GWJ Fiasco Scheduling (West Coast Y'all edition)

Hi folks! Due to the difficulty in bridging a four hour scheduling gap, Amoebic has encouraged me to create a thread for those of us in the western half of the continent. I'm maintaining all of Amoebic's original rules as her experience, insight, and judgement into this sort of organizing is going to be far superior to mine.

If you're a West Coaster, or even a late night East Coaster, please fill out the following survey so I can get a better idea of the best days and times that we could run this. I know we've already gone through this in the other thread, but us West Coasters are a bit rarer, and we're looking at a different set of people here.

Fiasco scheduling survey

I would like to add one additional rule. Fiasco is a game about creating a web of interlocking and opposing relationships and motivations, and then role-playing out the dark comedy consequences. Some of these relationships are sexual or romantic in nature. In my experience, these relationships are almost 100% played for comedy. However, if you don't feel comfortable role-playing that sort of scenario, just let us know and we can choose another option. It is completely understandable. Also, if anything in the session goes in a direction you don't like, just ask your fellow players to go in a different direction. If you receive this redirection, don't take it personally; it's not a judgement on you. I don't mean to make all this sound like some kind of intense emotional experience--in the last game of Fiasco I played, I was a zookeeper who kept getting attacked by carnivorous penguins. This kind of disclaimer is a bit like the emergency water landing you get at the beginning of a commercial flight--you're probably not going to have to use it, but it's best that you know about it before the plane hits the water.

I'm probably not putting anything on Twitch, either, although I'm not opposed if someone else wants to do it, or if people just want to listen in.

Also, I think I'm a little more open than Amoebic to doing other one shot games in the future. Amoebic may prove to be far wiser than me on this point, but I'm cool GMing something like Everyone is John, or Lady Blackbird down the road.

One more thing: I'd really appreciate a co-host on this one. If you've played Fiasco or other RPGs much in the past and want to help out, let me know. My work schedule can be kind of intense, and I will definitely end up having to miss sessions here and there, and I'll be unavailable for three weeks in November.

Original Amoebic-authored post:

Amoebic wrote:

"FIASCO is an award-winning, GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation. During a game you will engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one."

I would like to invite previous players and new folks as well to join us for some digital games of Fiasco!

Over the last year, a few of us have gathered to play the popular Tabletop RPG Fiasco on Roll20! Now that some practice has been hammered out, I've decided to settle on some hard rules for the games I host to make things going forward a little smoother.

Player Limit: 4
If one cancels, the game will go on with a trio.
If two cancel, the session for the day is cancelled.
(Typical attendance rules for many table top groups).
*We've tried 5, but with the media and format, it just runs too long and gets too disjointed with that many. So for now, 4.

Scheduling and Dates and Times:

Due to the nature of the game and the level of commitment required, I would like to organise these sessions via signups. Since these can take 2-3 hours (and sometimes even longer than that in the past), I don't want to waste time dallying around to see if someone else might show up before we finally decide to get started.

Please allow yourselves the time to play for the full 2.5-3 hours allotted. If you're not sure that day, there will always be others! Though I'm happy to accommodate unexpected needs and emergencies as they arise, players often leaving part-way through can disrupt the flow and narrative of the game. We lowered the player count for faster sessions so as not to demand too much of your time. However, if we're already 3-manning and someone has to bail, the game will need to end immediately so do keep that in mind.

Play Days: Typically Wednesdays. In the past, 4pm pst/7pm est is often the earliest folks are able to start.

I would like to keep it to one day, and have it be the same day every week for a few reasons. Firstly, consistency and regularity is good so players can predict and plan. Secondly, at some point, I would like to set these up to be streaming events on Twitch. That way, other folks can enjoy the show and see what the games are like and how they are run.

Playsets, Logistics, and Rules:
In the past, I left it up to the players to suggest Playsets they might want to try, so I strongly recommend if you've signed up for a game to take a peek at some of the Playsets available in the links below to see if any catch your eye. Don't be afraid to bring it to the table, it's merely a guideline and can (and often does) go in wild and crazy directions, so why the hell not?

This is a GM-less game. However, due to how Roll20 operates, I'm the GM only in the sense that I'm in charge of some of the structure and movement of pieces. Since I'm in charge of turning the gears, it's a little much for me to hunt down and find the playsets every week, which would also get a bit homogeneous. I prefer variety and I hope you do, too! If we don't pick your's that week, bank it for a future date.

I strongly suggest picking up a physical copy of the rulebook to have on hand, as the Playset and the game board will be digital already, consuming much of your desktop real estate. Many players have the playset downloaded to their phone and have Twitch Voice Chat and the game board on the desktop.

You will need a headset and microphone. Possibly push to talk, as well, so background noise and chatter are reduced and are not distracting from narrative play.

Things can get wild, crazy, and silly. I hope they do! I would like to have a few conduct rules for everyone:

-conduct yourself with the level of respect we ask of our forum members. Racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, hateful, bigoted, or explicitly pornographic language or content will not be tolerated and may get you kicked from the sessions. Try to be clever enough to be coy. If it breaks the ToS for GWJ or Twitch in any way, expect it not to be tolerated at the table. We're all adults here, and I won't be needing to warn you more than once should it happen mid-game.

- "Yes, and..." Fiasco is an improvisational collaborative storytelling game involving all players. Do a google for "Yes, and..." in regards to improv to get up to speed if you're unfamiliar with the concept so you come to the table open and willing to try what's handed to you.

That's enough chatter for now! Here's some useful links to get started. If you would like to host your own on different days, by all means! I'll try to update this post with assets for you to use

GWJ Fiasco Roll 20 Board
Digital Fiasco Playsets from the Bully Pulpit Website
Roll20 Fiasco board assets & files via dropbox

Filled the form

I did too. Looks like even this won't be late enough for me, though. :p ah, well.

Wish I could view the results after submitting the first time. I saw them after first submitting, but now I can only re-submit new answers, which I'm pretty sure would not be the best idea.

JMnITup wrote:

I did too. Looks like even this won't be late enough for me, though. :p ah, well.

I set up times that I could make since I'm the organizer at the moment. Unfortunately, I gotta get up pretty early these days, so I can't start much later than nine.

To date I've only gotten responses from the people who've posted in this thread. That's probably enough for a quick late game, but I'm about to leave the country for two weeks, so it will have to be for when I get back. Catch you in a few weeks!

Hey I'm thinking of throwing together a last minute game tonight? starts 6pm pst!
https://app.roll20.net/join/1845416/4zjfGg

All I get from that link is "Not authorized" on a lovely white screen... not that it matters for me, I wouldn't be available until after 9pm anyway, but just so you know.

Also getting a not authorized message.