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

[Random221B]

"Majestic Seven" Characters

Ok, so here's what I have so far on the PCs. I have decided to give each of them a nickname, and use that--along with their archetype--to identify them. I plan to let the PCs determine in their questionnaires how most of them got their nicknames, and what their real names are. The characters are:

"Spider Jack" (the Marshal)
"Angel Eyes" (the Hardened Outlaw)
"Preacher" (the Gambler/Gunslinger)
"Devil Kate" (the Soiled Dove)
"Whistler" (the Indian with a Secret)
"Sarge" (the Former Slave/Gun-for-Hire)
"Boston Charlie" (the Easterner with a Secret)

Since I am likely to have a fairly mixed-gender group, I am planning to be flexible about male/female roles, allowing females into roles they would have been unlikely to be seen in, historically. I assume there are probably historical precedents for women in many of these roles; I just haven't been able to track them down yet. Thus, I am planning to make only three roles gender-specific: "Devil Kate" (female, because I want the archetypal western "soiled dove"), "Preacher" (male, because he was studying to be a minister, fought for the Confederacy in the civil war, and became a noted gambler *and* gunslinger...just seems more of a stretch to fit a female into a role like that, historically), and "Sarge" (because he is an educated former slave who fought for the Union in the civil war, and then made a living as a gun for hire...again, like "Preacher," I could see a female character in any one of those roles, but all of them stretches historical credibility a little farther than I want.) The other four can be either male or female. After all, "Jack" could be short for Jacqueline, and "Charlie" for Charlene or Charlotte.

Here's what I have so far for each of the characters, that I plan to set up through their questionnaires:

"Spider Jack" is a U.S. Marshal who has captured "Angel Eyes" and is transporting him for trial.

"Angel Eyes" is a charming and charismatic--but hardened and ruthless--outlaw, wanted for a number of very serious crimes, but also a bit of a folk hero. A little bit Jesse James, and a little bit Russell Crowe's character from "3:10 to Yuma."

"Preacher" is from the deep south originally, studied to become a minister, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War where something terrible happened to cause him to lose his faith. He came out west and fell into all the big sins and vices--gambling, booze, sex...and sometimes killing. He has crossed paths with--and made friends with--one of the other characters in the past.

"Devil Kate" is the classic western "hooker with a heart of gold," but with a rough and possibly shady past. She once had a serious affair with one of the other characters. She is leaving her old life behind and trying to start anew somewhere. I am thinking she came into some kind of inheritance somehow, and is also running from something she left behind.

"Whistler" is a Hopi (or possibly Navajo) Indian, raised by their own people, but for some reason has spent much of their adult life living in the white man's world. They fell in with the wrong kind of people, and was once a member of "Angel Eyes' " gang. When they tried to give it up and walk away, "Angel Eyes" had them framed for some terrible crime they didn't commit. Now they're on the run, hoping to clear their name, or at least find some place to settle, not be noticed, and find some kind of peace.

"Sarge" was a slave before (and possibly during part of) the war, who killed his own master, to escape to the north. (I'm thinking the master was somehow connected to one of the other characters, in a positive way...relative, mentor, friend, etc.) He joined one of the all-black units of the union army and fought in the war, earning the rank of sergeant. After the war, he made his way west to make a life for himself, and fell into a career as a hired gun. Now, he's been doing it for almost 15 years, and is ready to settle down and do something else with his life.

"Boston Charlie" is a retiring undercover Pinkerton agent from back east, who had some terrible experience during their last assignment, which convinced them to resign and seek a new purpose in life, out west. As a favor to the agency, they are doing one more undercover job for the Pinkertons on the way.

As you can see, I have more ideas for some of the characters than I do for others. Do folks think I am establishing *too* much about some of these characters? I am trying to leave the hows, whys, and wherefores open for player answers, while providing interesting background hooks, but am I going too far?

I would love to hear any thoughts.

Thanks for your time.

Best,

~~~~Random

 

[Piratecat]

A few quick suggestions, with more to come. This is a great idea.

- I agree, too big and sprawling. Perhaps they can seal off the opening to the third world without entering?

- Give the players something to fight for. Have several survivors in the town (women, kids, and an old crusty prospector) who beg for their help. Kill at least one of these in order to show that the villains are villainous. Consider having the prospector infected, but in denial. (Alternative, a woman who is feverish and apparently pregnant, but is implanted with a spiderling, is pretty gruesome.)

- Deal with more investigation and growing horror than out-n-out combat, especially through the middle part of the game.

- Remember that monsters are scarier when the PCs can't really see or classify what they're fighting. Their imagination will do all the hard work for you. Have action occur at night, or perhaps in a dust storm.

Possible act structure:

Act 1: train crash. Initial investigation. Finding of first husk.

Act 2: zombies. Meet panicked, somewhat insane survivors. Begged to enter mines and blow them up - but the explosive is stored outside mine up on the mesa.

Act 3: learn that the explosive has been dragged into mine by *something*. Enter, learn that these tunnels are older than recent mining tunnels. Fight spiders. See horrific entrance to third world in sipapu; their presence alerts Seven Death. Try to get to explosive and detonate it before he and his brood reaches them.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

One pitfall I've noticed with scenarios that are fantastic in nature is that the players will spend a lot of time and effort just trying to figure out how the world works. Unlike a traditional RPG, where the rules have pretty well defined the 'game physics' and there's likely established setting information, Dread games tend to be made up from scratch. Resist the temptation to punish the players for not knnowing what their characters would know. Pulls should be for actions or skill checks, not basic 'how do things work here' type situations.

 

[Random221B]

A few quick suggestions, with more to come. This is a great idea.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Glad you like the idea. It just sort of started coming together for me all at once, so I knew it was the scenario idea I had to pursue first.

- I agree, too big and sprawling. Perhaps they can seal off the opening to the third world without entering?

Yeah, that's what my gut was telling me...it was too big. Plus, I am thinking now that having them not actually enter the Third World keeps it more mysterious, frightening, and threatening. Maybe some elements of the Third World are spilling out through the portal, making the tunnels and caves weirder and scarier.

As a side note...do you think tunnels and caves are "western" enough, even if they do extend off an old mine? Or am I running the risk of the game starting to feel "dungeon-delve"-y?

- Give the players something to fight for. Have several survivors in the town (women, kids, and an old crusty prospector) who beg for their help. Kill at least one of these in order to show that the villains are villainous. Consider having the prospector infected, but in denial. (Alternative, a woman who is feverish and apparently pregnant, but is implanted with a spiderling, is pretty gruesome.)

Had definitely planned to have a few townsfolk still alive, in order to give them people to fight for/protect. The feverish pregnant woman is inspired, though. I am definitely thinking I will use that one. I'm thinking I will also have a kid, who *isn't* slated to die...to cushion the blow, and give them someone to fight for all the way through. Kids seem a good choice for that kind of thing. The prospector is an interesting idea, too...

- Deal with more investigation and growing horror than out-n-out combat, especially through the middle part of the game.

Yes, that's what I was thinking. I figured it would kind of go "Train accident...make their way into town...be creeped out and wonder what's going on...discover the horror, and have a period of chaos and bloodshed fighting the husks...hunker down and defend while trying to figure out/investigate what the hell is going on, while s#!t gets weirder and scarier...figure out enough to head out into the badlands...first direct--but fleeting--encounters with the Anasazi along the way (perhaps in a dust storm, like you suggested)...into the mines/tunnels, serious encounters with the Anasazi...reach the sipapu, confront the horror, try to close it...get away, if there are any survivors.

What I'm not sure about is how they figure out what is going on during the investigative portion. I have a couple of thoughts--"Whistler" should recognize some things, and be able to relate some of the Hopi mythology, and "Sarge" is very well--but self--educated, so he might have some odd bit of occult lore or info. But I could really use some suggestions of encounters or avenues of investigation that could help them figure things out. They certainly don't need to learn or understand the whole background or underlying cosmology. Just enough to give them an idea of what's happening and how to deal with it.

- Remember that monsters are scarier when the PCs can't really see or classify what they're fighting. Their imagination will do all the hard work for you. Have action occur at night, or perhaps in a dust storm.

I was already intending the whole thing to take place at night. The dust storm is a really interesting idea too, though. I may have the weather starting to really act up, due to the intrusion of the Third World through the portal...so they need to cross the badlands from town to the mines/mesa in a wind-and-dust storm. And that's when the Anasazi will first strike directly at them, before vanishing back into the storm and darkness. What do you think?

Possible act structure:

Act 1: train crash. Initial investigation. Finding of first husk.

The train crash should be caused by something that either the Anasazi or the husks did...or possibly by the crazy weather caused by the intrusion of the Third World. I'm just not sure what, yet. I don't think I want it to just be like, a downed telegraph line pole or something. It should be something more shocking, that when the PCs see it, it will make them wonder "how the hell did *that* happen?"

As for the husks...I'm basically picturing a person who looks like they've been fed on by a giant spider...like a shriveled, withered, more mummy-like zombie. I'm also thinking that the PCs can find either cocooned townsfolk (still time to save them or too late?) and/or possibly empty cocoon husks/pods as well. My only concern is, that would most likely get the "spider" idea into the players' heads right away, and I'm not sure I want them thinking that quite so soon. Any thoughts?

Act 2: zombies. Meet panicked, somewhat insane survivors. Begged to enter mines and blow them up - but the explosive is stored outside mine up on the mesa.

Forces them to do more hard traveling, instead of going directly into the mines. I like it. They can have some pretty terrifying encounters climbing the mesa. The only question is, when they get to the top and discover that the explosive has been dragged off, they might feel like it was just a pointless, wasted trip. So they should be able to learn or gain something else useful and important up on the mesa. Don't know what yet.

Act 3: learn that the explosive has been dragged into mine by *something*. Enter, learn that these tunnels are older than recent mining tunnels. Fight spiders. See horrific entrance to third world in sipapu; their presence alerts Seven Death. Try to get to explosive and detonate it before he and his brood reaches them.

The first question that popped into my mind is, why have the creatures dragged the explosives into the mine? To hide it and keep it from being used against them? To use it themselves? To try to blow *open* the sipapu and complete the release of Seven Death? Something else?

Overall, I like it. It's definitely helping point me in the right direction. Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing more thoughts.

Best,

~~~~Random

 

[Hypersmurf]

Don't be afraid to ask for multiple pulls for especially difficult tasks.

Heh:

Piratecat: So let me get this straight. You're drunk...
barsoomcore: Very.
Piratecat: You have a broken ankle...
barsoomcore: Right.
Piratecat: And you want to head down the steep, slippery rock path...
barsoomcore: Run down. There's no time to lose!
Piratecat: Run down. In the middle of a thunderstorm, in the dark, while brandishing a loaded revolver.
barsoomcore: You have summarised my intentions exactly.
Piratecat:

Give me five pulls.

-Hyp.

 

[Epidiah Ravachol]

This is what I love about ENworld: far better advice than I could muster.

 

[Random221B]

One pitfall I've noticed with scenarios that are fantastic in nature is that the players will spend a lot of time and effort just trying to figure out how the world works. Unlike a traditional RPG, where the rules have pretty well defined the 'game physics' and there's likely established setting information, Dread games tend to be made up from scratch. Resist the temptation to punish the players for not knowing what their characters would know. Pulls should be for actions or skill checks, not basic 'how do things work here' type situations.

Oh, absolutely. That's a really good point, and I didn't intend to punish them for not knowing how things work. In fact, that's part of why I could use some advice for information source encounters or events, to work in ways for the PCs to find out what is going on, without them feeling stumped or beating their heads against a wall.

Also, the elaborate backstory of the Third World, the rise to the Fourth World, Grandmother Spider, the Twelve Majestic of Xibalba, etc., etc. is really mostly for me, to have a sold grounding in how things work and why things are happening the way they are, so that when the players do things I don't expect, I'll have a solid grounding from which to base how the enemies react. All the PCs really need to figure out is what's going on, and how to stop it. If they learn more of the background, that's gravy, but I don't consider it necessary for them to succeed.

As a side note...I got my copy of the book last night, and am reading it in bits and chunks where I can. So far, liking it every bit as much as I expected to.

Hoping to get more thoughts and suggestions. I'll be posting more about the characters in the next few days.

Best,

~~~~Random

 

[Crothian]

One pitfall I've noticed with scenarios that are fantastic in nature is that the players will spend a lot of time and effort just trying to figure out how the world works. Unlike a traditional RPG, where the rules have pretty well defined the 'game physics' and there's likely established setting information, Dread games tend to be made up from scratch. Resist the temptation to punish the players for not knnowing what their characters would know. Pulls should be for actions or skill checks, not basic 'how do things work here' type situations.

Ya, I didn't like that much either. The game is set up so when the action starts there will be plenty of pulls. It is an easy game to increase tension with small action events.

 

[Saracenus]

Found a copy of Dread at my FLGS (Guardian Games in Portland, OR... hey Angel) and a set of Jenga today, score!

After reading through this thread I am psyched to play or run this game. I have a lot of new players about to join my 4e campaign and I want them to get a taste for role-playing before they get into the roll-playing learning curve of first time D&D players.

Since they are Zombie survival horror fans (movies, TV, board, and video games) that seems to be an easy transition for them <G>.

As for using Dread in my D&D campaign I think I have the answer for my game. I am going to setup a Dread scenario involving an underground temple and a demonic cult that must be stopped. Have everyone answer questions about their hero and then game it out. When we complete the Dread scenario I will say, "You wake in a cold sweat in your tents after having a most vivid nightmare about the forgotten temple that you have been helping excavate." Welcome to a new day and it's time to crack the entrance you help dig out.

What they find inside will be influence by what they did or did not do in the Dread scenario and now the PCs will have a connection to the back story and the BBEV they encounter in the boss battle.

Thank you all who have contributed to this thread. It has been a joyful to see the excitement people feel for this game.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Ran my Dread MIA scenario another two times at GenCon, and had two different outcomes. Group 1 shot first and didn't bother to ask questions later, and ended up unknowingly ganking the good guys (although they did succeed at the mission). Group 2 was a little more cautious, and managed to 'win' with minimal casualties.

Man, I love this game.

Also, got to all-too-briefly chat with Epidiah while I was working the ENnies booth. Wish I'd had more time in the dealer hall to stop by and talk some more. His new Time & Temp game has me intrigued.