Giochi di ruolo al tavolo @ Firenze Gioca @ Florence Fantastic Festival

Da venerdì a domenica sarò presente a Firenze Gioca fantastic edition, all'interno della manifestazione Florence Fantastic Festival, con un tavolo nello spazio ludoteca. Questo è il mio programma provvisorio di giochi di ruolo, anche se immagino potrà essere soggetto a variazioni se le circostanze lo imporranno (è una manifestazione nuova e nessuno sa che cosa aspettarsi):

Venerdì 15:00-19:00 * gioco per adulti

Psi*Run

(Meguey Baker, USA, 2011)

• Adrenalina, inseguimenti, misteri! Poteri ESP!
• Tutto comincia con uno schianto… In questo gioco, da 3 a 5 individui dotati di superpoteri riescono fortunosamente a liberarsi dall’organizzazione misteriosa che li teneva prigionieri e si lanciano in una fuga mozzafiato.
• Affetti da amnesia, i protagonisti non ricordano il proprio passato: la fine della storia giunge quando i giocatori riescono a dare una risposta alle loro domande.

Sabato non-stop * dai 10 anni in su

Favole da Camelot: i cavalieri della Tavola Rotonda

(Sami Koponen & Eero Tuovinen, Finlandia, 2010)

• Avventura, azione, magia. Diplomazia, decisioni importanti, differenze culturali.
• Gioco di ruolo per tutti: ragazze e ragazzi, adulti, genitori e figli.
• Durata minima sessione di gioco: 30 minuti. Attesa massima per iniziare: 30 minuti.
• Tutti i giocatori che parteciperanno durante la giornata contribuiranno a determinare il futuro di Camelot!

Domenica 11:00-14:00 * gioco per adulti

Fiasco

(Jason Morningstar, USA, 2009)

• Un gioco ispirato allo humor nero del cinema dei fratelli Coen (Fargo, Ladykillers, ecc.)
• Da 3 a 5 giocatori collaborano per raccontare in maniera estemporanea un ipotetico “film”, prendendo le mosse da alcuni spunti estratti casualmente.
• Si può scegliere da una vasta gamma di libretti degli spunti (playset) l’ambientazione e il tono del proprio “film” immaginario.

Domenica 15:00-19:00 * gioco per adulti

Montsegur 1244

(Frederik J. Jensen, Danimarca, 2009)

• Dramma storico ambientato durante la Crociata contro gli Albigesi. Non sono richieste particolari conoscenze storiche per partecipare.
• Da 3 a 6 giocatori interpretano gli abitanti di una fortezza assediata. Al termine del gioco, sconfitti, saranno chiamati a prendere una decisione terribile: abiurare la propria fede o morire sul rogo?
• Il gioco è tutto incentrato sui sentimenti, le relazioni interpersonali e la riflessione su temi filosofici. I giocatori rivivono insieme la vita quotidiana dei Catari durante l’assedio, fino a capire che decisione ciascuno dei personaggi prenderebbe alla fine.

Inoltre ho realizzato questo volantino, che ho intenzione di stampare con il programma dei giochi sul retro e distribuire (o almeno affiggere), per spiegare ai passanti casuali che cos'è che faccio:

Giochi di ruolo al tavolo

L’espressione “gioco di ruolo” viene usata per più cose anche molto diverse fra loro. Citiamo, per esempio, i “giochi di ruolo dal vivo”, che spesso impiegano costumi e anche scenografia. Non si contano poi i modi in cui l’espressione “gioco di ruolo” viene impiegata nella pubblicità di videogiochi. Qui, invece, vogliamo occuparci di giochi di ruolo che si fanno in gruppo attorno a un tavolo.

Questi giochi di ruolo al tavolo sono giochi di immaginazione e di conversazione: l’azione principale che ciascun giocatore compie è quella di visualizzare nella propria mente un mondo immaginario e di condividerlo a parole con gli altri partecipanti. Hanno solo una lontana parentela con i giochi da tavolo, da cui però prendono spesso in prestito meccanismi di dadi, carte o segnalini che influenzano la conversazione. Un’importante differenza è che molti giochi di ruolo non sono competitivi: alla fine della “partita” non si stabilisce un vincitore; piuttosto, tutti i giocatori collaborano per costruire insieme una storia.

I giochi di ruolo al tavolo esistono come prodotti commerciali dal 1974 (prima edizione di Dungeons & Dragons negli USA). Si presentano di solito in forma di libri: testi di regole, manuali di istruzioni per giocare o raccolte di spunti da impiegare nel gioco, spesso illustrati. La maggior parte di tali prodotti si rivolge a un pubblico di adolescenti maschi e continua (purtroppo) a riproporre sempre le stesse tematiche: avventura, conflitto violento, armi, potere. Ma le potenzialità del mezzo sono molto più ampie…

Negli ultimi 15 anni sono apparsi sempre più giochi di ruolo “di nicchia” che si rivolgono anche agli adulti e presentano ogni immaginabile soggetto o tematica… Dal comico al tragico, dai sentimenti più intimi alla politica, dai “generi” letterari riconosciuti (come giallo, spionaggio, fantascienza sociale, dramma storico) all’indefinibile e sorprendente. Nel frattempo, stanno facendo la loro comparsa anche giochi di ruolo rivolti all’infanzia, compresi titoli educativi e didattici.

In Italia esistono per il momento solo pochi, piccolissimi editori di giochi di ruolo per adulti (perlopiù tradotti dall’inglese) e alcuni intraprendenti autori. Come mio contributo del tutto personale a far conoscere meglio questa forma, quindi, propongo al pubblico del Florence Fantastic Festival una piccola rassegna (assolutamente non esaustiva): una porta su questo mondo accattivante per adulti e per famiglie, “giocatori” e non.

— Rafu

Nessuna esperienza richiesta!

[Edit: qui un bilancio sintetico delle tre giornate.]

A telegraphic wrap-up for August and, well, most of Semptember

I’m experiencing one of those too-busy-to-even-update-my-blog phases – so much for the regular monthly wrap-up posts! I’m still having a gaming life, though. Thus I’m going to concisely, telegraphically go through the last games I played, as a place-holder and summary, while fully intentioned to write in-depth reports of the most interesting ones sometime in the near future. In case you’re interested in hearing about something in particular, ask: I’ll try to oblige requests as soon as possible before writing about any other games.

— § —

As I mentioned already, early in August I was able to play a full game of Swords Without Masters – City of Fire and Coin. It was a three-players game (as opposed to the recommended four) played over two sessions in a private house, and I’m much obliged to Epidiah “Eppy” Ravachol for providing me with the necessary rule variants in the first place. In fact, I should probably be writing an AP report for Eppy’s benefit right now, as long as I can remember a thing, rather than be blogging like this. Let’s just say that I’m going to grab the finished book as fast as I can as soon as it’s out, but also that one of the reasons I want the book so badly is that I’m looking for those game-teaching methods other than City of Fire and Coin it’s supposed to include.

— § —

Other August games included a single playtesting/playstorming session for I reietti di Eden (which confirmed it can’t currently be played as a single-session game), a short but juicy game of Ben Lehman’s The Drifter’s Escape (boasting an unusual combination of features: it was both a demonstration of a sort, to a new player with very little previous role-playing experience, and a sequel from an old game with a much-beloved main character), and, unusually, just a few scenes of two-players Remember Tomorrow (to finish off an episode).

— § —

On September 1st and 2nd I attended GnoccoCon in Reggio Emilia. It was as good a convention as always, a few minor quibbles with food logistics nonwithstanding: the record attendance this installment achieved (75 people or more!) obviously taxed the existing structures and routines past their limit, but hopefully the organizers are going to pay this a thought and bring a measure of change to next year’s edition (which I’m anticipating already).

I ran a game of Meguey Baker’s Psi*Run (which proved very convention-friendly, as expected), a round of Ben Lehman’s Clover (as cute as expected, more bittersweet than expected) and the one-full-length-timeslot Fables of Camelot mini-campaign I was hoping for (though we didn’t actually make it to endgame in time), plus I was finally able to try out Daniel Solis’s Dō: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (lots of potential). It was a good two days indeed.

— § —

There was, then, a bit of a role-playing hiatus. But last weekend me and Barbara got back to Remember Tomorrow again to start a new episode, which already expanded our fictional world with some totally unexpected content while reincorporating favorite characters of old.

My last month in role-playing

In January and February I had way too little time for games, between traveling to Istanbul and the carnevale in Viareggio: my only opportunity to play was at EtrusCon (where I got my first taste of Mist-Robed Gate, besides playing Durance and The Dreaming Crucible – all games I heartily recommend). To even things out, March had to be an all-out role-playing month, and all of my spare time was duly given to games. My current strategy for handling logistics is both simple and convenient, and it’s working like a charm: the “group” has me and Barbara as the only fixed members, and we play at Barbara’s during the weekends together with any number of “guest” players drawn from those friends of ours who just happen to be available on short notice. Thanks to this arrangement, in one month we were able to play:

• Kagematsu (with Alessio): not our first game of it; probably the best so far. We were able to took our time, but didn’t waste any (I think I finally got the hang of how, as a village woman player, I can pace the game through my choice of whether to let a scene end or ask for more). We also hit, I think, the right balance between just enough historical accuracy to appease me and enough fantastic elements as needed to satisfy Barbara. We encountered a problem, though – possibly a “bug” in the rules: as we, the women, finally went after the Promise, Barbara as Kagematsu started rolling an endless string of triple-sixes (which is not at all unlikely, come think of it, when you’re rolling 9d6), producing a long sequence of inconclusive scenes (maybe six or eight of those in a row?) and the menace escalating to all-out war, as after a while we were exhausted of ideas for making it even more ominous. Those six-or-eight scenes added very little to the game – a couple could have been fine, but as inconclusive attempts accumulated they distracted us from the real point or even detracted from our enjoyment. Therefore, I’m considering house-ruling such a possibility away through some minor ad-hoc patch next time I play.

• Psi*Run (with Alessio and Matteo): our first attempt with this game, and we loved it. Scheduling it as a two-days marathon afforded us all of the time we could wish for – a welcome change from the usually very constrained timeframe of one-shots. Having that extra bit of comfort, we felt enabled to really make the game sing for us on the emotional level. After an explosive beginning, we acted out many low-key scenes, with sparse, drawn out conversations between the runners, reminiscent of Ribbon Drive. More the European arthouse film than the Hollywood action movie, could we say. This, coupled with the use of familiar locations in the first half of the game, vastly increased our involvement. By the second half of it, then, play had gotten so emotionally charged that every single step the runners took felt deeply moving. It was great.

• Play with Intent (with Alberto and Matthijs): not really part of the logistical arrangement I described, as we played this at a games tradeshow (“Play”, in Modena), but to be fair Alberto is one of the friends who live nearby and are always welcome at Barbara’s – well, Matthijs Holter would be welcome as well, but let’s be realistic. Anyway, since Matthijs (whom I had last met in Oslo last summer) was visiting Italy, how could I not show up and try his (and Emily Care Boss’s) “new thing”? This run of Play with Intent reminded me of jeepform, except it only had the good parts of jeepform IMO (i.e. no deliberate abuse of the players); but I get that individual runs can be very different from each other. What else to say? As a concept, it sure bears some thinking about the “identity of a game” besides the singular instance (top question: does such a thing even exist?), as well as pushing our current notion of what can be “packaged” as a “game” to its furthest limit. As an experience, it highlights once more how the core activity of game-design lies with providing built-in restrictions: as we were provided next to no restrictions at all, first thing we had to do was to add some – that is, to my understanding, we had to co-design our game on the spot.

• Remember Tomorrow (with Monica and Lorenzo): for a while, I had been unfairly dismissive of this game. That's because the first time I gave it a try, in a demo run by a friend, having no previous knowledge of it… it fell flat. I think none of us players really “got” it at the time, that we all brought mistaken expectations to the table maybe, but still we decided to blame the design for blandness. I was lucky, one year later, to be given another demo – no matter how short – by Gregor Hutton himself: and it was wholly another game to me. Later still I read the book, finding out Greg’s vision for the game was well implied within the text and his style of play extensively explained. Remember Tomorrow is all about the “punk” in “cyberpunk”, with the “cyber” just painting it in shiny colors. And it’s an agile, fast moving game with room in it for some richness of detail, for the luxury of some speculation, but never taxing or exhausting. Thus I got to facilitate it myself, at last, and – apart from a few minor issues – it was a success. Truly my first impression had been wrong. I'm going to play this again.

So, what now? First there’s a sweet, sweet game of Bliss Stage, begun last December, which we need to bring to a closure – and, with both pilots as close as they are to blissing out, one more session will be enough. Then I absolutely want to playtest Ben Robbins’s Kingdom, the rules of which had me at first read: it looks delicious. Then what? Matteo asked me whether I’d run (as the GM) a game of Sorcerer, which sounds intriguing enough a perspective… Also, the new and revamped I reietti di Eden (tentative English title: Cast Down from Eden) is almost ripe for some serious playtest.