Last Train to Bremen: Lean and Mean Edition

 What it is.

During a conversation in a discord server, there was a discussion of games that can run in an hour. I play in four weekly seven am games (B/X, oD&D, Delta Green) and three additional lunchtime games that all run for an hour. These must be focused and somewhat less dramatic in many cases because there simply isn't time to get deep into a lot of material/

 A member of the server (who would play Cat) identified that she thought Last Train to Bremen could be run in an hour. Having not played that game but being interested in the themes, aesthetic, and a turn away from the OSR mines, I agreed to play. Between chatting and play there was about eighteen hours of wait. The beauty of the global internet. 

Prior to play we selected the members of the band we would represent. I would play Mule, and made sure to refresh myself on the variation of Liar's Dice used in the game.

What happened.

We read the introductory prose. Seven short pages total. There's a few places where the use of contractions or specific verbs felt very characterful and others where it felt somewhat clunky. We went through the steps of defining our initial relationships - Cockerel's flamboyant expenses and desire to be the center of the band, how he clashed with Cat's patience and planning and Mule's pragmatism, Hound and Cat's relationship, Hound's jealousy of Mule's relationship to Hound's brother.

We then picked our secrets and played through several rounds of liar's dice. In service of the hour time limit we kept the scenes and responses as short as possible. Some of the narrative highlights were Hound establishing his immaturity - a consistent refrain that got stronger and stronger. We established both that Cockerel was obsessed with being the center of this important poster, and that Hound had bought a very fancy guitar with the band's shared money. Secrets were gradually revealed, although Cat never got below two dice. 

In the final accounting Cat had four spoils so we ended up two dice versus four. Cat lost a die right off the bat then took three in a row, leaving just Cat and Hound's player left. At the end, Hound took the last die from Cat and cat delivered a poignant line about how she'd always known Hound would be the death of her. 

We ran over by about 5 minutes, which I think is close enough to an hour to count. Probably doable with a some tiny adjustments to the introductory ritual.

What I learned.

1. Regarding the introductory prose. I think this is one of those issues with any "box text". It's very unlikely that it flows naturally for everyone, especially without rehearsal and shared cultural context.
2. Regarding scene length. I think short punchy scenes are better anyway. God knows it can be a little tough to lock in on what someone's doing in a memory even when they are sticking to two minutes or less.
3. Human beings can narrativize anything. I took two dice from hound right off the bat and it felt like that meant something. The urge to perform sortilege is extremely strong. Thinking on other projects, the number of times I've rolled an encounter table and thought "oh yeah, that was meant to be" is silly but resonant. 
4. Probability math will always fuck you.
5. It's easier in these fast and loose games for peoples statements or intentions to get overridden. Twice I attempted to establish a fact and my somewhat elliptical word choice meant that it wasn't clear what I meant or if it was literal. That doesn't really feel bad to me, but I can see how it would frustrate other people.
6. I really liked Stereophonic. Truly an incredible piece of theater even if it's nearly one-to-one a reproduction of the events of recording Rumors. 
7. We never established the literal presence of the Devil, I don't think. I know that for me, the Devil was never literally present. It never literally took anyone away. It was metaphorical entirely. But I think that for other players that might not have been the case. I don't know as I haven't asked but it's interesting to think about how, in the context of a storygame how big the gap in the imagined world can be without friction. Generally that gap can be pretty good. God knows I describe rooms vaguely in dungeons and just say "it's a halfling in armor" without specifying more until relevant. 

I'd probably play Last Train to Bremen again, but more than that, I'm going to bring stuff to play liar's dice the next time I go drinking with friends.