Seriously, they aren’t all that common these days so it was a pleasant surprise to stumble on this one:
Sounds like that whole group really gets what makes the game sing. And Frankenstein’s Mobster is a villain name par excellence. 
7 Likes
(Better late than never, right?)
I like the subtle “shadow”/“light” theming of the two heroes. I don’t think I even noticed it on my first read-through.
It looks like the GM did a good job of making the scenes full and exciting, made good use of Environmental effects, and provided a nice, big cast of colourful characters.
And in general, it seemed like the GM really grokked what makes the system shine.
I did start to feel some creative fatigue as twists kept popping up. Luckily I could offload some of that onto the scene tracker and buy more time, and at least once I simply asked the table for ideas.
This is interesting, as IIRC the book suggests asking players as the first source for twists, and only if they’re stumped should the GM make up their own, whereas it sounds like this GM thought they had to come up with each one, and only asked the players as a last resort. (Plus it’s unclear to me whether they had prepped Environment twists or not.)
2 Likes
The book definitely suggests the whole table should be in on inventing twists, yeah. That’s part of what Principles are for, but it goes beyond that. I tried to leave him a message about it in the comments but it didn’t post for some reason.
I tend to use a bit of a mix myself, leaning toward taking player suggestions unless they start to feel predictable (eg always taking some damage, or a penalty). If something springs to mind for me I’ll intrude, frequently using some fitting environmental twist (which I can see, but the players can’t until they happen) or offering some narrative thing that will come back to haunt them later.
The players are supposed to know what a twist is before they accept it (and can refuse or negotiate if they really don’t like it) but I’m willing stretch that to preserve mystery for narrative stuff they wouldn’t know about yet, framing it as “nothing seems to go awry right now, but there will be a narrative consequence later on, is that okay?” As long as you don’t abuse that sort of open permission I find most players will take the offer.
It’s not like I’m going to torture the PCs like Marvel does with Peter Parker.
2 Likes
I think it can also depend on the player. If I’m running it, there are some players I know would rather not have to come up with a twist, while there are others that revel in such opportunities! I’ll usually include that as part of session 0 discussions to ensure we’re all on the same page as to how they individually want to come up with twists.
Just another factor for us to consider. 
2 Likes
I mean, the suggestions don’t have to come from the player who generated the twist, although obviously they have final say about whether to accept it. I notice most folks are harshest with their own PCs (maybe because they’re afraid the GM will come up with something much worse if they try to go easy on themselves) but I’ve seen some fiendish ideas for other PCs come up as well, sometimes even shafting both the twist-ee and the PC whose player suggested the idea in unison. Again, up to the recipient to take it or not, but as a GM the players are usually much meaner to themselves than I tend to be.
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Yeah, I’m sure that it very much depends on the individual player or GM. Some will always have an idea, some never will, and most will likely fall somewhere in between.
2 Likes