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Dramatics
Last night's game was a colourful mix of highs and lows. JB, who had previously wanted to wrap it all up before his next trip abroad, decided instead to play the full arc. It was the right choice. Although it was a good session overall, it would have been disappointing if it had been our last.
We started out on the strong dramatic choice of letting my character get captured by the enemy. I don't regret it, but it had the downside of alternating storylines, which always creates some restlessness. I think JB recognised the problem because he did as much as he could to support my attempted escape, but the dice were fatally against me. (I rolled something like four 5s in a row on 2d6.) It was great for the narrative--I very nearly made it only to get snatched by the Big Bad at the last moment--but frustrating from a role-playing perspective.
What really mucked things up, however, was Acting Pixy's choice to retire their character in the previous session. He had so much trouble finding his feet that we had to halt the main plot for 20 minutes to give him not one but two opportunities to establish links with the other characters, one of which went so badly that it devolved into a counseling session, with JB all but begging him to play a character capable of having normal human conversations with other normal humans.
It also hurt that the rest of us were all a little mentally compromised. I'd slept badly and was trying not to be a grump despite mildly resenting having to host. (When JB said he was bringing ice cream--homemade lemon blueberry cheesecake ice cream, mind you--I bitched to a friend "motherfucker better have cones".) JB himself is having some travel anxiety and Acting Pixy's ex, who missed last sessions due to flu, probably shouldn't have been there at all. He was remarkably solicitous, however, and helped me keep my cool.
It's hard to know what to do with this group. On the one hand, the internal tensions aren't going away (and have been exacerbated by the breakup). But, on the other, we've all shown a dedication to being present every week, which can't be said for every group I've played with, and we are genuinely fond of each other. I hate to make it sound like AP is the problem, since we all have our annoying quirks, but he does seem to be the focus almost any time we have a breakdown.
We started out on the strong dramatic choice of letting my character get captured by the enemy. I don't regret it, but it had the downside of alternating storylines, which always creates some restlessness. I think JB recognised the problem because he did as much as he could to support my attempted escape, but the dice were fatally against me. (I rolled something like four 5s in a row on 2d6.) It was great for the narrative--I very nearly made it only to get snatched by the Big Bad at the last moment--but frustrating from a role-playing perspective.
What really mucked things up, however, was Acting Pixy's choice to retire their character in the previous session. He had so much trouble finding his feet that we had to halt the main plot for 20 minutes to give him not one but two opportunities to establish links with the other characters, one of which went so badly that it devolved into a counseling session, with JB all but begging him to play a character capable of having normal human conversations with other normal humans.
It also hurt that the rest of us were all a little mentally compromised. I'd slept badly and was trying not to be a grump despite mildly resenting having to host. (When JB said he was bringing ice cream--homemade lemon blueberry cheesecake ice cream, mind you--I bitched to a friend "motherfucker better have cones".) JB himself is having some travel anxiety and Acting Pixy's ex, who missed last sessions due to flu, probably shouldn't have been there at all. He was remarkably solicitous, however, and helped me keep my cool.
It's hard to know what to do with this group. On the one hand, the internal tensions aren't going away (and have been exacerbated by the breakup). But, on the other, we've all shown a dedication to being present every week, which can't be said for every group I've played with, and we are genuinely fond of each other. I hate to make it sound like AP is the problem, since we all have our annoying quirks, but he does seem to be the focus almost any time we have a breakdown.