[UA] Jailbreak success

[Kevin Elmore]

> So Jailbreak is usually a success?

It's been a success in my experience.  I've run it about a
half-dozen times at conventions.  A few people were
inspired enough to buy the UA book (yay!).  

The scenario is different enough to be really memorable (in
a good way).  And the setup is so incredibly simple that I
don't have to do too much as judge.

> Anyone out there who's run Jailbreak want to talk about
> how it went, things you liked, things you would've done
> differently, things to watch out for? Sorry if this is
> old hat to some of you, but I've been curious about that
> scenario. It does look like a fun, nasty little one shot,
> but it also looks like it could just bomb if the players
> didn't get into the right spirit. 

I have said this before, but I think it bears repeating. 
I've worked on the environment of the scenario some.  

First off, I think this is best done as a semi-LARP.  I
talk the convention coordinator into giving me a room large
enough for two or three tables.  I clear a big space.  I
designate one half the room as downstairs and the other
half as upstairs.  I arrange chairs a bit to look like a
living room (the better the room, the better the illusion).
 I make players come to the upstairs half if they check out
that noise.  I isolate players where possible.  If someone
goes outside to the garage, I drag his sorry butt out of
the room.  Out of sight, out of mind.  It's not as good as
having a real house, but it's a start.

I ran it once as a table-top game.  It didn't have the same
feel.  Players really get into their characters if they can
pace or get in someone's face.  It's almost like method
acting.  

Something else I do is use a cap gun as a prop.  Usually
the ringed caps have eight shots.  In private, I fire off
enough shots to leave the proper number in there.  The
convicts don't know the count.  If some sap assumes there
are eight shots in that gun just because of the prop, well,
too bad for him.  If the toy gun fails to pop, then the gun
jams.  I may have to replace that cheap piece of junk soon.
 I find myself unwilling to roll "to hit" when the person
fires the gun.  And it is so vivid when the gun is pointing
at someone and goes off, that whoever gets shot never looks
at me and asks, "Did I get hit?"  He pretty much goes down
and waits for me to tell him if he's pushing up daisies.

That's another thing I do.  I roll all dice.  Most of the
time, what I roll means nothing.  I tell them what happens
based on how the story is going.  No one cares; they're
having a great time.  They don't have to learn rules or
memorize anything.  They do what they feel is right and
leave the rules to me.  I'm fine with that, and so are
they.

There can be hiccups.  Someone who isn't into the
aggressive nature of the scenario probably won't have a
good time.  He won't enjoy being pushed around by
convicts...as a convict, he probably wouldn't be assertive
enough.  

A mentally unstable person can take the LARPing a bit too
far.  One game had some discomfort in the air because of
one guy.  We suspect he really was venting some anger
during that game.  I had to call a White Wolf foul a couple
times on him (the foul about touching other players in a
LARP--usually it's not a problem with my games, but this
was getting close).  It didn't help that this guy had been
known to have stalked a couple of the female gamers.  I had
a couple of friends sit in and watch that game...just in
case.  Fortunately, nothing disastrous happened short of
him knocking a sealed bottle of pop (representing a
mechanical toy) across the room and narrowly missing
another player's groin.  

The scenario may not be as LARPish as others like if you
don't have nine players.  Greg has suggested how to handle
the characters if you have less than nine players.  I'm
such a purist freak that I never want to run less than nine
players.  I can do eight and let a repeat player play Uder.
 The scenario is fun enough that the same person can play
twice.  The mystery is gone the second time, though.

Anyway, my input.  Jailbreak does fare well when I've seen
it.

Kevin


=====
"Well, you take the freshly shaved rat, and you marinade it in a puddle for a while."
"Hmm, for how long?"
"Until it's drowned. Then you stretch it out under a hot light bulb, then you get within dashing distance of the latrine, and then you scoff it right down."
"So that's sauteing, and fricasseeing?"
"Exactly the same, just a slightly bigger rat."
--Blackadder Goes Forth

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