Self-realization and Unknown End-points in Games AND in Teaching

Ron Edwards continues to touch on issues that are at the core of what teaching should be about (and also what some game experiences can be about), and that has prompted me to reflect further about my profession and my work with students. See the full conversation at Adept Play. Ron has also been reflecting on some of the toxic effects of social media and his thoughts are leading to some exciting changes that are in the works. Stay tuned!

Ron wrote:

“The second term [“self-realization”] might look out of place, but as I see it, it's necessarily more relevant to K-12 teaching than is safe to admit. This teaching isn't just offering a social service, it's developmental intervention - a risky and conflicted form of parenting, like it or not.”

Self-realization is not out of place. I totally agree that, as a high school teacher, I have an obligation to do much more than just teach content or to build skills. The (often unstated) developmental work of teachers is crucial . . . though many teachers do not receive much direct help that equips them for that role. At least in my case, I was never told much about that aspect of my work. I’m hesitant to equate teaching with parenting, though there is overlap and, in an ideal world, teaching and parenting should work together (though differently) to help young people achieve independence, self-reliance, and fulfillment. On any given day, some of my student can have as much time in my presence as they have contact with their parents, and that gives me a deep sense of duty that goes beyond delivering course content.

“My one intended input is this: in none of the topics I mentioned above, can the result be inserted or implanted, it can only be cultivated. So the game might not work, or if it works, its degree of engagement may vary from person to person, or, and most importantly, for every person so engaged, the reflection may yield varying conclusions.”

Yes. The levels/types of engagement and end-points of reflection will vary from student to student. I’d take it one step further and say that they should vary, though the structure and underlying assumptions of our educational approach often aim at conformity. In other words, education often seems to be set up to achieve a uniform outcome, but if we are interested in developing creative, thinking individuals, then we should embrace variance . . . provided those variances are also accompanied by growth. So if I were successful in designing a classroom game that met with different student responses, I’d be content and even eager to explore those responses.

A bit of a digression for the Beowulf game, but one that touches on the work I do with students and that touches on both the issue of self-realization and the issue of an open-ended result: I’m coming to the conclusion that my sponsorship of a game club at school and to engage with students seriously in playing games is, for many of my students, becoming just as important as my role as a teacher in the classroom (though writing that might be heresy). In that club setting (and the club meets daily during breaks and lunch and even on weekends), there is crucial social, intellectual, and creative work being done. And one thing that makes the club wonderful is that it is divorced from the concept of a prearranged, dictated outcome: Students can develop, grow, create, and imagine in a safe setting without the pressure of a test or assessment. In some cases, students have been learning about games used by me and one of my colleagues in the classroom, and then they find their way to my room during breaks and lunches to join the club. That’s been fun and satisfying to watch.

Why a game about Beowulf?

Ron Edwards asked me a probing, fundamental question in an exchange over at his site Adept Play. I recommend that you see the full exchange there and to look at other posts.

Here's the question he asked

Before really getting into the document, I want to know more. It's not an easy question: why have students at this grade level, today's culture, faced with today's problems, encounter Beowulf at all?

That’s a very complex question, and one which demands multiple answers. Here are a few . . .

One value of reading Beowulf is that it is a text which revolves around problems and crises: It shows characters responding to those crises in different ways, and also shows the consequences (sometimes unpredictable) of those decisions. Are those problems the same as the problems our society faces? Yes and no . . . but both the similarities and differences have important values.

The problems faced within Beowulf are different than our problems: In our world, we face countless situations where groups and people are facing problems that are not our problems. This is the case both globally (the problems facing Vietnam, for example, are often not the problems facing the United States) and locally (the problems facing a single mother living in a housing project in downtown Orlando are not my problems). Does that mean that problems that are not my problems are not important or that I should not pay attention to them or learn about them? Holding to the line that my problems (or our problems) are the only ones worth thinking about would lead to a very narrow and toxic way of confronting the world. We should equip ourselves (and I should equip my students) to be able to build empathy: Even if someone (or some other group) is facing problems that are not my problems, I should develop the ability to see the challenges and difficulties facing them . . . and perhaps see a way to helping them or offering up solutions. That’s one way we can tear down walls and build community.

The problems faced within Beowulf are similar to our problems: This notion might initially seem unlikely. The world of Beowulf is so different from our world. But if we develop the sensitivity to see some similarities, the text might give us a different lens through which to view these problems. To take one example, there are situations where a warrior of one tribe is harmed, and the members of that warrior’s tribe are then weighing the response: Is it better to wage war? to ask for some compensation of material value? to seek help from allies? to withhold resources from the offending party? To decide, I need to look at the options, evaluate possible consequences, and take action. The concerns of Beowulf are not entirely irrelevant to, say, the current situation involving the death of Jamal Khashoggi and the responses being weighed.

Beyond the realm of problem solving, Beowulf is important because, in order to understand that text, we must expend some real effort to grasp the cultural background driving it. And if we are successful in that effort, we are gaining some valuable skills and tools that might help us to deal with cultural differences when we confront them in other contexts. Students might find the actions, beliefs, and values of Beowulf to be strange and foreign . . . just as they will find the actions, beliefs, and values of other cultures and communities to be strange and foreign. To develop an understanding requires imagination, empathy, creativity, and insight--and these are all abilities that can be cultivated and taught. Presenting students with a challenging text like Beowulf can build those muscles in a way that other easier and more accessible texts cannot.

Beyond these more sweeping arguments, there are some other specific topics and themes that make Beowulf valuable: It is about how the “monsters” we face in the future are created by the choices we have made in the past. It is about adapting to new roles and changing situations as we age (and about how we confront our mortality). It is about dealing with conflicting value systems that we hold (for example, what happens when the value of maintaining honor comes into conflict with the value of  preserving health and even life?). These are all important, real issues and valuable to think about.

Beowulf is a great text to confront these topics and more. And there is a real power to Beowulf both in terms of its story and in terms of the aesthetic experience it offers. But is not an “easy” text: It requires imagination and alertness from its reader. My sense is that a well constructed game (and in this case this means a game that can both stand on its own two legs AND also one that faithfully accompanies the poem) can assist in building those imaginative and intellectual powers.

Ben Robbins's Microscope Game and the Teaching of Writing

Early in the semester during my 9th grade classes, I used Ben Robbins's Microscope to talk about narratives and to set the groundwork for an assignment involving the creation of a scene existing within a larger framework. I posted this earlier on Google+, but given the impending demise of that platform, I thought it might be worthwhile to post it here.

What follows is not a systematic overview, but it will touch on some of my experiences and impressions:

1.  Pacing: I felt that, in order to get the most out of the experience, I needed to give Microscope plenty of breathing room. I am working with students who are new to collaborative storytelling games. In addition I'm dealing with many students who are uncomfortable with their abilities in the English class and others who are anxious about the new school year. Some students had difficulty distinguishing between a "period" and and "event"; some struggled to come to grips with the fractal nature of the game play; some were challenged by the idea of a focus. The game is terrific at breaking things down into discrete steps, and by taking a deliberate, methodical approach, I had all the students humming by Thursday. I could have "crunched" the game, but rushing would have made it much less rewarding and the payoff would have diminished.

2. Scenes: I knew from experience that the scene aspect of the game would be challenging, so, instead of avoiding the challenge, I decided to make it the destination and culmination of our week of play! Initially, I took scenes off the table and had the students work with building a history using periods and events. Mid-week, I moved into the set-up and structure of scenes, and I had the students dictate scenes rather than playing them out. At the end of the classes today, student groups had nicely developed histories, and their weekend homework is to come up with an idea for a new scene which is not currently part of their histories but which could be. Next week, I will work with them on developing those ideas into a writing assignment involving a script of their scene (with descriptive setting, dialogue, use of rising action, etc.).

3.  Collaboration and independence: As the week continued, I could see the students becoming more comfortable not just with the game but with themselves and their interactions in groups. It was transformational for some: I saw students who started the class as awkward, self-doubting students and who were able to take some notable steps in developing their sense of ownership and their voice as the gameplay developed.

4.  Teaching narrative: The game is all about constructing narratives from building blocks. For early high school students, it is effective at giving them a visual map and a way to organize a complex narrative in a way that is accessible and not intimidating. In initially setting up the game, I used our summer reading book (Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories) as an example, and even that activity was useful for them: It showed them how they could break down a multifaceted narrative into components and how to think of the interrelationship of various strands weaving through the novel.

5.  Time:  I'm fortunate in that I'm teaching a new class at a private school. I have a chair who is confident in my skills and my vision, and he has given me the freedom to devote the necessary time to weave Microscope into the course. By the time all this is wrapped up, Microscope will have occupied nearly two weeks of my class time (if you include the writing assignment springing from the gameplay), and I'm sure there are many administrators or chairs at other schools who would step in to shut this type of activity down or demand that it be greatly shortened in order to speed up the delivery of more content.

The game has been fun, and it has engaged students on multiple levels. One student commented to me today that he was thrilled by the game because it was forcing him to think through the layers of the story he and his peers were developing. It was addictive for the class precisely because it was motivating some deep thinking about both the content of the histories and the structure of them.

The game culminated in a writing assignment where each student had to look at their created history and write a new scene. This allowed me to target some elements of the writing craft while they were working on a piece that they were invested in . . . because they had created the rich story surrounding  the scene. It also proved a nice way to introduce scene-setting, and as I continue to introduce some role-playing activities during the year, I'm hoping to build off of that groundwork.

The chair of my department came in to observe the experiment in action, and I'll leave the final word with him:

Among other things, I like how it gives kids a chance to hone their leadership and collaboration skills. For example, the concept of a player becoming the lens gives him or her the chance to define a focus that will shape the decisions of others and the direction of the gameplay. I like how the other players need to follow the lead of the lens and to think about how their own ideas fit into the greater goal identified by the lens. That the role of the lens shifts each turn is also nice. In short, all students will get the opportunity to lead and to follow as they build a world together. I also enjoyed how the students debated decisions as they created their event cards. When one said, “We should bring in nukes,” another responded, “Nah, that tech would take too long to develop.” Here is another quick discussion I observed: 

Student 1: “Where should he die?”
Student 2; “In a trench.”
Student 1: “But WHERE is the trench?”
Student 3: “Germany?”
Student 4” France?”
Student 2: “Yes, how about near the Eiffel tower.”

In other words, they appeared to be moving from general ideas to precise details nicely and to be comfortable politely challenging each other’s ideas as the group moved to resolve some critical details. 

Ideas for an Actual Play Assignment: Becoming Beowulf

Ideas for an Actual Play Assignment: Becoming Beowulf

My playtest group for Robert Bohl’s Demihumans is unable to meet this week, so instead of writing
up a report on a playtest session for that game I’m going to delve into ideas concerning a playtest of a different type this week.

One spark for these ideas comes from Ron Edwards’ “Actual Play” section at adeptplay.com which I’ve been exploring. Ron’s ideas for Actual Play Reports have started me thinking about the usefulness of his approach for an upcoming experience I’m going to try in my 9th grade English classes.

Here’s the set-up: At the end of the semester, I will be teaching Beowulf to a varied group of 9th graders. I’ve been tasked this year with teaching a course that can reach students who have been challenged by English classes (some have learning disabilities, some have attention deficits, some are unmotivated, some have had bad English class experiences, and some are simply looking for a more deliberate pacing).

Beowulf is one of those texts which is challenging to ninth graders under any circumstance. It faces students with issues that they have a difficult time grasping and appreciating. Problems of scarcity, strange rituals, archaic notions of honor, mysterious monsters--these elements and more are baffling to first-time readers.

What is the teacher to do? I’ve taught Beowulf many times, but this year, I’m taking a different approach. Since June, I’ve been creating a nuanced classroom game about Beowulf that involves resource management, tribal negotiations, and role-playing. For those interested, a rough draft of the player’s guide is here.

I’m planning to use the game as a way to bring the students closer to the world of Beowulf as we read the text. The game will put them into situations based on ones encountered by characters in the old English epic.

But what do I do after we play through the game (and finish reading the poem)? I could just leave the game behind, hoping that it has done its work. But now I’m wondering about ending with a written reflection piece modeled somewhat along the lines of Ron’s “Best Practices for Actual Play Posting.” I will obviously have to do some tweaking to set up the writing assignment for students. But I would be interested in getting their thoughts.

One thing that really excites me about my Beowulf project is this: In my mind, there is a lot of literature which is valuable because it provides an experience in a way that history books or other “dry” forms of writing cannot. But the experiential dimension of Beowulf is initially unattainable for many students. If a reader cannot fathom the problems and issues faced by the characters in the text, then how can we expect the reader to feel or to inhabit the text in any powerful or meaningful way?

But what if a well-designed role-playing game can more dynamically put them into the world of an initially mystifying text? What if a student can become a character who now has to make concrete decisions and to discuss with her or his peers the crisis that is bearing down on the tribe? In what way can a gaming experience help a reader to better connect with a literary text--and, in so doing, to give them a more enriched experience of a literary text?

These are exciting questions for me, but it seems to me that I won’t be able fully to flesh out the answers to those questions unless I hear from the people who are playing the game (and who are struggling with reading the text). So I’m thinking that an Actual Play Response might be the ticket and that it will work on multiple levels: It will give the students a meaningful writing prompt, it will spark them to reflect on their reactions to two art forms (one literary, one a game), and it will give me some good evidence for how my game has worked (or faltered) for the players.

Robert Bohl's Demihumans Playtest :Session 6 Competing Magics Mystify the Company

+Robert Bohl's Demihumans Playtest :Session 6
Competing Magics Mystify the Company

The Flower of Human Antipathy sheds another petal, and the Company doesn’t know what magic to
trust!

The Company has sparked some of the demihumans of Bilgeton to prepare for a more direct and violent encounter with the humans from Florageist. The tavern at the center of the enclave has become the headquarters. During the start of this tale, the imprisonment of the elf Eforis-Nei (who is in the clutch of the cruel Squire Prador) was foremost in the company’s mind

The company drew upon the help of Neris, a young female halfling whose family is involved in petty burglaries in Florageist. (Neris is a new character being played by the player who had been playing Eforis-Nei). Neris and her family live in a particularly run-down section of the enclave, and she has a curiously close relationship to Zuk the troll (Neris is helping to raise a human orphan named Lily, and Zuk periodically takes Lily on outings into the swamp).

Zuk, Neris, and two other halflings set out to invade the barracks prison where Eforis Nei is being held. There are clear indications that a major storm (a literal tropical storm) is in the process of ramping up as they set out.  As they approach the building, Zuk’s pseudo-sentient algae radiates some vague type of unease. Neris uses “assess the situation” and gets a reading on the probable location of the prison, but also suspects that something strange is up in the barracks, which is oddly quiet. The three halflings make their way up to the second floor, and they discover a number of soldiers unconscious. Making their way to the prison, they discover the cell of Eforis-Nei open. Inside, she discovers Wycraft, a mysterious elf, who is engaged in some type of strange magic. Eforis-Nei is seated on the floor, but non-responsive.

Meanwhile, Zuk is waiting out in the swamp (using Unseen Sentinel). Ugluk, a half-orc female, appears on the scene: She is weak and delirious. Ugluk had previously been severely injured by Kain the Traitor, and was on the point of death, but had been healed by Zuk’s Fruiting Bodies move. Zuk makes itself visible, and notices that the large wound in Zuk’s shoulder is now inhabited by a colony of glowing pseudo-sentient algae--the same type of algae that Zuk treasures and keeps secured in its mouth. Zuk feels the algae she holds radiating a sense of rightness, and suspects the colony is a result of the Fruiting Bodies move.

Neris talks to Wycraft who says that she is there to free Eforis Nei, and that she has been successful. “Eforis-Nei is free and will always be with us,” she says. She then asks Neris and the other halflings to join her and to exit. Neris (using Fathom a Soul) feels that Wycraft is being genuine, but also realizes that there is much that is being left unsaid or unexplained. Wycraft seems intently interested in establishing some affinity or trust with Neris.

Neris meets up with Zuk, but Zuk’s algae prickles at the appearance of Wycraft. Neris, meanwhile, is quite suspicious of the half-orc with a colony of glowing algae sprouting from her shoulder wound. Other members of the company had previously been suspicious of Zuk's attachment to a magical algae. The tropical storm continues to build  . .  .that can’t be good for an enclave mired in a swamp, can it?

Robert Bohl's Demihumans: Session 5 Adamantine Pact Fails, Then Widens Its Scope

+Robert Bohl's Demihumans: Session 5
Adamantine Pact Fails, Then Widens Its Scope

As the demiurge, I encountered a gordian knot in this session. Here were the factors at play which put
me in a difficult situation (Note: to fully understand, you might need to read the summary of the session that follows):

1. There was an Adamantine Pact in effect: A rag-tag group of ~20 demihumans agreed to defend Eforis Nei’s abode, but not to do anything stupid in carrying out this defense.

2. One bane of the enclave is that “one of the company may have a demand made upon him by the patron (Squire Prador) or his agents once this tale.” This bane was directed at Eforis Nei. (So this bane is in tension with the Adamantine Pact.)

3. When Squire Prador appeared to alert the elf that he needed to appear at an inquest,  I didn’t predict the encounter would escalate the way it did due to Eforis Nei’s diamond refusal to give Prador any satisfaction.

4.Squire Prador’s personal appearance would have been a surprise to the enclave, and it’s not like the enclave demihumans are trained military. Opposing him would have meant violence, and it would have mostly been violence between demihuman characters.

5. Donna the Dwarf (the origin of the Adamantine Pact) was not personally present to direct the demihumans.

Quite the conundrum! I’m still not sure whether I played this out correctly. My compromise was eventually to let Squire Prador have his way, but the demihumans were chastened by Donna due to their refusal to follow through on the Pact. Now I’ve allowed the Pact to have a more broad effect in favor of the Company, especially when Donna is around to direct the demihumans. Those under the influence of the pact are ashamed of their behavior and will go above and beyond to make up for their cowardice.

The company was not as vigorous in seeking to use moves. I’m not sure why this is. As the demiurge, I kept trying to give them opportunities, but there were many situations when they didn’t take the bait, and I was reluctant directly to tell them, “Why don’t you consider a ‘Fathom a Soul’ move. Note to Demiurges:  Be sure to emphasize the use of moves at the start of the session! Players need to plant that idea and hold onto it. I’m going to put this in my beginning-of-session matters that I cover at the start of every session. The players need consciously to think of seizing opportunities to make moves. I’m also going to suggest that they think of “intimately sharing culture” moves and using those as opportunities to create custom cross-cultural moves.

Eforis Nei the Elf was inflexible in his refusal to give any ground to Squire Prador and the humans. In practical terms, this landed him in jail, and it also derailed the attempt of the other company members to enact a prisoner exchange. This was frustrating on one level, but also illuminating of a dilemma faced by those who are marginalized: Do you keep stooping to humiliations for strategic reasons, or do you at some point stand up without backing down? I tried to give Eforis Nei chances to stay or get out of jail, but all those chances involved giving some type of concession to the humans, and he wasn’t willing to cave in.

Here's a full breakdown of the key events:

Battle Aftermath

Zug the Troll retreated into the swamp after the battle with the orchid-raiding Orcs (perhaps to meditate, perhaps to track down Burz the half-orc). Donna the Dwarf and Kain the Traitor had an extended conversation, weighing their options. Initially, they were going to split the magical orchids they had found with Verik Tork with the agreement that they would be sold on the black market for a profit rather than destroyed. But after a more careful weighing of Verik Torg (using a move) they figured that that course would be dangerous due to Verik’s untrustworthiness. They finally agreed to stay the night and then to walk with the two wounded orcs (Verik Tork and Ugluk) to the enclave.

Eforis Nei the Elf Jailed

Before Donna and Kain arrive, Squire Prador descended on Eforis Nei’s (the elf) home with an armed squad. He told Eforis Nei that there was an inquest being held tomorrow morning. The elf was suspected of some mysterious, possibly magical attacks occuring against humans. Eforis Nei refused to give his assurance that he would appear, and when Squire Prador had his men move to put him in shackles, he attacked with Eldritch Might. This escalated the conflict. The Squire was losing his cool, and it became apparent to Eforis Nei that continued escalation would put other people in the enclave at risk, so he eventually agreed to go off with the Squire and his squad.

The Dwarf and the Traitor Confront Squire Prador

Donna and Kain return and hear what has happened, and Donna criticizes the demihumans for falling back on the Adamantine Pact that was sealed (more on this quandary and inconsistency later). They had a lengthy conversation of what to do. Finally, they decided to go to the army barracks in the city of Florageist with a battalion of demihumans who were feeling shame from having let Eforis Nei down. They plot was to spill the beans on Verik Torg and Ugluck: They would let Squire Prador know that the orcs were destroying magic orchids instead of harvesting them for humans to use. Prador was intrigued by the news. The dwarf and traitor said the elf prisoner (Eforis Nei) would corroborate their account. But when the Squire went to speak to Eforis Nei at his cell, Eforis Nei attacked him with more Eldritch Might and he piled on the insults! Squire Prador returned to the dwarf and traitor, trying to regain his composure. He turned them away without exchanging prisoners, and he’s going to increase the stress placed on Eforis Nei.

Orc Chieftain Appears

At the close of the session, Madoc Torg appeared. He is the chieftain of an ancient orc clan which lives in the swamp. Madoc wanted to retrieve his son Verik, but he was  also ashamed of his son for selling magic orchids to humans. He’s also not happy that Verik was on an orchid-destroying mission. Madoc realizes that nature magic is under assault, and he is disturbed by his son’s involvement. He ended up having a private conversation with Kain the Traitor. While the two have been enemies in the past, Madoc knows that Kain holds orc blood, and he was eager to exchange information. There are signs of evil magic on the rise. Kain let him know of Wycraft, a mysterious elf in the swamp, who may hold the key to some of these developments.

We agreed to carry over the session next Sunday. It’s fair to say that human antipathy will be on the rise. It’s also fair to say that the orc clan and the mysterious elven mage will be figuring into next Sunday’s game.

Robert Bohl's Demihumans Playtest: Session 4 A Magic Orchid Raid Turns Violent

+Robert Bohl's Demihumans Playtest: Session 4
A Magic Orchid Raid Turns Violent

After a more tame, focused session last week, today's tale brought plenty of fireworks and dramatic
turns. In attendance were Kain the Traitor, Donna the Dwarf, and Zug the Troll. At the end of the mayhem, the Flower of Human Antipathy withered a petal, the enclave united behind the Company, and a heady brew of dark magic was uncovered in the swamp.

The Company was able to dip into a number of special moves: Endless Fury (orc move), Fruiting Bodies (troll move), Garden Pathways (troll move) and Adamantine Pact (dwarf move) were all activated. I feel that the Demiurge and players need to be in sync to make those moves maximally effective in terms of the fiction.

We did a pretty good job of this with 3 out of 4 of those moves. The one that I fumbled on was Fruiting Bodies, and this was mainly because it was used at the end of the session, and there were two characters in need of healing. The move ended up seeming too much like a D&D cleric healing spell than something really special, which it should be. I might add some pseudo-house rule make sure that the "invoking the unreal" moves count for more. It was cool that it was the troll player herself who brought up this at the end of the session.

Garden Pathways, Adamantine Pact, and Endless Fury were all dramatic and full of spice.

Key developments:

Donna (dwarf) and Zug (troll) were awoken in the very early morning to the sounds of screams coming from the edge of the enclave. They met a halfling and his companion, who led them into the swamp. There, they came upon the mutilated hanging corpse of a giant snake whose body muscle had been removed. There were burn marks laying about and the signs of evil magic. Donna was able to spot some polished stones resembling those worn by a mysterious elven woman magician named Wycraft.

The troll ended up fleeing the scene using Garden Pathways (this was in part the result of a negative reaction from the semi-sentient algae life form she keeps on a rock under her tongue). She rolled a 7, and chose to leave something unwanted behind. This "unwanted thing" ended up being an unnatural grey and cancerous tree growing in the center of the scene where the giant snake's corpse was hanging.

Donna (dwarf) returned to the enclave and awakened Kain (traitor) about Wycraft. The traitor knows the elf lives somewhere deep in the swamp. He advised the dwarf to join him later in the day to set out with an orc named Verik Torg who is leading a magic orchid hunting expedition which will take them deep in the swamp.

Still in the morning, a posse of humans appeared in front of the home of Eforis Nei (elf). They reported a brutal attack that has occurred on two humans (one of whom was killed), and they are convinced that evil magic is at work. (Note: the commonweal move resulted in the want of "horrors" being active.) They were wanting to take vengance on the elf. The members of the Company appeared and, using some Coerce with Violence moves, they got the posse to leave . . . but with threats of letting Squire Prador of the human army know!

The Company set out with Verik Torg and two half-orc women on an expedition to destroy magic orchids. When they came across an especially rich growth of the rare orchids, however, the troll sensed the wrongness of destroying the magic, even if it would make the area less appealing to humans. The company got into a heated, testy debate (the best kind, with good-spirited role playing in full force).The troll and the traitor ultimately turned against the orc and half-orcs while the dwarf reluctantly joined in. The session ended with a dramatic battle, two severely wounded orcs/half-orcs, and the large magical orchids saved.

Robert Bohl's Demihumans: Session 3 Squire Prador Blackmails a Gnome

+Robert Bohl's Demihumans: Session 3
Squire Prador Blackmails a Gnome

I had two player's for our last session, and the events involved the introduction of Squire Prador, a
cruel, sadistic military leader (Demiuge character) who has been given charge of monitoring the enclave of Bilgeton. The scenes of the session have set up some intrigue: The Company learned that there is a psychodelic mushroom drug of unknown origins (it is not manufactured by the Company's gnome) being used in the enclave , and Prador is using that drug (and its nasty side effects) to blackmail the gnome. Specifically, Prador is requiring the gnome to devote resources to fighting a swamp fever that is infecting humans.

There was some nice interplay between the Company's gnome and dwarf. The gnome used her Polymorphic Corpus move to become trollish, but in so doing, she required the Dwarf's artisan-adept hands to help manipulate lab equipment. The use of that move was gratuitous to some extent, but it set up some good role playing moments.

I was working as the Demiurge to give the Dwarf opportunities to use some of her moves to rally some forces together (I mentioned on a number of occasions that there was a sizeable enclave crowd), but the player of the dwarf is somewhat reserved, so she's taking some prompting to fit into her dwarf leader mode. I do think she's primed to step up to the plate in our next session.

Our next session is set to have all the players of the Company in attendance, so there will be some developments along multiple fronts.

A more complete breakdown of last Sunday's session is below:

Last week, Donna the Dwarf and Sansi the Gnome were attending to a halfling adolescent named Nob. He was suffering the effects of some type of mushroom drug that has psychotropic powers. Nob's father supplies mushrooms of various types to Sansi (and in addition harvests edible mushrooms for sale). The mushroom in questions, however, is not one that Sansi uses (though Sansi does know about that variety). Sansi used her Polymorphic Corpus move that allowed her to transform into a troll.

During the drug investigation session (with Donna serving as a lab assistant because troll hands are not so adept with fiine motor activities), Squire Prador showed up. He effectively bribed Donna: He threatened to spread news that Sansi was the origin of the mushroom that caused the negative effect on Nob and he suggested that there have been other negative reactions happening in Bilgeton. He has forced Sansi to turn her attention to finding a drug to help humans with outbreaks of swamp fever, and in return, Squire Prador will hold off on spreading the news that Sansi is supplying dangerous addictive drugs to Bilgeton. Squire Prador seems to have knowledge of many things about this drug situation (How does he know so much?), and he is cruel and sadistic. Sansi ended transforming back to her Gnome form (which was grotesque and somewhat terrifying), but Prador looked upon that transformation as an amusing, entertaining Gnome trick.

So the Company is set up for some confrontation with Squire Prador. There is some drug intrigue on the radar . . . and there is that evil magic involving the mutilation of an alligator lurking in the wings.

Demihumans: Session 2 A Multiated Alligator and Pseudo-Sentient Algae

Demihumans: Session 2
A Multiated Alligator and
Pseudo-Sentient Algae

I completed the second play test session of +Robert Bohl's Demihumans, and the game has produced some story lines that cut deep.

The game of Go has taught me to pay close attention to fuseki (a Go term referring to the very opening moves). As the Demiurge, I have been deliberate in the world building and the set-up of the enclave--both because I want to get the game right and because I know that work will pay off royally in the development of compelling story lines.

So, in our three-hour session yesterday, we didn't get the actual stories rolling until the very end. We had a new player (and thus a new character) to add to the mix, which took some time. Also, in our first session, we had not yet gone through the boons and complications of the enclave. This actually turned out to be fortunate, as Rob was doing some further tweaks of those options, which we were able to incorporate into our game play.

I also made some clarifications of the rules, and the traitor made a few modifications. A note: While not required, the traitor should probably decide if she wants to play as a human or if she wishes to work with the moves another rulebook. If the latter, then I would suggest going all-in.

After those preliminaries, we took a break, and that left about 1.5 hours to begin our tale in earnest. If you are planning to run Demihumans in some type of campaign mode (as we are), I would suggest a 3.5-4 hour opening session, and alert the players that that initial session will be devoted to the world building, character creation, and enclave creation.

In terms of the opening developments of our first tale, real fireworks were lit. They botched their opening Commonweal roll out of the gate, so they knew there would be some difficulties to face.

I had the sun rise on the enclave of Bligeton on an early work-week morning. Each player explained what their characters were doing, and this then allowed me to group the Company together in pairs.

Here is what happened:

The dwarf and troll ran into a brutally desecrated body of a giant alligator (dark magic is in play for the enclave). The troll, who has empty eye sockets, licked the carcass in an "assess the situation" move (rolling a 7): It picked up on the dark magic, but doing so also negatively affected a pulsating, glowing algae she keeps in a cavity in her jaw. It is her precious thing (I can't believe the player didn't think through that lick)! The algae is some type of pseudo-sentient life form (think Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach wierdness), and has responded in odd and unexpected ways to a troll "fruiting bodies" move and an elven "mind whisper" move. The player (my daughter) initially thought the algae idea to be a humorous addition . . . but it's turning out to be much more serious and consequential.

The traitor and elf were approached by an orc (demiurge npc) orchid hunter. Orchids are being harvested and used by the humans because they contain remnants of magic. The "hunter" had a deep-seated animosity for the humans, and, with the help of the traitor and elf, he's planning to secretly destroy orchids on his next expedition and hence make the area much less valuable to humans. The traitor and elf have agreed to help. (The elf has not yet realized the devil's deal he has made, since he has agreed to destroy precious magic in the land.)

The traitor was in a bar when a halfling adolescent went through a seizure. The traitor (using "assess the situation") noticed flecks of some viscous purple substance in the sputum of boy, and he's now taking the halfling (still unconscious) to the company's gnome (who manufactures drugs) and is being followed by the adolescents' companions. This story line is working into a want of the tribe which involves illegal fencing.

There's some rich world building and character creation going on: This is a game that involves a lot of opening thought. But I think I have this thing firmly on the rails. I was impressed that those story lines developed in the span of one and a half hours. As a Demiurge, I am swimming in a bounty of ideas that are sure to result in heroism, tragedy, and deep play.

Stay tuned for next week's developments!

Demihumans Session One: Introducing Bilgeton

Demihumans Session One: Introducing Bilgeton

We have completed our first session of +Robert Bohl's Demihumans, and it went beautifully!

We've got an enclave (named Bilgeton by the humans) set up next to a city (named Florageist). It is located on a sprawling peninsula that consists largely of swampland in a subtropical climate . . . similar to Florida). One of the main economies of Florageist involves harvesting rare orchids which contain remnants of magical power.

The company consists of:

• a gnome involved in manufacturing drugs (for both medicinal and recreational use . . . she is not particular, though she does take pains to ensure that those purchasing the drugs aren't harmed by them); 
• a disillusioned traitor who used to do military service for Lord Coval, but who now hangs around in a tavern taking odd (and sometimes shady) jobs and struggling with his guilt; 
• a troll who keeps a secret garden in the nearby swamp and who hides a rock with a strangely glowing algae under her tongue; 
• an elf who is upset by the way the humans are disturbing the ecosystem of the swamp and who is both curious about and unsettled by the gnome's magic. 

In terms of enclave preliminaries, I went once around the table with each of us setting up one detail about the enclave and its environs:

I established the geography/climate; one player thought of names; another established the proximity of the enclave to the city; a third came up with one aspect of the city's economy (the magic orchid idea); another one set up a general government for the city. Finally, player decided on who the original founder was (it turned out to be orcs, though the elves then took things over before the humans came).

The "once around the table" idea isn't quite by the book, but I think it served a nice purpose: It went fairly quickly, and it gave some players some footholds for thinking about their characters.

We then went into the character playbooks and then did the work of setting up gnosis and legacy.

For our next session, we will go through the enclave surplus and needs choices, say a few more things about the adjoining human city, and then we will be off to the races with some role-playing!

Rob has shared some of his most recent innovations to the enclave materials, so I'm going to be incorporating that material. I'm also going to be focusing on specific character moves to see how those work out in actual play situations.

The group is excited about the next session on Sunday, with many casual conversations about the game occurring during the week.