'Sons of Liberty' AP Report 10/07/07 

I finally got the chance to play the beta version of Sons of Liberty!  Present for the game were:
Dain (myself), a 30-year veteran roleplayer, mostly of traditional Simulationist games, but lately getting into indie games and the Narrativist concept.  In thie indie field, I have played Universalis and PTA.  I am a fan of the musical '1776'.
Jill, my wife, a 25-year veteran roleplayer and deep immersionist.  Her only indie experience has been playing Universalis once and PTA once.  She can quote extensively from the musical '1776'.
Nance, another 25-year veteran roleplayer, mostly traditional games, but she has also played Universalis once.  She can quote all the lines from '1776' that Jill can't remember...
Maude, a relative newcomer to face-to-face RPGs, but a long-time fan of computer and console RPGs.  She has taken part in three different campaigns so far  (M&M, Savage Worlds, and D&D 3.5), plus played Universalis once.  She has seen a stage production of '1776' once. 

(RE:'1776', one of John Adams' conditions should be 'when being obnoxious and disliked'.) :)

We came up with a few rules questions, which I will summarize here: 

When introducing Tory Figures, is it one Figure per Objective, or one new Figure per Objective?  I assumed the latter, and allowed previously-used Tory Figures to take part in subsequent Objectives.

When playing cards as the Patriots during the Travel Hand, can the Patriots play single cards, or does that count as one of their 'special powers' that don't kick in until the Objectives?  We allowed it, since the character sheets say 'always', and since otherwise the Travel Hand gets off to a very rocky start.

When playing cards as the Patriots during Objectives, is it possible to play single cards into an existing meld even if they are not that Figure's listed single-play suit?  We allowed it, since that matches my vague memory of how regular rummy is played.

When a Figure's special ability to draw a new hand is based on a continuing condition, can the player simply keep redrawing until he gets a hand he likes?  We allowed it, but I'm not sure that we were right in doing so.

To kick off the game, I explained the rules, and gave some indication of the setting by reading excerpts from the advertisements and from the character biographies.  I finished off the biography of General Gauge with the line "he's more machine than man, now..." -- and planted an unintentional idea seed.

We did the mad-lib Objective generation, and got the following:

Travel from New York City to Savannah
Primary Objective:    The Sons of Liberty must rescue a customs house lest the British charge a fleet.
Opportune Objectives:  The Sons of Liberty can deliver an arms cache while the British trick a lawyer.
          The Sons of Liberty can impress Mohawks lest the British train an apprentice.
          The Sons of Liberty can teach a double agent while the British bribe a preacher.

Brainstorming as the Secret Masters, Nance immediately looked at 'train an apprentice' and said "There are always two, a Master and an Apprentice..." -- and we latched onto the idea that the apprentice would be the chosen successor of Darth Gauge!  He must be the son of the Mohawk chief, being sent off to learn Gauge's methods of tyrannical rulership.  We also came up with a question about the meaning of 'impress':  To wit, could it be taken in the usual way, or could we chose to take it as a technical term -- the British 'impress' sailors to force them into the Navy, for instance.  We decided that we could take it any way we wanted to, but we stuck with the usual meaning.

That question of interpretation came up again when we turned to the Primary Objective.  We decided that to 'rescue' a customs house really meant 'rescue' the money inside it.  'Charge a fleet' was problematical.  We were playing a Battle in the first phase, and even in the final phases of the war, the Americans didn't have much of a Navy.  What fleet would the British be charging?  We decided to take the word 'charge' in a different way.  The British would be charging their own fleet with a mission -- blockading New York harbor.  To do that, they would need arms and troops, to be paid for with the monies siezed in the Savannah customs house. 

Then we chose characters:  Jill chose the Martin Sisters, Maude chose Abigail Adams, I chose next, and opted to play the Tories, since I had read the Tory rules ahead of time, and we were pressed for time.  Nance chose Benjamin Franklin (although John Adams was a strong candidate, given that Abigail was in play).  The character sheets were filled out as follows:

Rachel and Grace Martin
5 cards when goading each other on
new hand when disguised as men
claim a Joker when embarrassing British
call for Clubs when hosting British
play single Spades

Abigail Adams
5 cards when using family influence
new hand when with women
claim a Joker when motoring
call for Clubs when hosting a levee
play single Hearts

Benjamin Franklin
5 cards when satisfying curiosity
new hand when spending money
claim a Joker when corresponding
call for Diamonds when politicking
play single Clubs

Torys:  Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, Buckongahelas, Major Patrick Ferguson, William Franklin, General Thomas Gauge

NOTE:  The Tory sheet should list the phases each Tory is available in, for convenience.  Also, Gauge's name is misspelled on the sheet.

(Continued in the next post, because I am a wordy bastard.)

(Here's the rest of our AP)

As the Tory, I set the scene for the Travel Hand.  Since they were traveling from New York City to Savannah, I figured that they would have to pass through New Jersey -- William Franklin territory.  I also assumed that they would be traveling in Abigail's motorcar.  I drew a 2, a 2, and a 4 for my hand.  I decide that the spark for the scene would be a chase, but I framed the scene just before the start of it, in order to play a card.  I described a toll-station on the turnpike, where a British officer in armor and on a clockwork horse was directing his squad to stop and search all the vehicles.  I played one of my 2s, since the stop-and-search team were directed to seize any weapons they found.  I also made the point that Franklin would most certainly be recognized if they stopped at the roadblock... 

Nance's turn was next, and she wanted to play a single Club by being clever, but couldn't immediately think of anything clever to do.  Her in-character choice was for Ben to tell Abigail to run the roadblock, but Nance didn't think that qualified as clever...  She wound up playing a pair of cards, and narrating an action both martial and unorthodox -- Franklin drew out his 'Miraculous Lightning Rod' and fired it at the British officer's horse, shorting out it's clockworks. 

Jill's play was to surprise the British by throwing various objects and debris out behind the motorcar to annoy the pursuers.

Maude's play as Abigail Adams was to drive straight through the toll booth, splintering it and the turnpike blocking the road, and the chase was on!

I narrated the British officer leading the pursuit, and played my 4 to discover Franklin's dirty little treasonous secret -- his identity!  "Arrest that man in the name of the Royal Governor!"

Nance played a single Club, narrating Franklin climbing out onto the motorcar's bonnet to dive in with a wrench and tinker with the gears to get more speed.

Jill played Hearts for a martial action, and had the Martin Women firing at the British with Franklin's Miraculous Lightning Rod -- Rachel aiming, and Grace 'reloading' by cranking the hand-crank on it's generator!  She narrated hitting the officer's clockwork armor and spot-welding him to his horse.

Maude played Hearts and Spades to narrate Abigail taking the risky and unanticipated action of hitting the 'gunpowder-injection' afterburner  (yes, we have all seen the Mythbusters episode with the gunpowder-combustion-engine) and outdistancing the British. 

Nance could not play, so discarded and drew.

Sorry, I don't recall what Jill did that round.  (Neither does she.)

Maude played Diamonds for a connection, and narrated that Abigail had an old friend from finishing school, Mabel, who lived in Trenton and would hide them from the British.  Why Trenton?  It was the only town in New Jersey that she could come up with out of memory.  (We're in Missouri, after all). 

NOTE:  Including a map of the colonies in the final version of the game would be handy.  Especially if it showed the basic terrain and the locations of all the towns mentioned on the mad-lib locations table.

The question was called, and the Patriot's won with an 11 to 11 tie.  As the Tory player, I got 10 Tyranny chips.  We narrated the denouement of that hand, and Maude had low card so got to direct the cut scene.

She chose the first Opportune Objective, and set a scene where Mabel asked the Patriots for help.  Her husband Richard, a lawyer, was trying to move a cache of weapons to the Sons of Liberty in Savannah, but she feared that his contact was trying to trick him in some way. 

Maude's first play was Hearts, with a patriotic speech agreeing to help deliver the arms cache.

As the Tory, I was a bit at a loss, trying to figure out what I could do with my cards.  I had drawn a hand including two face cards, which I replaced -- leaving me with six(!) of my ten Tyranny chips on the line.  I chose Major Ferguson as my new Tory Figure (added to William Franklin). 

I had William Franklin organize some Tories into search parties looking for Ben Franklin, wanted on charges of assault against a British officer, and possibly also kidnapping three women.  One of my chips went into play.

The Patriots began coming up with plans for moving the arms cache.  They hired a ship, and purchased some clockwork agricultural implements and a motorized plow to create a fake cargo in which to hide the weapons. 

I confess that I lost track of what some of the Patriot's actions were at this point, since I was flicking through the rules trying to figure out what I could do as the Tories to mess with the Patriots and get chips into play.  There was a Diamond in a vulnerable spot at the end of a run.  By the time I came up with an action that would get me a chip on it, Jill had made a play that extended the run, and it now ended in a Club.  Sigh.

The Patriots determined that Franklin would go with the ship and the cargo, while the ladies would drive on to Savannah in the motorcar.

I had Major Ferguson subvert some Patriot tech -- he outfitted a customs patrol boat with a gunpowder-injection afterburner and caught up with Franklin's cargo ship.  I narrated the high-speed patrol boat emitting a regular series of loud bangs as it overtook Franklin's ship.  This also got me another chip into play, at last.

Jill got a round of applause from everyone when she declared, playing Spades and Diamonds, that the arms cache was not actually on the ship with Franklin at all, but safely traveling overland with friends of the Martin Women!  Ferguson stormed about the ship with his troops (I played a 3), destroying everything in sight, but to no avail...  Still, I was happy to have drawn a face card into my hand.

I played a 6 to narrate that the electrified British officer from the roadblock during the Travel Hand, now without eyebrows (gratuitous Mythbusters reference) had finally trailed the motorcar all the way to Mabel's home in Trenton, and had had her arrested!  She would stand trial for acts of sedition!  I drew to refill my hand, and got another face card.  Which was good, but also bad, since it restricted my options even further.

Franklin corresponded, and spent money, and used his contacts with Patriots in Trenton (Nance played Diamonds and Hearts) to arrange for Mabel's legal defense.

Maude used Abigail's family influence to gain support for Mabel.

Jill played Hearts to declare a local protest in favor of the 'Trenton One'.  :)

I responded with an Ace as the British broke up the protesting group with cavalry.  Ha!  My replacement card was another Ace.

The sideshow trial of Mabel became more important than the arms cache delivery.  I wasn't quite able to get Mabel's husband, Richard the lawyer, back into the story so that the British could trick him, though.

I played my Ace to have Royal Governor William Franklin shut down all communications into and out of New Jersey.  The trial would be conducted in secret!  Better still, I drew another face card!

Nance played a Club.  Franklin used some of the parts from the clockwork agricultural equipment and the motorized plow to 'upgrade' Abigail's hidden motorcar.  Be afraid, be very afraid...

I finally had three face cards, and called the question.  With only two chips in play, I had 35 points, the Patriots had 31.  I got my two chips back doubled -- but lost the other four that were on the line.  The finishing narration had the arms cache not delivered, and a lawyer was tricked, but not Richard, as I had intended/expected; it was the lawyer Franklin had hired for Mabel's defense.  The judge for Mabel's case was, of course, Royal Governor William Franklin!  (This was the high-water-mark for the Tory cause, I'm afraid.  It was all down hill from here...)

Jill had the low card, and directed the cut scene.  Her earlier narration had been angling toward the Mohawk/apprentice objective, and she confirmed that with her cut scene.  The Martin Women, now dressed as men, joined with a group of shady characters who were running guns to the Mohawks.  (The 'friends' of the Martin Women were turning out to be very... colorful.)  In the guise of the 'Winchester Brothers', they decided that they would try to recruit the Mohawks to the Patriot cause.

Abigail and Franklin set off into the woods after the Martin Women, aboard the now heavily-modified, off-road (tracked!) motorcar, equipped with a plowblade in front(!)

During the action amongst the Mohawks, Jill repeatedly used her 'disguised as men' ability to draw a new hand, and had the 'Winchester Brothers' goad each other on in portraying obnoxiously manlike behavior, (scratching, spitting, and swearing), so her hand size was five cards.  She had come up with the strategy of discarding handfuls of face cards instead of playing them, to make it harder for me as the Tory player to get at them.

I played a 4 to discover secrets -- and declared that the Mohawk chief would only speak to the two diplomatic parties after they had conducted a sweat lodge ceremony.  Buckongahelas then discovered the 'Winchester Brothers' secret because they refused to disrobe!  Nance playing ?s to do the unexpected had Franklin go to the sweat lodge instead.

I couldn't resist.  I played a 10 to have Franklin's clothing and gear stolen while he was inside the sweat lodge, then played a 9 to have him kidnapped by two burly young Mohawks as he exited the lodge!  I narrated that a sack was placed over his head and he was hustled off into the woods.

Nance immediately played Hearts and Clubs:  exhibiting great courage, Franklin lawyered away, starting an argument between his captors which allowed him to slip away -- naked except for the strategically re-located sack.  (Yes, the size of Franklin's sack was commented upon.  Repeatedly.)

He arrived back at the encampment just in time to see someone impersonating him!  It was Buckongahelas of course -- he spoke at length of the power of British heat-weapons and the puniness of the rebel's gunpowder.  As Franklin, he endorsed the Mohawks joining with the British, and sending the chief's son to learn their ways...  (I erred here.  I was doing this to put a chip in play to Block a Diamond -- but when I looked again, the Diamond I wanted was not at the end of a straight, it was part of a set.  Darn.)

Rachel and Grace approached the false Franklin, and as Rachel spoke to him, commenting that British heat-weapons were big and bulky, Grace drew a small pistol from the back of Rachel's waistband and shot the impostor!  Jill played Hearts and Spades supporting her characters martial and unorthodox actions.

Nance had Franklin buy some clothes from the Mohawks; spending money allowed her to draw a new hand.

I played a 6 to have the Chief's son demand that Grace be brought before his father on charges of murder, but it was too late, the question was about to be called.  I lost the Objective, by 4 points.  I narrated Buckongahelas slinking off into the woods, wounded, with his cronies.  The Mohawk chief's son would not be apprenticed to General Gauge after all, and the Mohawks were indeed impressed by the Patriot's actions. 

Maude had low card, and directed the cut scene.  Since it was getting late, we went right to the Primary Objective.  I was down to only three Tyranny chips!  She framed the situation as the Patriots motored into Savannah, with Franklin all dressed in buckskins, preparing to do some reconnaissance around the customs house. 

Since Abigail was motoring, Maude claimed a Joker.

Reconnaissance around the customs house meant satisfying Franklin's curiosity -- and Nance increased her hand size to 5.

I played a 7 to have a British patrol fine the PCs for speeding, and then a 10 to confiscate their vehicle.  Unfortunately, neither play got me a face card.

Jill played Spades and Hearts to conduct patriotic yet shady dealings -- the 'Winchester Brothers' bribed some officials to get the motorcar back.

Franklin used his connections to find a friend who had a carriage house that could house Abigail's motorcar, and the Patriots fell to discussing strategy.

Nance had Franklin tinker with the motorcar again, adding a Miraculous Lighting Rod mount, and played Clubs for Cleverness. 

I played a 3, and had the Admiral bring the British fleet into port in Savannah.  He sent troops into every household, impressing unattached persons, indentured servants, and slaves.  With the new manpower and the money from the customs house to buy provisions, he would soon be ready to undertake his new charge -- the blockade of New York harbor!  One chip in play for me.

Maude had Abigail use her connections and money, playing Diamonds to the table, and arranged to have as many indentured servants and slaves as possible smuggled out of town to keep them out of the Admiral's clutches. 

Shedding their disguises, the Martin Women used their underworld contacts to assist in the evacuation of Savannah.  Jill played Spades and Diamonds to the table melds.

Nance called the question before I could get another chip in play, and was immediately seconded.  Since I had no stockpile of Tyranny chips, my score was very low, only 14, counting my lone chip in play.  The Patriots had 17 cards melded, and won the Primary Objective.  The final narration had the Patriots heading north again, in the heavily-converted motorcar-cum-tank.  The Admiral and the British fleet, with their plans foiled in Savannah, would not be able to blockade New York harbor after all.

Overall, everyone had a good time, and everyone said that they would be willing to play Sons of Liberty again.  Despite the rules questions above, the game played well using the rules decisions we made.

Maude, Jill, and Nance all complained that there were times that they wanted to do something, but did not have the cards in their hands to match their intentions -- or they had cards of the proper suits, but that did not fit the existing melds.  The struggle to find some way to play the cards they had was quite a spur to creativity, however.

As the Tory, I often felt that I was outnumbered, and opportunities for action were getting away from me.  Most of the time, I was struggling to figure out things to narrate into the fiction that would allow me to play the cards I had in my hand.  Finding opportunities in the fiction to use the Tory Figures special abilities was much easier for me -- but often there was no applicable meld on the table, so the idea went to waste.  I suspect that playing as the Tory will not be as much fun for most people as playing as one of the Patriots, and I look forward to getting a chance to play a Patriot Figure next time around.

------
DainXB

As the Tory, I often felt that I was outnumbered, and opportunities for action were getting away from me.  Most of the time, I was struggling to figure out things to narrate into the fiction that would allow me to play the cards I had in my hand.  Finding opportunities in the fiction to use the Tory Figures special abilities was much easier for me -- but often there was no applicable meld on the table, so the idea went to waste.  I suspect that playing as the Tory will not be as much fun for most people as playing as one of the Patriots, and I look forward to getting a chance to play a Patriot Figure next time around.

I was totally grooving on playing Sons of Liberty.  I actually chastised Seth for setting our game in the heart of the action rather than starting at the beginning of the campaign, because I fully expected to want to play many sessions.  Choosing a character to play was hard because they were all so cool...Choosing the extras (whatever those things are called) was even harder...because they were all so cool I wanted all of them.

But the actual game play left me cold and entirely disinterested in playing again with current rules.  There was no plot...no real story...no characterization...nothing...just a never ending series of mad cap shenanigans and narrative one-ups-man-ship.

Oh sure...it was fun...in the same sense that smack talking with your friends watching some bad movie on Mystery Science Theatre is fun...but it wasn't something worth doing twice.  Seth was so overwhelmed by the speed of our play that most of what adversity there was came from the revolutionaries smacking each other around...there was some funny sequences where I as Ethan Allen got one of my Green Mountain boys Moose elected captain because Fanny was incompetant.  In another I took Sam Adams clockwork armor, and used it to make a bunch of clockwork moose for my Green Mountain Boys...and clockwork Green Mountain boys for my moose...Lots of funny stuff (and I hereby officially forget and disavow any of the completely unacceptable, inappropriate, and undeserved things that those horrible people did to poor Ethan).

But as a game...rather meh all told.

My serious advice is to decide this game is a card game with some neato revolutionary flavor (much the way Guillotine is a card game with some neato French Revolutionary flavor) and dump all the extraneous RPG parts all together.  --OR-- decide this game is an RPG and overhaul the card mechanics to better serve the needs of an RPG (like ditching the real time play in favor of turns where players can actually craft something interesting to say rather than blurt out the first silly thing that lets them lay down cards).

Right now its straddling the line and not doing either well, I'm afraid.

GreatWolf wrote:

As the Tory, I often felt that I was outnumbered, and opportunities for action were getting away from me.  Most of the time, I was struggling to figure out things to narrate into the fiction that would allow me to play the cards I had in my hand.  Finding opportunities in the fiction to use the Tory Figures special abilities was much easier for me -- but often there was no applicable meld on the table, so the idea went to waste.  I suspect that playing as the Tory will not be as much fun for most people as playing as one of the Patriots, and I look forward to getting a chance to play a Patriot Figure next time around.

I had this experience as well in my own playtest of the game, which I've not yet written up because I'm a bad person.  In particular, I found that I ran out of cool things to say to make the game fun for the Patriots.  If I couldn't push against them, they had nothing to push back against.  Additionally, we actually ran out of cards in the deck, because the Patriots just overwhelmed me with their card play.  I would struggle to narrate something evil so I could try to get cards out of my hand, but they had already passed me by.  As such, I could never call the question.  But then, the Patriots just kept jumping on me until we were out of cards.  They never thought to call the question, because they knew that they had me dead to rights.

Valamir wrote:
But the actual game play left me cold and entirely disinterested in playing again with current rules.  There was no plot...no real story...no characterization...nothing...just a never ending series of mad cap shenanigans and narrative one-ups-man-ship.

Wow, Dain, that is an AWESOME playtest report.  Thanks for all the detail; this will be very useful!

Regarding your questions, and a couple points...
a) You got Tory Figures right.  You get one more each level.
b) New Hand you get once, and need to get out of your associated favored circumstance and then back into it to draw again.  However, New Hand means everybody can draw a new hand, not just the Patriot that triggered it.  And, yeah, playing face cards to the table is an excellent Patriot strategy!
c) There will be a map of the colonies in the final book, absolutely.
d) When you discard face cards from your original hand, the extra chips come from supply, not your budget.  So discarding face cards is your opportunity to win more chips; it does not put you at greater risk.
e) Feeling outnumbered as the Tory player is somewhat normal.  After all, you are.  Especially with energetic Patriot players, the Tory role really requires you to step on up and get crazy.  One minor point that might help is that you do not have to play cards in order to narrate; you narrate in order to play cards.  Which means you can have your Tories doing all sorts of things whether or not you are playing a corresponding card.  This can let you "push" as Seth points out, and it can let you set up situations where you can play other cards and chips.

Sounds like each level was pretty close, which is great.  If you happen to play again, I'd love to hear if the narrative constraints eased with familiarity with the rules.

P.S. I thought I had included "obnoxious and disliked"!  I will certainly have to fix that!

Thanks again, Dain!

Valamir wrote: There was no plot...no real story...no characterization...nothing...just a never ending series of mad cap shenanigans and narrative one-ups-man-ship.

Dain, do you think your experience would have been much different if, instead of putting two Tyranny of your pool into the mix for the first round, you put two from supply?  That would have given you two more Tyranny to play with in the third level.  This would have brought that last round from 14/17 to 16/17, and that's not counting any change that you might have been able to wreak by playing those two chips.