Thoughts from the Farrier's Bellows: Psi*Run

#1

First, thank you for the nice overview of Psi*Run. It’s been an early staple of gaming for Corridor Games on Demand out here in Eastern Iowa for a while, thanks in part to the original designers living out here and they playtested at a point in time when indie gaming was starting to take root.

Second, the love for Psi*Run is great. And there have been some fun hacks and related designs.

I created a quick and dirty hack for settings with parallel worlds called NetWhere–initially for Matrix-inspired games. It has some additional fiddley bits that allow the Players and GM to alter things much like the source material.

And now I’m continuing to work on NightMirror which is my version of Psi*Run for Gothic Horror stories like Penny Dreadful, substituting tarot cards for the dice.

It’s been a great design journey and I’m so grateful for experiencing Psi*Run.

9 Likes
The Farrier's Bellows - Psi*Run
#2

I’ve really loved the episode!
So far, I didn’t have Psi*Run on my radar (though I love Meg Baker’s designs).
Personally, I can’t wait to play it with a magical girl setting.

I could also imagine it working well with stuff I borrow from Worlds in Peril playbooks (esp. origin books).

I am really happy about the new podcast Farrier’s Bellows. This is exactly the stuff I love to play!

8 Likes
#3

It’s such a flexible game. I’ve run it for supers, for characters who were fighting inside a subject’s body, and my best memories are from when the players really made it about their mundane lives. I can’t yet explain that. Maybe it helped balance the crazy abilities and blowing things up part of the game.

2 Likes
#4

I enjoy it and running it, but I wish it had some way of mechanizing downtime - like Lady Blackbird’s Refresh Scenes. It generally ends up having this relentless have-to-keep-moving feel to it. (Which for me when I run it can leave me really exhausted afterwards.)

4 Likes
#5

Ha! I have had a lot of one-shots where the players get really into their characters and I have to mechanize getting the Chasers after them so that they’ll run or roll their dice. I had one group at a convention where they played at one location then went somewhere else, then back to the first location x2. I think I only used 5 index cards that whole game. They almost broke me with laughter and we were kicked out of the room and had to keep playing for 3 more hours somewhere else. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#6

I just listened to the podcast last night, and I am very intrigued!

I will have to buy the rulebook sometime soon: I really want to give this game a spin!

4 Likes
#7

Has anyone run PsiRun GM-less, as the folks on the podcast mused about? I had the same idea after reading the rules but never tried it out. In fact, I may just give it a shot and put it up on Gauntlet Hangouts. Any tips on how to make it work?

4 Likes
#9

Thanks all! Glad you enjoyed the episode!

@beepeegee I want to play a magical girl game of Psi-Run so badly. I’m thinking a leaning hard into Madoka-like? Would be so good.

@Larry_S I haven’t put too much thought into it, but I think it could partially be helped by the rule that no one should roll twice in a row, which would be an excellent place to hand over control of threats like Chasers or other NPCs. I’d either give the GM’s answers on rolls to the player who had just rolled previously or put it up to the group. It would certainly require a good group willing to push themselves and their luck. I really need to try this soon.

6 Likes
#10

@shane I get this exact same relentless, exhausting feel from running it. I think this downtime and mundanity like @DavidMK mentions are things that I’m missing from my Psi-Run games. That’s something I’d like to focus more on as I return to it–trying to slow down events and get people exploring inner issues. Usually our Psi-Run games feel pretty frenetic and chaotic and I think some slow, calm scenes would be nice. I have no idea how to push that mechanically, though.

5 Likes
#11

@zwGarth : yes, I’m exactly thinking of Madoka Magica. Previously, I’ve played it with Magical Burst (older edition) and also made a hack myself based on Worlds in Peril .(PbtA)
I will give it a try with Psi*Run next time.

3 Likes
#12

I find time skips help. Like, ok, you’ve got a car and you’re on the freeway. Five hours later, you’re in the next state. How are you all killing time?

5 Likes
#13

You can actually go pretty extreme with time skips - after all the chase only ends when the questions are answered. So, one thing I’ve done is place down the next location card and write on it ‘Five Years Later’, and ask the players to describe what their situation is now :smiley:

8 Likes
#14

Oh that’s such a good point! I will have to make sure to utilize that the next time I run this game, that’s fantastic.

2 Likes
#15

I’ve run it both ways and I think the choice should be group-dependent. For some having a GM really pushing adversity is good. For others it will be unnecessary, particularly after they are familiar with the game.

6 Likes