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Dread
Apr 23, 2013 5:23:42 GMT -8
Post by jazzisblues on Apr 23, 2013 5:23:42 GMT -8
A while back on the cast we got an email that talked about the Dread system which uses a Jenga tower as its mechanic. I was intrigued. Well, on Sunday I got a chance to play Dread and here is the tale.
The setup: Modern day and with one exception we are all characters who are really not good people at all. A wealthy industrialist who uses blackmail to keep his board of directors in line (me), a hit-man, a drunken single mother who abandoned her daughter to pursue the glitz of Hollywood, and a good cop who's only failing was that she covered for her partner.
Here's the way the game works. If you're not under stress basically whatever you want to do is fine. If you are under stress you have to pull from the tower. If it is especially stressful you might have to pull twice. If you pull and the tower stands you succeed. If you pull and the tower falls you die. If you refuse to pull you fail.
This is a great fun game. Like all rpgs how good the game is depends on the players and I was at the table with four amazing wonderful players.
Loads of fun and I got do die heroically at the end by choosing to knock over the tower in a final act of reclamation of soul which let the other two remaining characters escape the retribution angels that had been sent after us.
I highly recommend playing this game if you get the chance.
JiB
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RobMITC
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 67
Favorite Species of Monkey: Podcast
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Dread
Apr 23, 2013 5:30:53 GMT -8
Post by RobMITC on Apr 23, 2013 5:30:53 GMT -8
Ever since I had heard about the game mechanics I really wanted to give it a try. The double stress of the character being in a stressful situation, and the player being stressed by the Jenga tower just seems so fun.
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Dread
Apr 23, 2013 8:14:41 GMT -8
Post by ayslyn on Apr 23, 2013 8:14:41 GMT -8
If you pull and the tower falls you die. Minor quibble. You don't necessarily die. You are, however, out of the story in a "bad" way.
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Dread
Apr 23, 2013 10:10:17 GMT -8
Post by jazzisblues on Apr 23, 2013 10:10:17 GMT -8
If you pull and the tower falls you die. Minor quibble. You don't necessarily die. You are, however, out of the story in a "bad" way. The phrase used by the gm was "die" though he did allow that if you die you could "ghost" which as I understand it meant that you could not succeed at anything but you didn't pull from the tower, and the rest of the group was trying to rescue you. Paraphrasing a bit but that was the idea. The one guy who "died" did not do anything else in the story and the description given was of his character dying. I died at the end but it was my choice. Cheers, JiB
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Dread
Apr 23, 2013 19:55:57 GMT -8
Post by uselesstriviaman on Apr 23, 2013 19:55:57 GMT -8
Awesome, JiB! I have nothing but love for this system, even though I've never even played it yet. The character generation, the oh-so-simple conflict resolution mechanic, and the building tension of the increasingly-unsound Jenga tower makes for one helluva great horror game. I first learned about it here. Hilarious webcomic, but a great Dread story arc. After reading this, I had to get my own copy. I've got a convention scenario about 2/3 written, but with everything else going on this year it's gonna have to sit on the back burner until probably next year's convention scene. As for the toppling-tower consequences, ayslyn is correct. Your character won't necessarily die if the tower falls, but they are out of the game for all intents and purposes. Maybe you got called away from the adventure because your great aunt passed away. Maybe you got sucked into an alternate dimension. Maybe you got arrested for the murder of all those cultists. Maybe your mind snapped and you're now a drooling rutabega. But if you accidentally knocked over the tower way early, the GM has the option of naming you a "Dead Man Walking" instead of killing you on the spot. You're not out of the game, but you're essentially no longer allowed to DO anything significant and you're most definitely going to come to a gruesome end when the story calls for it. You can read more about it (and download the excerpted rules) here!
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druggeddwarf
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 167
Preferred Game Systems: Anything fun
Favorite Species of Monkey: The one that throws Kamehamehas.
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Dread
Apr 24, 2013 5:38:57 GMT -8
Post by druggeddwarf on Apr 24, 2013 5:38:57 GMT -8
I love the game, but I never use it for the horror genre. Having such a mechanic is fun, but I cannot for the life of me run a true horror game without breaking immersion.
Not to mention as awesome as it is, it needs a little bit of a questionnaire set up, which is awesome if you have had time to prepare properly, but not so much when you just want a quick pick up game (which it does perfectly without a questionaire).
Instead, I use the Dread rules to run Natural disaster and survival games instead. Think Poisedion adventure and The Most Dangerous Game. Things like that where the 'bad guy' is something players can fairly see happening make for better Dread games that I run.
Of course, to each his own in this case.
I do however, love reading the non horror based dread stories. They're always awesome.
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