[First Draft] The Many Deaths of Dr. Livingstone and the...

[kenjib]

There's the first draft. What do you think? What kind of behavior do you think these rules will inspire in the course of play? I'm wondering if the rules will support some of the goals I initially set out in my first post:



Are there parts of the rules which need to be further clarified and/or expanded upon? Anything that sticks out as entirely broken or just plain not good?

I will probably add play examples and little blurbs about the life of Dr. Livingstone to the final draft.

[Graham Walmsley]

Hi Kenji,

I like this a lot. It's basically a storytelling game, but some very nice twists.

On the question of behaviour: I think it'll encourage immersive behaviour from the players, who will slip naturally into becoming an interrogation committee.

Some quick thoughts. Ignore any you don't find helpful, as usual:

0. Not another game about how the various reincarnations of Dr Livingstone cope with crises throughout history! How many times have I seen that?

(Bad joke, sorry.)

1. I really like the use of ritual. The ritual of "Dr Livingstone, I presume" followed by "Yes" is inspired.

2. Just to check: the player of Dr Livingstone entirely determines the setting for that session, doesn't he? If he narrates the birth date as 5th December 4552, then he's decided the group is doing science fiction; if he narrates the environment as Enlightenment France, we're in Enlightenment France.

3. The order of interrogation is determined randomly, which means the players have to remember the order. Might it be easier to just determine which player goes first and then play progresses to the left? Just an idea.

4. I'm wondering if you need some more guidelines on generating good crises or examples. For example, if the crisis is stated as "The day you murdered the Executive Director", then the karma is pretty much decided from the start. If it's "The day you were fired by the Executive Director", it's much more open-ended.

5. Similarly, I'm wondering if you want guidelines on how to ask effective questions. I'm guessing the questions should mostly either a. Move the story along or b. Add colour to the story.

6. I like the way there's cooperative play, since different people play the soul. Kind of like Breaking the Ice, especially with the ending where the fate of the soul is decided.

7. What happens, at the end, if the Ratio is 1:3 or less and the player with the highest total score decides to make his fate even worse?

8. I like the way you narrate the fate of the soul. Is it possible that the players could narrate it collaboratively in some way? It might round off the game nicely.

9. Very good use of ingredients.

It's looking good. Good luck with the final entry.

Graham

[Eric J. Boyd]

[kenjib]

[kenjib]

[Eric J. Boyd]