WGP travelled all the way to Scotland in a few days. Amazing. I enjoyed reading it. Twice.
The first time i speed-read it, and did not understand one single bit of the game mechanics. I was uttely confused, mostly down to myself, because I just couldn't grasp the concept.
I read a couple of posts here, especially the one explaning how to lay out a page, and started to read the book again, this time slowly, carefully.
Now it flowed beatifully, and most of it clicked into place in my old and misused brain.
One thing I am still not sure of, is how many decks of cards you actually need. It says several times "one deck of playing cards for each participant (player and GM)". That sounds like one deck for each player, including the GM. On page 8 it says "GM draws 3 cards from each deck she controls", and on page 19 it says "the GM's core deck".
So the GM has more than one deck, right? One for each opponent? And what is the GM's core deck? My guess is that you need one deck for each PC and major opponent, and one for the GM as GM. Is that right?
Sorry if I have missed something completely obvious.
All in all, thumbs up for an astonishing game concept and 25 pages of pure roleplaying gold.

Per

I know Michael will get to this in just a little while, but as I recall, the game includes one deck for each player. The GM starts in controll of all but one of them. The players, over time, gain control of the remainders of the decks. I don't have my copy with me to verify the exact mechanics and it's been over a month since I played, but it's like that.

Chris

As with Chris, pending Michael's response, you start with one deck per participant, including the GM. The GM has all but one to start; the players share one to start.

We had three players in the short game we played at GenCon, so the GM started with three decks and the players started with one.

As the Story Arc moves up, the decks move one by one from the GM to the players, so eventually the players end up with (in our case) three decks and the GM is left with one.

Best,
Ron

Hi, Per.

Glad to hear that the game made the TransAtlantic crossing safely and swiftly.

As for the question on the number of decks:
You need one deck on the table for each real, flesh-and-blood human person participating in the game. That means if you have a GM and three players, you need four decks of cards. It doesn't matter how many opponents or characters the GM or the players have. It's all about the Real People participating in the game.

Let's stick with the example of a GM and three players. At the start of play, the players will all share one deck of cards. Call this the Hero Deck. The GM has three separate decks of cards in front of him. These are the decks she currently controls. One of them is called the Core GM Deck, which is the one used for Enrichment Scenes.

As the game goes on, the heroes will fill spaces on the Story Arc by yielding conflicts. Once Space #4 "The Balance Shifts" is filled, one of the GM's decks is given to the players for them to share. Now the players have two Hero Decks, and the GM has two decks: her Core GM Deck, and one extra deck. At any later point in the game, the players can yield another conflict to fill Space #4 again, which will gain them the extra deck. At that point, the GM will only have her GM's Core Deck, and the players will have three Hero Decks.

I hope that's clearer. You certainly didn't miss something "completely obvious." Major rewrites are in order for the Full Edition. To help clarify a bit, make sure you read the free example of play on the website to see how this plays out. Just be aware that the Preview Edition is more current than the example (I'll be updating it soon), so if there's any discrepency, follow the Preview Edition.

BTW, Gold Stars to both Chris & Ron! Or, um, Gold Thought Balloons. I'd give No-Prizes, but there might be a trademark thing there...

Thanks,

That makes sense - for some strange reason I imagined that the decks were connected to the characters, but they are just there to be drawn from.

It actually explains it all on page 15, and I missed it:
"To begin with, you and the other players use one of these decks, collectively, and the GM uses the rest."

Per