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Macabre Tales starts to show its unique take on Lovecraftian storytelling right on the front cover, where the notice "Requires two sets of dominoes" might catch most gamers off guard. Unperturbed, and more than a little intrigued, I cracked into the book to find out exactly how that would come into play, and found a whole other world of surprises. After a brief scan over the familiar "The Statement of Randolph Carter", the first of the game's twists was explained to me, in that this system wasn't going to care about the "Mythos", but instead was going to focus entirely on the direct writings of H.P. Lovecraft himself, excluding any other material added at the time or since by other authors. One might think this a limiting decision, but that's clearly the point here. By focusing only on the writings of Lovecraft himself, there's an intentionally more personal feel to the game itself, focusing on the types of individual stories and singular horrors that Lovecraft so carefully crafted.
It is this concept of singular horrors and personal struggles that drives the next major decision, which happens to be to limit the game to a two person experience, one storyteller and one main character. As I said earlier, this experience has far more in common with Fiasco and World Vs. Hero than any of the other Mythos-Inspired role playing games on the market, and this really comes out in the way the encourages the players to tell the story, focusing more on the interlacing of the narrative from both the story teller and the player's perspectives.
For the GM's part, he (or she, of course) constructs a story, and confronts the player with various challenges for them to overcome, each given a target difficulty number based on the situation and the relative complexity of the task. The main character, then, has their three main stats and associated attributes. The stats are ranked in three categories; normal, good, and excellent; with the attributes each given a numerical value. You’ll determine these in character creation, along with some personal factors and starting items. You will then toss all of this together to overcome the obstacles and progress the story as set forth by the narrator, but not with the traditional mechanic of ‘pick up some dice, roll them’.
Remember those dominoes from the front cover I spoke about earlier? Well, this is where they become important. The main character starts with his or her dominoes mixed up in a pile in front of them, and at the start of the game they draw three of them. When the narrator calls for a check, where one would normally roll some symbolically covered polyhedrons, the player instead selects one of their three dominoes and plays it. The type of check determines the stat (and possibly attribute) applicable, and the level of the stat determines which number on the domino is used; low for a ‘normal’ attribute, high for a ‘good’ and added together for an ‘excellent’. You then add to that number the number associated with the indicated attribute, and that is the player’s ‘roll’ (for lack of a better term). If this generated number is higher than the target number set by the narrator, then the player passes the test.
There are, of course, a few other mechanics in the game but one mechanic that you’ll find completely absent from the rule book is the concept of ‘combat’. Instead, we’re treated to the concept of “Tension Scenes”, wherein the narrative becomes more intense and the character is trying to pass skill and stat checks in order to gain ‘momentum’. The momentum then determines whether or not a character succeeds or fails at the “Tension Scene”, and the consequences afterwards. There’s also the inclusion of “Genre Points” that can be used to improve one’s check calculation, or to heal wounds, or to otherwise affect the game in general. For lack of a better term, imagine a Savage Worlds benny, but different.
But, with all of this rolled together, how does the game actually play? The answer to that is ‘quite well’. One of the main things I look for when playing in the world of the Lovecraft Mythos is a sense of being overwhelmed, with my character always behind the curve and trying desperately to keep his head above those dark, sanity twisting waters. I’ve always felt that if this element doesn’t exist in a horror game, then the game has somehow failed in its execution of the ‘horror’ aspect. Macabre Tales passes this test with flying colors. With its single-character focus, the narrator can really focus on tweaking their story and situations to cater to the particular strengths and (almost more importantly) weaknesses of the main character. With a good narrator, one can really feel the story tightening around their throat the deeper into the calamity they investigate far more effectively than if they were waiting for several other players to make rolls or resolve scenes.
Along with the narrator/character focus of the storytelling itself, the game rules and system really step up to help with the sense of tension while playing. The domino mechanic as a replacement for dice rolling seemed like it might be a bit clunky at first, but in the intensity of the moment, having to choose which domino to play without knowing what may be around the next corner really makes one paranoid. Many times you’ll find yourself asking “How important is this check to me right now?” all the while knowing that if you play your big double-six tile now, you won’t have it when the next perilous check comes around. So do you play that big tile, or save it for later? Do you even understand the ramifications of possibly failing this check now if you choose to save the big guns? Is a single domino all that stands between you and certain death? Yeah, it’s pretty intense, and more than once while playing I would lay a domino down, only to snatch it back up and second guess myself about if using it would be worth it.
And this stress never lets up in the game, and in fact only gets worse. Some failed checks will negatively affect your check calculations, so while that 4/2 tile may have been great when you saved it and failed a check an hour ago, but now you find yourself wishing it were a 6/5 tile instead. Top this off with the fact that the GM isn’t making checks for their actions, and the paranoia sky-rockets. Keeping the difficulty of any given check secret from the player is always a good way to throw most gamers off guard, but when their fate is left less to the roll of the dice and is quite firmly in their hands in the form of a very real choice of how much effort to expend on any given chance, the game presses home the idea that the story they are playing is their story, and not just a story they are in. That feeling is quite simply something I’ve been searching for in a horror game for a very long time. This terror, this tale, is my own and my conscious decisions make or break me.
So, from a player’s perspective, Macabre Tales actually brings an entirely new level of pressure and tension to the game, but now let us look at things from the other side. Through a narrator’s eyes, this sort of game can become a real nightmare to run. Alternatively, it can also be an absolute joy to work with. Most of the problem with running Macabre Tales stems from the same seed that makes playing it so enjoyable, that there is only the narrator and the single player. At first glance you may think that this setup would make planning a story quite a bit easier but let’s take a moment to consider that idea.
Most GM’s plan for and rely on having a group of players present to play out a story, and this tends to make them lazy in how they structure challenges and narrative. This isn’t a bad thing, because it having a group helps everyone out. If Bill can’t solve the problem or make the connection, maybe Tom or Cindy can. It’s a safety net for both the GM and the players. Macabre Tales whips that safety net completely away, and as a narrator you need to be very keenly aware of this fact. The challenge is not with the game, but with knowing your player exceedingly well. The point of any game is for all involved to have fun, so a story that becomes too hard or too abstract for the player to succeed then the fun is gone. On the other side, if the narrator tries to make the plot too obvious or too easy to ensure that the player will pick up on it, then the player may not feel challenged enough.
Basically, what I’m saying is that there is a lot of prep work that has to go into running a game of Macabre Tales, fleshing out all the little details, and making sure that your narrative is catered to your player in very intimate ways. This includes making sure that all of your supporting characters are fleshed out stats and story-wise, your monsters and skill checks are well defined and your plot doesn’t drag when approached by a lone player. All of this takes time, and can be a little daunting for some who are used to throwing a campaign together and having a larger group to play off of. However, if you’re up to the challenge as a narrator, then all of this can be exceedingly rewarding as you push the limits of your player, and in turn have them push back and challenge your on-the-fly narration skills as well.
There are a few things about the rules that puzzle me, though, but I’m not entirely sure they’re game-breakingly odd. First off, the game says that certain situations call for situational modifiers to the player’s skill/stat check calculation. Given the nature of the rest of the rules, I’m not entirely sure why one would, only in certain circumstances, need to tell the player that there is a modifier against their calculation. It seems much more in-line with the rest of the rules to simply have the narrator adjust the difficulty of the check accordingly. Sure this is splitting hairs, but when it came to interacting with my player (and as a player interacting with a narrator) I found that it was far more suspenseful if I didn’t know the actual numbers involved with a modifier. Sure I liked knowing that the room being filled with smoke made seeing the assailant more difficult, but when you start applying numbers, that tension becomes less of a real problem, and more of a math problem.
Another issue I saw with the game comes during character creation. You’re given several combinations of normal/good/excellent to apply to your three main stats, and then simply a set of points to allocate between your attributes. Each attribute is ‘linked’ to a stat, but not at all limited by it. This seems odd, as it is entirely likely to have a character whose ‘Body’ stat is simply ‘normal’, and yet they have a rating of 5 in athletics, making them “amongst the best in the world”. While one should always trust their players to make characters that are sensible, a player who knows his narrator’s style after several plays can easily make a min/max character. I think that limiting attributes somehow based on stats here could be something to consider doing as a house rule.
The book itself is very well laid out. Having been a fan of Cynthia Miller’s other works, I was a little wary when opening this book, as some of the earlier Spectrum Games materials had a tendency to jump around a bit through topics, but I was most pleasantly surprised with the layout. All of the information is presented in a concise and easy to understand way, though I think a little more distinction between super and sub-headings of topics could help. As with most other works by Miller, there are plenty of examples, and you can really tell that a lot of love and research went into the writing of the rules. Many times the game’s rules make parallels to the source material for inspiration and explanation of why a certain rule works the way it does, helping to shed some light on what may seem like an otherwise arbitrary decision on the designer’s part.
Also included in the book is a rather lengthy chapter targeted at the players with advice on how to narrate actions, keep the story moving, and utilize the character in creative ways. I’m honestly considering paraphrasing this chapter and handing it out as a “How to Role Play Interestingly” guide to people in an informative pamphlet format. The advice contained within seems like very basic information, but I’m constantly amazed at people who come to the table without a sense of evocative narration of their character’s actions, or simply sit and stare when the story comes to a bit of a stumbling point. I’m very impressed with this effort at explaining that a game is more than just numbers on a sheet.
That one chapter, though, pales when put up against the entire second half of the book, which is dedicated to the narrator and his/her narrative. Full of information and tips aimed at helping one improve their stories and pacing, as well as examples of creatures, powers, supporting characters, and some pre-made stories to help get one started. Here, though, is where I start to see some of that old lack of organization start to seep through the otherwise seamless book.
The chapter on narration begins with talking about story structure and how to build a three-act narrative, then gives some information about creating supporting characters, monster powers, tomes, magic and other specifics. Following that section, the chapter returns to speaking specifically to the narration and giving tips for structure again. Personally, I feel that the chapter would have read a lot better had that middle block of specific information been put after all of the narration tips and suggestions, as the flow sort of breaks up at that point. Or, alternatively, make this three separate chapters, one as a ‘guide’ akin to the chapter for the players, one as a ‘rules management’ chapter, and another a reference and guide for NPC’s.
Also included, almost as a side note in the book are rules for playing with more than a single main character, but all I can ask is “Do we really need this?”. I understand that some people might want to expand this system out to a larger group, but just reading over this bit made me realize that a lot of the suspense and tight narrative would be lost. A nice inclusion just in case, but I don’t think I’ll be utilizing this section any time in the near future.
All in all, I have to say that Macabre Tales, even with a few places that could be polished up some, works exceedingly well at being a truly suspenseful horror game. The focus on a single player/narrator interaction generates a sense of tension that so many of its predecessors have lacked. The book is lovingly constructed, and it is obvious from the layout, thought and research put into its pages that this was a labor of love from the designer. If you’re looking for a “simple” game between two people to tell a cooperative tale of terror and desperation, look no further than Macabre Tales.
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