened in Play

We started off with a brief pep talk by me about not being afraid to create and all that stuff.  Then I gave my version of the Lines and Veils talk.

A brief aside:  my opinion on Lines and Veils is that you don't usually know where your need for a Line or Veil is until you actually get there.  So, rather than trying to hash it out in advance, I make clear the need for the group to accept someone "tapping out" on a given topic without there being any stigma.  From where I sit, it actually gives permission for people to push further into difficult topics, trusting that the other players will pipe up if someone is going too far.  I'd be curious to hear from my fellow players about that.

Then we prepped characters, learned the rules, and generally prepared to play.

A Flower for Mara always starts with the entire group gathering around the designated graveside while the opening music is played.  This time, I opened with "On the Evening Train" by Johnny Cash (from the album American V).  Then we got underway.

Wow.

Just wow.

I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of play.  People quickly introduced all sorts of complications into the story.  Some highlights:

--At the funeral dinner, Thomas started talking about dividing up the family heirlooms that Mara owned.  This included the house where Caleb still lived.

--There was a fight at Easter dinner, because Naomi ordered out for pizza instead of making the traditional Easter dinner that Mara always made.  Zoe lost her temper, yelled at everyone, and stormed out.

--Zoe's husband was currently deployed, and she was pregnant, so she ended up giving birth on Mara's birthday.  So she's lying in the hospital bed, sobbing because her mother wasn't there for the birth.

--Thomas got drunk to celebrate his great-niece's birth and then showed up at the hospital.

--It came out during play that Mara had actually stolen the boyfriend of her sister Ruth.  Yep, Caleb originally was going out with Ruth.

I prompted very little of this.  Indeed, the "experienced" roleplayers of the group were not the center of the story at all.  The "noobs" took to the game like they were old hands and roared into action.

It was amazingly cool.

I recorded the entire session and videotaped most of it.  At some point, I may release bits onto the Net for demonstration purposes.  However, I promised that I would not release the recordings of the various flower monologues, where the players spoke of their griefs.  That would be too personal.  So, if you weren't there, you just don't get to know.  But, after each monologue, there was this sense of bonding and embracing.  One player actually gave another player a hug in the wake of his monologue.  We all shared something special because of the game.

That was also amazingly cool.

In the end, we gathered at the graveside for the close of the game.  I played "When Sorrows Encompass Me' Round" by Cordelia's Dad (from the album Cordelia's Dad).  Then we were done.

As people were leaving, John C. told me that roleplaying had gone up in his opinion, and that he'd really like to play again.

Jana's husband, Joshua, asked  tongue-in-cheek who had won.

I won.  Oh yes.  I won.


What Was Awesome

I don't usually use exuberant language in my writing about roleplaying, but I'm still buzzing over this success, so I hope that you'll allow me some enthusiasm.  So, yeah, this is the section about the stuff that was awesome about Wednesday's playtest.

Roleplaying is easy!

First, this group demonstrated that a lot of these "advanced" techniques that we discuss are actually fairly normal.  In particular, I found that the cast took very quickly to the concept of "endowing" traits.  This is when one character says something to another character like, "At least I'm not a drunk like you."  Thus, the character has now been "endowed" with the trait of being a drunk.

This is a key technique in A Flower for Mara, and I was afraid that this would be too difficult a concept.  I was completely wrong.

I think that my favorite example of endowing was during a conversation between Ruth and Mara.  Ruth's relationship with Mara was "competitive", and they were both reflecting on this.  Gabrielle (as Mara) says, "Yeah, I guess I did always have to have the better boyfriend, didn't I?"  Then Whitney (as Ruth) says, "But you still married Caleb, didn't you?"

It was so subtle I missed it at first.  In fact, Gabrielle missed it, too; she was half-way into her next line when she realized the import of what Ruth had said.  Mara had stolen Ruth's boyfriend and married him.

Another example was during Easter dinner, when Jennifer (as Naomi) commented about how the takeout pizza was a major improvement over a complicated meal.  I looked at the table and blinked.  I had been seeing ham and all that.  Now I suddenly saw pizza boxes instead of fine china.

I find that a good endowment makes my understanding of the scene suddenly turn sideways.  This happened several times, and I was very happy.

An interesting note on the Director's role.  A Flower for Mara has a strong GM position.  Pretty much, his word is law, and whatever he says, goes.  I find it funny that I've spent the last nine years of my roleplaying life trying to escape a strong GM role, and then I design it straight into one of my games.

However, properly structured, the Director's role can actually help encourage roleplaying.  In both playtests, the cast has reported that it is freeing to have an all-powerful Director standing by.  If the Director doesn't like something, he can always overrule it.  Therefore, you're actually free to experiment.  If it doesn't work out, then the safety net of the Director will catch you.

Griefs are good

I've figured that the flower monologue about your grief is probably the scariest thing about this game.  But, honestly, last night changed my opinion about this.  I got the sense that the cast wanted to say these things to each other, that the game created a space where we had permission to talk to each other in this way.

It was interesting, actually, hearing several people preface their grief with a statement like, "This isn't nearly as big a deal as everyone else's, but..."  Then they would go on to say something that was honest and heartfelt and obviously near to the heart.  The "smallest" thing that was said wasn't really that small at all, because it wasn't small to the person who said it.

Relationship types are really handy

In contemplating the game design, my biggest concern was that the cast wouldn't have enough to get the game started.  Putting the relationship type together did the trick.

First, the cast agreed that the relationship type helped them to quickly get a good picture of who their character was.  We actually got up to speed in forty minutes, including teaching the rules.  That's uber-fast, in my book.  Also, John B. noted that it adds an element of randomness to character creation.  You're blindly matching a relationship type to a character, which means that the game won't work out quite the same way each time.  Also, in the end, this "randomness" shaped a fairly believable family.

Second, Gabrielle reported that playing Mara was fairly easy, because the relationship types gave her something to work with.  Now she could say, "Hmm.  I have a competitive relationship with this person."  Then she would use that to guide her interactions with the character.

Finally, I found it gratifying to see that people tended to choose relationship types that matched the tone of their griefs.  This wasn't universal by any means, but several players said, "I chose such-and-such relationship type because of this experience."  Without too much encouragement, they all played close to home.  Very nice.

On being detached

I wanted to make sure that the "detached" relationship type was exercised, so I asked Raquel to take it.  John C. also took "detached", so it actually got a double workout.

The concern that both Jason Morningstar and I shared is that "detached" could be an easy way to hide.  "I'm not involved; therefore, these events don't touch me."  However, I think that this isn't a problem, because the character is embedded in a relationship map with the rest of the characters.  No character can escape; by definition, they are all tied together.  So, in this context, being "detached" is still a means of interaction with other characters.  Now, if 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

After the Easter dinner scene, several of us were saying, "Mmm...pizza."  So Jennifer ordered some and had it delivered.

Awesome!

What Needs Tweaking

I'm really happy with where the game is.  The one thing that I noticed is that people who laid down their flowers early (say, in the summer) were starting to run out of inspiration for their holiday monologues.  You feel like you've resolved your story, but you're still having to talk.

So, part of me is wondering if these monologues should be optional after you've laid down your flower.  On the other hand, part of me is thinking that a "pass" would be as easy as getting up and saying, "Turkey!  I love turkey!" 

I'll have to mull this over a bit.

Also, a couple of the playtesters wished that they were allowed one additional scene after laying down their flower to be able to wrap something up.  At this point, I'm thinking that this is better handled by trying to integrate your "wrapping up" into someone else's scene.  But, again, we'll see.


On Laughter in a Serious Game

We laughed a lot on Wednesday.  I mean, a lot.  To the point where Jana assured me, at the end of the game, that they were actually taking it seriously and hoping that I wasn't offended.  I wasn't offended at all.  Sometimes things are funny because they are true, and you laugh because you recognize it.  Sometimes you laugh, because something is a bitter truth and you have to express the pain somehow.  Better to laugh than to cry.


Conclusion

There are certain roleplaying sessions that stand out in your mind.  Those times that you know that you'll remember for a long time to come.  Those times that you know that you bridged the gap of understanding with someone and, for a moment, your souls touched.

This was one of those sessions.

I was honored to be a part of it.

[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.

So, rather than trying to hash it out in advance, I make clear the need for the group to accept someone "tapping out" on a given topic without there being any stigma.

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.