Players: Tim, Martin, Davis

(Before I continue describing our game, I am sad to report that I somehow lost the character sheet, etc., so this will all be from memory. Hopefully I will represent the game accurately)

Our setting: The noble houses of Amsterdam in the 1600-1700's. Specifically, we were looking to make a swashbuckling tale; so, while all three of our characters were of fine noble birth, they were also fantastic swords(wo)men.

The Beloved: Cecilie van Kaltenbach, suave socialite and keeper of the secrets of nobility (in the sense of knowing them, not necessarily in the sense of not telling them). She has a beautiful singing voice, a positively scandalous amount of sexual experience for a woman of noble birth, and both her dress and personal cleanliness are impeccable (no small task in 17th-18th century Europe, I would say). She is also very generous with money (but nearly broke). The Opportunity that has thrust her into this soon-to-erupt love triangle is that she has just recently left a long relationship with the prince of the realm, some six years her junior (She's 24 or thereabouts). It was a mutual parting, with very little ill will. Her Obstacle is that she is now almost entirely broke since she no longer receives a stipend from the royal coffers, and she has a lifestyle to support. She LOVES to throw parties, and wear pretty things, and chat the chat with all the highborn folk of the town. Her dream, spoken to no one, is that she would love to travel the world. For now, though, money and status rule her thoughts.

Suitor 1: Thea, teenage daughter to an important count. She is fashionable, but only due to feeling socially obligated to be so. She is pure, but sadly somewhat prudish. She is taciturn, but compassionate (it's not that she doesn't like people, she just doesn't know what to say). Her important place is the salle of her fencing master, who has a very foreign name that I have forgotten (perhaps Martin still remembers and will comment). Her important thing is her favorite violin. Her important person, sadly for the cause of romance, is her father the count, who DESPISES Cecilie. Her conflict: Daughter of the Enemy.

Suitor 2: Kasper, a rich nobleman and businessman. He is the owner of a very large shipping company, run with a rather impressively lax stance on integrity. His important person is Gustav, his manservant. He is slovenly yet genteel (Kasper, not Gustav). He is a great orator, but his orations are just a lot of hot air. And he is an absolute heartbreaker. Even so, he is eternally lovesick. Each one of them could have been the one..........As such, his important thing is a rather large collection of personal mementos he has kept from all his lost loves. His conflict: Empire of Lies.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game. As it began, it looked very much like Cecilie would be swayed by the mountain of riches at Kasper's disposal and continue to see Thea as just a child situated far too close to a man that wanted her head. However, as the game progressed, the dice began to lean quite strongly the other way. A lot of this had to do with Thea's willingness to sacrifice nearly everything about herself to grow closer to Cecilie (which gave her more dice). We had some great scenes, from flirting with Kasper amongst all his "trophies from around the world" (many of which were just things he had kept from past lovers) to Thea climbing the tree to Cecilie's window to whisk her away to safety when the mob came for her. And, last but not at all least, the suitors had a proper sword-fighting duel! And Thea bested Kasper to win the heart of her love, shouting a declaration of that love out for all to hear in the open street. Ultimately, the Beloved actually won the dice roll at the end, meaning that she got her dream and would travel the world, but I (as said Beloved) felt that there had been a real connection between Cecilie and Thea at that point, so I took Thea with me.

The one thing about Shooting the Moon that I knew but hadn't really thought about much before playing it, was that it is a competitive game, more so than the majority of other story games we play. This gave it a somewhat different feel, and I think it might be good to emphasize that for people who are considering playing it. I was the Beloved, though, so I was mostly exempted from that. Also, the game doesn't seem to really encourage you to play out the results of the dice rolls in a dramatic fashion. However, we started doing it anyway near the end, and I thought it added a lot to actually flesh out how the results took place instead of just narrating them. Great game, though, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Davis for fighting for my heart. And thank you to Martin for facilitating (and also fighting for my heart, obviously).