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I have a story about my favorite roleplaying game.
My favorite roleplaying game is Dulce et Decorum by Troels Ken Pedersen.
I& #39;ve played it only once, at Fastaval 2013.
My favorite roleplaying game is Dulce et Decorum by Troels Ken Pedersen.
I& #39;ve played it only once, at Fastaval 2013.
CW: English WWI poems.
This isn& #39;t a joke warning! Those of you who know the poems, know this. These poems are serious business.
So please, CW for a couple of vivid and horrible descriptions of WWI, written by people who were there.
This isn& #39;t a joke warning! Those of you who know the poems, know this. These poems are serious business.
So please, CW for a couple of vivid and horrible descriptions of WWI, written by people who were there.
In Dulce et Decorum, you play English volunteers in WWI. The characters are provided, and are 3 soldiers and 1 nurse. The soldier I played was religiously devout, and a little older than most of the soldiers around him. I don& #39;t remember his name.
The game plays in a set number of rounds, 5 or so. Each round consists of 3 stages.
I& #39;m going by memory! If you want to know details, you can find the game and check it out, and of course I& #39;ll cheerfully accept all corrections. Meanwhile...
I& #39;m going by memory! If you want to know details, you can find the game and check it out, and of course I& #39;ll cheerfully accept all corrections. Meanwhile...
In stage 1, there& #39;s a set situation that we play through. These situations are designed to make us REALLY care about our characters, not just in a heartstrings way but in a moral strivings way. We& #39;re involved in each others& #39; consciences.
In stage 2, there& #39;s a card mechanism for finding out who lives and dies. It& #39;s stark and pitiless.
In stage 3, to end each round, we pause the game and read aloud one of the great English WWI poems. So to end chapter 1, to lead off the game, it& #39;s all "In Flanders Field the poppies blow..."
(Let me reiterate. CW: Depictions of WWI written by people who were there.)
...But at the end of the game, it& #39;s "When you see millions of the mouthless dead across your dreams in pale battalions go."
Don& #39;t cheer for them. They can& #39;t hear you.
Don& #39;t cheer for them. They can& #39;t hear you.
It& #39;s a gut-punch of a game. Afterwards, when I saw Troels in the hallway, I told him I didn& #39;t know whether to hug him or hit him and I walked away. It took me a few minutes to gather myself to hug him. (I was always going to hug him.)
So that& #39;s the game but here& #39;s the story.
Fastaval, where Troels premiered the game, is a juried competition. Designers create games specifically for the convention. A panel judges each game on several criteria and the convention ends with an awards show.
Fastaval, where Troels premiered the game, is a juried competition. Designers create games specifically for the convention. A panel judges each game on several criteria and the convention ends with an awards show.
It& #39;s an interesting way to organize a game community. I& #39;m not here to endorse or decry. I& #39;ll say for certain that it has positives and negatives, and if you& #39;re organizing a game community, you would do well to study it.
Dulce et Decorum was in the running for at least one award that year. It didn& #39;t win. This is fine! It& #39;s my favorite roleplaying game, and that should be enough for any game.
No, just kidding. It& #39;s fine because...
No, just kidding. It& #39;s fine because...
It& #39;s fine because it& #39;s the judge& #39;s job to decide, not mine. They& #39;re the ones who have to make the call and stand by it.
I& #39;d hate to be a Fastaval judge with every gut in my body.
I& #39;d hate to be a Fastaval judge with every gut in my body.
But one of the judges, and this is hearsay, but one of the judges, who hadn& #39;t played the game, deducted points because he didn& #39;t understand what the poems added to the game.
And hearing this was a moment of crystal for me. I& #39;m like...
And hearing this was a moment of crystal for me. I& #39;m like...
Yeah, no, the poems aren& #39;t there to add anything to the game.
I mean good lord, you& #39;re going to put "In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning..." in subjugate service to some GAME?
I mean good lord, you& #39;re going to put "In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning..." in subjugate service to some GAME?
No, it& #39;s the game that serves. What do the poems add to the game? NO. What does the game add to the poems.
I don& #39;t remember my character& #39;s name. The events of the game are a blur. I remember how it felt, and I will love those poems FOREVER.
That& #39;s why it& #39;s my favorite RPG.
I don& #39;t remember my character& #39;s name. The events of the game are a blur. I remember how it felt, and I will love those poems FOREVER.
That& #39;s why it& #39;s my favorite RPG.
The end. Thanks for reading!
The game lives here, if you want to play it for yourself:
#dulceetdecorum">https://alexandria.dk/da/english #dulceetdecorum">https://alexandria.dk/da/englis...
#dulceetdecorum">https://alexandria.dk/da/english #dulceetdecorum">https://alexandria.dk/da/englis...
Lord I just downloaded the poem file and opened it and I& #39;m in danger of losing literal hours of my workday today.
I& #39;m working on a game to submit to #mascjam2019 and if I don& #39;t finish it this weekend, I probably won& #39;t get to, but here are these poems...
I& #39;m working on a game to submit to #mascjam2019 and if I don& #39;t finish it this weekend, I probably won& #39;t get to, but here are these poems...
