Rules for the Game Master and Players
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Party Conversations
Rules for the Game Master and Players |
We will use an example of three people playing a single story line. Every game has a minimum of eight characters and multiple story lines within.
The three characters are Sid the Spy, Sceanna the
Scientist, and Al the Government Agent.
Sid the Spy's goal is to find a bomb. Al the Agent's job is to find the Spy in
order to forward his career. Sceanna the Scientist's job is to deliver the bomb
to the Spy and get paid for it. Sceanna the Scientist also wants to make sure
the bomb is used to blow up Burger World because she hates Burger World.
It is immediately apparent that the scene is set for a lot of
tension and covert action.
Sceanna the Scientist cannot just walk up to people and say, "Hey, are you
the spy who wants the bomb?" Even though Sceanna may not know a government
official is at the party, she would still want to exercise caution because
anyone trying to sell a bomb to a spy would be wanted for questioning by the
FBI.
Sid the Spy meets Al the Agent first, and they exchange
pleasantries about the weather. They also discuss what brings the other to this
very busy place. Al the Agent tells Sid the Spy that he is actually thinking of
starting a new business out in the area and is looking for new business
partners. Sid the Spy inquires as to the nature of Al's business. Al replies
with something about his business being a little secret. To this Sid the Spy
replies, "interesting." Al asks Sid the Spy what he does for a living.
Sid replies that he is a salesman and is actually at a trade convention looking
for a specific highly scientific device. Al laughs and says, "Like what? A
bomb?" Both of them laugh.
Sid the Spy goes to eat. Sceanna the Scientist goes up to
talk to Al the Agent about the weather. Al the Agent tells Sceanna the Scientist
about his new business opportunity, and Sceanna the Scientist, lacking any
creativity, replies that she is a scientist and is here on a fact finding
mission against Burger World. Sceanna then spells out to Al the Agent Burger
World's scam to get people hooked on their burgers by lacing them with cocaine.
Al is very interested in this although it has nothing to do with his first goal
of finding the spy. His second goal was to further his career. This tip about
Burger World seems interesting. He asks Sceanna the Scientist more about it, but
Sceanna does not want to give out any more information.
Al the Agent goes to eat, and now Sceanna the Scientist and
Sid the Spy talk. The same stories are passed back and forth. Sid on the one
hand could care less about Burger World, but he does keep saying,
"Interesting." This is the agreed upon code word for the scientist to
recognize the spy. Sceanna isn't sure now whether or not to give the bomb to the
spy because the spy isn't going to use it to blow up Burger World.
Sceanna goes back to Al the Agent and tells him, "Since
you're so interested in the Burger World scandal, what would you say if I told
you there was a spy here?" Al suddenly takes Sceanna to a secret location.
They work out the deal: If she can deliver the bomb to the spy where he can see
them, then he won't press any charges against Sceanna. They agree upon this.
Al the Agent hides in a coat closet. Sceanna tells Sid the Spy that she has what
he wants. Sid the Spy says that he doesn't know what Sceanna is talking about
but will follow anyway. Sceanna says, "Oh, I think you'll find it very
INTERESTIThe Slums."
The spy says, "Oh, interesting?"
The two of them stand in front of the closet. At this time
the Game Master is present because the scientist's character sheet states that
the Game Master must be present if she gives away the bomb.
Sceanna the Scientist gives Sid the Spy the bomb. Al the
Agent steps out of the closet with his gun drawn and tells both Sid and Sceanna
to put their hands up. Sid tells the Game Master that he would like to draw his
own gun and "shoot" the agent. The Game Master says that the agent had
his gun drawn long before, and Sid would not get a chance to draw before he was
shot. Sceanna tells the Game Master that she wants to do something with the bomb
because the agent has double-crossed her.
The Game Master is intrigued and allows action to continue. Sceanna the
Scientist slowly reaches for the bomb and tells the agent that if she is shot,
the bomb will fall to the floor and detonate. Sceanna then tells the agent to
drop his gun.
A Game Master should have the foresight to see many of the
possible endings of this game. Sid the Spy, for example, might decide to draw
his gun while the scientist and agent are engaged. Who knows? The reason for
spelling out this long story is to show how the following sentences led to all
this fun and chaos:
The three characters are Sid the Spy, Sceanna the
Scientist, and Al the government agent.
Sid the Spy's goal is to find a bomb. Al the Agent's job is to find the spy to
forward his career. Sceanna the Scientist's job is to deliver the bomb to the
spy and get paid for it. Sceanna the Scientist also wants to make sure the bomb
is used to blow up Burger World because she hates Burger World.
Sid the Spy and Al the Agent both made up their own
stories about what they were doing there even though it wasn't spelled out for
them. Sceanna the Scientist used her own creativity to use the bomb as a
bargaining tool. During the confrontation, the Game Master will have to decide
if the bomb will truly detonate when it hits the floor. However, the Game Master
should not tell anyone whether or not Sceanna is bluffing.
A lot of unplanned creativity sprung from a fairly
straightforward situation. The Game Master must be prepared for all of it.
The Game Master does not have to keep track of everything. A lot of action will
be taken care of outside of the Game Master's presence. Players will contact the
Game Master in the event of special situations. In the meantime, the Game Master
should wander around the party and enjoy the party conversations.
Enjoy Party Conversations!
©2005 Games
For the Mind. All rights reserved.