Party, party, ultraviolence

We are seventeen sessions into Legendary Lives. It is at least possible that this is a lifetime record for the game, which received mainly demonstration convention play during its initial promotion and release.

I’m ambiguous. I really love my character, the inestimable Shining Star, and the game system has many virtues. It also has many quirks, which is not a bad thing, but one must adjust one’s initial notion of how play is supposed to work or be into what the game has actually done – often.

This post is for episodes 14-17. The second pair is pretty exciting and gory. At the risk of lost clicks, I have to tell you, there’s a lot of plot in the first two but not much happens, and it’s not exactly scintillating viewing. Part of that is due to us, and how we’re relating to the game, and part of that is the game’s sudden “drop” when you’ve got past the individualized nuances of initial character creation. It starts very individualized yet seems only equipped to supply generic activity after a certain point. Of all the games I tagged as Fantasy Heartbreakers, Legendary Lives is the least immediately obvious title … but in this, exactly, is where it cannot escape from being “just like any fantasy RPG” … or at least, we find it to struggle, as a tool, when getting to that point.

Ross needs to be heard from here. He’s the GM. He’s also put in a hell of a lot of content which, I realized as I edited, we have not always been up to par in perceiving and giving due attention. I am now thinking that we’ve been a little unresponsive to what’s been brewing, and that’s not so good, as fiction or as fellow participants.

Here’s another thing: we are four pretty matter-of-fact guys, all over a certain age, all fond of women as fellow humans at the very least, none of us entirely shy about certain topics (see: certain age), and playing three rather skanky and outright rebellious women. So what about sex? You can see all three of us dodge the issue at the costume party. Why? I am not sure. To be discussed.

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3 responses to “Party, party, ultraviolence”

  1. Snurfle snorf snorf

    It'll take some time to get to an actual reply, but oh god my cold noises. (Ron, you did warn me to expect this.) I apologize to anyone trying to watch the first video.

    • I edited them out like a

      I edited them out like a madman. I was forced to leave in a few when the accompanying dialogue couldn't be lost. So there was a lot more for which I am alone in the universe in having to experience multiple times.

      The odd thing is, these and similar human noises aren't perceived during play by the participants. Actual people are all used to editing them out from one another in real life, in person. So during the video editing, I was saying, that's nuts, I don't remember it like this.

  2. Full videos now available

    Sessions 16 and 17 are added! See the travails of the Sanity test, horrible damage plus Ross gets to say "as he exsanguinates," and the appearance at last of a real spy. The link goes to the same playlist but directly to the start of #16.

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