HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on May 10, 2018 2:13:11 GMT -8
Seeing as how this got dubbed "the HyveMynd subforum", I figured it was time I got around to posting something. Luckily, my friend and I have begin playing Perfect Unrevised (which I just saw is available for free, here) during our lunch breaks at work, so I have something to talk about. Perfect, Unrevised is a storytelling game about criminals within a Dark Victorian dystopia. It’s about what makes them tick, the crimes they commit, the goals they strive for, and the persecution they may well face. It's one of those "GM-full" games where the role of GM is dispersed among all the players; each player plays as both their own criminal character and as the Inspectors for the other players' criminals. As our lunch break games are just the two of us, my friend and I alternate taking turns between our two criminals. The setting is a fictional country called Cadence, a "dark Victorian dystopia" inspired by Victorian Era England. Society is strictly structured and regimented, with oppressive, repressive rules invading every aspect of citizens personal lives. No excessive touching or loudness. Only consuming government approved media. Only wearing government approved clothing (which is only available in shades of grey). No fornication outside of wedlock. Strict class and gender roles that must be adhered to. Breaking any of these things is considered a crime, and the Inspectors, the only people allowed to wear black, are constantly watching everyone to ensure compliance. Those that can't or don't abide by these rules are branded criminals, and hauled in for "conditioning". It's not really a matter of if your criminal will get caught, but when, and whether or not they'll be able to survive the conditioning unscathed. Most likely not. Gameplay always follows the same structure. First the criminal player frames a Crime Scene, narrating the crime they've committed (which is always successful). Then the Inspector player frames a Capture Scene, where they'll either try to gather evidence on the criminal or capture them. If the criminal is captured, the Inspector player frames a Retribution Scene where all sorts of nasty Clockwork Orange-style conditioning can happen as the Inspector tries to make the criminal a model member of society. Finally, the criminal player frames a Reflection Scene, where they narrate how the crime has impacted their character. As these scenes play out, both players spend resource points to add narrative elements that will affect final die rolls. So while the game is very much "people telling a story together" there is a bit of strategy and a randomizer at several points in the cycle of scenes to keep things interesting and unexpected. I, surprising no one, turned the game into a romance. 💖
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on May 10, 2018 2:56:54 GMT -8
Meet Chastity Ashdown, a demure young woman with impeccable manners and small, neat handwriting, as befitting a proper lady of Cadence. She always keeps her blue bodice - a signifier of her Lower Class status - clean and neat, works as a typesetter at a government-approved newspaper, and attends daily, mandated church services at Our Lady of Perpetual Silence. She is a member of the Alliance of Purity, handing out pamphlets decrying the sins of love, romance, and sex (with the name Chastity, how could she not?), as well as a member of the Queen's Crucibles, a group of citizen informants who work with the Inspectors. Her one Freedom as a member of the Lower Class is the Freedom of Privacy, signified by the black parasol she must carry at all times. Chastity may ask Inspectors to leave her residence, but my never have guests inside her home.
Every Wednesday evening for the past month, Chastity has handed an Alliance of Purity pamphlet to the same young woman as she passed by. The other woman, a Notable Class citizen from her red bodice, has never spoken to Chastity (indeed, she cannot speak as the as the black scarf tied about her neck forbids it), but has always smiled as she accepted the pamphlet.
This week however, as Chastity handed over the pamphlet, she felt a thrill run through her body as the Anonymous Notable Class woman gently, yet intentionally, touched her hand.
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Post by kurtpotts on May 10, 2018 9:07:05 GMT -8
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
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Post by D.T. Pints on May 10, 2018 18:00:47 GMT -8
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on May 11, 2018 0:20:16 GMT -8
LOL at those GIFs you two. 💖
Chastity's impeccable manners and demure nature prevents her from doing anything other than blushing furiously and lowering her eyes at the illicit touch. The Anonymous Notatable Class Girl (for that is the only way Chastity knows to refer to her) lingers a few seconds longer than is proper, but not long enough to attract attention, then continues on down the street. Chastity feels hot and tight and light and nervous all at the same time. She eventually composes herself and finishes her allotted time distributing Alliance of Purity pamphlets. She volunteer for the same time slot next Wednesday evening, ensuring she will see the Notable Girl again, then heads back to her home - a modest room in an all-girls boarding house - fingers still tingling from the touch.
Unnoticed by Chastity, the Inspector who regularly patrols this street has witnessed the encounter. He's observed Chastity often in passing enough to know that something was amiss, for what would cause a proper lady of Cadence to blush so? He writes down notes. Unnecessary physical touching. Crime. Public displays of affection. Crime. Not conforming to society's approved gender roles. Crime. Mild crimes when taken individually. But moderate when added together. Chastity is now a person of interest, and the Inspector has a good idea of what her schedule is and when to apprehend her. Fortunately for Chastity, he is called away to deal with a more important crime before he can do so. The new Inspector walking his route has not observed any wrongdoing. Yet.
(A bit of mechanics here. I spent Chastity's Pay Out, which the criminal gets at the end of every scene cycle, to reset the Tension Points the Law player had gained on Chastity. We decided that the Inspector being replaced with a new one made the most sense as to how to fictionally represent this.)
During the following week, Chastity screws up her courage, and writes a short, secret letter to the Anonymous Notable Girl. The profile brooch of The Late Queen Abigail on the girl's red bodice indicates she has Freedom of Practice; she may attend church services at any location she wishes (but must attend twice daily), including those above or below her class. Chastity writes that she will be attending the Thursday morning services at Our Lady of Perpetual Silence, and expresses her hope that the Notable Girl will be able to attend services there at that time as well. Chastity has to write the note out multiple times, as her trembling fingers ruin her penmanship and smudge the ink. Which won't do at all.
Wednesday finally comes. Chastity conceals the secret note in her bodice, collects her allotment of Alliance of Purity propaganda pamphlets, and takes up her usual place. She slips the secret note into the fold of the bottom most pamphlet in the stack she holds with unsteady hands. After what feels like ages, the Notable Girl approaches, the same time as always, but on this occasion, Chastity feels her cheeks flush and heat creep down her neck. As the Notable Girl stops in front of her, Chastity draws out the pamphlet containing the secret note, and gazing demurely up through lowered lashes, gingerly extends it.
An eternity seems to pass. She's made a mistake. The touch from last week was accidental. What is she doing?
Then Chastity bites her lip to unsuccessfully muffle a small gasp as, masked by the Alliance of Purity pamphlet, she again feels the contact of the girl's fingers. Electricity cascades down Chastity's spine and explode into a million sparkling butterflies filling her stomach. The Notable Girl increases the pressure of her touch a fraction and Chastity turns scarlet. Her bodice is suddenly too tight to breathe. The pounding of her heart drowns out every other sound, and nothing exists except those cerulean eyes holding her gaze. And then the Notable Girl is gone again. Chastity's hand is empty however; the pamphlet containing the secret note has been delivered. Her elation suddenly turns to apprehension. Will the Notable Girl read her note, and if so, will she attend church services tomorrow? The rest of that day passes slowly, and Chastity is unable to sleep that night.
Thursday morning arrives. Chastity dresses, forces herself to eat breakfast as she han no appetite, and makes her way to Our Lady of Perpetual Silence for church services. She sits in the back row, politely attempting to ensure the space next to her on the pew remains empty. Chastity is terrified that the Notable Girl will appear, but even more terrified that she will not. Just before services start, someone sits down beside Chastity. It's her. The Anonymous Notable Girl. She came. Wordlessly Chastity takes up a Bible from the rack on the back of the pew in front of them, and hands it to her partner.
And this time, it is Chastity who initiates the illicit touch of fingers.
(You know what? I'm starting to think I could get a job as a Harlequin Romance writer. 💖)
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on May 14, 2018 20:51:22 GMT -8
Poor demure Chastity. I have a feeling she's going to get hauled in for conditioning in today's game. For the past week, Sophronia Price, for that is the Notable Girl's name, has been attending daily church services with Chastity at Our Lady of Perpetual Silence. This is unusual, for though her Freedom of Practice allows Sophronia to attend services anywhere she wishes, why on earth would a Notable Class citizen choose to go to a Lower Class church? And why would they sit in the back row, alongside a Lower Class girl, whom she constantly appears to interact with? It's suspicious enough that the Inspectors have started keeping tabs on Chastity. So when Chastity and Sophronia go to an "outing" at the local art museum (filled with only government approved art of course), and then very improperly interlock fingers when they think they're alone, they are in fact being observed. And the Inspectors now have enough actionable evidence to bring Chastity in. I'm preparing myself for something absolutely horrible to happen to her.
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