[MLwM] Irish Mines: First Game Session

[ScottM]

This game follows the setup in Irish Mines: Setup.

We started play last night. It was interesting, and some of the particular problems that I thought we'd encounter didn't actually show up. Before we began, I was worried most about Wil and Jen. Jen flaked in the last Vampire game-- I wasn't sure if any roleplaying was interesting to her at all. None may be in the long run, but last night she was interested; I suspect the rigid "your turn, time to participate"  is a big help. Wil had GMed most of the previous games and seemed somewhat leery, but I think he's more interested in just finding a game that Jen likes, and would put up with much to make that happen.  At one point Wil chimed in '"Hey, we're making a funky story"... it was reassuring to hear.

Also added to the mix was Emily. She created a minion, Zoe. We'd settled on a master last week, so she had little input into that portion of the process. Still, she was perhaps the quickest to figure out how to snag connections and bind herself to them. (Despite 1 die vs. 1 die rolls that thwarted her twice, increasing her self loathing with each failure).

Zoe
M: Can kill anyone, but only on the Master's grounds
L: Is utterly tactless, except when dealing with children
1: Butch the Butcher
2: Greta, Whiskey Distiller in the Foothills around town

I began with a Master scene with each character; he handed out tasks and orders. I may have began too casually; some of the initial missions didn't require Violence or Villainy... should missions not demanding one of those roles be avoided? I knew that they'd delay the increase in tension... to be honest, I intended for the Master grow more depraved and for the missions to grow more violent as the game went on. I figured that around 2 Love, he'd start sending them after each others' connections specifically, and prior to that, other people would be victimized and connections would be tested, but I wouldn't victimize the connections directly.

The player requested scenes were interesting; there were a couple of connection attempts and a couple of straightforward "On with the mission" scenes. The connection scenes were tricky. I had difficulty setting up the NPCs well; they tended to be pretty tolerant of the PCs (even with their less than humans), though once the dice were rolled they'd turn cold. [In once case Bloody Butcher rumors were drug out. In another case, once 'Master' was mentioned. the NPC shivered, and ignored the PC from that point on.] After the second 'failure', I pointed out that one of the Intimacy, etc. dice would probably have put her over the top; I think I'll see more angling for the dice next time.

We made it around five times (Initial Master scene, Players' first request scene, GM response scene, Players' second requested scene, and final GM response scene). When Zack (playing Conall) wound up with a horror revealed, I was worried... he seemed to be rambling about a constable. (It was a response to a break in scene, where he'd smashed up a trader's chest, forced the trader to hand him to scroll he was stealing, and wandered away). But he surprised me by ending it with "a deputy" beating an innocent man bloodily and hauling him off to the stocks, calling him by Collin's name... a clear frame up. A wonderful surprise ending.

Anyway, it went very well. Time flew, though I started feeling fuzzy pretty early, and called the game at 9:30 [after about 2 1/2 hours play]; I'd misread the clock as 10:30. Still, I think it was a good break point, since we'd all seen the game in action and people were talking about how what they'd request next time.

Emily's Zoe has accumulated 2 Love, and a few other people have one. The translation has progressed, so the Master is asking for more difficult things, and the players (and the characters) are getting worried about the next requests. [Though not all of the characters, intentionally from their players' POV, it appears.]

[jrs]

The connection scenes were tricky. I had difficulty setting up the NPCs well; they tended to be pretty tolerant of the PCs (even with their less than humans), though once the dice were rolled they'd turn cold.

Interesting that you should mention this.  After fumbling with it for a bit in our game, I found that I had to require the players to be explicit about their actions in overture scenes and then roll, before I'd think too much about how the NPC would behave, particularly for NPC's that carried no love.  It was very much, "What is your character doing," as opposed to, "Here's a scene, how do you insert your character."  

Julie