[Dread] Jenga beat up my dice! My results from the indie horror RPG.

TarionzCousin · Jun 21, 2011

Where are the free Dread Jenga scenarios? I finally bought a Jenga game. I've owned Dread for a few years but have never played it.

morris443 · Jul 1, 2011

I am running Dread tonight for a group of my friends. Can't wait to give this game a serious try. I've listened to two actual play podcasts and have been interested for a few years by the mechanics. I actually used a JENGA tower in my 4e game once to build suspense and it was amazing.

We'll be playing 'Beneath A Metal Sky' and I've already gotten four of the questionnaires back. I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to pace the story well, and that the tower will fall sooner that I hope and then there will be no more tension for wrapping up the game, because we'll have a pretty fresh tower during the part of the game that should be tense.

Rel · Jul 1, 2011

morris443 said:
I am running Dread tonight for a group of my friends. Can't wait to give this game a serious try. I've listened to two actual play podcasts and have been interested for a few years by the mechanics. I actually used a JENGA tower in my 4e game once to build suspense and it was amazing.

We'll be playing 'Beneath A Metal Sky' and I've already gotten four of the questionnaires back. I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to pace the story well, and that the tower will fall sooner that I hope and then there will be no more tension for wrapping up the game, because we'll have a pretty fresh tower during the part of the game that should be tense.

See if you can position the players to have conflicting goals down the home stretch. If they are pulling against each other then the tower tension factor will ramp up VERY FAST.

Wednesday Boy · Jul 1, 2011

morris443 said:
We'll be playing 'Beneath A Metal Sky' and I've already gotten four of the questionnaires back. I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to pace the story well, and that the tower will fall sooner that I hope and then there will be no more tension for wrapping up the game, because we'll have a pretty fresh tower during the part of the game that should be tense.

Good luck! I wouldn't worry too much about the pacing. That was what I had the biggest trouble with but even though the rebuilt tower didn't give tension for the last players to escape everyone still had an enjoyable time. And I'm sure it's all about practice, so take the plunge and you'll be even better for your next Dread GMing!

Janx · Aug 21, 2011

i ran Beneath a Metal Sky last year for thanksgiving when some friends came into town. I used the quick start rules.

they had initial trepedations about leaving their ship unprotected, but decided locking it would be sufficient.

things started slow, as I had to make up the corridors and shape of the ship a bit.

The first attack and rush to get power back on went well.

I had 1 player sacrifice himself when they were climbing a shaft to go up a floor and were getting chased.

then there was some room to room running and hunting and locking doors.

The final race to the escape pod resulted in another sacrifice.

I did notice the doctor PC felt like there was less to do, so try to spot that kind of problem early in instigate some action opportunities. basically, PCs who aren't actively engaging (and taking risks) won't pull and make things harder for the eventual climax.

broghammerj · Aug 22, 2011

Quick question never having played this game. Is there ever a time where there are a bunch of pulls and that particular series of actions is resolved, but it leaves the tower in position in which the very next pull is going to make it fall?

Seems like there would be an unfun situation where everyone knew whomever had to make the next pull was a goner.

wedgeski · Aug 22, 2011

broghammerj said:
Seems like there would be an unfun situation where everyone knew whomever had to make the next pull was a goner.

I think part of getting into the spirit of Dread is relishing such moments.

Your crew know they've used up all their luck, and that it's only a matter of time before the inevitable happens.

Besides which, you'd be amazed just how long the tower survives when everyone is "sure" it's going to fall on the next pull.

Janx · Aug 23, 2011

broghammerj said:
Quick question never having played this game. Is there ever a time where there are a bunch of pulls and that particular series of actions is resolved, but it leaves the tower in position in which the very next pull is going to make it fall?

Seems like there would be an unfun situation where everyone knew whomever had to make the next pull was a goner.

there's no such thing, any such limitation lies in the mind of the puller.

With my patented Lift and Twist method, if ALL viable blocks (centers or edges) have been pulled, you can simply lift the top of the tower and flick out the single block and rotate the tower top in your hand and set it back down.

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changing topic a bit, one thing I found when I ran BaMS, was it felt a bit railroady to me. In the sense that once they got off their ship, I herd them toward one scene, then another, then another. Since the ship has no map, its all abstract, so locational strategy is minimized.

I'm pondering a zombie survival scenario, run as a more open, randomized situation.

Perhaps start if off like Dawn of the Dead, the players wake up with the initial discovery of zombies in their houses. From there, roll with whatever strategy the players choose.

Any car the PCs attempt to use has a 1 in 6 chance of a zombie waiting in it (players option to look before jumping in of course)

any barricade has a 2 in 6 chance of getting broken down when things get slow.

basically take some of the guiding what happens next and where the climax is and put it on whatever the players happen.

I think a zombie survival game would work out in Dread, as the concept itself is fairly open ended. The zombies make everything inherently dangerous, while PCs pursue general survival goals.

It should also work into Dread's ramp up cycle. The initial rush to escape immediate threat triggers early pulling to prime the tower.

Thoughts?

malcolypse · Aug 23, 2011

Yep. Dread is magnificent for zombie survival games, and the way to make it flow is exactly as you describe. Let them layout their zombie survival tactics, and let the zombies wear them down, until they have to do something spectacular to escape at the climax.

I love Dread.

I'm thinking of running an ongoing Bughunters-style game, where any loses are replaced between missions with new recruits, but the survivors get to play the same characters.

Early pulls would be to get extra information beyond the basic briefing, requisition extra or upgraded equipment, and the survivors could pull for promotions based on their performance in the last mission.

I was also thinking that there should be a way to simulate all the horrors of friendly fire that are seen in this type of movie, like when the Colonial Marine gets jumped by the critter and is dragged into the darkness, machine gun spraying wildly and hitting a teammate. Not sure how I'd do it, but I'd like to see something where the players worry about the tower even when it's not their turn.

Piratecat · Aug 23, 2011

Janx said:
there's no such thing, any such limitation lies in the mind of the puller.

With my patented Lift and Twist method, if ALL viable blocks (centers or edges) have been pulled, you can simply lift the top of the tower and flick out the single block and rotate the tower top in your hand and set it back down.

That... that's brilliant. Damn. Never even occurred to me. Playing my scenario Separation Anxiety at GenCon, we got in a situation where you literally couldn't make another pull without toppling the tower. The tension stayed incredibly high. Remember, you're never obligated to make a pull and can always decline. Then it's just a matter of "when's the most dramatic moment to knock the tower down?"

I'm finally retiring Separation Anxiety after about 15 runs. The PCs are married reality show contestants in the process of divorcing, on location down in Mexico. It's remarkably fun, mostly because it starts by pitting the PCs against one another. This destabilized the tower early on but not (usually) enough to topple it; during the part where everything gets scary and goes to hell, they're staring that unstable tower in the face. It does a great job of maintaining nervous tension.