Author Topic: Venture Bros  (Read 23867 times)

clockworkjoe

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #15 on: February 02, 2010, 12:36:20 PM »
But yeah, no hard feelings. The first session was quite fun.

In hindsight I should have run a more traditional game with you guys so I could get a feel for your play style. This was a sandbox game and I wasn't prepared for every option.

RobJustice

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2010, 12:39:42 PM »
That actually sounds like fairly normal Venture Brothers bumbling. Except for the throwing a bus thing. Did Tom's character happen to be reptilian in nature?
Yeah, he was a giant snake man. Mike was playing a Doctor Horrible style character based off the Skullcrusher Mountain JoCo song. I was playing Detective LeFrog, an "evil" detective noir style man with a frog head.
Well Dr. McNinja let you go or you escaped pretty easily. I don't even remember what he actually did to you other than chase you off. I remember after that you had to fight some other villains to defend your base and you beat them pretty soundly but you got on a bus and left the city. I don't remember the specifics though.
We pretty much beat feet from Dr. McNinja as soon as Tom threw the bus. We were trying to scout and then BLAMO, all out attack. Then it was retreat time. Tom ripped open a manhole and fled into the sewers. Which ended up with Tom being chased by police through the city and us heading home. Then Dr. McNinja attacked us because of the whole bus thing and Mike and I tried to turn Tom over to him, double-crossing Tom. Then Baron Underbite, who was crashing on our sofa and "mentoring" us got mad and stormed out for double crossing Tom. So, Mike and I, having a pissed off Dr. McNinja, giant snake man, and Baron decided to beat feet, regroup, and eventually strike back. That was roughly where everything ended.

The big downfall was that, while Mike and I were in sync, we had NO idea what Tom was up to or why he was doing the stuff he was doing. So we played off of each other and tried our best to deal with the giant snake man. Since you knew Tom everything worked great between you two, leaving us feeling like outsiders. Then there was the fact that it was Mike and I's first time with M&M, while you and Tom knew it pretty well. In a lot of ways we felt behind the curve.
well basically they went straight up against a competent hero without a plan or any preparations even after their NPC mentor (Baron von Under bite) told them that was a bad idea. So I just ran the encounter straight.
I think that was the big misscommunication. Mike and I were trying to scout him out, see who he is, what he's about, not engage in conflict. I mean, we went into his office and faked illness to get a look at him before he knew who we were. Then once he figured it out, I stole tounge depressors and jumped out a window to flee.
btw I think a bumbling villain losing is a very important Venture Brothters theme - after all the Monarch loses to Brock pretty much every time and so on and so on. Hell, pretty much every Venture Brothers is defined by how badly they lose and how they respond - even Brock gets his ass kicked several times.
It can be a little tricky to mimic with M&M though. The Monarch, for example, tends to lose a dozen or so henchmen to Brock during their encounters. Same holds true even for more physically capable villains like Baron Underbheit. Most of the villains retreat as soon as it looks like there's going to be a clear path between themselves and Brock.

Most of the 'operations' I can recall having any degree of success where undertaken when the henchmen are drunk.
100% agreed. Failure is a HUGE theme for Venture. Everyone fails at something, Dr Venture's entire life is a failure, Brock can't get with the one women he loves, The Monarch can't take down Dr. Venture... its everywhere. It makes it a hard theme to pull off in most gaming groups. We've been conditioned to want to win and even when taking the loosing is funny it still kinda sucks.

Not to mention that no one on the show its  a TOTAL failure. Dr. Venture can make a fucking walking eye! Sure, its useless but he didn't fail at making it. You know? Its a weird balance a GM needs to strike.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2010, 12:41:52 PM by RobJustice »

RobJustice

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2010, 12:41:21 PM »
But yeah, no hard feelings. The first session was quite fun.

In hindsight I should have run a more traditional game with you guys so I could get a feel for your play style. This was a sandbox game and I wasn't prepared for every option.

Totally, no hard feelings. I mean, the game turned out pretty terrible but it wasn't really anyones fault. Mike and I still joke about how poorly it ended.

Thats a big part of it. We didn't really know how each group would react to things. You expected us to do one thing, we thought you wanted us to do another, Tom and you were on the same page, Mike and I were on a different one... things just exploded.

clockworkjoe

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2010, 01:03:33 PM »
Actually Tom and I weren't on the same page because throwing the bus threw me for a loop.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2010, 01:06:52 PM »
Alot of this sounds very Venture Brothers. The minor thefts, the sneaking around, the massive miscommunications, lack of planning ahead.

Where did Tom even get a bus, by the way, Ross? Dr. McNinja's office is practically in the middle of the woods.

RobJustice

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2010, 01:53:33 PM »
Alot of this sounds very Venture Brothers. The minor thefts, the sneaking around, the massive miscommunications, lack of planning ahead.

Where did Tom even get a bus, by the way, Ross? Dr. McNinja's office is practically in the middle of the woods.
And thats the big hurdle for a Venture game. A lot of the Venture themes are great on paper but get really shitty at the table.

clockworkjoe

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2010, 02:05:24 PM »
The players hijacked the bus earlier I think and drove it there.

Yeah, in hindsight a VB game is just asking for trouble. Very complex themes that are hard to handle in tabletop games.

I forgot if you guys are going to Fear the Con or not. I think not, but I'm not sure.

Either way, would you like to try gaming again with a more simple/standard game? I could run a CoC one shot or Monsters and Other Childish Things or whatever.


Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2010, 02:19:34 PM »
The players hijacked the bus earlier I think and drove it there.

That was gonna be my next question: "did they steal it?".

How has this not been mentioned sooner? He threw the get away vehicle at the building. That's simply sublime. And again, something I would expect to see in the Venture Brothers.

RobJustice

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2010, 02:21:42 PM »
The players hijacked the bus earlier I think and drove it there.

Yeah, in hindsight a VB game is just asking for trouble. Very complex themes that are hard to handle in tabletop games.

I forgot if you guys are going to Fear the Con or not. I think not, but I'm not sure.

Either way, would you like to try gaming again with a more simple/standard game? I could run a CoC one shot or Monsters and Other Childish Things or whatever.

We didn't plan on going to FtC. It seems weird to go to a Con put on by a podcast that none of us listen to anymore. Our con schedule, as far as I know, is DrakeCon this weekend, Gen Con... Yeah. We hit VisionCon every year now, I might go back to Archon but I made an ass of myself last year so I may avoid it. If GAME happens here again we'll go.

I wouldn't be opposed in giving you a shot to redeem yourself for your FAILING at Venture. Haha. I'll check with Mike and Art, see if their interested. Scheduling will be the trick though.

RobJustice

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2010, 02:23:13 PM »
How has this not been mentioned sooner? He threw the get away vehicle at the building. That's simply sublime. And again, something I would expect to see in the Venture Brothers.
That was kinda the theme of the game, a lot of things that in retrospect feel pretty Venture but at the table feel like a crapton of bullshit.

Ross could always release the audio so everyone can hear how awkward and uncomfortable it was for everyone at the table. haha.

clockworkjoe

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #25 on: February 02, 2010, 02:29:48 PM »
Sure, I'll post it. BTW any preferences for what game I would run? I can run a lot of different games but I've had my eye on Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Hunter the Vigil, Changeling the Lost and Eclipse Phase for a while.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #26 on: February 02, 2010, 02:31:35 PM »
I think this is one that would make a horrible Actual Play, but makes for an excellent retelling.

The more I hear about everyone being annoyed and uncomfortable, things not working, people failing at their efforts, the more and more is sounds like you guys produced an honest Venture Brothers game. And, as the characters actually involved in each show's events would probably feel, it sucked.

Ha!

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #27 on: February 02, 2010, 02:37:46 PM »
Sure, I'll post it. BTW any preferences for what game I would run? I can run a lot of different games but I've had my eye on Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Hunter the Vigil, Changeling the Lost and Eclipse Phase for a while.

I know you have a pretty solid Hunter vision. Make sure you have something similar for Changeling. The range of choice open to the players, especially with the dramatic visuals that Changeling offers, can set players to wandering. They need a powerful reason to be stuck together. Last Changeling game I ran had the characters constantly wandering apart while I tried to push them together.

clockworkjoe

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #28 on: February 02, 2010, 04:04:11 PM »
Sure, I'll post it. BTW any preferences for what game I would run? I can run a lot of different games but I've had my eye on Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Hunter the Vigil, Changeling the Lost and Eclipse Phase for a while.

I know you have a pretty solid Hunter vision. Make sure you have something similar for Changeling. The range of choice open to the players, especially with the dramatic visuals that Changeling offers, can set players to wandering. They need a powerful reason to be stuck together. Last Changeling game I ran had the characters constantly wandering apart while I tried to push them together.

Two words.

Slender. Man.

Maze

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Re: Venture Bros
« Reply #29 on: February 02, 2010, 04:29:21 PM »
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