[Spione] A successful, thought-provoking first go
MikeSands:
Last night, me and a few others had a first game of Spione. Overall the game went very well - we had a lot of fun and I feel like we created a good story.
I'm starting the thread to discuss things that came up in the game.
The first thing is that I was surprised by the effectiveness of the Trespasses. There was some discomfort from at least some of us about the mechanic, but it turned out well. The destruction of the unused Trespasses seemed to relieve the tension. But more than that, the knowledge that some of them were in play added an edge to the story, and really seemed to produce the fiction about real things that Ron intended.
The character generation went pretty smoothly, with a fair amount of input into each spy/guy from everyone at the table, although a bit more came from their players.
Then we went into maneuvers, which started slowly but I feel like we all got into the swing of things pretty quickly. In the stories of both spy/guys there seemed to be an emphasis on colleagues and their networks in these scenes, rather than solely personal or family relationships. This was partly due to the guys picked - one a divorcee and the other unmarried - but even so there were two or three supporting cast who never even appeared in a scene (note: we didn't actually complete the stories due to running out of time - more on this below).
Another item I found interesting was that both spies were motivated by a twisted kind of loyalty to their countries. However, there was absolutely no concern on their parts as to the reason that they were spying (in both cases on their compatriots). This isolation from the motives for what they were doing was a fairly evocative theme in the stories, for me - at least in hindsight.
Unfortunately it got too late to continue before we completed both spy/guys stories. However, it seemed that the trajectory for each was well established by this point. We decided to quickly describe what ended up happening to the principals based on what had occured in the game, which was a fairly satisfying end. It strikes me now that we ought to have done the same for the supporting cast (especially poor old Armin, the talentless writer, last seen being menaced by an armed man in a photo shown to his best friend in an interrogation room). Actually, that scene did cover fairly well what happened to *that* guys supporting cast... they all appeared on threatening photos. All in all we had three flashpoints, as I recall, likely with one more for one principal before their story was over and probably two or three for the other.
In terms of the people at the table, we had a mixed group in terms of familiarity with Spione (me, Steve and Malcolm), with the actual history of the cold war (Malcolm and Ed), and the fiction (me and Ed, possibly Malcolm?). Aaron I don't think was especially familiar with any of those (correct me if I'm wrong, Aaron). Despite this, we quickly generated a good ... working relationship? something like that ... to build the story. The maneuvers went quickly, with lots of suggestions (many coming in to the story) from everyone. I also really enjoyed the moments when those of us without a principal obviously had a really good idea for putting a principal further into the Cold. The principals' players seemed to really be dreading those by the end.
Malcolm Craig:
Thought provoking indeed.
Throughout the story, I didn't think about why the spies/guys were doing what they were doing. The fear, desperation and increasing realisation that they were very insignificant to the people that were controlling them were the real core of what was coming out of play.
As I commented in an email earlier today, in the case of Baum I thought it interesting that almost everyone he interacted with (bar his son),were from his own sphere: writers or associated with writers. His son and wife only came into it in a very tangential manner. It was all about the writers and their story. I got the feeling that the character of Hoffstader (the American literary agent) was, in many ways, the protagonist in that story, because all the other people orbited around him: he was the man all the writers wanted to see, he was the one Baum became close to, he was the CIA plant in the writers group. The core of the story was really about Hoffstader. And then he dies.
Interesting stuff.
Around the table there seemed to be a strong desire (perhaps a read it wrong, guys?) to bring in elements of Berlin that were familiar to us from our own experiences. So, the Wall as a backdrop came in very early on. The smoky jazz club that seems indelibly associated with the city. Damp weather and the Berlin Zoo. The Tiergarten and so on. I should also that, out of Ed, Mike and myself, I was probably the one with the least familiarity with Cold War spy fiction. History is more my forte and, although stuff like that would get drawn upon in the game, I made a conscious effort not to drive for historical accuracy in what was an exercise in creating Cold War spy fiction.
More thoughts as they percolate through my brain.
Cheers
Malcolm
Ron Edwards:
Cool!
Spione is designed to be played in two or three sessions - or rather, I think it reaches its strongest play when spread out just a little. The main reasons include a bit of reflection on under-used Supporting Cast, the possibility of looking up details on historical or intelligence stuff that's come into the story, perhaps time for emotional re-positioning about Trespasses in play, and the opportunity for reviewing what all the agencies are up to, or seem to be up to, without the pressure of being in play at the moment. Oh yeah, and also the ability to relax in terms of story-time, having the chance to see characters do normal things as well as cope with the urgencies. Single-session Spione tends to be more like a movie in which a character appears but is not developed before being eliminated, or in which agencies like the KGB loom into view without secondary material that makes them interesting or surprising.
It reads to me as if there were some constraint that enforced a single session upon you. Is that right? If so, that's a minor shame, because clearly the group began a great experience. The good news is that you enjoyed yourselves, and that makes me happy as the author, but I'm definitely interested in what you could do with it over a couple of evenings.
What agencies and principals were involved?
Best, Ron
MikeSands:
We played a single session just as an opportunity to play Spione with a group who were interested in it, to see how it went. I'll plan for 2-3 sessions for any future games. I'm not sure how possible it will be to get exactly the same group back together - especially as Malcolm is leaving Wellington soon to continue his travels.
The principals were
- Thomas Baum, working for the Stasi and infiltrating a West Berlin writer's group that included several East German expats (played by Malcolm).
- Fiona Summers, working for the CIA to get at the British NATO offices (played by Steve).
Summers in particular had an interesting rationale for spying for the Americans on her own compatriots - Steve (I think) decided to play on the distrust of the British organisation by the CIA, and had Summers working for them because they are more reliable than her own national agencies.
Malcolm Craig:
Baums' motivations were vague, tied up with his escape from Danzig as a child and the formative experiences of his younger years. Everyone round the table really ran with the the statement early on from Baum that "I'm just a writer!" and sent some really hard choices his way: betrayal of old friends (indeed, his oldest friend), estrangement from his son, revealing new depths of treachery and willingness to give himself over to the system. To be honest, I'm not sure if Baum ever really knew why he was doing this, in any deep sense. Perhaps we might never have discovered. But that's second-guessing.
I'd like to play it again at some point, over a longer series of sessions, just to see how it panned out. There were certainly lots of options still left open to us by the end of our time, many relationships as yet untouched or only barely touched.
Cheers
Malcolm
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