incubating a GenCon demo

[Paul Czege]

Hey Mike,

Paul, are you coming up with a demo pack for this? That is, pregens and master and all worked out before hand?

This is what I want to do, but I've been super brain fried since shipping the game text to the printer. What I've been trying to come up with is a fairly traditional Master, no Dadaist collectors or anything like that, and four minion PCs. I'm thinking two quick scenes per PC in 30-40 minutes is do-able, even leaving some time for explaining the ordinary course of things like Master creation that are necessarily outside the scope of the demo. Individual minions' stats would be chosen to provide the opportunity for that character to demonstrate The Horror Revealed, or violence, and getting Love, etc.

I've been considering using Aloysius Dees, from our playtest last year, but actually he's become a bit shopworn. What do you think of a Master with a reptiles theme?

Paul

[Mike Holmes]

What do you think of a Master with a reptiles theme?

Sure, let's work him out here. How about a collector on an island? I've gotta have my island. I'm thinking some island in the Black Sea with a fort on it if you want to keep it per the "standard setting". Otherwise an island in the remote East Indies during late colonial times would be very cool, and would work with the lizard thing even better. Or maybe a British manor on an island in the Nile with crocodiles all about?

http://www.aegypten-fotos.de/assuan/04-36_e.htm

Mike

[Paul Czege]

Note: the previous two posts were split from the "demo henchmen" thread.

Hey Mike...that photo looks great, but can we keep it to genericized Europe, 1805? Maybe an island in a major river?

Paul

[Mike Holmes]

Sheesh, you're a stickler. The problem is that there are no large reptiles in all of Europe (Tortoises measuring 14" or so are the largest).

OK, so obviously he's a traveler who's been to the East Indies and returned with some reptiles (Crocs, Komodo Dragons, Iguanas, etc). He lives on an island in the Adriatic with his castle on one end, and a small fishing village on the other.

How's that?

Mike

[Paul Czege]

I'm cool with that. Needs, Wants? Anyone?

Paul

[Paul's Girl]

I don't know if a collector works with the reptile thing, you almost need a...I forgot what its called a maker, a breeder? How can you have a collector of exotic things? No one would be able to get them for him. Maybe he wants to create reptile men or turn himself into a large lizard. Or how about he wants to create an setting for the reptiles that he brought back, like a reptile zoo. Of course he's going to need fresh meat for them, pets or livestock?

Just to get the ball rolling.

[Ron Edwards]

Fresh meat, big deal. He wants human women, 'cause he's figuring out some way for them to mate with the reptiles.

Just harking back to Paul's old fantasy game, with those gecko guys.

Best,
Ron

[Paul's Girl]

yeah, I was thinking that, for the demo, that the games steered away from sexual subjects. I know that actual acts don't have to take place, (being subjected to public sodomy in the last MLwM game, in which it did) but people still might be uncomfortable or think that the game has to be explicit. Um, not to burst any bubbles...

[Ron Edwards]

No sex? (pause) (looks blank)

Oh! I know ... he's surgically combining human women with the reptiles. Or children. Or anyone. Whoever.

But surgical combination, there ya go.

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

Hey...the sex thing is a good point. I can only imagine how challenging it must have been for Scott running Charnel Gods for those teenage girls last year. Who wants to be dragged away from the convention center in cuffs? Not me. I guess I was thinking if the players were young, that I'd keep the graphic details off camera. "Ivan, take miss Holly and lock her into the cistern with Boastopholes." But actually, avoiding the sex issue is probably for the best.

So...surgery it is. How about Needs? Wants? The nature of the Outsiders?

Paul

[Mike Holmes]

Ha, I knew that if I put him on an island, that I'd get my Dr. Moreau! Bwahahahahahah!

What does he want from outsiders? Well, Moreau would want accolades from scientific types that his work was important, revolutionary. But let's try to get away from that.

How about he wants to be seen as a new savior by the clergy? He's creating Jesus Christ Supercrock. He thinks that he's creating a new breed of superbeing to replace humanity, one that combines the cunning of humans with the cool emotionlessness of the reptile. Oh, he can't show the church officials his creations yet...but he can schmooze them, and impress them with his super-moral existence. That is, he comports himself like a saint in most cases.

Except when it comes to his servants and aides, etc. Some of which will undoubtedly be failed experiments (which he no doubt blames them for; they simply weren't worthy of the surgery or it would have turned out better). So what he's looking for is the perfect human to become half of the perfect superbeing.

Or something like that? What do you think?

Mike

[Ron Edwards]

Yeah, Mike, I was thinking about the master continuing to refine and refine just which humans were "good enough" to get utilized back when I suggested the Naughty Bits version. It works just as well here.

Perhaps the minions might even be competing, or potentially competing, to bring him the best one ...

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

He thinks that he's creating a new breed of superbeing to replace humanity, one that combines the cunning of humans with the cool emotionlessness of the reptile.

This is beautiful. What do you think of replacing "cunning of humans" with "creativity of humans"? He would be operating (heh) from the belief that human creativity and inventiveness is somehow held back from greatness by our sympathies and emotions.

I like the Outsiders as clergy too.

Riffing on the whole reptiles + surgery thing, I'm thinking the Master has one reptilian eye, that he got somehow, and that the story behind it is what's driving him. Any thoughts on what that might be?

Anyone care to suggest a minion...More than Human, Less than Human, and a couple of Connections?

Paul

[Mike Holmes]

All sounds good to me, Paul. He got the eye from a Naga (as in the culture) priest in northern India who gave it to him for tresspassing on a holy site by using ancient surgical techniques. Instead of driving him mad, it drove him mad. That is, the treatment was intended as a punishment designed to drive a person batty, but for our resilient master, he instead got delusions of grandeur. I dunno, something like that.

Name has to be something like Comte Kostandin Oserpiste.


Here's a quick minion.

Name: Serge Franzini
Weariness: 3
Self Loeathing: 0

Serg is the major Domo of the castle. He is the typical immaculate servant, never a thread out of place, but ancient.

More than Human: Serge finds that he has a talent Of being able to make people feel very self-conscious about themselves with offhand remarks, except when he, himself has not been able to control things. For example, he can make a person want to flee just by pointing out something about inappropriate dress, but not if he's just stained his own clothing.
Less than Human: Serge is old and can't move faster than a tortoise unless he thinks one of the master's pets is in trouble.

Connections:
Malinda, the recently delivered giant python living in the moat. 1
Calla, the pretty scullery maid that he fantasizes about. 1


Mike

[Paul Czege]

Okay...timing-wise for this, I'd like to see three more suggested minions today. Then I'll put everything in my blender and produce the demo.

And thanks again for all the suggestions. After tapping myself hard to write all the examples in the game text I'm fairly certain there wasn't a demo concept left in my brain.

Paul

p.s. Anyone know some nice reptile terminology that might make a good name for the Master?