What I Played

[DaniL]

FRI-01: Monsterhearts

This was a really fun game. Skins in play were The Ghoul, The Fae, The Werewolf, The Angel, and The Hollow. Since we'd all played before, our MC was able to speed up the set up which let us get to playing pretty quickly. As with previous experiences, it's awesome having everyone on the same page about the kind of story this system is designed to tell. I've never played with five people but it went well. Our MC was great at cutting scenes at opportune moments. This game was really messy, literally and metaphorically and I mean that in a good way!

SAT-01: Sagas of the Icelanders

I enjoy this AW hack! I am not expert on Icelandic culture or mythology but it seems to fit in with what little I DO know. I enjoy the gendered aspects. Playbooks used were The Man, The Wanderer, The Shieldmaiden, and The Seidkona. Since this was my first time with it, I wasn't sure about the moves and probably didn't use roll as much as I could have. I liked the "love letters" too. The story involved legal disputes, raiding, and of course magic. Our MC never let things stall and did a good job of giving everyone a chance to shine. Now that I have a better idea of how it works, I'd love to give this another try sometime.

SAT-02: The Lottery (Microscope)

I did The Lottery on SAT-02 and was pretty nervous but it turned out great. The four of us ended up playing Microscope. At least two of us that I remember had never played before. We told the tale of an empire in decline, which had a lot to do with the extinction of a very important plant, magic, and conflict between noble houses. It was a great introduction to the system. There were some cool Events and Scenes that painted a clear picture of what was happening.

SAT-03: We Can't Go Back (playtest)

I had the chance to playtest a game about normal people dealing with abnormal circumstances. Set-up was extensive but that is not a bad thing. It's rather like Fiasco where everyone rolls dice and assigns them to different aspects of their character. I really love the Anchor mechanic! It was a fun game with interesting characters and some chilling moments. The horror involved a painting and creepy children. I think the system would really shine in a muti-session arc. There weren't any major mechanical issues. A very smooth session.

SUN-01 AND SUN-02: Apocalypse World

I had never played Apocalypse World itself. Turns out I really enjoy it! We all had a great time with this and chose to continue the game in the second session and went almost to the beginning of the third. We had The Brainer, The Battlebabe, The Operator, The Hocus, and The Gunlugger in play. The tale involved deals gone bad and a disembodied power that had once been human (that's the simplest way to put it) who identified itself as The Ending of All. The PCs were all really interesting! I liked The Hocus especially. A balance of humor and horror and each character got a chance to strut their stuff. Even when my character wasn't in a scene (and our GM did a fabulous job of keeping screen-time balanced) I enjoyed seeing what the others were up to. It was great getting to continue with the same characters.

SUN-03: My Daughter the Queen of France

Another game I'd never had a chance to play before. I knew 3 of the other 4 (and they all knew each other) and everyone else had played before so I was pretty nervous about trying a new system with players I knew were great at the end of a long convention. It was a fun session. All the actors were members of Shakespeare's family which made it intense. The estrangement took place after the daughter was kicked out of college for academic reasons. The game ended in a ragequit by Shakespeare. It was challenging dealing with the different restrictions on each scene and fascinating to see the different interpretations of scenes and characters. Can't wait to try this again, maybe as Shakespeare.