I ran two different play tests of Into The Mystic at Gen con.
I’m thinking 2 words here: one is Crash the Other is Burn.

It started out at the G.o D. tables on Thursday, I sat with my daughter Dalys and Began running Into the Mystic having her pick out cards for her character.  Someone else asked to join; I think his name was Gerald. 

Character creation went well and I explained that there was a Malady in the Kingdom; Gerald decided that the Malady had to do with a Warlord General who killed the king and Queen and set up a false queen to rule the kingdom.  His character was an exiled prince vowed to return and avenge his parents.  Dalys decided her character was one of four sisters of servants of the Dead King, all of whom could talk to the mystic, the youngest could manipulate the mystic and they were all mad at her character who refused to listen to the mystic or do what it wanted.

Gerald gave me the Warlord General for the Malady and Dalys gave me the youngest sister who could command the mystic.  I laid out four cards to determine what the malady wanted. 

Dalys set up a scene where her sisters were trying to pressure her into using the Mystic powers.  Gerald decided his exiled prince had snuck into the palace to kill the servants that had let in the Warlord who killed his parents.  He over hears the argument and when the other sisters leave asks Dalys’ character to take him to the false queen.

At that point the youngest sister who listens to the mystic put up a wall.  Gerald uses one of his fate cards to tear down the wall.

I asked him if he’s going to kill the servants he says no, he just wanted to show the queen that he had what it takes to be a guard.  He demands to be hired.  She tells him the Warlord is the one that deals with new guards and takes him to the Warlord. 

He demands to be hired the Warlord tells him to complete a small task first and bring to him the daughter of one of the powerful houses in the kingdom.

At this point we stopped.
Gerald wanted more situations in my game.  He wanted to know why it needed a Gm and pretty much found it too open and directionless for his tastes.    Dalys being a loyal and good daughter told me my game was fine.

Sunday I tried again with Mike Holmes Chris Weeks and unexpectedly Ben Lehmen.
Mike and Chris decided that the Malady had to do with a Mage Guild.  Mike was the Chosen one who couldn’t do magic and Chris was Mike’s younger cousin who had been sold by their grandfather to pay the tuition for Mike to learn magic.

After we settled this Ben sat down to play creating an orphaned princess who was taken in by an old hermit who was an exiled spell caster of the guild.  Mike needed his help to cast spells.

They gave me cards for the malady: the sacrifice a cat, an assassinated girlfriend, and the assassin that killed the princess parents.

I laid out my four cards.  I had strength in the past, Imperfection over Hope in the present and The Mystic for the future.  I took it to mean that the guild had once been strong and its strength had protected the land, but now its strength was failing reinforced by the “chosen one” not being able to do magic.  Thus a dark magic guild had hopes to take the kingdom over and the assassins were working for this cult.

Ben decided he wanted the game to start with Mike meeting the Hermit.  I tried to explain that as the hermit was the card that both players shared that Mike had as much control over the Hermits reaction to things as Ben did- but…

Ben’s character made Mike’s character do chores and Chris then played the Hermit, who gave the Chosen one a rock to stick under a statue and his magic would be fine. 

This is something the malady would not want.  Mike must not be able to do magic.  So I flipped the Mystic deck explaining that if they left the meaning of the card unchanged they could substitute the card for a card in the malady’s reading.  I defined the card to mean that by the time mike got back to the school his grandmother had convinced the Head of the guild to release the chosen one, as he had not cast spells he was obviously not the chosen one.

Ben left and had Selene play for him.

Selene had the orphaned princess find the guild a break into it to see if The Chosen one left the rock under the statue and was very amused when he did.  The ghost of the grandfather chased the two girls out of the guild.

We stopped play.  Neither Chris nor Mike understood how to affect the Malady or who to defeat the malady in the end. 

I need to reconsider much in the game.  I’m not explaining the game well.  I ran for my home group and made what I thought were improvements, but what seemed simple at home was complicated at Gen Con.

I might be shelving Mystic for a while.

Before you set it aside, Kat, would you mind saying a bit about how it works?

Playtesting is such fun, isn't it? It's like "yay! I get to smash my head against the brick wall--again!" But don't give up.

best,
Em