[Secret Lives of Serial Killers] Yes, a Playtest
Willow:
Baxil-
Generally speaking, serial killing is tied up in sexual violence. While there's not any explicit sexual content here; I think it's certainly implied- does anyone not realistically think that Mary Jane is getting off from feeding Levi his own hand? (And the hair-brushing of the victim in the other game- definitely sexual there.) And the fact is, women are much more likely to be the target of sexual violence than men.
So yes, subjecting anyone to this game is icky. A man and a women, or two women ganging up on a man; as opposed to two men ganging up on a woman, is a way of mitigating the ick factor.
On the other hand, it's just a sample set of two playtests. A female friend I explained it to immediately wanted to run it for a third female friend.
happysmellyfish:
Hiya Baxil,
I had read the feedback, so knew that freight train was the whole point of play.
It just seems like a rather elaborate practical joke, and I'm not sure I get the punch line. Maybe I shouldn't say any more until Brendan spills the beans.
Phil K.:
Willow -
Procedurally, did the game go the way you thought it would? That is to say: did things happen according to the rules the way you intended while writing the game.
Brendan -
What is your general opinion of movies with a sudden twist near the end? Think of anything written by M. Night Shamylan (Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village, Unbreakable) or films like BASIC and Shutter Island. Ron and I were talking on Tuesday about the thematic cohesiveness of SLoSK and its acceptance by the victim may be influenced by the ability to tolerate such twists in fiction. Just collatin' data, as they say.
Brendan Day:
Of all the films in that list, Unbreakable is the only one that I’ve seen. I disliked the ending for various reasons, but the fact that it came as a surprise wasn’t one of them. It’s interesting that I haven’t seen any of the other films listed, though. That alone suggests that I don’t care for trick endings, as I have somehow managed to intuitively avoid them.
What are some other examples? I liked Memento and Fight Club. I don't mind being kept in the dark, so long as there is a flash of recognition when the lights finally come up. That is certainly the case with Secret Lives of Serial Killers. Of course it's a story about a serial killer and her victim. What else could it possibly be? The signs were there all along, but I ignored them. When the lights finally came on I may have blinked a few times, but I didn't shake my head in disbelief. I nodded in stunned approval.
Janussary:
When Ron brought the rules text for this game over to the Dojo last Tuesday, I was mostly disappointed that simply by reading it I'd lost my shot at being a Sunshine. XD At any rate, I do agree that a majority of RPG players have whatever combination of emotional flexibility and tolerance for disturbing storylines it takes to make it through "the Turn" without being actually upset by it. However, there is a distinct possibility of emotional damage if the GM and Killer players deliberately choose a Sunshine who lacks those qualities. Which is why it reminded me a bit of the Milgram experiment.
Still, I love the idea of the game itself and wish I'd had a chance to be surprised by it! Had a similar experience when The Blair Witch Project was new. The first knowledge I had of it was an article in the Chicago Reader describing the reactions of theatergoers who had not been warned and (spoiler alert, I suppose) thought it was real. From what I recall some people were genuinely scarred by the experience, believing they'd just watched actual homemade footage of a bunch of young people getting picked off one by one by a shadowy killer still at large. I don't recall the filmmakers getting sued though--I'd think their lawyers might very well have used the "what's stopping people from getting up and leaving" argument if so.
The real difference between a movie like Blair Witch (which I liked anyway!) and this game is, I think, the participation factor. A movie rolls on no matter what the audience chooses to do or refrain from doing. An RPG, especially one with so few participants, requires that each person contribute to the evolution of the story. It's far more personal, and occurs in the context of a trust-based relationship--fellow RPG players are often real life friends in addition to their shared gaming hobby. In fact it would be difficult, if not downright irresponsible, for a GM/Killer pair to select a Sunshine who was not a fairly close friend. Otherwise the likelihood of the Sunshine reacting poorly, being genuinely hurt, would be far greater. The GM/Killer have to know their Sunshine well enough to accurately conclude "this is a person who can handle this twist and might appreciate it". And the Sunshine's got to have enough trust in the GM and Killer players that they will interpret the Turn as a hidden twist in gameplay, rather than a personal attack.
If the shock and intensity of the Turn are too great for the pre-existing trust relationship between the players to cushion the blow, then this game could very easily end friendships. Or result in the kinds of deep resentment that can send an online gamer into a cars to make a cross-country revenge trek against another gamer who's, say, killed their character once too often, defamed their honor, etc. It blurs the boundary between character and player, making it necessary for the Sunshine player to essentially put more of themselves into their character midgame. The Sunshine player has to make the choice to double down on their emotional investment AFTER the in-game character has, in essence, been betrayed in the worst possible way.
Just throwing this out there. Sex and torture are, in a sense, both extreme forms of intimacy. The essential difference between the two rests on consent and intention, even though the logical conclusion of one is life, the other death. Yet either can contain any combination of pain and pleasure without making the categorical jump. They don't necessarily have to be combined in this game, although given the setup it's likely they would be.
Willow, I do hope your female friends run this game! :D I'd look forward to reading a recap.
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