I got a chance to play-test CUP last Saturday, a thing I haven’t done for 2 years. CUP is a mix of Pool (Mike Holmes anti-pool flavor), a Universalis inspired story coin system, and a few more things. My design goals include: little to no prep for the Guide, a framework for narrations to provide both limitations and support, and player investment in the story. New for 2006 I have added the goal of being able to make a satisfying story with a conclusion in around 4 hours of game play (more on that later).

The participants
Michele [early 40s], my girlfriend of 4 years, has been role-playing for 4 years, but wasn’t really an enthusiast until a TSOY game at Dreamation'06.
Rich [50] and Tish [late 40s], married [25 years?] friends of ours, used to role-play, but gave it up 15-20[?] years ago, because of the time pressures of raising a family.
I [43 years old] have been role-playing since 1977 (original D&D through AD&D1e, then homebrews till Dreamation'05).

In lieu of a recap of the fictional events, here are some player highlights
While I was helping someone else with there character, Tish took the NPCs in the center of the table, which at this point were just roles (like Miners Guild Forman) on 3x5 cards, and fleshed them out (Hard hearted but fair to his men, Sent to Arrakis as retribution for an uprising for fair treatment, Keeps a stash of gems and spice as rewards and bribes). I am going to put this in the rules.

Rich really got the kicker-like first scene. He narrated his character waiting for the customs agent to sign off on his cargo when an explosion destroys the cargo and damages his ship, while the customs agent just smiles at him and rips up the manifest.

Michele gamed the system on her first scene, which gives me a chance to explain the resolution mechanism. She narrated her character, the Imperial Planetologist, down in the mines taking core samples when a methane explosion/spice blow (caused by the explosion on the landing field) trapped her in a pocket of super saturated spice gas. If she wins the conflict, her character becomes presciently aware, has a vision, and gets to create a Destiny (a future plot point that will happen). If she looses, an ancestor will possess her character. She used her “Limited Sisterhood training (Perceptive, Courtesan, Important bloodline) @ 2!” in her narration, so she gets 2 pool dice*. I don't see any appropriate resistance, so she stays at 2 dice. She wagers 8 [of her 10] narration tokens to get 8 more pool dice. She rolls the 10 dice and succeeds (by getting one or more red circles, an 84% chance). She gets 8 story coins in exchange for her narration tokens. She spends 7 story coins to raise & reword her "Limited Sisterhood training" trait to "Presciently aware Sister @ 4!" and spends her other coin on "Destiny: My daughters and daughter's daughters will be Reverend Mothers among the proto-Fremen @ 1!".

Things that went both right and wrong
I had intended to use Adam Dray's Verge story map thingy that he showed us at the last DC Meet-up. The story map gives mechanical support for different ideas to be negotiated into a setting, like the tenet phase in Universalis. I undercut that entirely by having an informal talk about what kind of genre/setting we wanted in the game. When I took out the sheets for things, people, rules, and definitions; there was no need for negotiation. We just passed the papers around the table adding elements.

There wasn’t much acting/immersion after Tish’s first scene. It was all 3rd person narration. I think my need to finish the game quickly sent a vibe to the players. Now that I am more comfortable with the timing, I hope to encourage the players to choose their comfort level of narration.

I did a mediocre job of explaining the rules. But, on the good side I have a better idea of the points I need to hit.

My friends and I are old. We don’t have time to commit to a weekly role-playing group. The best we can hope for is a couple of get togethers in a month (and you can forget about December). This is why Tish and Rich got out of role-playing. This is why I want my game to have a complete session (with a conclusion) in around 4 hours. 3 hours and 20 minutes after we started, we finished the game. I went around the table having each player do an epilogue for their characters and the other elements that they controlled, which gave a nice sense of closure.

Most con scenarios are made to work within 4 hours. I know Inspectors can do this in spades. Although PTA can do a session in that time, I always want to continue the series, which is good for PTA, but bad for my goal.

I guess my question is what game mechanisms are out there that can “force” a game to its conclusion in a single session? I know that MLwM has one, but I am looking for something more generic.

*Pool dice are wooden d6 with a red O on one side, a black X on the opposite side, and the 4 remaining sides are blank.

Hi Shawn,

Sounds good! I've been looking forward to hearing more about your game since Dreamation. 

Having a specific goal that your players are working towards can help keep the story on line and moving towards a conclusion. Joshua Newman uses this well in Under the Bed  & Shock, and it's part of my designs.

Alternatively, having a resource that "times you out", as does the producer's budget is another way to enforce a time limit.  Putting this together with mechanics that keep you escalating towards a climax & help you resolve the questions posed by & for the characters at the start would probably give you a satisfying and complete little story.

all the best,
Emily

*Sound of one hand smacking forehead*

Of course, PTA! I even got my copy this week, and didn’t even think of it.
I will have to think further about player/character goals.
Thanks Emily!