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Barbara Allen (and the Coughing Corpse)

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 5 months ago

 Barbara Allen and the Coughing Corpse

 

 


 

 

So this was the first playtest. I think it went well. The game works, it's simple, it's fast, it's fun. What more could you ask for?

 

We played a version of the ballad "Barbara Allen", a version from The Book of Ballads. Chris was young William, Vincent was Barbara Allen, I was the Bard/Dealer. I found that character sheets are unnecessary, but writing a few questions each player wants answered seemed to work and questions didn't have to be specific to the character. See the questions in the next section.

 

We didn't sing, unfortunately. I opened with the following statement: Barbara Allen slighted young William because she was really into his friend.

"Mitch." Vincent called him.

The players declared theur challeneges to that statement. I think Vincent and Chris both disagreed. There was no Mitch. We played a round of blackjack, and the dealer won. Barbara Allen had a thing for William's friend Mitch.

 

So our first scene had Barbara Allen, William, and Mitch all at the tavern. William had had a bit too much to drink, and when Barbara Allen approched Mitch and William, a drunk William just didn't even notice her. But Mitch did. Sparks flew apparently. When William realized that his friend was into his girl, and she him, poor William went on a drinking binge.

 

"That's because William is an alcoholic" I said. Vincent suggested that maybe that was why Barbara's parents told her to slight him. Chris disagreed. This time we tried wagering pennies. I threw in 5, as did each player. This time Chris won. So William was not a drunkard, just a heavy drinker, and apparently a binge drinker. He was on a three day drinking binge which started when he realized that Barbara Allen was more into his friend Mitch than him, and somewhere along the way, he ended up in Barbara Allen's mothers bed.

 

 

Now we started trying to answer the questions. If William wasn't a drunk, why were Barbara's parents so against the pairing?

Because Barbara's mother had a fling with him. Long story short, that became canon. In the following scene, Barb caught William climbing out of her parents' window, and mom waved goodbye to him. And there was her daughter (coming home from spending time with Mitch?)! Oops! This was a real highlight of the game.

 

 

Barbara: WTF?

William: Dude. What can I say?

 

A few days later Barbara's mother and young William both fell ill. Barbara's parents urged her to go see William, because everyone knew he was dying, and the whole town knew that Barbara Allen had not visited the most beloved guy in town--a guy that everyone knew was sweet on Barbara Allen. So she went. William tried to give her the watch and chain, which he had licked in an effort to pass his bloody flux to Barbara Allen. She didn't take the watch.

 

I asked why did Barbara Allen hear the phrase "Hard-hearted Barbara Allen" in the toll of the death bells. Did she feel guilty about something? No, Vincent said. She just didn't think William needed to die. As William's funeral procession passed Barbara Allen, she asked to see the corpse. Why?

It was a ploy to see Mitch, who was one of the pall bearers. Mitch winked at Barbara and whispered "Meet me after the funeral!"

 

So why did Barbara laugh when she saw the corpse? Because she knew she was doomed. And how was she doomed? Chris wanted William's corpse to exhale one last fluxy breath into Barbara and Mitch's faces. He won the round, and so from William's corpse spurted the bloody flux infection onto Mitch and Barbara. This also explained why Barbara laughed when she saw the body. It wasn't really a laugh, she was crying.

 

When Barbara got home, her mother had fully recovered. Barb told her parents to make a death bed for her, because she knew she was going to die.

 

Last question, if things were so sour between Barbara Allen and William, why did the rose and briar grow from their graves entwined into a lover's knot? The plant from Barb's grave was trying to strangle the one from William's.

 


 

So here are the questions the players wrote down before the game.

Vincent wanted to know:

Why did mom and dad tell her to slight him? (Because mom was sleeping with William. Dad also knew.)

What did he die of and did she catch it from him? (The bloody flux or some other disease that causes one to bleed all over the place, and yes she did catch it--from his corpse.)

Did she take the watch and chain? (no)

 

Chris wanted to know:

Why did Barbara laugh when she saw his corpse? (She wasn't laughing, she was crying. She knew she was doomed.)

Was his heart's blood truly spilling?  How did he die? (He had some kind of bloody disease)

Why did he give her the chain and watch? Was it cursed? (Not cursed, just diseased)

 

We found that the gambling aspect, wagering pennies, didn't really do much. I had planned that people's winnings would have some impact on the endgame, but that didn't really pan out. I really liked the idea of gambling and placing bets on the action, but this mechanic needs some more thought. It doesn't work with just two players and a GM/Dealer/Bard. I could see it working better if you have two players playing the same character. If one player loses all her money, she's out, or players pool their pennies together to push for their outcome. Actually using pennies to bribe other players might be fun.

 

I think playing with more than one deck will work better. There will be more pairs (regardless of suit), and when you have pairs, you can split your hand.

 

I liked that the game was fast and very simple, and hilarious. It would be a fun game, I think, for people who aren't really into role playing games. It will make a great party game. It took about an hour to play, with little to no preparation, and familiarity with the ballad wasn't necessary.

 

 

I wish we had all sung more. I will try to encourage more singing.

 

We didn't play straight "legal" blackjack. I was a little unclear on splitting hands, so we muddled through and came up with something that worked well. If you get a pair, even after the dealer hits you, you may split your hand. You can keep splitting your hands,and playing them through until you get a winning hand or bust all hands. In the next playtest, I'd like to encourage players to pass their undesirable split hands (they can't be busted yet) to their oppoents. This would be good if the dealer is on your side, but the dealer is in a position to lose.

 

I think using at least two decks even with just 3 players total will help too.

 

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