Be it resolved: I should play more Fiasco.
The common gaming slot I need to fill is ~3 hours, with both veterans and randoes, with no prep.
That sounds perfect for Fiasco. I remembered at Nerdly why I adore it so much. With reasonable players, the stories get truly ridiculous and the laughter is never ending. I am pretty sure I almost died.
There's about a million playsets. Tell me some you love!
edit: Changing from a dumb prompt.
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My problem with Fiasco is that it depends heavily on the playsets and you can wear them out pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteI've had that problem! And there are now hundreds of playsets.
ReplyDeleteYou can usually tell a good one from a bad one by a quick glance at how the Relationships are built. Also remember that any given playset will probably be new for everyone else at the table, and that it never plays the same twice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a change in tone can make the game turn out very differently. Most players jump right into over-the-top silly mode in the first act. If you've gotten bored with that, get your table to agree to a more somber tone- like a straight film noir- and you'll get a much different story.
ReplyDeletewow, I apparently summoned both named members of Bully Pulpit. I remain surprised with how accessible you guys are. Though I suppose we did just spend a weekend together...
ReplyDeleteJason: You say to look at the relationships to figure out quality of a playset. I believe you talked about this recently, where a good playset will (generally) have all the relationships able to work with all the others. Is that about right?
Steve: That makes sense. In my most recent, a relationship was family: uncomfortably close step siblings, and we explored that in our first scene. It set us up to deal with weird sex stuff continuously, and to do so without taking it altogether seriously.
Which was great, but doing it every week could get overmuch. Any suggestions for how to frame fiasco scenes to avoid the over the top from the get go?
Obviously, you're both welcome to answer either question!
Just have a direct conversation before you start. "Are you all cool with playing a low key melancholy sort of Raymond Carver type story? Let's dial the zany way down and X-card anything that's out of tone, OK? Don't choose obviously funny setup elements."
ReplyDeleteMostly it's about setting the tone as a group up front, the same way you choose a playset. For example, "I'd like to play Boomtown, but more serious like Unforgiven or 3:10 to Yuma and less like Cowboys vs Aliens, you know?"
ReplyDeleteIf everyone is on board with that, you can use Fiasco to tell a deeper, more satisfying kind of story. And then next week you can go back to the silly "ice cream for dinner" style of play.
Someone who doesn't really nail the relationships either doesn't understand the game or hasn't put much thought into it or both. Don't play those playsets because they will suck.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know my favourite is the cash in bag. I also love The Ice!! I also liked the one set on a cruise ship, and pretty much anything where there are cultists afoot.
ReplyDeleteI've also played White Hole twice, sci fi shenanigans on a space ship spiralling a white hole. I loved the meat of the game, but found it difficult to marry the inevitable goal of "you're on a ship about to die. Don't die." with each individual character goal/need within the messy relationships. Would recommend outside of that, though.
I want to try Eclipse Phiasco soooo badly.
I'd love to play that new one about money in a paper bag!
ReplyDeleteI wonder.
ReplyDeleteFor anything where there's a known objective like getting off a ship, you could just about have a Need that applies to everyone and is really evocative, like the Object of half a million dollars in a paper bag.
Because, of course, a half a million dollars isn't an amount of money. It is a universal motive for murder.
Exactly. It sort of takes the movie plot and unifies it, and then you can have all the submotives and plot twists going on underneath it. Yes, I'm trying to get that half-million, but I'm also trying to get revenge on my ex-wife. Or keep the mob off my back long enough to GET the half-million.
ReplyDeleteI also have long wanted to play the HOA playset and the DC playset, because 1) I had an HOA and its politics were both hilarious and deeply frustrating, and 2) I fucking love Burn After Reading.
ReplyDeleteI know where some gamers will be tonight. You can bring Fiasco!
ReplyDeleteLauren McManamon, now I wish I had brought my Eclipse Phase meets The Expanse playset to Nerdly!
ReplyDeleteI would have to stop home first, which does complicate getting there in time. Maybe I can print the playsets I want.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI'm a complete noob--bought Fiasco a month ago, immediately made my own playset, and played Fiasco for the first time at Nerdly. But I loved the money-in-the-bag set. Made me want to adapt a screenplay from our game.
William Nichols, if you've ever got a Fiasco game going and need an extra player, I'm in.
Rachael Storey I can bring the book and companion and dice. So, alls you need is a playset.
ReplyDeleteRon Stanley You were so great! Remind me, are you in Nova?
William Nichols yes, that would've been a much better way to run it, having played white hole and the cash in bags. Streamline the needs, but give people other motivations that align with or challenge that unified goal.
ReplyDeleteI think the same applies. A ship going down isn't a lot of collateral damage. It's a motive for murder.
Ron Stanley that would've been so rad!! I'm here for a few weeks if you're in the nova area and want to play it
ReplyDeleteAlright. I printed up Home Invasion. Maybe I can sucker rope in some players.
ReplyDeletex-card for tone.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't considered that. I'm a little concerned it'd water down the x-card when you need it for emotional safety, but so long as it is discussed upfront as a thing that is happening, it should work.
Fiasco with people who have never played Fiasco before is simple:
ReplyDelete* A Nice Southern Town
* Agree not to do anything too crazy like aliens or psychics or anything
There just about isn't anything better than "A Nice Southern Town"
It's basically "Try A Different Way" if you're familiar with that tool from Archipelago. You could use it instead. The point is to be intentional and alert and gracious about being corrected.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols yes, I am in Nova, and I know about the thing tonight, but I have a prior commitment.
ReplyDeleteLauren McManamon Let me see what I can set up.
How about a differentiated "No" card instead of the X-card?
ReplyDeleteJason Corley, I favored Flyover for my first Fiasco, because I'm a midwest girl. It was super relevant.
Yeah, I think I'd want two cards.
ReplyDeleteAn x-card for "this is unsafe" versus a "try a different way" card, which is for tone.
If everyone at my table was Rachael and Ron and Jason, I wouldn't need to differentiate. That level of emotional intelligence isn't one I casually attribute at my open game nights.
A whole 'nother card seems like overkill to me! If you discuss it before hand and invite people to course-correct and model that behavior you are probably good.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thing from John Stavropoulos' original (well, as currently amended) document about the X-Card: "The X-Card does not have to be a tool of last resort. The less special it feels, the more you use it, the more likely someone will use it when it really is badly needed."
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that it's ideally suited for "tone," if it's fully incorporated.
That is an interesting thought, Paul! Normalize its use. Making it more accessible doesn't weaken it.
ReplyDeleteSmart people saying smart things!
ReplyDelete