Go Play NW Forums

Thought I'd throw some ideas at the wall for stuff I could run and see if any stick:

That's Drama: is pretty much in beta and although I originally intended it as a GM-less card-based RPG for rookies, it fails in that regard. I think it succeeds, though, in being a good mash-up of In a Wicked Age, Archipelago, and Misery Bubblegum - it's got the GM-lessness and generic setting of Archipelago; the oracles (sort of) and at-each-other's-throats of In a Wicked Age; and the trumping-and-uber-trumping card mechanics of Misery Bubblegum, which helps make conflicts play out much faster than In a Wicked Age. So ... it's a great choice if you can't find a game in the setting / genre you want - you can play this and we'll mash-up everyone's settings together. (Which might mean steampunk vampire medical drama, but ... that would be pretty awesome.) http://www.gamedevblog.com/thats-drama.html

Left Coast: Steve Hickey's alpha game-about-science-fiction-writers-in-California-in-the-late-sixties-early-seventies. I really want to *play* this game and wish someone else would run it, but I'll run it myself if that's what's wanted. I've read Philip K (that middle initial is important!) Dick's VALIS several times and multiple biographies of him so I'm sure I can nail this.

Starship: (working title) this is another alpha - I've only run it once, but it was fun, and it can only get better, right? It's a mashup of Danger Patrol and Apocalypse World. But GM-less. And in space. Star Trek-ish, but you know how Star Trek often explores some issue like racism or power corrupting? This doesn't do that. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TTn ... t?hl=en_US and one AP here - http://www.storygamesseattle.com/messag ... d/12350251
Oh - and its killer app - your position on the bridge determines your narrative authority - scanners and communications operators get a lot, everyone else, not so much.

Microcosm: I just came across this super-simple RPG by Levi Kornelsen and would really like to see how it plays, because it has a lot in common with That's Drama - generic setting and narrative-authority-as-a-resource. So another good option for "can't find the setting you want, let's make something up."

Can I build up critical mass on any of these?

Personally one of the big draws for me to sign up for GPNW (other than just wanting to try story games in general) is wanting to see some games at the Alpha stage. I'd certainly be interested in trying a few of these out, in particular Left Coast sounds like it has an interesting backdrop.

I won't have time to learn another game well enough to run it between now and GPNW, but if you run Left Coast I would definitely play.

I would like to give That's Drama a try if the players were on the same page of not going *too* gonzo. Maybe you could even pitch a couple settings that you've been itching to try yourself with some kind of "three-to-five-sentence theme document", and players that were enthusiastic about the pitch could sign up beforehand. "LA Noire + John Constantine mythos. Go!"

I love GM-less gaming and I really prefer to go non-gonzo with them. That's Drama and Starship are definitely intriguing.

I'm willing and wanting to play Left Coast.