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The Man Unmasked
United States
Jackson
MS
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I recently picked up a copy of "A Penny for My Thoughts" because, well, it sounded like a really novel concept and the PDF was cheap. I've had it for a couple of weeks now, read through it once, and played it once. Here's a little something something for those of you giving it an eye.
Concept:
Improv theatre meets RPG. The players, for various reasons, have all suffered profound retrograde amnesia. Their pasts are a complete and total mystery to them due to some unknown trauma. Gathered together at the Orphic Institute-a research hospital that specializes in memory loss-the players engage in a medically induced "group consciousness" of sorts to help each other regain their memories. After all, the other members of the group are able to access your memories through the group mind because their minds aren't blocking out your trauma the way yours is. Working together, players will each regain three memories before deciding whether they want to keep their memories or continue living their lives in potentially blissful ignorance.
Appearance:
This is a beautiful book. Visually, it drips with theme. The entire book (less the "Where I got the idea for the game" section) is presented as a genuine artifact from the game. The page layout looks like you're reading through the Orphic Institute's files and research materials (complete with photographs of various institute researchers). The rules are written to be read while playing as an instruction manual for the Mnemosyne treatment. I own the PDF version, so I can't speak for the quality of the soft cover binding, but it's at least aesthetically very nice.
Game Play:
The mechanics are very unique, at least as far as RPGs go. The three primary mechanics are all common practices among improv troupes, an inspiration the author acknowledges. They are the practice of guided questions, "yes and," and ask-fors.
Ask Fors: When you need an idea in improv or simply want to involve others, you use what's called an Ask For. ("Oh no! It's a..." at which point the audience tells the performer what it is and the performer rolls with it. In APFMT, Ask Fors are used in two ways. First, they provide memory triggers, randomly assigned short phrases that become the basis for the memories you recover: "The smell of old leather," "shoes that are too tight," "my mother's favorite recipe". They also provide choices while the player actively remembering (referred to as the Traveler). When the traveler reaches a major decision in his memory, he is offered two possible options (Ask Fors given by other players saying what the Traveler does next). The traveler chooses one option and proceeds with the memory.
Guided questions: In improv, one shouldn't ask a question unless it moves the scene forward or suggests some direction, otherwise it leaves all of the duty to come up with ideas to the person being asked. It's the difference between "What's that over there?" and "Did you see that monster over there?" The guided question implies an answer. Yes, there is a monster over there. It doesn't leave the answerer completely hanging as to what should come next. In APFMT, after the traveler pulls a memory trigger, each other player asks a guided question to help the traveler shape and direct the memory.
Yes And: Also known as Accept and Build, in improv when a suggestion is offered, you accept the offered idea ("Yes") and then build upon the idea by adding your own ideas to elaborate ("And"). This ensures that everyone's contribution to the scene, or in this case, the memory is incorporated rather than shoved aside and discarded (intentionally or otherwise). The answer to every guided question in APFMT is given in the "yes and" format. "Did the dog belong to you?" a player might ask, to which the traveler accepts the idea and builds upon it. "Yes, and I got him for my nineth birthday." In this way, everyone gets to contribute some direction and detail to each players memories ("Yes"), but the Traveler still gets to choose how the suggestion affects the overall memory ("and").
These elements are tied together with the pennies, which paces the game, determine who goes in when, and determines the complexity each memory. It also rewards good Ask Fors, seamlessly helping all players help each other.
Overall Impressions:
All in all, A Penny for My Thoughts is a very clever, though very nontraditional role playing game. There is no overarching plot, no characters working together to take out a big bad guy (unless you use the variant versions). The game plays smoothly and can be played without anyone reading the book before your first runthrough. That being said, I recommend at least one player read through the book first. Some of our Ask Fors got a little long, and there was some slight confusion about sequence. There is a handy flowchart and quick reference sheet in the back, but when you're reading through for the first time mid play, it doesn't occur to you to look for the quick reference (our fault partly, as they do have very convenient in-text cross referencing).
The game was a lot of fun and everyone loved the characters they came up with. While it's fun in itself, it really shines when used as a tool for other games. We used it as a tool for character creation for a game I am preparing to run and everyone was thrilled with their characters and were all eager to play these realistic people with their own motivations and goals. This is probably how I would recommend the game be played, honestly. If you're into improv, it's also a FANTASTIC character building exercise.
When it comes down to it, APFMT is all about character and character development. If that's what you love about role playing, pick it up and play it as is. You'll love it. But if you're into story, pick it up and use it to generate characters to guide those stats you fill out (rather than coming up with a character to justify those stats). You'll love it. If you're a powergamer who loves to kill the biggest beasties, wield the biggest sword, and find the biggest treasure. Keep on walking. It's not for you.
My rating:
B+ as a standalone.
A+ as a character creation tool for other games.
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The Harnish
Germany
Duisburg
NRW
Cult of The Harnish Leader
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The sessions of Penny that I've played at cons are generally awesome and can be quite eye opening since sometimes your "journey" really does take you places where you never expected: In my last game it turned out I lost my memory after I tried to commit suicide by driving myself and my wife off a bridge.
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The Man Unmasked
United States
Jackson
MS
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I agree completely! It's really neat to get to know your character as you go like that.
The session we played over the weekend, my character ended up being something of a con man. Happy memory? Learning as a kid how easy it is to set your enemies up to destroy themselves after unintentionally getting a bully expelled. Unpleasant memory? Realizing after he got out of jail for a small con that he was a con man and he always would be. He got amnesia because he was watching his son (whom he just found out he had) at school and teaching him his method for dealing with bullies when an angry parent assumed he was a child molester and beat the crap out of him.
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