[unWritten] Rats

[alejandro]

This is my first *real* actual play. Tell me if I did it right, as well as how it's presented.

Last night Greg and I played unWritten in a setting that Greg is developing for a comic book he's working on...
We started the game by talking about what we wanted to play. I said I wanted to play something inspired by Mouse Guard, a great graphic novel found here. Greg mentions his comic that was inspired by Mouse Guard, best described as, "The Secret of NIMH meets I Am Legend." That sounded perfect. We decided on two pre-game rules: 1) There is nothing mystical, though forms of technology can be "interpreted" by the rats as being magic. 2) There is no rat to human translations. The time frame of the game is such that the rats are cognitively equal to humans, but, they haven't yet develop literacy or any means of reading human text. So, this is the background we are started from...

Humans genetically modified rats to the point that the rats could have human-like cognitive capabilities. A "by-product" of this was their increased size to about 2½ or 3 feet tall, when standing on their hind legs, and an increased life-span, about 50 years. The humans have mysteriously disappeared, leaving the world, as we know it today, to the rats. Except, the rats don't know who the humans were, or what happened to them. The main preoccupation of the rats is finding sustenance and resources and maintaining their shelters safe. The rats have not yet developed any form of agriculture or manufacturing at this time. They purely live by scavenging the remains of the humans. And, finally, our protagonists will be the second generation of these rats that have lived since the humans have died.

Here are the three opening cues we came up with from the previous conversation:

• Intelligent Rats in a (ours) post-human world.
  Tribes at war over sustenance & resources.
  Did the gods gift this to us or abandon us?
  

These are the two protagonists we created:

Greg's protagonist

• Name: Wind
  Role: Guardian of High Places
  Physical Trait: Agile
  Drive: Aspiration; Protect the Others
  Drive: Inclination; Run After Mysteries
  

My protagonist

• Name: Watcher
  Role: Seeker of New Skies (scout)
  Mental Trait: Custodian of Earth and Air (shaman skills)
  Drive: Aspiration; To Find the Answers of our Past
  Drive: Inclination; Being Abandoned, retreat to the depths
  

Before we actually began, we agreed that our tribes rats lived in a sky scraper in downtown Los Angeles. Their tribe is called the "Storm Seekers." And, that we would be using the cinematic rules (once known as quickplay rules).

The setting was really Greg's baby, so I suggested that he start the game by framing the first scene. His first scene was a parallel scene (these scenes allow multiple protagonists to work towards a single goal). From there we went to primary scene development until the last scene we played, which was my protagonist's scene, then we did a parallel scene. We didn't finish the game, though, we'll be doing that tonight. Hear is a scene by scene breakdown of how the game went.

Scene 1: In the first scene Greg asks "Who or what do I care about or value?" and he features the cue " Tribes at war over sustenance & resources." He places Wind at the top of an old building in downtown LA keeping watch. Meanwhile, Watcher is chasing after a moth across some now defunct power line. The Bloody Fangs attack our tribe of rats, Wind leads the defenses and Watcher leads the escape. In the end, the defense fail and our tribe gets decimated (Wind failed his conflict). But, do to Winds valiant efforts, Watcher is able to help a dozen or so tribes men and women escape. Though the Bloody Fangs did light the building on fire in an attempt to stop the survivors from escaping.

• From this scene Wind earned the boon "Valiant Defender" and the blight "I failed my tribe." However, because Watcher won his conflict he gets a new trait, a new cue. The new trait is a social trait "De-facto leader" and the new cue is "Storm Seeker Survivors." Watcher also earns the boon "I can find a way out" and the blight "I'm not cut out for this." Additionally, the cue "Tribes at war over sustenance & resources" was blighted with "The Storm Seekers were scattered."
  

Scene 2: The next scene is a primary scene, so it just focuses on my character Watcher. I focused the scene on the question "What internal struggle must you come to terms with?" and the cue "Storm Seeker Survivors." This scene consisted of Watcher leading the survivors away from the Bloody Fangs as they chased us, the last remaining survivors. In the end, we escaped into the sewers, towards a possible new sanctuary. (Watcher failed his conflict, the conflict in this case was whether he would lead the survivors or not. You see, he was struggling with his new role as the "De-facto leader").

• From this scene Watcher earned the a new trait "I know this land" a new cue was created "Predators" (the survivors mentioned how they were scared to go into the sewers because of the predators) and De-facto Leader was further blighted, as was "Tribes at war over sustenance & resources."
  

Scene 3: Greg attempted to answer the question "Who or what do you care about or value?" and used the cue "Intelligent rats in our post-human world." This scene consisted of Wind waking up after the battle and being left for dead by the survivors and the Bloody Fangs. Wind, waking do to the fire lit by the The Bloody Fangs is forced to escape the building by scaling the outside. But, in the end he is forced to climb ever higher where the rain and wind keeps the building cold and wet. (He failed the conflict.)

• From this scene Wind earned the mental trait "Urban Survival" and created the new cue "It's winter and it's raining." He also earned the blight "fatigued" and blighted the cue "Intelligent rats in our post-human world" with the "The ruins are dangerous.
  

Scene 4: In this scene I asked the question "How are you incapable of dealing with this issue?" and I invoked the cue "Predators." As we crawled through the sewers to a location that Watcher believed would be a suitable new home, we were attacked by a mutant snake-fish. Watcher partially succeeded at fending off the snake fish. In the end, he was split off from the rest of the survivors he agreed to lead. (Watcher partially succeeded at his conflict.)

• From this scene Watcher earned the physical trait "Enduring" a new cue was created "Sewer sanctuary" (though we screwed up, this should have been a rewritten cue, not a new one. Well fix it tonight when we play again). I was blighted with "I'm tired and distracted." the cue "Storm Seeker Survivors" was booned with "The strongest survived" and the the cue "Predators" was blighted with the "we enter their den."
  

Scene 5: In this scene Greg asks "What internal struggle must you come to terms with?" and featured the cue "Storm Seeker Survivors." Wind follows the Bloody Fangs through the streets and sees a scouting party, 5 of them, sent into the sewers to follow the survivors. Wind, enters the sewers from a different area and, with bow and arrow in hand, begins to take out the scouts one at a time. He kills 3 of them when they figure out they attack him, and the snake-fish attacks all three of them... In the end, Wind gets the snake-fish to attack the remaining scouts and he escapes further down the sewers.

• From this scene Wind earned the physical trait "Crack Shot" and created the new cue "Bloody Fangs war party." He also earned the blight "I need the stars to navigate" and booned the cue "Predator" with "It's already eaten."
  

Scene 5: This scene was mine to frame. It chose to make it a parallel scene, such that both protagonists are featured in the scene. In this scene I chose to ask the question "What have you gained by addressing this issue?" and the featured cue was "Predator." In this scene, Watcher was making his way back to survivors and as Wind was finding his way to the survivors. The snake-fish attacks Wind, Watcher jumps on its back and stabs it in the "neck" (He succeeds at the conflict). Watcher gives Wind an opening, as the snake-fish reals its head, to shoot it in the neck and head several times. In the end, Wind slays the snake-fish and Watcher and Wind are reunited.

• From this scene Watcher earned the physical trait (ah, I didn't actually get it...).  He earned the Blight "At my limit" and strengthened the boon "The strongest survive" from the cue "Storm Seekers Survive."
  
  Meanwhile, Wind earned the (ah, didn't give him a new trait either...) he got the boon "Valiant defender" strengthened and the boon "It's already eaten."
  This is what the cues and protagonist's looked like when we were done with the game.
  

Cues

• Intelligent Rats in a (ours) post-human world. -1; Blight: The ruins are dangerous
  Tribes at war over sustenance & resources. -2; Blight: The Storm Seekers were scattered.
  Did the gods gift this to us or abandon us?
  Storm Seeker survivors. +2; Boon: The strongest survived
  Predators. 0; Boon: It's already eaten; Blight: We enter their den
  It's winter and it's raining
  Sewer sanctuary. -1; Blight:Some of us made it.
  Bloody Fang War Party.
  

These are the two protagonists we created:
Greg's protagonist

• Name: Wind
  Role: Guardian of High Places. -1; Blight: I failed my tribe
  Mental Trait: Urban Survival; Blight: I need the stars to navigate.
  Physical Trait: Agile +1; Boon: Valiant Defender; Blight: Fatigued.
  Physical Trait: Crack Shot
  Drive: Aspiration; Protect the Others
  Drive: Inclination; Run After Mysteries
  

My protagonist

• Name: Watcher
  Role: Seeker of New Skies (scout). +1: Boon: I can find a way
  Social Trait: De-facto Leader. -2; Blight: I'm not cut out for this.
  Mental Trait: Custodian of Earth and Air (shaman skills). -1; Blight: I'm tired & distracted
  Mental Trait: I know this land
  Physical Trait: Enduring. -1; Blight: At my limit.
  Drive: Aspiration; To Find the Answers of our Past
  Drive: Inclination; Being Abandoned, retreat to the depths
  

So, that was the first part of the game. We'll be finishing it up tonight!

[Christoph Boeckle]

Your play report is looking good so far! (There's a weird thing happening to your lists' bullets though.)

I'm not sure I understand the reasons you had for choosing one type of scene rather than another, and how adversity was generated. Also, you say that you earned various traits, boons and blights. Who gives them to whom and for what reason?

You don't need to go back over your first post if you can explain that using the follow-up session.

[alejandro]

Thanks!

The game is designed, such that your character is the protagonist of his or her story... Each player gets their own protagonist. So, when you're framing a primary scene you're framing the scene for your own protagonist. If other player's protagonists are in the scene then they, essentially, become secondary characters to your protagonist. Though controlled by their respective players.

Parallel scenes are scenes that allow each player's protagonist, who is in the scene, to be "central" to the scene. Consider the Death Star destruction scenes in both "A New Hope" and "Return of the Jedi." In these scenes you had multiple characters having their own different, yet related, conflicts in one "meta-scene" if you will. So, in a nutshell, a parallel scenes allow multiple protagonists to be focused on and working towards a common goal during a scene while still doing their own thing.

Traits, cues, boons, and blights: Okay, when you start out your protagonist only has a name, a role, and his or her Drive. As the game progresses your protagonist develops more traits and the setting acquires more cues, each of which can be booned or blighted (AKA acquire bonuses and penalties). Who imposes these and which ones you get is determined by the dice that are placed, and how they are placed. When you roll the dice you have 3 things that you need to consider: who gets to narrate, how did you act or react to the conflict, and whether you succeeded in the conflict or not. You roll an amount of dice based on the types of actions you're taking and you place up to 3 of them to determine how each of those 3 things I just listed turn out... Once your dice are placed they indicate whether you create a new trait or not, a new cue or not, or whether you should boon or blight a trait or a cue.

The follow up session will be posted sometime within the week... I hope.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Alex,

I love role-playing games about rats, or in your case, games which happily embrace them as a possibility.

My question is perhaps a little bit abstract: to what extent is your game design about storyboarding, and to what extent can actions taken within a scene carry some element of surprise or genuine, in-the-moment development of what's going on?

The reason I ask is that a great deal of a given scene seems to be established prior to playing it. Is that the case, in your experience?

Best, Ron

[alejandro]

Thanks for the question Ron.

The answer is yes, and no. It depends on who you play with. In fact, it is an issue that has come up within the past few weeks. There are some tweaks that I will be playtesting on the 18th and at Gamex the following weekend.

When I play with one of my groups I get that storyboard feel you're talking about. However, when I play with another group I get scenes that play out more traditionally in that the story comes out more through the scene and not so much in the framing. In either case, you do get surprise or in game moment to moment development, it just isn't consistent yet.

Part of the problem is that you only get one conflict per scene, but I feel that the game works best that way. In fact, I'm not sure there is a better way of doing it in unWritten.

My current fix is: Pick a cue, pick a question, and place your protagonist (i.e. Harry is at his desk or Harry is in front of the convicted/escaped murderer.) The caveat, which I just made up right now, is that the conflict cannot come from the protagonists placement. So, the conflict can't be the desk or the murderer. This idea may or may not work. But, what I think it does is force the game away from A+B=C done, move on. Which is what I think you mean by storyboarding.

Any thoughts?

[Ron Edwards]

I like that idea. It reminds me of Matt Snyder's important repair to his game in design, 44, which also arose out of my concerns for the game.

In that case, he decided that the GM does not play the androids as attacking player-characters or trying to convert them to androids - the idea being that if they wanted that, they'd have done it already. Before that change, the game was composed of repetitve fight scenes and who cares what the androids are or what they want; after that change, it became a horrifying paranoid drama about exactly those things (much better).

In your case, the issue is more general, but it seems like the same issue: let conflicts arise from the interactions within the scene, and not be front-loaded by external elements. The starting points that your list should (as I see it) work like a platform with some intriguing sockets or sprockets, and only in play is the device's actual function and mechanism actually developed. Given the rule you've stated, I think play may well reliably work that way, instead of handing already-whirring mechanisms to people at the outset of the scene.

Best, Ron