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Michael Stachiw
United States
Bayonne
New Jersey
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Though I've played quite a bit of board gaming for what its worth. I know rpgs are a different animal and wanted to get some suggestions.
1) Should I try to jump straight to this? Maybe GM a 1-2 player game not including myself?
2) If I shouldn't jump straight to this what would be a good stepping stone to this game?
3) Any helpful videos or podcasts introducing noobs to indepedent RPGs?
4) I read this is considered a GM-less RPG. Can you elaborate on this concept? Should I cover rules and framing the scenario but join as a character?
Thanks
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Marshall Miller
United States
Medford
Massachusetts
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Check out The Walking Eye podcast, they do three sessions of excellent actual play followed by a great review. Those episodes are what drove me to purchase the game in the first place. It should give you an idea of what the game is all about. Yes, 1-2 players is probably a great place to start.
For independent RPGs, check out these podcasts:
The Jankcast
The Podgecast
Narrative Control
Fear the Boot
Also check out:
Story Games forums
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Brian Poe
United States
Tucson
Arizona
Something that would have been purple if there was light to see it by scuttled across the floor.
Time is for Dragonflies and Angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.
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mstachiw wrote: 1) Should I try to jump straight to this? Maybe GM a 1-2 player game not including myself?
This is a hard game to play and especially to run. I've done it successfully once. This game works well with a smaller number of players but running will still require a significant setup and an idea for a story which will work well with characters. I recommend one or two different kinds of start, either a pregen character game so you can tailor a story to the characters backgrounds, or allow the players to make characters and then spend a really good amount of time writing a story that will work with those characters. I'm more than happy to elaborate on these if you want to know. I wrote a small session report of my con game on these forums for a general idea of what I did.
mstachiw wrote: 2) If I shouldn't jump straight to this what would be a good stepping stone to this game?
This game is difficult because of the dependence on the players particular insanity and the difficulty in making them combine into a strong story. I don't want to discourage any player from wanting to step into RPG's but this is quite a large problem to tackle for your first time. I can name quite a few games that are good for people who are interested in indie RPG's. But few of them can really "prepare you for dealing with the kinds of problems that you have to face running a game like this.
A Penny For My Thoughts
This is an amazing GM'less game with good structure which provides a good stepping stone. I highly recommend playing with the Shadow out of Memory scenario. My friends consistently get GREAT plays out of this.
Fiasco
Another great GM'less game which has had great success in my group.
InSpectres
This game is a great lighthearted indie game which is fun and easy to run.
Those should be some good starting points.
mstachiw wrote: 3) Any helpful videos or podcasts introducing noobs to indepedent RPGs?
Ryan Macklin's Master Plan is a good podcast to start with.
Paul Tevis (Penny for my Thoughts) has a good podcast Have Games Will Travel
Start there.
mstachiw wrote: 4) I read this is considered a GM-less RPG. Can you elaborate on this concept? Should I cover rules and framing the scenario but join as a character?
This is not a GM'less game. This is a very strong GM game. I've run this game 3 times and have only had what I call a success once. I would say it's up there on the advanced scale for GM's. It can be a really rewarding experience but it requires a lot of work to start and carry though to the end.
Penny and Fiasco are the strongest (IMHO) GM'less games out there... allthough I'm excited to check out Microscope.
Hope this helps.
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Marshall Miller
United States
Medford
Massachusetts
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Brian, what do you think makes this game so difficult to run?
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The Harnish
Germany
Duisburg
NRW
Cult of The Harnish Leader
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While I don't think the game is really difficult to run, I do think the system is a little harder to grok than the average indie game. Ideally you really want to look at the reason for the player(s) insomnia and work those in to the story.
I'm going to echo Brian's suggestions for GM-less games. Both Penny and Fiasco (especially Fiasco!) are very easy to learn, especially if you're open-minded, reasonably creative, and don't drag too much "trad" baggage in to the game with you (e.g., needing a GM). I've played both games with a lot of new players, including people completely new to roleplaying, and they all picked them up very quickly and had a lot of fun. In fact, I'm running Fiasco again tomorrow for a bunch of teens since it's their favorite game at the moment.
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Brian Poe
United States
Tucson
Arizona
Something that would have been purple if there was light to see it by scuttled across the floor.
Time is for Dragonflies and Angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.
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Mease19 wrote: Brian, what do you think makes this game so difficult to run?
Because people tend to create characters with interesting and complex storylines, I find it difficult to create a story which does not simply ignore those players characters intricacies or explore one and then another. I feel like the former is cheapening the game and the latter cheapens the experiences of the characters who are not in that sessions spotlight.
My successful play of this game had a lot to do with the fact that I wrote all the characters reasons for insomnia and had an idea which tied them all together before the game started. (It was a pre-gen con game.)
This games success requires a GM that is going to tie in very personal and fantastic elements to create a solid gaming experience for his/her players. This isn't a challenge I would give to a new GM with little RPG experience.
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Marshall Miller
United States
Medford
Massachusetts
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Granted, I have yet to play in or run a game of Don't Rest Your Head. However, I got the impression that you could could GM more by the seat of your pants. If I'm not being too nosy, why do you think your other games weren't as good as you had hoped?
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Brian Poe
United States
Tucson
Arizona
Something that would have been purple if there was light to see it by scuttled across the floor.
Time is for Dragonflies and Angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.
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I came up with an interesting idea for a campaign before the players made their characters about a war brewing between the wax king and the tax man and developed a fairly interesting hook for how the players would be involved but found it VERY hard to work the players particular insomnias into the fabric of the story. It's just not something you can ignore and the game has such solipsistic motivations for the characters (50 cents for that word please) that it's hard for a group to care that much about the motivations of the other characters while they try to deal with their own insanity.
It's just not an easy thing to do as a GM. I think the story has to walk a VERY fine line.
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