Mark of the Devil (May 15)
Shock
players: Manu, Charon, Ben

Instead of a sci fi setting, we tried something a little different, and spun up a historical Shock: a plague in late Middle Ages Europe that gave the (few) survivors unnaturally good health and endurance. The serfs were hit the hardest, so soon we had camps of outcasts who were considered to have "the Mark of the Devil" but were simultaneously tolerated because they made such good workers for their lords. Who wouldn't want a tireless serf that could survive squalid conditions and terrible injuries?

Lots of tension between religious witch hunts and economic pragmatism. I had a great time playing my evil Joan of Arc analog, Isabella Duclaire, bent on purifying the land by slaughtering every one of these unholy creatures after hearing the Voice of God. Yep, she burned at the stake, but even after death everybody was clamoring to be counted on her side. Go martyrdom!

It was certainly a very interesting game. I never would have come up with the plot myself. It was great to have the chance to play it with Ben and Charon.

It was my first time playing shock, and it wasn't what you'd call a light-hearted game :-) Ben's character was burned at the stake but her mad quest for a holocaust of the marked ones was then continued by the aristocracy; another character's quest to drive the church from the land succeeded, but he was torn limb from limb by peasants in the process, and finally one character's goal to establish a system whereby people could gain power and station in life through merit rather than accident of birth gained some traction, at the cost of his lands, property and his enforced servitude :-)

I'd definitely play Shock again, but I'd have to be in the right mood for it. In some respects, it was more of an intellectual exercise than a game I'd play for fun. If I wanted ideas for a sci-fi story I wanted to write I'd run to play it, but not if I just wanted an afternoon of light-hearted gaming. I was actually vaguely unsettled by the game for the rest of the day!

Thanks again to Ben for bringing the game and showing us how to play! Best Wishes, Manu