Misery Bubblegum Playtest

This is a game of teen angst, though I think the characters can be older. The game's author, Tony Lower-Basch, described it as sort of like Primetime Adventures, only it plays fast enough that one can play multiple episodes in a four hour slot, and we played three episodes. The game uses cards only. There are cards with archetypes, such as Champion, Royalty, Rebel, Punk, and so on. There are cards with adjectives, such as Naive, Brooding, Mellow, and Flamboyant. PCs are made using one of each card. The GM also used one of each card to describe the mood of the scene / episode.

Scenes involve both roleplay and card play. Mango Studio Pro did the art on the cards. I'm not sure what this means, but Tony says that the pictures are not anti-aliased.

Cards have numerical values. Higher cards trump lower cards, and the final (high) card wins. There are some cards that get attached to the pairs of cards that make up the characters.

One type of these cards has a split value. The value is in the 30s if the card is used right away, but in the 50s if the card is primed first. So, if you have a card that says, "Will you stand up for yourself?", if you play it at once, its value is, say, 32. But, if you prime it by having your character not stand up for him or herself at a critical time, then it is worth, say, 53 points when you finally do play it.

When the deck, which has fewer than 60 cards, runs out, it runs out. No one gets any more cards until the episode ends. The deck went very fast with four players and one GM. I asked Tony about whether he wanted to include guidelines for coming up with more cards on the fly. He wasn't sure.

Misery Bubblegum also has a pairing mechanism. If one plays a card onto the Pairing place holder, it links two questions that logically may not be linked. This mechanically prevents the logical dodge.

In other words, in real life, if someone says, "You're my friend, right? You'll help me get my abusive boyfriend back?", I hope that everyone understands that these are two completely different questions, and that being someone's friend does not, in any way, obligate one to help the friend return to an abusive relationship.

But, in a game where the point is emotional angst, the pairing mechanic supports the focus of the game. It means that the two questions asked really are the same question. So, the players cannot use logic to dodge their characters' dilemmas. In the above example, "You're my friend, right? You'll help me get my abusive boyfriend back?" is a single question. Your character must either:

-- Answer yes to both
-- Answer no to both
-- Dodge the question
-- Dodge the question, and flee in tears

If this sounds awful, then Nostalgia Bubblegum isn't the game for you. But, Friday morning at Dreamation, it was exactly what I wanted.

We decided that the game was set in a high school where the most important thing was the basketball team, The Middlebury Fighting Hogs.

Tony: GM and The Scene: Mellow Rivalry

Me: Sunny: Naive Champion, star player of the girl's basketball team

Remi Trauer: Coach Sarah Melbourne: Brooding Coach

Rachel Walton: Katelyn: Feisty Rebel. She was a transfer student to the team. She'd had an accident involving her leg. Remi said that Coach had recruited her personally, and had been there as soon as she was wheeled out of the hospital, saying, "I want you to play for my team."

Daniel Ravipinto: Kevin: Roguish Dreamer. Kevin had the temerity to play soccer.

At the start of every episode, at least one player needs to answer the following questions for his or her character:

What do you want?

How are you trying to get it? Note that if the plan succeeds, this does not mean that your character will get what he or she wants; this is only what the character believes will help him or her get it.

What do you fear? In other words, if your plan fails, what do you fear will happen? This isn't necessarily what will happy -- your PC has no control over that. It's just what the character believes will happen.

Who or what stands in your way? In other words, who do you blame for your failure?

Part One: Coach Melbourne

What does she want? She wants Sunny to credit her for Sunny's skills forever. When Sunny wins high acclaim as a world famous basketball player, Coach wants her to say, every time she speaks about it, "I could never have done this without Coach Melbourne."

Plan: Get Sunny to move out of her parents' house and in with Coach.

What would happen if Sunny found out that Coach Melbourne was manipulating her? She'd quit the team, and we'd lose the state championship.

Who's standing in your way? Kevin, Sunny's childhood friend. Kevin is conflicted about the team. He's Sunny's childhood friend.

Remi: I'm going to bribe you to make trouble for me because I want to know how this works.

Daniel: Okay, so how does this work?

Remi: Exactly.

How it worked was that Remi gave Daniel a card as a bribe to use that very same card against Remi's character. This mechanic helped the flow, as a lot of the cards wound up where they would have the best effect on the story we were telling.

There was a lot of arguing and posturing between Kevin and Coach, as Coach warned Kevin not to interfere with her plans for Sunny. Coach also told Kevin to stop trying to build his pathetic little soccer team when there was already a monumental basketball team. Kevin pointed out that the basketball team had come from somewhere and had originally been just as small as the soccer team.

Later scenes between them involved accusations that Kevin was a failure, like his father, who used to be one of the school's great basketball players, something we had not previously known. And, we learned that the Vice Principal was named Fred Dickens.

Sunny's parents tried to get her to ease up on the sports. After all, keeping up her grades was important. She promised that she'd be studying with Kevin later in the day.

Daniel (after another fight between Kevin and Coach): Our study scene's going to be a lot of fun...

That scene never did happen. There was too much else going on.

The girl's basketball team, while ultra cool, was not taken as seriously as the boy's basketball team. Vic, the coach for the boy's team, casually took over the courts from Coach and her girls, desultorily asking if it were all right. Of course, she said it was. This infuriated Katelyn, who didn't understand why Coach was letting the boys' team walk all over her.

Flash and Mongo, two stars of the boy's team, made condescending comments about the girls to the girls. Indignant, Sunny and Katelyn challenged them to a private competition, outside the school grounds. The boys accepted.

The girls then went to look for Kevin. One of the boys on the soccer team told Kevin that he had a shot at an alternate spot on the boys' basketball team. Kevin bullied him into staying, as the soccer team needed him and actually had a chance of making something of itself. The other boys whispered that, a year ago, Kevin would have been happy for someone to get that kind of a chance.

Sunny and Katelyn told Kevin about the secret match between the sexes, noting that the soccer team could borrow the courts, since both teams would be out. They also got him to agree to put itching powder in the basketball boys' underwear.

Coach, we all agreed, would find out about the secret competition. She told Flash and Mongo to break the girls, threatening to make trouble for them if they didn't. They were cowed, but Mongo wasn't happy about trying to hurt a crippled girl like Katelyn.

It was a hard fought battle, but the boys triumphed, not least because Sunny was trying to protect Katelyn and do it all herself, just like a champion. I was also priming the card asking if one will accept help from one's friends. In this scene, clearly, Sunny was not accepting help.

After the crushing defeat, Mongo shyly approached Katelyn and told her the truth about what Coach had done. I think Tony used a pairing, something like "I'm not such a bad guy, am I? You like me, right?" Whatever it was, Katelyn ran away, ducking the question.

Coach caught Kevin coming out of the boys' locker room with the itching powder, but Sunny tried to take the blame, saying that it was all her fault for not listening to Coach.

Coach: That's right!

However, both Katelyn and Kevin told Sunny the truth of what was going on. And Kevin accused Coach of not caring about Sunny.

Coach: I love her more than my own grandson!

And, at that point, everything came together as we realized that the grandson was Kevin himself, and that his father, a bitter disappointment to Coach, was Coach's own son.

But, the damage had been done, for Sunny, using a card I'd accepted as a bribe, accused Coach of being a horrible person. I also used the primed card at its high value, as Sunny was now accepting help from her friends. Coach Melbourne's influence over Sunny -- and over the school -- was at an end.

Part Two: Basketball Retreat!

Remi decided that he didn't want to play Coach in the next episode. Instead, he picked up Flash, one of the two NPCs on the boys' basketball team that Tony had invented on the fly. Daniel decided to drop Kevin in favor of Mongo.

Daniel: Mongo (Mortimer): Shy Bookworm

Remi: Flash: Flamboyant Royalty

Coach Melbourne was not around. No, she was on, ah, a long vacation for her, ah, health, yes. Coach Vic was going to take both basketball teams to the woods for an intense retreat. Yes, boys and girls. There were separate cabins, with courts in the center of the area, and a clearing for not-so-secret keggers. Yes, this is as terrible an idea as it sounds.

This time, the beginning questions were answered for Mongo and Katelyn.

Mongo:

What do you want? For Katelyn to see I'm a nice guy.

How are you going to get what you want? Flash'll coach me.

What do you fear? She'll fall in love with Flash.

Who or what stands in my way? Sunny.

Katelyn:

What do you want? For Sunny to have the same respect for her as for her other teammates.

How are you going to get this? Beat her soundly on the basketball court.

What do you fear? If she finds out why Katelyn is doing that, she'll think Katelyn's feeling Needy -- and she'll spread it to the rest of the team.

Who is standing in the way? Mongo, because he went easy on her, turning his force on Sunny instead, in the previous episode.

Coach Vic's Goal: Dominate the county playoffs

Tony as The Scene used the cards Preparing and Stressful.

The boys on their bus were talking about girls. Specifically, they were talking about Katelyn, with Mongo, secretly holding a copy of _Cyrano de Bergerac_, accusing Flash (I think) of thinking of Katelyn the same way he thought about the others.

Mongo: Sarah and Susan and Michelle and...

Flash: She's different!

Mongo: Just like all the others!

Flash: She's different. Just like all the others -- But different!

Mongo: Don't even --

Flash (realization dawning): Dude, I didn't realize!

Mongo: I hate you so much!

Flash: Dude, I am totally there for you!

As was the entire team, chanting Mongo's name with great vigor!

Coach Vic talked privately to Mongo, saying that he wanted Mongo playing more aggressively. Then, he addressed one or both teams.

Coach Vic: Ladies!

At this point, we all realized three things:

The Boy's Team assumes he's insulting them.
The Girl's Team assumes he's talking to them.
Coach Vic could actually pull this off.

Mongo hit exactly the wrong note by letting Katelyn stop a ball thrown at her face when it was clear to her that he could easily have stopped it and was trying to make her feel good by not doing so. She hit exactly the wrong note with him by being cynical, although I forget the details.

Mongo (to Flash): Girls Suck!

Later, although I forget the context:

Sunny: I didn't know you could read!

Mongo: There's a lot you don't know about me.

Tony: You don't get Shy for that.

Daniel realized that while Mongo was bad at standing up for himself, he was not bad at standing up for people he cares about.

Mongo managed to ask Katelyn out to the kegger, and she said yes. Sunny made it clear that she wasn't going to drink anything -- someone had to stay sober -- but everyone else should have fun drinking. Have I mentioned that one of the defining sentences on the Champion card is "This burden is yours alone"? I was told to take a card for that.

So, it looked like things would go down at the kegger. This was accurate, as far as it went, but it totally did not take into account the next twist. Flash and Mongo were in their cabin, talking.

Flash: You know I'm captain of the team, right?

Mongo: Yeah, yeah -- you won't let me forget that. I can feel your shoes!

Flash: But I love you man!

He kissed Mongo, and Remi used a pairing.

Flash: Do you love me? Will you go with me to the kegger?

Mongo ducked the question and fled the scene, very confused.

Katelyn arrived at the cabin, looking for Mongo. Flash immediately asked her out to the kegger.

Katelyn: But I said I'm going with Mongo --

Flash: Fuck that, you're going with me, baby!

As Mongo wasn't there when he said he would be, and Flash was, Katelyn agreed.

Tony took a quick break to talk to an interviewer.

Me: This is going faster than last time.

Daniel: What, because we're only half an hour in and we've already hit the gay love story?

When things resumed, Flash and Katelyn showed up together at the kegger. This infuriated Mongo. Having Flash make a pass at him? That was just confusing, something he needed to think about. Having Flash steal his girl? That was low! The two basketball players got into an argument that got ugly, accusations of homosexuality flew, and suddenly, the entire boys' basketball team turned on Mongo, beating him up and leaving him in the field.

The next day, Coach Vic poured cold water over Mongo and used a pairing.

Coach Vic: Do you understand that Flash is in charge of you because he's the captain? Can I even keep you on the team?

Mongo: No.

Coach left, and Sunny came over to chew Mongo out, having a very imperfect idea of what was going on. She questioned whether he should even be on the team, and, as he'd just effectively quit, Mongo told her that she was right and walked away.

The final scene, though, was between Flash and Katelyn, a confused discussion of the events of the previous night and Mongo.

Flash: Look, he wasn't there for you. Flash was.

Later:

Flash: You don't know how hard it is to be the Flash!

Katelyn: Be who you're going to be -- who is that?

And Flash told her. He told her that he was gay and in love with Mongo. The final line of the episode:

Flash (holding Katelyn in his arms): You gotta help me get Mongo back!

Part Three: Fallout

This was almost a continuation of the second episode. Daniel decided to keep playing Mongo, but to redefine him. Mongo was no longer a Shy Bookworm. He was now a Brooding Punk. He was also not always going by Mongo, and was sometimes Mongo and sometimes Mort.

Remi said that it was time for Sunny to answer the questions. I thought about it and decided that Sunny now had an unrequited crush on Mongo. After all, from her point of view, this was a star, someone who had it all, and had walked away from it. This made him utterly mysterious and utterly desirable to her teenage mind.

Sunny:

What do you want? I've got to make Mongo feel grateful to me for making him realize he has to get back on the team.

How are you going to do this? Set up a game he has to play.

What do you fear? Losing Mongo's respect.

Who or what is standing in the way? Flash, who got Mongo kicked off the team.

You've probably noticed that Sunny has some of facts wrong. That's all right. The questions are answered from the character's point of view, and represent her hopes and fears, not necessarily any objective reality.

Tony played Jenny, a Shy Hustler. She was crushing on Mongo. But, there was no way for her to approach him when he was on the basketball team. But, now, he wasn't on it any more!

Jenny: You're one of us now.

Mongo: Oh, the welcoming committee from Loserville.

I think later on, someone used this line on Mongo / Mort: You're not one of them -- you're one of us.

If we didn't, we should have.

Sunny tried to convince Flash to relent in his attitude towards Mongo, blissfully ignorant about what that attitude actually was. Flash said that it was Coach's decision. Sunny talked to Katelyn about things, and they passed a table with a sheet soliciting ideas for charity fundraising events. The girls looked at each other and wrote down a suggestion for a charity basketball game!

Katelyn wanted to sabotage all attempts Mongo made at making friends among the non-basketball players, aka the losers. Sunny didn't think that was either nice or necessary. Katelyn agreed that they could try things Sunny's way first. Sunny went to talk to Coach Vic.

Alas, she had no luck there either.

Sunny: So, I was thinking about a charity basketball game. And... Maybe Mongo could play, too?

Coach Vic: I don't think that's such a good idea, Sunny.

Sunny: But, it's not like it's a real game. It's for charity!

Coach Vic: It would confuse the rest of the team.

Tony played "Sad", a card with a higher value than the only card I had in my hand. I just did not have the cards to put myself front and center into the limelight. Now, there were things other people could have done to help me, but, given that Sunny had been the center of the first chapter, I did not feel deprived. And, cards or no cards, I got some very amusing scenes later on.

But, right then, Coach Vic explained that he was acting in sorrow more than in anger, and agreed with Sunny that Mongo had done something terrible. There was simply no way he could relent and let Mongo back on the team, not though it broke his heart.

Meanwhile, both Katelyn and Flash went to work on Jenny, trying to pressure the girl. Katelyn made perfectly blunt maneuvers, approaching Jenny in the lunch room, and cutting short Jenny's awkward, but game, attempts at conversation, saying, in essence, "That's nice, but shut up. Do you really think Mongo belongs with you and the other losers?"

Flash's attempt was, um, unique. He sent her friends away, and told her to leave Mongo alone, but allowed as how he could see why Mongo might deign to bless her with his attention. After all, Jenny wasn't all that bad. Why, she was hardly fat at all.

Flash: Hey, everyone, look at Jenny! She's not that bad looking! Really, look at her!

Jenny started to cry, much to Flash's bafflement. But, he eventually understood that she didn't like everyone looking at her.

Flash: Okay, everyone, stop looking at Jenny! I don't want anyone looking at her again -- er, what's your last name?

On hearing it, he told them specifically not to look at that particular Jenny again. When he finally left the poor girl in peace, her friends asked if Flash were dating Jenny.

Jenny is a Shy Hustler. One of the defining sentences for Hustler is "A glittering lie is better than a dull truth."

Jenny: I... guess so.

Of course, for all of Sunny's, Katelyn's, and Flash's fears, Mongo / Mort / Mortimer was not fitting in happily or easily with the losers. He responded to Jenny's attempts to try to do what Katelyn and Flash wanted her to do -- to get Mongo to go back to his old friends -- by crying out in the middle of Math class something like, "Does anyone do anything that isn't just for himself?"

Math teacher: Nope! I'm only here for the paycheck. I'm going out for a smoke break.

Mongo and Flash had a short, but nasty discussion, and Mongo brought up getting beaten up.

Flash (disgusted): Oh, come on! I've seen you take much worse than that on the field!

Mongo: Er, that was not the beating to which I was referring.

And Flash, for once, found himself with nothing to say.

Meanwhile, the charity match was set up with the Westborough Bulldogs, and Flash's monologue got more convoluted.

Somoene: You know -- you talked about yourself in the third person so much you lost track!

Flash: Let me think about this -- I gotta go skip class.

Tony (after listing the classes Flash has to skip): It's a busy afternoon!

Flash and Sunny had a conversation where Flash explained that he was a) gay and b) in love with Mongo. This caused Sunny some boggle damage.

Sunny: Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! (Those of you who've met me in person should picture me saying this in a high voice with my hands clapped over my mouth to represent Sunny's best efforts to keep her voice down.)

Flash: Yes -- that's why I took Katelyn to the kegger.

Sunny: Why are you telling me this??

Flash: I don't know!

For some reason, this struck us at absolutely hilarious.

Meanwhile, Katelyn tried to patch things up with Mongo, remembering that he was a shy bookworm.

Katelyn: I got you a book. Biggest I could find. By this Melville guy.

(This reminded me of a scene in Ellen Kushner's _Swordspoint_. I told Tony about it later.)

Sunny went to find Katelyn. They had a few rounds of "I want to talk to you about something, but I can't tell you what it is unless you already know", before Katelyn assured Sunny that yes, she did know.

Katelyn (after a couple more sentences): We are talking about Flash being gay, right?

Sunny confirmed this, and while she wanted Mongo back on the boys' team for the good of the school and all, just how did that change things? Then, she realized that this was the _boys'_ team, and therefore Not Her Problem. Everyone told me that this merited a card for the Champion trait, or at least for singlemindedness.

Regardless, Katelyn, Sunny, and Flash set out to bully, er, convince, Mongo to play in the charity basketball game.

Flash: I know that after me, you're the second most important person in the school.

Mongo (furious): After you! After you!

Flash: Besides -- (Remi plays the card "Cute") -- and would you like me if I weren't the Flash?

Sunny: It's _one_ game!

And, with that, I played "Angry", the only card I could play.

Mongo confirmed that it was just for one game, and agreed. Daniel said that the actual climax would be a showdown on the field -- Mongo and Flash talking.

But first, Katelyn approached Mongo, with a contradictory Pairings Is it too late? Do you still have feelings for me?

Mongo: Yes.

In other words, yes, he still had feelings for her, but it was still too late for them to have a relationship. He turned her attempted kiss into a more platonic hug.

Mongo: I gotta go find Flash.

And the charity game began.

Daniel: Mongo _used_ to be a team player, and now he's playing like Flash plays.

Tony: And you can't have two players like Flash on a team.

This was, of course, the way Coach Vic had been trying to get Mongo to play in the second episode.

And the cards flew fast and thick as Mongo and Flash tried to outdo each other on the field. Flash won, following up whatever flashy move he'd made with some patronizing gesture or other. I forget what it was, but everyone agreed that it added the right twist.

As the game wound down, the two stars talked on the field.

Mongo: Did you play this well at your old school?

Flash: You bet your ass I did, fat boy!

Mongo: Sneaky.

Flash: It's so good to play with you again!

Mongo (with just the slightest emphasis on the third word): Yeah, it was. We need to establish a couple of things. I'll talk to you later.

"Later" turned out to be just after the game, where Katelyn, Sunny, and Jenny were waiting. I gave Daniel my one remaining card as a bribe for Mongo to ignore Sunny, which was what he'd been planning to do anyway.

Flash: Dude -- you were incredible -- I've _never_ seen you play that way. Dude, I don't say this to just anybody, but you were better than me.

Daniel: That does touch something. Being gay's one thing, but this --

Mongo: Will you date me? And will you out yourself to the school?

Flash: No. I can't. (as everyone's jaw drops) Because if I did that, we wouldn't be able to play basketball together.

Daniel / Mongo: And I become cynical.

Jenny: Can we still be friends?

Mongo: Yeah.

Daniel: I put an arm around her, and _we_ walk off.

And that, we agreed, was all we had the emotional stamina for, as well as a satisfying breakpoint.

I'm not entirely sure why, but unlike Mouse Guard, Burning Wheel, and Burning Empire, the system in Misery Bubblegum does not produce a disconnect for me. It's a simpler system, so maybe the numbers (i.e., the cards) and the scenery chewing -- er, roleplaying -- work better together for me.