[Breaking the Ice] 3rd session: Sunset after all

[Frank T]

This was the final session of our IRC BtI game. Have a look at first and second session. As we forced it toward the end, we got a little more clichéd, but well, it's really hard to avoid that. We played six scenes this time, finishing the game. That made date one have 6 and the other two have 4 scenes.

I think the main reason why we were quicker this time was that we rolled success earlier in the scenes. We came up with 1-3 sucesses after attraction roll already, and one compatibility, the conflict or the bonus dice were often already enough. This time, we tried out the accumulating dice thing instead of rolling each gained dice instantly.

The merit of that was that we played out more stuff. Having to collect three dice before you roll, instead of rolling the first dice and getting a success instantly, obviously makes the scenes last longer. I think, though, that it's a little hard to have to collect, say, seven re-rolls before tossing them. Em, you should make a "stage" be three dice, that's a good number.

What's more, we both agreed that it was a waste not being able to collect re-rolls while you still collect bonus dice. It's just an unnecessary restriction not to be able to devide the good and bad things that happen across the scene as you wish. Keeping track is not that hard.
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Now for the transscript.

Date 2, Turn 3: The guests are leaving the obsequies. Only Henning's aunt is still there since it was at her place. Henning talks to Linda about how he feels. The aunt joins them, she knows Linda and her bad reputation of having slept with just about every man in the city. But just as we started the conversation, we raised the compatibility of the agency they both worked for again, and that made for success already. So the aunt doesn't get a chance to spit venom, and the two leave. A new compatibility is created: both have a complicated life.

Date 2, Turn 4: Linda drives Henning home, and he invites her in. He tries in vain to do something about the chaos in his flat. They have a beer and talk some more. Henning thanks Linda for being there for him, telling her he's sorry his life is so complicated. They kiss passionately, and gain an attraction level.

Between dates: Both temporary attraction levels came up no success. So we mulled about re-rolls again and tried to figure out what the third date would be and how this whole thing was going to turn. From there on, the game was a lot of negotiation, since we both had more concrete ideas and had to somehow bring those in accord. I wasn't sure we should even do the re-rolls in the beginning, but in the end it was well because what we came up with was:

Linda meets her ex-boyfriend from the sushi bar again. He sais he just wants to talk, and they talk, but just the way things go, it ends in bed. She also thinks a lot about Hennings illness and has doubts about whether she wants to burden herself with it. Henning, on the other hand, has been advised by a therapist not to risk investing into a new relationship with a woman right now, as he is on the verge of breaking down again. So on the third date, both want to dump each other. It was, as Nicolas put it, our job to stop them. One re-roll also came up a success, making for four permanent attraction levels and five compatibilities after the second date.

Date 3, Turn 1: Linda rings at Henning's door in the evening. She has brought a book she wanted to lend him, as a pretense. There is an awkward moment as they don't know how to say hello--embrace? Kiss? (This was the only "true to life" bonus dice awarded in the game.) Henning offers Linda some lasagna. As she enters the living room, Linda sees an open brochure of Spriger & Jacoby, the agency they both worked for, on the table, showing her picture. As Henning hurries to put it away, their eyes meet in a pained glance. They gain an attraction level.

Date 3, Turn 2: Both sit down on the sofa and have a hard time telling the other what they think they have to tell. There are some tears, an embrace and a very tender kiss before they seperate, gaining another attraction level.

Date 3, Turn 3: Hours later, the lasagna and several beers have been finished. The two of them still sit in Henning's living room and talk and laugh a lot. Linda sees a book with photographs from her favorite photographer in Hennings shelf, and they talk about that. Both say how wonderful it is to be friends, just like this. Henning gives Linda a present, a beautiful orchid. His neighbor wanted to throw it away since it didn't blossom any more, but Henning nursed it and made it prosper. Both realize the symbol the flower represents, and hesitate for a moment. (Maybe I got it slightly out of order.) Finally, in one moment of consideration, bringing in Hennings conflict, he bursts into tears, sobbing heavily, suffering a sudden breakdown. That makes for another compatibility, the shared like of that photographer.

Date 4, Turn 4: We continued the scene straight away. Linda helps Henning with his pills, and tries to soothe him. He cries at her chest, mumbling something about love. She sais she doesn't want to hurt him, and that she loves him, too. They kiss again, then fall over to the floor, handling themselves clumsily. As Linda pulls off his shirt, he admits he hasn't had sex in quite some time, and, bringing in Linda's conflict, that his aunt told him about her having quite some experience. But as we accumulated the three successes with that, Linda's "wild past" ist okay with Henning. They tell each other that they are very serious abouth this, and gain yet another attraction level. Finis.
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We didn't do the three questions yet, saving that for posting it in our German forum. I'll get back with that as soon as it's finished.

As a final note, I should not spare mentioning that I enjoyed the game very much, and think we created something we can be a little proud of.

- Frank

[Andrew Morris]

It all sounds great, Frank. I've been following these posts with even more interest after I found that you were playing with a more up-to-date ruleset than I used.

Overall, what were the parts you thought worked best and worst? I know that deciding who had control over what elements for narration was a bit tough when I played (e.g. "Can I say how your character reacts?"); was there anything like that for you?

[Emily Care]

So on the third date, both want to dump each other. It was, as Nicolas put it, our job to stop them.

Yes!!! Great ending, Frank. I look forward to hearing your answers to the three resolution questions.   I second Andrew's questions, and also would like to hear about how the compabilities worked for you.  Did you use more than one per turn very often?  What was it like choosing between making a new compatibility vs. increasing your attraction level?

Also, how did you work this out:

So we mulled about re-rolls again and tried to figure out what the third date would be and how this whole thing was going to turn. From there on, the game was a lot of negotiation, since we both had more concrete ideas and had to somehow bring those in accord.

Hear, hear about rolling three dice in a "stage" and also to letting people roll re-rolls right away.  I can include notes about time considerations about each way of doing it.  Great suggestions, thanks very much.

best,
Em

[Frank T]

Hi Andrew, hi Emily,

right, in order:

1. Who had control over what wasn't much of an issue. The active player / guide division worked well for us, in the sense of "buck stops here". OTOH, we normally play consentually anyway, meaning we normally don't proceed until all players say "cool".

2. Regarding compatibilities, we used more than one in several scenes, but not in the last session, since we didn't have to. Choosing between comp and attraction level... I don't know, Nicolas picked more comps than I did. I think the ballancing is all right, both have advantages and disavantages, so you can't really say by calculating that the one or the other is better. As I already mentioned, "both used to work for the same agancy" worked very well in play, I think we used that five times at least, whereas "don't like sushi" wasn't very effective. Maybe that's the lesson: to pick the right comps.

As a side thought: Bringing the characters together really is a little like winning, I think. Since I found my character very likeable and really sympathized with him, I would have been disappointed had we failed.

3. On the negotiation part, that's hard to explain. It was a little like this:
First and second session: "What now?" - "Hm. Gimme a second." - "How about X?" - "Really? Dunno." - "Right." - "How about Y?" - "Yeah, cool."
Third session: "Hey now, let's do X." - "What? No, man, come on, let's do Y!" - "Allright, how about XA?" - "Make that XB." - "Sounds good."
Well, not always, but at some points.

- Frank

[Emily Care]

Thanks, Frank!  I'm glad you had a good time with bti. Now I HAVE to play BARBAREN! with a couple women friends of mine for parity.  Maybe we will have a girls' only game at GenCon.  : )

best,
Em

[Frank T]

Sweet.