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

[Epidiah Ravachol]

I try to follow the classic rule of suspense that says "never let the players know exactly where the villain is." I make sure not to put all my eggs in one basket for exactly this reason. If the players still have something to be nervous about other than the tower, I think the pacing concern is at least partially mitigated.

That's excellent advice there.

It has been my experience that combining a dangerous situation with the live pre-pulls after the tower has fallen is enough to get hearts racing again. If the tower has just been rebuilt and you have a group of armed PCs squaring off with a roomful of crazed cultists, it is time to kick things into high gear. The first frothing cultist charges in with a strength and swiftness of action only found in madness. He is brandishing a stained knife, and you are going to have to pull to avoid an egregious chest wound. In fact, even if you prevent such a wound, the horrible blade will still cut deep enough into your defending arm to make you think twice about using it again (that is, unless you pull). It'll also be a pull to react in any way other than a defensively before he bowls through you and starts attacking your partner. If you do react in time, it will be a pull to hit him in such a way that he can't just ignore it in his mad fervor. And one more pull to do it without panicking and emptying half of your clip into him.

That's a possible five pulls to deal with just the first cultist (not including the pre-pulls which were at least three, but possibly more). That should be enough to hint to the players it might be time to retreat and regroup after their ally's death. Sort of the GM's way of saying, "This is a horror story and things at this very moment are pretty damn horrific."

 

[Asmor]

That's excellent advice there.

It has been my experience that combining a dangerous situation with the live pre-pulls after the tower has fallen is enough to get hearts racing again. If the tower has just been rebuilt and you have a group of armed PCs squaring off with a roomful of crazed cultists, it is time to kick things into high gear. The first frothing cultist charges in with a strength and swiftness of action only found in madness. He is brandishing a stained knife, and you are going to have to pull to avoid an egregious chest wound. In fact, even if you prevent such a wound, the horrible blade will still cut deep enough into your defending arm to make you think twice about using it again (that is, unless you pull). It'll also be a pull to react in any way other than a defensively before he bowls through you and starts attacking your partner. If you do react in time, it will be a pull to hit him in such a way that he can't just ignore it in his mad fervor. And one more pull to do it without panicking and emptying half of your clip into him.

That's a possible five pulls to deal with just the first cultist (not including the pre-pulls which were at least three, but possibly more). That should be enough to hint to the players it might be time to retreat and regroup after their ally's death. Sort of the GM's way of saying, "This is a horror story and things at this very moment are pretty damn horrific."

That's nothing, you should see how many AoOs my half-ogre master of the spiked chain gets!

Congrats, you've munchkinned a rules light system. Hehe, I kid, I kid.

 

[Graf]

All about the PDF when it comes out.

 

[Erywin]

Wow, I saw this thread awhile back and was like Jenga? ah no thanks... But now reading it all, sounds like an AMAZING system, definately going to pick this up for my next Halloween one shot!!

Cheers,
E

 

[ShadowDenizen]

I’ll be running this again at GenCon and locally. Any takers?

Are you kidding?
After that write-up (and as an avid horror fan since childhood!!), how can I refuse?

Count me in if you run a game locally!!

 

[Ace32]

Wow! What a compelling system.

Sadly, most of my games are run online .

However, I could try to pull together a group to run a game like this - though I don't many local gamer friends. Before I purchase, about how many people is recommended to have a good time at this game?

 

[Matchstick]

Quick question:

When playing, are people sitting around a table, like in a GenCon gaming room, or playing someplace where the table (and Jenga) are at least a little separate, like couches in a hotel room with a coffee table in the middle (but out of reach of feet, etc.)?

I'm picturing this as the latter, just because of the accidental bump factor.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Quick question:

When playing, are people sitting around a table, like in a GenCon gaming room, or playing someplace where the table (and Jenga) are at least a little separate, like couches in a hotel room with a coffee table in the middle (but out of reach of feet, etc.)?

I'm picturing this as the latter, just because of the accidental bump factor.

Not to mention the 'under the table' bump factor when someone else is drawing.

 

[Crothian]

I'm playing it at Origins. I'm really looking forward to it!!

 

[Pielorinho]

Not to mention the 'under the table' bump factor when someone else is drawing.

As we played it, if you bump the table (or shout "LOOK OUT!" at just the wrong moment) and the tower falls, you're the one that gets it, not the person making the pull.

I missed the advice from last month on multiple pulls at once; that makes a lot of sense!

Daniel