2008-03-25 : Conpulsion 2008 story 1: Poison'd
The charity auction raised £2,400 or £2,600 or something, for a charity called Breathtakers, a research and advocacy charity for obliterative bronchiolitis. (One of the Edinburgh gamers has a daughter who suffers from it.) The auction was great fun, full of trash talk and in-jokes, and things went rich awfully fast. I didn't win a thing.
But the four player slots in my Sunday afternoon Poison'd game were up for auction. It worked like this: "Who's interested in playing Vincent Baker's Poison'd game, hands please? Who's still interested for 10 pounds? 15 pounds? 20 pounds?" Once only four people had their hands up, that was the group, and that was how much they paid. The slots went for, ready? They went for £42 apiece. Pounds Sterling, the exchange rate with the dollar is about 1:2, so let's call it $80 a seat.
I felt ... under some pressure, yeah?
My four players were Eoin, Alan, Fiona and Sarah.
We played Poison'd. We played the hell out of some Poison'd. I had to run on to judge the 24-minute game design challenge or we'd've played long past our appointed hour and into the night. We ended at a nice image, but not anything like a final resolution, and we all wished it'd been the first session of a campaign and not a con game.
Here's a moment: I put "parted ways" into play on the table, moved all of the existing cruel fortunes to one side of it, and on the other side of it I brought some new cruel fortunes into play for sweet, posh Jenny (Fiona's character). "I'm bringing into play: arrest, because you're arrested. The constabulary, for your prison guards. Urgency, and it says 'soon: becalmment.' If you don't escape arrest before the urgency resolves, you'll be becalmed, and THAT might lead to disease or madness or whatever."
By now Sarah's cackling. "This game has rules for going cuckoo because you're stuck at sea? I LOVE THIS GAME!"
Sarah asked me at the end of the game if I'd make her and Bloody Frances famous, but, well, maybe the better policy is, what happens in Poison'd, stays in Poison'd. I'll give you our closing image, is all: Bloody Frances, dressed up to attend a dinner party at the Governor's of Jamaica, in a privy at his mansion. Dressed up, and dressed as a man, as always. At her feet, Judge Stilling's 14 year old daughter, disheveled and weeping. In Bloody Frances' hand, a big knife...
1. On 2008-03-25, Julia said:
I'm trying not to laugh too loudly because I'm in an airport.
Nice final image.
(Abyssinia would be jealous and, um, interested.)
2. On 2008-03-25, 'Jenny' said:
Becalming: The only *possible* way to catch some nasty disease in the game.
How often did Frances clean that thing anyway?
3. On 2008-03-25, Vincent said:
Did she ever clean it?
4. On 2008-03-25, 'Jenny' said:
I would like to take this opportunity to say "Ew". Also, I want to try hire some ruffians to kill off Mark before he has me followed :)
5. On 2008-03-26, Meguey said:
I was going "Eww" at "how often.."
Ew.
6. On 2008-03-26, Bloody Sarah said:
Hmm, hadn't thought about cleaning up until now. Now that I am thinking about it, I'd have to say - I doubt it ever even occured to her, bar a quick wipe to get the worst of the detritus off.
Eww.
And I didn't really mean any request to make us famous. I'm all facetiousness really (it's an Irish trait ;))
But yes, dratted responsibilities, trans-Atlantic flights, and other such minor things - already my life feels less....complete without the continuence of that game in it :)
7. On 2008-03-26, Pencil-Monkey said:
Something (almost) completely different:
Dude! Italian Dogs in the Vineyard! When did this happen? Was I sick that day or something? I've completely missed any announcements 'bout this you may have made. Ahh, you sneaky devil, you; You've been keeping this under wraps with malice aforethought, haven't you? Yeah, it's all part of the greater plan. No need to worry, my lips are sealed. This will be strictly between you, me, and anyone who might read this post. Mums the word. Mums Mums.
8. On 2008-03-26, Scimon said:
Glad you enjoyed the Auction. We do have fun running it. And one of these days I need to get me some Poison'd action.
But first I must finish the writing, all the lovely writing.
9. On 2008-03-27, Moreno R. said:
Hi, Pencil-Monkey!
You didn't see the DELUXE edition of Cani nella Vigna... ;-)
And Narrattiva will publish 1001 nights, too...
10. On 2008-04-03, Pencil-Monkey said:
Oh wow! Deluxe edition indeed, I'm drooling in my keyboard already! And at the paltry sum of 49,90 Euros? Hah! That's a real bargain. I mean, some game supplements are priced high enough that the Dow Jones would light up like christmas morning when they handed you your change, it's like you're buying Nigeria or something. This price tag, meh. More like buying Lichtenstein, tops.
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